SHUBHANGI SHIFA
Ranchi, Mar 21: Dr Suresh Kaul Singh, a Kashmiri Pandit and a resident of Kashmir, has been living in Bihar/Jharkhand for the past 40 years. However, the scars of the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990 have not left her untouched.
The daughter of a popular Congress leader under the Bakshi Gulam Mohammad regime and wife of Dr Ajay Kumar Singh, Dr Singh had a family that suffered in Kashmir during the exodus. Here are excerpts of her conversation with Lagatar24. Com explaining it all in her own words.
Q 1. What do you remember of the time before the exodus? Were there any conflicts among people over religion?
A. We are originally from Rainawari in Srinagar, but stayed in Kashmir, at my maternal grandparents’ place. We had left Rainawari, but my uncles, i.e. my father’s brothers, stayed there.
When we think about it, nothing was wrong. Hindu and Muslim family relations were just like that of family friends. My mother had several Muslim friends. All of us would celebrate festivals like Shivratri. Our Muslim friends would come to our place on the third day to wish us ‘Salam’. We would offer dry fruits to each other on different occasions.
However, things changed after the 1980s. I would visit my family later but I felt different. After the India -Pakistan war, I remember going back to Kashmir and hearing those same friends saying Kashmiri Pandits should leave. Our neighbours would suggest that and say, “Kashmiri Pandits should leave. We’ll take care of the house.” We’d then think that they were kidding.
Q 2. When did you realize that situations were worsening?
A. After marriage, in 1975 I had left, but my sister used to live there. They lived in Residency Road and the Badami Bagh area. Everyone that lived downtown had built their houses in relatively safe areas. For instance, we lived in the Shivpura area, an Army cantonment area. My father had built a house there, and we shifted after selling our maternal grandparents’ property. This is because the downtown area was not safe anymore. Even though no physical fights were occurring, they would often verbally harass people.
In the 90s, however, the situation worsened and I heard several people faced atrocities. I think we had a Congress regime there. They never bothered to help. We were minorities there, but we would often hold posts in government offices or have good businesses because of education and background. I think this was also a reason why we were targeted.
But one night on January 19, several mosques in Srinagar played the ‘Azaadi’ slogans. The announcements stated that ‘Kashmiri Pandits should leave within the next 24 hours. Leave children and women, but if men don’t leave, they’ll be slaughtered.’ Slogans were chanted asking the Kashmiri Hindus to flee, convert or die.
As a result, fearing their lives, many fled, via forests. Some poor Hindus downtown might even have converted because of fear and lack of funds to travel. A large number of people were also murdered. These included several staunch Hindus who were tortured and murdered. One of my distant relatives, who is now settled in Canada, had her brother and father murdered right in front of her eyes. She, on the other hand, was asked to convert. Thankfully she was helped by one of the kind Muslims who helped her escape the same night.
The only help that people were provided by the government were refugee camps in Jammu and pensions after leaving. Several would also refuse to state that they weren’t beggars and were made refugees in their own nation.
Q 3. When did your family realize that it was time to leave? How did they manage then?
A. One of my sisters shifted before the exodus, in 1989, while the other shifted after. Several, including my elder sister and her husband, were government job-holders. Hence, after the exodus, both she and her husband were paid their salary monthly along with some rations. Now they are very well settled.
Q 4. The Modi-led government, even in its manifesto had stated that Kashmiri Pandits would be brought back to Kashmir and helped resettle. What do you think of it?
A. I have heard of it. Several have even tried to claim their properties. The government has said if people had done any kind of panic selling of property and had documentation to prove it, they would be compensated, and in some cases, their property would also be returned. Many don’t even have papers, because several people had left without any belongings thinking they would soon return. However, due to the floods in Kashmir, several properties were damaged, thus many don’t have papers.
Several people are not even able to recognize their homes because of no record keeping. However, a cousin in my family did claim his property. He said the government has been helping the people a lot. Even if a claimant has no papers, they are being helped. In case of panic selling, even they are being told to claim their properties.
As far as resettling is concerned, it may be difficult. People say that situations have changed up to 10-20 percent, however, we don’t know what kind of protection will be provided to people if they decide to shift back. After all this time, we don’t know what will happen or what will be the reactions of present residents, only time will tell. Those who have undergone everything during that time, won’t even dare go back because of the pain, memories and scars.
Q 5. Will you be claiming your property there now?
A. We are planning to do so, but we don’t have papers. I remember the locations of my houses; the house in Shivpura was in my mother’s name ‘Gauri Niwas’. One of my sisters is claiming it. Even her husband has also laid claim to his property. A while back he said, we would either be given back our property or, we’d be compensated for it.
When I visited in 2011, I think things were shifting to normal. I then wanted to visit both my houses, in Shivpura and Rainawari, but could not due to curfew then.
Q 6. Do you still think of Kashmir and its future?
A. Of course, I have had marvelous experiences in my childhood there. We would go to school and cross lakes via shikaras. Several Muslims would also help us then. They would even let us pay them later if we didn’t have money. I have very fond memories of the place, of interacting with our neighbours, despite our religious differences. We had friends, family friends that would visit each other on occasions.
Regarding its future, nothing can be said with present scenarios in mind, but we can always hope that things will be better; that after claiming our property, our children will be able to visit Kashmir and see our culture and history. We have a lot of property in Kashmir that we had to leave during the exodus. Hopefully, now we’ll have some peace after getting our property or compensation. Hope this gives some kind of closure.
Q 7. Who would you blame now, after getting to know everything?
A. The then government is responsible. I’d blame them for their inaction against the atrocities that we faced. This was not just one night. It built up through months of regression. They could have stopped it, calmed it or even helped us if they wanted to. It was their responsibility.
This government has been helping, but as far as Congress is concerned, they did nothing. Not then, not later. Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi claim to be Kashmiri Pandits but have done nothing for the betterment of even the community.
Q 8. Senior Kashmiris, particularly Muslims in the valley say that earlier, there was this ‘unwritten rule’ that Muslims wouldn’t be admitted in schools. Having done your schooling there, what would you say to this?
A. As far as I remember, several Muslim children wouldn’t get an education then. Muslim girls were not allowed. In some cases, however, some boys did come to our school, ‘Presentation Convent’. I even had a batchmate named Arshad Khan, I remember. Our Women’s College has a female principal. So, I don’t think this rumour is true.
Q 9. Have you seen the film ‘The Kashmir Files’? What is your reaction to the film?
A. Yes, I’ve seen it. Everything that the film shows is true. It did happen. I think politics was the reason why no one interfered in what was happening in Kashmir. Even my sister, who resided in Shivpuri, was harassed several times. People would ask her to leave saying, “Take Rs 5000, leave the house to us and go away.” The same people that had been friends with our families for several years would harass us for property and tell us to leave. It was horrible.
