Thirty years mark a generation and today as the displaced Pandits from Kashmir completed more than three decades in exile, it is the one generation of theirs that has grown its off shoots without any connect to their roots. The loss of connection has led to the concoction of a rich Kashmiri Pandit heritage and there is a high probability in future of it’s getting assimilated into north India, all at the cost of losing that unique culture and language. Keeping in view the current scenario and absence of any ray of hope at the end of dark tunnel, it seems many more generation of theirs are going to survive with a void of touch to their homeland.
The exodus of Pandits
was worse than a nightmare and in a glimpse there was a fall from grace putting
the life, respect, prestige and status of all Kashmiri Pandits at stake. The
exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, to start with, was an outcome of a
politico-religious slugfest, with each political party milking their plight for
political and electoral gains. However, keeping their current plight in
consideration, delay in offering justice and the cold shoulders extended to
them by the stakeholders, it seems their exodus is in reality a humanitarian
crisis now where there is a genocide of identity that includes their culture,
language and heritage.
Although the plight of
community has been highlighted repeatedly at various forums, conferences and
conventions, yet the noise and buzz created has been transitory with no
evidence of providing any long term solution. Even the change of state and
central authorities at the realm of affairs and the reprogrammed policies drafted
for the welfare of Kashmiri Pandits have not been able to figure out any
concrete solution. The promises made time and again by the authorities lack
both an emotion and empathy in them and with every passing day these promises
are getting emptier.
As the saying
goes, “Make yourself so powerful that God himself asks you what you want before
making any decision about your destiny”, the Kashmiri Pandits, at an individual
level, have worked hard and undoubtedly have been able to achieve that power.
However, at a community level all their accomplishments and achievements sense as
being valueless because as a community they are still wandering far away from
the roots of their origin. With every passing year the roots are getting
thinned out and the newer generation of community as a whole is getting drifted
away from the real culture and language.
Looking at the
plight of Kashmiri Pandits, it seems the responsibility lies both with the
system and the Pandits themselves. The system, driven mainly by the politicians,
has been instrumental in keeping this kind of pot boiling and using them as and
when required, all for their personal gains. The Pandits, on the other hand,
have been clueless and despite being intellectual have not been able to project
themselves and their plight in a unified manner. The real reason behind all
this is that every standing member of community is running an organisation and
each organisation has its own agenda and motto. The separate projection of
their plight not only dilutes the difficult or distressing situation but also
gives an opportunity to political parties to play at their will. To circumvent
this problem, the heads of all these organisations need to come together on one
single platform, formulate the common minimum agenda, disclose it in local
public forum or in social groups and get that agenda signed by all the
community members.
For a country
like India which safeguards the rights of each and every citizen and believes
in the diversity as an art of thinking together independently, the gradual
dwindling of both the language and culture of minority community of Kashmiri
Pandits will be a blot in its glory. To prevent any such writing in history,
the Pandits also need to think beyond their emotions, accept the practical
reality and take decision wisely not only for their short term but also long
term survival, both in life and dignity.
Dr. Pawan Suri
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