Stayed back in '90s, Kashmiri Pandits now have second thoughts

Samaan Lateef

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Srinagar June 6

Even after braving three decades of militancy, non-migrant Kashmiri Pandits, who didn’t leave the Valley in the 1990s, have lost confidence in the present security set-up in the region.

Political vacuum, no more safe

After Article 370 abrogation, J&K is facing a political vacuum which has made minorities and majority community vulnerable to militant attacks. Sanjay Tickoo, Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti

The recent spate of targeted civilian killings in Kashmir has forced them to restrict their movement, with many saying the “unprecedented sense of insecurity” may force them to leave the Valley. The crumbled political structure and powerful bureaucracy after the BJP abrogated Article 370 in 2019 have rendered the non-migrant Kashmiri Pandits voiceless, with no solution in sight that could encourage them to stay back.

“We stayed back, and all these years tried to bridge the gap between the two communities but now I tell my kids that Kashmir is no more a safe place for anyone,” Rattan Chaku, a non-migrant Kashmiri Pandit, told The Tribune.

There are 808 non-migrant Pandit families (according to the 2009 Census) in Kashmir, a majority of them living in abject poverty and their children mostly unemployed.

Chaku (52), a resident of Ganpatyar locality in Srinagar, is working in the private sector while his two sons are unemployed despite having engineering degrees.

“The migrants got subsidies, reservation in jobs and education while there are many non-migrant Pandit families which don’t have enough food to eat. The government has never cared about our welfare,” Chaku said.

“In the 1990s, we had some hope of living a secure life here but now it appears to be a hopeless situation. There is no future for our kids,” he said.

Chaku says the targeted civilian killings by “unknown gunmen” have created an “unprecedented” atmosphere of fear in Kashmir.

The targeted killings of civilians, particularly those from minority communities, started in October last when armed militants killed noted Kashmiri chemist Makhan Lal Bindroo in Srinagar, the first killing of a non-migrant Kashmiri Pandit since the 2003 Nadimarg massacre of 24 Pandits.

Migrant Kashmiri Pandits did not protest Bindroo’s killing, triggering a divide between the two groups.

Since then, Sanjay Tickoo, president of the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS), has not been able to move out of his home in Barbarshah locality of Srinagar.

“I have been told by the police that my life is under threat. Since October, I have not been able to go anywhere,” Tickoo told The Tribune.

The other non-migrant Kashmiri Pandits, living along with the Muslim community in residential areas across Kashmir, have also restricted their movement because of the deteriorating security situation.

“After the abrogation of Article 370, J&K is facing a political vacuum which has made both the minorities and the majority community vulnerable to militant attacks. The political structure has crumbled and civil society has been made defunct. There were people from the majority community who would support us but now they fear bureaucrats will book them under the Public Safety Act for raising their voice,” Tickoo said.