The Hindu minority in Muslim majority Kashmir shrank from an estimated 140,000 in the late 1980s to 19,865 by 1998. Today, Tickoo says there are fewer than 3,400 Pandits in Kashmir. Others say the number is around 2,700.
“Over the past 20 years, we estimate that 219 Pandits were killed in the valley,” Tickoo says, adding: “The figures of 3,000 to 4,000 killings [as suggested by some Pandit organizations] is propaganda, which we reject.”
While Tickoo’s organization says that 399 Pandits were killed between 1999 and 2008, and 650 in total, this pales in comparison with those estimates that put the figure at 3,000,but exceeds the state’s suggestion that 219 were killed between 1990 and 2008.
(https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/spotlight/kashmirtheforgottenconflict/2011/07/201176134818984961.html)
According to a Jammu and Kashmir government report, 219 members of the Pandit community out of total 1400 Hindus, had been killed in the region between 1989 and 2004 but none thereafter. (https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/ldquo219-Kashmiri-Pandits-killed-by-militants-since-1989rdquo/article16006510.ece)
The local organization of Pandits in Kashmir, Kashmir Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS) after carrying out a survey in 2008 and 2009, said that 399 Kashmiri Pandits were killed by insurgents from 1990 to 2011 and that during the last 20 years, about 650 Pandits have been killed in the valley. (“399 Pandits killed since 1990 KPSS”. Greater Kashmir. 20 June 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2012)
Scholars Mridu Rai and A. Evans have outright rejected the claims of genocide. Essa, Azad. “Kashmir: The Pandit question”. www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 7 September 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2018., Evans, A departure from history 2002, pp. 23–24.
According to the government of Jammu and Kashmir219 Kashmiri Pandits were killed and 24,202 families migrated out of the valley. http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/ldquo219-Kashmiri-Pandits-killed-by-militants-since-1989rdquo/article16006510.ece
BJP/RSS Governor Jagmohan:
Jagmohan malhotra was a former indian civil servant who also served as the 5th governor of jammu and kashmir. In his tenure, Kashmir was going through worst phase of militancy. It was period of 1990’s. 19 January, 1990 was the date when he was appointed as the governor of J&K against the consent of state government. Farooq abdullah resigned from the position of chief minister, it led to presidential rule in J&K. It is alleged that he was responsible for facilitating the escape of Kashmiri pandits. The day he was appointed as governor of J&K , a large number of kashmiri pundits were forced to leave the valley.
On 21 January 1990, two days after Jagmohan took over as governor, the Gawkadal massacre took place in Srinagar, in which the Indian security forces had opened fire on protesters, leading to the death of at least 50 people, and likely over 100.
It was second stint of Jagmohan which harmed the Kashmir most.
It was his questionable role or his failure to prevent exodus of kashmiri pundits for which he was bashed when offered padma vibhushan.
In an interview in May 1990, Jagmohan stated that: “Every Muslim in Kashmir is a militant and all of them are for secession from India and added that I am scuttling Srinagar Doordarshan’s program because everyone here in Kashmir is a militant and the bullet is the only solution for Kashmir. Unless, the militants are fully wiped out, normalcy cannot return to the Valley.”
While on another hand, many Muslim groups approached Jagmohan via Wajahat Habibullah, the then Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir, to stop Pandits migration from the Valley, which he(Jagmohan) rejected. On the contrary, Jagmohan announced that the Government cannot guarantee any safety of Pandits and advised them to leave, as the refugee settlement camps had been set up for them in Jammu.
Historians have called it an act of ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Jammu region of the state. On the other hand, not a single Hindu was harmed in the Valley.
The Times(London) dated 10/08/1948, published a report called‘Elimination of Muslins from Jammu, part – 11’states that, “2, 37, 000 Muslims were systematically exterminated by then Hindu Maharaja through his Sikhs and Hindu armed forces.”
Jagmohan was installed as the Governor of J&K second time on 19 January 1990, after the then National Conference government was dismissed. He remained Governor till 26th May 1990, when he was removed after the killing of Mirwaiz Moulvi Mohammad Farooq and subsequent killing of around 60 people during the funeral procession. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/padma-vibhushan-to-jagmohan-irks-jk-civil-society/articleshow/50732554.cms?from=mdr
In conclusion, we condemn and feel bad about unfortunate migration of 1, 40,000 Pandits and 219-600 killings, however, we have faced much more than genocide- Hindu Pandit killing- 300-500 killed and 1,40,000 displaced. But what about Kashmiris Muslims, In Jammu massacre (1947) 100,000-200,00+ killed from last 30 years -95000+ Kashmiris killed, -20,000+ Orphaned, -20,000+ Widows, -8000+ Enforced Disappearances, -200+ Woman Raped, -6000+ Unidentified Single/Mass graves -6000+ Pellet Gun Injuries, -200+ Blinded, -45% Mental Health Problems. According to a survey in 2012, 17,000 people, mostly women, have committed suicide during the past 20 years in the Valley.
References
“40,000 people killed in Kashmir: India”. The Express Tribune. 100,000
“India: Act on UN Rights Report on Kashmir” 50,000
Om Prakash Dwivedi; V. G. Julie Rajan (26 February 2016). Human Rights in Postcolonial India. Routledge. pp. 11–. ISBN 978-1-317-31012-9. India has been able to commit these acts-which constitute crimes that should be tried in the ICC, including war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity (which includes mass rape) and the crime of aggression-with impunity
Burke, Jason (16 December 2010). “WikiLeaks cables: India accused of systematic use of torture in Kashmir”. The Guardian. London.
“Rape in Kashmir: A Crime of War” (PDF). Human Rights Watch. 1993. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
Kazi, Seema. Between democracy and nation: Gender and militarisation in Kashmir. Diss. London School of Economics and Political Science (United Kingdom), 2008.
“For the first time, security men kill more civilians than terrorists in J&K”. Times of India. 7 September 2010. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
“India uses AFSPA to obscure civilian killings in Kashmir: US Report”. www.greaterkashmir.com. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
Ocean of Tears is a 2012 short documentary film directed by Billal A Jan in Kashmiri produced by Rajiv Mehrota under the banner of Public Service Broadcasting Trust of India (PBST). The film is a documentary of the crimes and human rights violations impositioned on the people of Kashmir especially on women. The film covers the mass rape incident of Kunan Poshpora.
Kazi, Seema. “Rape, Impunity and Justice in Kashmir Archived 1 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine.” Socio-Legal Rev. 10 (2014): 22–23.
Kashmir siege has cost the region’s economy more than $1bn in two months, according to industry experts. (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-49956960)
Kashmir: how conflict and stigma are creating a mental health crisis (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/climate-and-people/kashmir-conflict-stigma-creating-mental-heath-crisis/)
Revoking Kashmiris autonomy will increase militancy and violence (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/08/14/why-kashmir-may-see-increased-violence-after-revocation-article/)
On August 5th, the Indian government has unconstitutionally, unethically and forcefully revoked the autonomy of a nearly 70-year-old disputed region, Jammu and Kashmir. The treacherous and unlawful move was imposed on the Kashmiri people by pumping 45,000 Indian troops into the world’s most militarized zone (700,000 troops already stationed). Followed by imposing a strict curfew, and the arrest of 4000+ innocent people which include politicians, civil society, human rights activists, lawyers, doctors, religious leaders, and even children. 8 million Kashmiris are under draconian siege from last 50 days- complete blockade of telecommunications (rare exceptions), internet, free movement, schools, shops, business are cut-off and even there is no access to emergency services and essential drugs. This has led to mental trauma, anxiety, depression among Kashmiris inside Kashmir as well as Kashmiris living in different parts of the world.
Human rights violations are an ongoing process in Kashmir for the last 70 years. Indian security forces are condoning and committing widespread violence including horrible tortures, night raids, human shields, custodial killings, rapes (eg. mass gang-rape of 23-50 women in a single night in Kunan-Poshpora village), destroying people’s houses and property and other worst subjugations under the nose of draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act [AFSPA] and Public Safety Act [PSA]. Recently, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and other independent human rights groups such as Amnesty International, Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), Médecins Sans Frontières, ActionAid as well as by WikiLeaks and the Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IMHANS) have reported a shocking level of abuses and their implications on Kashmiri people.
Kashmir has witnessed from last 7 decades widespread atrocities such as: Jammu massacre (1947) 100,000+ Muslims killed and 100,000 displaced, Hindu Pandit killing- 300-500 killed and 1,40,000 displaced (1990), and (from 1989-2019) -95000+ Muslims Killed, -20,000+ Orphaned, -20,000+ Widows, -8000+ Enforced Disappearances, -200+ Woman Raped, -6000+ Unidentified Single/Mass graves -6000+ Pellet Gun Injuries, -200+ Blinded, -45% Mental Health Problems.
The current fascist and racist BJP regime in a perfidious way is moving step by step towards possible genocide. Most of Indian media supported by this govt. portray Kashmiris in a humiliating way to residents of India which has created a mass hysteria to justify the torture, killings and human rights violations against Kashmiris. Notably, Genocide Watch in Washington, DC has already issued a Genocide Alert for India in 2019. Thus, It is the UN’s responsibility to ensure that Kashmiris do not endure the afflictions of an ideology similar to Mein Kampf, a book from which BJP members have quoted from and praised.
Thus, the UN must push India, a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to:
1. Immediately restore Article 370 and 35 A, which guaranteed autonomy to Kashmir. 2. Restore all communication lines in Kashmir including internet and mobile networks. 3. Immediately cancel all cases/ FIRs and release falsely accused and without trial prisoners. 4. Demilitarization from the civilian areas, along with revoking AFSPA, and PSA 5. Respect the freedom of thought and expression, freedom of assembly, and freedom of the press. 6. India must allow the United Nations to conduct an international investigation of human rights violations in Kashmir as asked for by Human Rights Watch.
For the long-lasting peace for Kashmir, We urge UN and co-signatory countries Canada, Belgium, China, Colombia, the UK, and the US to fulfill their promise made 50 years ago in 1948: a right to self-determination to end the Kashmir dispute once for all.
BJP/RSS has a long history of harassing, lynching and killing in particular Muslims many times Christians, Sikhs and lower caste Hindus such as Nellie Assam massacre- worst pogroms since World War II with 3000 to 10,000 Muslims killed and thousands displaced, Babri Masjid demolition- 2000+ Muslims killed, Gujarat massacre 1000-2000 killed and 200,000 displaced, and many more, lynching of people merely based on suspicion of eating or carrying beef or cows and much more.
All the terrorist attacks in India have happened under BJP/RSS fascist govt.
The BJP govt.’s inhumane policy has been exposed internationally. They are trying to economically downgrade Kashmiris, rather than killing, they are mentally torturing more than 8M Kashmiris, pumping up drugs and inciting riots based on religion, sects, and geography of the people, creating an environmental and ecological disaster in Kashmir and last but not least ethnically cleanse Muslims and other minorities for showing up superiority of their race. It is a systemic process and is moving towards it step by step and we need to wake up and stop the possible genocide.
Genocide Watch in Washington, DC has already issued a Genocide Alert for India, the so-called “largest democracy in the world” because it has canceled the citizenship of two million Indian citizens, mostly Muslims and planning to put them behind concentration camps, revoking autonomy of Kashmir (Muslim majority state), mass hysteria is orchestrated to justify the torture and human rights violations, alarming spread of hatred and persecution based on religious lines, Majority of Indians are brain washed by Govt’s nationalistic media justifying the revocation of autonomy for the development and stopping the terrorism, which is far from the truth as Kashmir is already standing very well in developmental index and has the least civilian crimes.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), released on July 8, 2019, its first-ever report on the human rights situation in Kashmir. Many other human rights groups such as Médecins Sans Frontières reported the number of people who had witnessed a rape in Kashmir since 1989 comparably higher than Chechnya and Sri Lanka. WikiLeaks issue accused India of systemic human rights abuses. Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) reported the highest number of killings in Kashmir from 2014-2019 since the BJP/RSS fascist took over India. A 2016 report published by charity ActionAid and the Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IMHANS) found “shocking” levels of mental ill-health issues in Kashmir.
Most of the unfortunate incidents have happen under BJP/RSS rule: Pandit exodus under BJP governor, Babri Masjid- BJP, Gujarat massacre- BJP, Parliament Attack- Under BJP govt. Hundreds of other riots. Inspired by BJP/RSS.
BJP used the Mumbai attack- projected Narendra Modi as PM face
BJP used Pulwama attack to earn second term. Uri attack, Pathankot attack.
BJP/RSS are inciting Muslims to take extreme path and then killing them and becoming hero in front of public.
BJP/RSS are inciting riots, thereby some Hindus get kiiled and then use that as a victim card and gain their votes.
BJP is economically and intellectually downgrading Muslims in a systematic way, which needs to be countered.
BJP/RSS is inciting sectarian divide among Muslims such as shia/sunni, tableeghi/ahl hadeeth, etc. We need to counter that in all fronts.
Exodus of pandits by Hindu Kings:
First exodus of Pandits by Hindu King Rajaadeva : According to Pandit Jai Lalkilam ,History of Kashmiri Pandits,pp.20 . Let me quote him word to word ‘’ During the reign of Ramadeva (1252-1273) Some Bhattas (Brahmans) who helped in his in-vesture as king ,having being insulted by him,conspired to install somebody from among Khasas on the throne of Kashmir .But their conspiracy did not long remain a secret and an orgy destruction and plunder was let loose upon them. Some of them were killed and others suppressed with atrocious mercilessness and to save themselves the cry was raised everywhere ‘NA BATOHAM’ ,’’I AM NOT A BHATA’’ .This is first onslaught recorded in history against Brahmins of Kashmir’’.Let me share few more plunderer and iconoclast. Same has been narrated by Pandit Prithvi Nath .K. Bamzai, History of kasmir ,pp.154 and Pandit Prithvi Nath .K. Bamzai, History of kasmir ,pp.119 onwards.
Second exodus ethenic cleansing of Pandits by Hindu King Jayapira:
Second exodus of Pandits by Hindu King jayapira : He caused 99 Brahman Kashmiri Pandits death in water by drowning after confiscating their land at Tullmulla (Stein, Kalhana’s Rajtarangini ,Vol 1 ,verse 638). According to pandit historian, Jonaraja,Shrivara Prajyabha & shukha,Kings of Kashmira,trans.J.C.Dutta ,pp.98-99,”Pandits opposed the king ,so king began to kill them,so Pandits fled the Kashmir to escape his tyranny.
According to Pandit Prithvi Nath .K. Bamzai, History of kasmir ,pp.120,The Pandit Brahmins, who were his particular victims, emigrated in large numbers and those who remained in Kashmir were perished.
ACccording to ,J C Duttas book, Kings of Kashmir(published in 1879 in india),book number 4,page no.98,when Brahmins began to oppose Jayapira ,some of them began to fled country (Kashmir)as the king began to kill many of them.
Third exodus of Pandits by Hindu King Tunga : Pandits tried to perform tantric magic on Raja Tunga ,so as to bring a favourable king in his place who could bestow them with fortunes without doing any work aswell. According to pandit historian, Jonaraja,Kings of Kashmira,trans.J.C.Dutta ,pp.169,” At Parihaspora (Presently SSM engineering college is placed there),the Pandit Brahmin minster caused magic to be performed for the fall of Tunga.Sajja and other were requested by Pandits to join the “CONSPIRACY”for the overthrow of king and they agreed to it.”
When King came to know the conspiracy ,pp.70,”he deprived pandit and their family from their livelihood”.Since pandits felt to migration from Kashmir is only way to escape the political fallout of their conspiracy. According to Pandit Prithvi Nath .K. Bamzai, History of kasmir ,pp.137 ,Tunga was revolted by Pandit Brahmins ,so he punished ,killed,imprisioned and banished them.
if killing of 219 pandits is genocide what about killing of 6 lac kashmiri muslim by kashmiri elite like Pandit raj kak dhar and wazir pannu