[Reader-list] Godhra carnage vs. Pandits exodus

[Pawan Durani]

http://www.kashmirherald.com/main.php?t=OP&st=D&no=341

On-again, off-again nature of talk about 2002 Gujarat riots, on the heels of
Godhra carnage, is preposterous. It is outrageous and disgusting to raise
such issues, rendered irrelevant with the passage of time, to tarnish the
image of India, booming with economic activity. It is disrespectful to the
nation of one billion people.

The so-called 'Tehelka expose' has, in fact, exposed the hollowness of
pseudo-secularists, who flourish on such 'gossip'. Such loose discussions,
brought to the fore repeatedly, should be put to an end once for all. The
drum-beaters of secularism are deliberately orchestrating of what they call
'sting operation', when the Assembly elections in Gujarat are approaching.
It is the height of stupidity to claim that the 'expose' just 'coincided'
with the announcement of the Assembly poll in Gujarat.

In the first instance, such 'exposures' are politically-motivated. The
'power hungry' Congress politicians know when and how to operationalise
their 'mischievous designs', how to indulge in dirty tricks and how to mould
public opinion. They raise the bogey of Gujarat riots, without bothering to
mention about Godhra mayhem, in which 58 Hindu Kar Sevaks were roasted alive
while they were traveling in the Sabarmati Express. The reaction to Godhra
was Gujarat riots.

The question is what was the need to reopen healed up wounds. If it was
needed at all, why 'publicity' was not given to these killings six months
earlier? What was done is done; cannot be undone. No sane person will gloat
over the killings or justify them.

But raising such issues repeatedly cannot be justified. More so since the
secularists across the country did not bother to talk about the gruesome
killings of nearly 1200 Kashmiri Hindus in early 1990 and later in sporadic
incidents of ethnic cleansing. These killings and the resultant mass exodus
of 5, 00,000 Hindus from Kashmir Valley are a blot on the Indian democracy.

Hardly 15,000 Hindus are left in the valley now. Have they no right to live
in their land of birth? Have they no democratic rights? The Human Rights
organizations and the Amnesty International are just feigning ignorance
about the apathetic conditions of the Kashmiri Hindus. So far the Indian
Government's internal policy priorities are concerned human rights of
Kashmiri Pundits have been locked in the boot.

Since there is so much talk about post-Godhra carnage by secularists, may I
ask them why they are not equally strident in the case of Kashmiri Hindus'
plight. Why don't they pause for a while to wonder what was the fault of the
Kashmiri Hindus to be marginalised and neglected in their own country? What
crime had they committed against the majority Muslim community in the
Valley?

After the mass exodus, their houses were looted and set on fire. Temples and
other places of worship were burnt down. The Hindus were compelled to
dispose off their properties at throwaway prices, so that they don't dare to
return to the Valley. Is this secularism? Is this democracy? No eyebrows
were raised about the pogrom of the Kashmiri Hindus.

For Kashmiri Hindus, secularism has been buried in the graveyards of
Kashmir. The moderate Muslims were helpless as the radicals are holding the
sway. And they just advised the 'Hindu brethren' to leave for lack of
security.

To cap it all, some maverick writers believe that killings of Muslims in
Gujarat, as exposed by Tehelka, should not be suppressed. Does it mean, what
has happened to Kashmiri Hindus and non-Kashmiri Hindus, who had also
settled there for decades, should be suppressed? It is shameful. Why was not
any commission set up to go into the killings and forcible exodus of
Kashmiri Hindus?

Why are there one-sided sting operations? Is it not a new weapon in the
hands of the secularists to divide the society on communal lines, keeping in
mind the vote bank policy?

The authorities in Godhra, soon after the mayhem, had made an unsavoury
statement that those who had burnt alive the karsevaks were "uneducated,
without jobs and poor. Most of them, called Ghanchi Muslims, live in poverty
and have no economic activity" How amazing? The Godhra officials were forced
to make confusing statements to suppress the truth about Godhra.

These tactics are sure to boomerang and destroy the age-old residual
communal harmony. They should realize such exposures will retaliate on them,
just like terrorism has boomeranged on Pakistan. Dr Sachidananda Sinha has
well said: "Where there is no vision, the people perish".

Maverick writer Farzana Versey argues that the cause of Kashmiri Hindus has
been romanticized. In a recent news paper article, "Fission Kashmir"
(September 7, 2007) she remarks: "Unlike the 140 terrorist groups, the
Pandit lobby is strong. It can organize itself. Displaced Pundits are now
demanding reservations in the Jammu and Kashmir legislature and government
jobs, as well as setting up of three townships in the Valley for their
rehabilitation". What is wrong in making these demands?

Unlike Versey, some Pakistan journalists appear to sympathise with Kashmiri
Pundits. They visited the migrant camps in Jammu and saw things for
themselves. They have taken up the cudgels for speaking the truth. For the
past 17 years, the Pundit community has lost its cultural moorings. They
have lost their identity as an ethnic group, and are unable to preserve
their traditions and customs.

Some Indian journalists are talking about 'nailing the guilty of Gujarat'.
Their response is based on Tehelka's investigations, which, according to
them, has 'provided evidence on tapes 'of stories relating to the Muslims'
killings by top functionaries of the BJP and Sangh Parivar.

Well, if that is indeed the case, what about nailing known JKLF activist
Bitta Karatay, who, in a recent TV interview had claimed responsibility for
killing scores of Hindus, with many more on his hit-list. He was in jail for
16 years on the charge of murdering a score of Kashmiri Hindus.

The Supreme Court has released Karatay recently for 'want of evidence'.