In this in-depth interview with Kashmir Newsline, President Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti (KPSS), Sanjay Tickoo, talks about everything from the 1990 exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits (KPs) to the killing of Puran Krishan Bhat who was gunned down on October 15 in South Kashmir’s Shopian district.
How do you view this latest killing of a Kshmiri Pandit, Puran Bhat, in view of New Delhi’s claims of peace and normalcy in Kashmir?
I think we need to go back to the late 80s. The political dispensation of that time had started a smear campaign against Kashmiri Pandits that we were agents of the Jan Sangh, the precursor of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Are you alluding to National Conference?
Yes. We were projected as agents of the Hindu right in the eyes of the majority community and the Kashmiri Muslims were portrayed to New Delhi as pro-Pakistanis. This way, they gave New Delhi the impression that they were doing an incredible job of saving Kashmir. Then in the 1987 elections, when the Muslim United front (MuF) won some seats and accused National Conference of widespread rigging, Kashmiri Pandits were again badmouthed and portrayed as villains. Later, there were accusations against Farooq Abdullah that he was responsible for several bomb blasts after falling out with Rajiv Gandhi.
Are you trying to say that there was anger building up against Kashmiri Pandits among Muslims?
There was a majority within the Muslim majority that harboured serious anger against Kashmiri Pandits which turned really ugly after the Gawkadal Massacre of 21 January 1990. It led to a widespread resentment against Kashmiri Pandits who were seen as stooges of New Delhi. There were several killings of the KP’s in the wake of the massacre in which dozens of Kashmiri Muslims were killed. We were a miniscule minority- seventy seven thousand families across Kashmir. There was fear psychosis and the community found its safety in migration to Jammu and other parts of India.
There are several theories surrounding the exodus of the KPs, the most prominent being that it was the then Governor Jagmohan who engineered it. What do you have to say about that?
I think this Jagmohan theory is preposterous. As you know, he didn’t enjoy the goodwill of the majority community and that included the mainstream politicians, National Conference in particular. I have a question for all those who put the blame of the KP exodus on Jagmohan. If it’s true that Jagmohan wanted to bombard the majority community into submission and then bring the migrant Pandits back, why would he allow more than seven thousand families to stay back against all odds?
When the KP migration happened, JKLF was the predominant militant group. What do you think triggered the mass exodus? Do you think militants wanted to drive your community out or was it fear as a result of killings and pro-azadi and Islamic slogans that the KPs didn’t identify with?
Look, when a tiger attacks a herd, it doesn’t kill every single animal in it. It kills one or two but it sets panic in the herd and all the animals start running for their lives. Fear psychosis played a big role. I also want to set the record straight here. The notion outside Kashmir that it was the fundamentalist, Islamist militant organisations that killed the KPs is misplaced. The survey that KPSS carried out shows that ninety per cent of the killings were done by the so-called secularist JKLF.
Despite fear and unrest, you and many other pandits like you chose to stay back.
There were several reasons. Some of us felt we would lose our livelihood and feared living as refugees. Others had a strong sense of belonging and they chose to stay put in the middle of the violence that they had no clue about. We learnt to live in the middle of fear and insecurity. But the last one year has been extremely fearful. There are several reasons for that. They key reason being August 5, 2019 when Articles 370 and 35 (A) were scrapped. And then the state was downgraded and bifurcated into two UTs. Whatever lofty claims the BJP may make, the truth is that we Kashmiris were kept in an open prison. No communication was allowed and we were cut off from each other and the rest of the world. New Delhi was over the moon that there was no hue and cry and it comfortably managed to control an entire population. Let me tell you that I was also surprised when there was no uproarious reaction to the August 5 move. When the restrictions were lifted after a few months and the communication restored, I met various sections of the society extensively in an attempt to make sense of the calm, even if it was forced, that prevailed in the valley against all fears. What came to the fore is quite interesting and revealing. What I gathered from meeting people from different parts of Kashmir was that they were prepared for it because Government of India took several measures before August 5 which wasn’t lost on the locals. It included a widespread crackdown against Hurriyat activists and those from various sections of the society who were seen as aiding and abetting the separatist movement. Also, the Amanath pilgrims were sent back before the culmination of the yatra. Tourists were evicted from hotels and sent packing back. So the people knew what was going on. But, while most of the people weren’t happy with it, they felt that if the people’s movement was for a greater agenda, there was no point losing their lives over the revocation of Article 370. I can assure you that was the main reason. But the establishment here and New Delhi thought that the job was done. BJP started claiming that Article 370 was the root cause of all the ills in Kashmir and that a new Kashmir – ‘Naya Kashmir’ – had come into being.
Kashmiri Pandits living in different parts of India celebrated the abrogation and distributed sweets and danced. How do you see that?
I also saw many such videos. I think most of them were those who had migrated way before the 90s. Those who have no stake in Kashmir. Who have been living their lives happily outside Kashmir for many decades. Also, some of those celebrating were the ones who subscribe to the RSS ideology. We can’t blame an entire community for that. I got in touch with some of those people and told them that we would have to pay for their actions. I think what was even worse was that, while the BJP leadership kept bragging about its achievement all the time, it didn’t care to reach out to the people. They thought they could achieve everything by force.
As a Kashmiri Pandit who is living in the valley and has his ear to the ground, what are the pluses and minuses that you would associate with the August 5 decision of the Government of India?
There is nothing positive about it. It was a terrible decision. As a Kashmiri, irrespective of which community I come from, 370 was my identity. It has been snatched from me. It safeguarded our rights and interests and that includes the rights of the Dogras and other ethnicities and communities from Jammu and Ladakh as well. Many in the rest of India have been made to believe that the move is some great service to the nation. It is not. Even the Dogras of Jammu who celebrated it initially are regretting now because the reality has started dawning on them. They realize that they are going to suffer more than the Kashmiris. It’s true that 370 was misused as well, especially by our political parties, but by and large it was meant for our security and betterment. The abrogation of Article 370 has made Kashmir more dangerous than it was in the 1990s.
You met Prime Minister Modi in 2014 when he visited Kashmir in the wake of the massive floods. What did you talk about?
I was leading a delegation that met him. I told him that he was not the prime minister of BJP but of the entire India. I asked him to show farsightedness and sensitivity while dealing with Kashmir.
You also met Home Minister Amit Shah last year after the killing of some Kashmiri Pandits when he visited Kashmir. The meeting, if I am right, wasn’t pleasant. Why so?
That is right. Before meeting the Home Minister, we had issued some statements about the fate of the KPs. So when we met him, he was like: ‘Haan ji, kaun baat karega; kya masla hai – so, who is going to talk; what is the matter?’ We found it insensitive. Then he asked us how many Pandits, Muslims and non- Kashmiris got killed after August 2019. I gave him some tentative figures. “Kam maray gaye na – so, not a big number,” he said. I said to him: ‘Sir, have you come to listen to us or dictate to us?’ Then he told me that we should keep security guards. To which I had to tell him we shouldn’t be needing any security going by the tall claims of peace and normalcy that the BJP makes about Kashmir. So I told my fellow delegates there was no point talking any further and we left.
There are around 800KP families living in Kashmir. How secure, or insecure, do they feel?
When the news of Puran Bhat’s killing came yesterday, I got several calls from fellow KPs from his village. I was shocked to hear that the security forces stationed there ordered them not to gather to mourn and forced them into their homes. The situation is so bad that we aren’t even allowed to mourn our dead.
I remember in the 90s and also in the 2000s and beyond, whenever KPs felt insecure, they would go to the separatist leadership, people like Geelani, Mirwaiz or Malik. Did it help? Also, did you ever, in all these years, try to reach out to the mainstream parties?
From 2003 to 2021, barring two political killings which happened alongside several political killings of Muslims as well, there was not a single killing of a common Kashmiri Pandit. And that was because there was a protective wall, not just from the separatist leadership, especially the late Syed Ali Shah Geelani, but also from the civil society. That strong wall is gone now. Nobody is willing to stand up for us as they would do earlier. As for the political parties like NC or PDP, they won’t do anything except playing their dirty politics which they have always done. Through your medium, I want to appeal the majority community, preachers and others to come out and show solidarity with the KPs.
There are some hardcore rightwing KP organisations that constantly keep demonizing Kashmiri Muslims. How far, in your view, does it harm the KP cause?
There is no doubt that such organisations and individuals can’t be our friends or representatives, as they claim. But I must also tell you that there are such elements in the majority community as well that need to be discouraged.
Did you watch The Kashmir Files?
I saw some clippings of the movie. I could clearly understand that it was politically motivated. They have grossly exaggerated events and that is no service to the cause of the KPs.
