19th January holds profound significance for the Kashmiri Pandit (KP) community as it marks the day in 1990 when thousands of KPs were forced to flee the Kashmir Valley due to a combination of targeted killings, threats, and a climate of terror. This exodus is regarded as one of the darkest chapters in the history of the community, leading to their displacement and subsequent struggle to preserve their culture, identity, and heritage. The day is observed as a solemn reminder of the community's suffering and resilience. It serves as an opportunity to reflect on justice, reconciliation, and the need to address the issues faced by displaced Kashmiri Pandits.
Kashmiri Pandits have been living an exile life from last over three decades as this unfortunate but nationalistic and core patriotic community had been forced to leave their homes and hearths by the Islamist, radicalized and armed marauders in 1990 and after wards when many of them have been killed with sadistic pleasure and the rest of KP’s were threatened of serious consequences if they would not leave Kashmir. This resulted in the forced and involuntary exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits. The KP’s are rusting in the alien climate of Jammu and other places of India as they were not acclimatized with the hot and humid climate of Jammu and other places of India ,where then KP’s are scattered..The internally displaced Kashmiri Pandits need sympathy and human approach .But the successive centre and state/UT governments of Jammu and Kashmir had not paid any heed and is not paying any heed to mitigate the problems facing exiled Kashmiri Pandits. Alas! the KP’s are suffering not only because of the militants who had forced the miniscule KP community to migrate to Jammu and other places ,but also due to apathy, inhuman approach and callousness as well as the heaping of procedures upon the KP’s. They have been made prisoners of procedures as at every step the Kashmiri pundits are asked to fulfill requirements, procedures and comply with tedious formalities which made their life very troublesome and difficult.
At every step while dealing with the government, the exiled Kashmiri Pandits are asked to undergo many procedures and fulfill a number of formalities which strains them and makes them uneasy and restive. It is so unfortunate ,untenable and disturbing that the displaced Kashmiri Pandits have to fulfill many formalities and follow and undergo a number of procedures and in fact a large number of procedures have to be complied with by the exiled Kashmiri Pandits. Many a time cumbersome and difficult procedures have to be fulfilled. To exercise vote is the democratic and constitutional right of all citizens in a democracy and KP migrants are no exception to this right .In the sphere of exercising their democratic right of adult franchise that is to exercise the right to vote ,the meek and weak exiled Kashmiri Pandits are required to fill and deposit M Form with the Relief commissioner Migrants. Kashmiri Pandit voters in assembly, LoK Sabha and even in the local body polls are asked to fill and deposit M Forms. Migrant KP has to make rounds of visits to relief commissioner migrants office and relief counter that is zonal office and so they have to go from pillar to post to finally get the chance to vote .It is very laborious process and procedure and only after fulfilling and complying with many formalities can he exercise his right to vote for a candidate of his original constituency of Kashmir. These procedures discourages the migrants KP and so many displaced KP’s think it proper not to vote. Thus KP voters and other KP’s as well have to comply with a heap of requirements, formalities and procedures and these procedures and hard and fast rules put Kashmiri Pandits to unwanted inconveniences and difficulties so much so that they curse themselves to be born in the Kashmiri Pandit family. All this is against the constitutional provisions and is total discrimination. At every step in their lives, the unfortunate exiled Kashmiri Pandits have to comply with bundle of procedures which has made their life worse than hell. In taking admission in schools ,collages, in visiting to municipality offices in connection with the birth and death certificates, they are made to undergo many procedures and fulfill several formalities unlike other people simply because the Kashmiri Pandits have earned the bad sobriquet of migrants.
The fact is that the Kashmiri Pandit’s are ousters from Kashmir and it is appropriate to call them as internally displaced people and not migrants. But it is their ill luck and travesty as well as irony that the Kashmiri Pandits are bracketed as Migrants which in fact is disrespect to the highly educated community of Kashmiri Pandits. Kashmiri Pandits were and are giving preference to white collar jobs. Before their wholesales displacement, this community was known to be government servants as its educated and skilled youth were employed in the erstwhile state .But with the onset of their displacement ,the avenues of employment have drastically shrunk as they do not come in district cadre, divisional cadre and they stand robbed of the government jobs as very few or no educated youth of the displaced Kashmiri Pandit community is employed. A big chunk of Kashmiri Pandit employees have attained superannuation and again a big number have left their job to go for private corporate job outside J&K. A very residual number is still left in government service. The Kashmiri Pandit government employees are required to fulfill many procedures and formalities while applying for the drawal of their hard earned money the GPF advance. Here the KP’s are asked to fulfill many criteria, formalities and are asked to undergo many and unprecedented formalities and fulfill many procedures and all this taxes them. And after following and complying rigorous procedures the displaced Kashmiri Pandit employee is sanctioned money from his GPF account .It negates natural justice and constitution. A small number of the Kashmiri Pandits are registered as relief holders in relief category and such KP’s are few thousands and a larger number of the displaced KP’s are registered as government employees and rest as pensioners and they do not receive any relief .But unfortunately there is a false notion in the society that all displaced Kashmiri Pandits are taking relief which is totally untrue. This wrong notion needs to be dispelled.
Even those Displaced KP’s who are registered as migrants in relief category are only paid cash doles as the amount credited monthly in their accounts is so meager that they hardly can make both ends meet. Both relief holders and non-relief holder migrant KP’s are asked umpteen times to fulfill the hard procedures. The relief holders are subjected to heap of formalities and hard procedures that delays even the cash doles to them. Again Kashmiri Pandit migrants have to comply with many formalities, give undertakings and advance affidavits when they apply for their GPF advance. Some cumbersome procedures and formalities have to be fulfilled when a KP migrant government employee superannuates .It means that at every step the KP displaced people have to undergo procedures and formalities which delays their works and final results. One fails to understand if there is a separate CSR for the migrant KP employees. In fact it is sheer and total injustice with the displaced Kashmiri Pandit employees. To sum up it can be said that it is no exaggeration to state the fact that displaced /migrant Kashmiri Pandits have been made the prisoners of procedures by the successive centre and state/UT governments. There is need and necessity to free the migrant/displaced KP’s from the shackles of procedures which only made their life more difficult and results in procedural delays. Omar government should pay attention to remove the taxing procedures which make the life of KP migrants difficult and uneasy. Will the new government pay heed to removing this glaring discrimination is a million dollar question?
(Vivek Koul)
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