[Reader-list] Thinking Through Figures on Internal Displacement from Kashmir

[Pawan Durani]

Dear Shuddha,

It is a disaster for any nation to have a person like you as a citizen .

Kashmiri Pandits have not stopped any other displaced community from raising
their voices.

Since , we Kashmiri Pandits have been victimised , it is but natural for us
to raise our voice for our rights. Once we get our rights, then only we can
support others.

Mind it , we are fighting for ourselves and it is a unpaid job, unlike some
surrogates who act proxy for secessionists in Kashmir and support their
cause by trying to create an opinion.

Also Shuddha , just shut up your lip service for Kashmiri pandits. We know
where you are coming from ! Don't play around with words.

Your words , as always are manipulative with an agenda....... dont play
around and instead take a walk.

I am sure this group by now knows your plans and agenda.

And dont worry , till the killers of Kashmiri Pandits are not hanged in the
Tohar jail........Panun Kashmir and Roots In Kashmir would not rest.

We have to set an example , once for all. We have already suffered 10
migrations in 10 centuries.........


Now ...no more........


No need to be sad ...Shuiddha.....


Pawan

Jai Maharshtra - Jai Hind.




On 10/29/08, Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha at sarai.net> wrote:
>
> Dear All,
>
> Apologies for what will be a lengthy posting. And those driven to
> exasperation (like me) by the repeated monopolization of this list by
> matters 'Kashmiri' may not want to read this. But, those who are
> interested in more general matters to do with the politics and
> rhetoric of the representation of victimhood, might.
>
> I have read with interest the ongoing discussion on the plight of the
> displaced Kashmiri Pandit community in India. I totally agree with
> Kirdar Singh's recent declaration of sympathy for the displaced
> Kashmiri Pandit community, and hope that an improvement in conditions
> on the ground in Kashmir and India will enable displaced Kashmir
> Pandits to return to their homes in safety and dignity. I support the
> implementation of whatever practical and fair measures that can be
> taken to ensure that this can happen.
>
> It needs to be recognized that there are significant voices in
> Kashmir that insist today (both within and outside the movement for
> liberation from occupation) that a future for Kashmir without
> Kashmiri Pandits is not worth fighting for. Those who refuse to
> listen to, or acknowledge these voices, live in a denial of their own
> making.
>
> Having said that, I need to point out that a large number of those
> who speak for Kashmiri Pandits on this list and on other public fora,
> and the organizations that they represent, such as Panun Kashmir and
> Roots in Kashmir, are in my opinion, part of the problem, not of the
> solution. Their aggressive efforts to monopolize the public space for
> discussion of the displaced Kashmiri Pandit question is obstructive
> and loaded with a deeply divisive and communal agenda that
> perpetuates a cycle of hate and prejudice.They are committed to a
> politics of confrontation and antagonism that makes it more, not less
> difficult for Kashmiri Pandits to return to the Kashmir valley. They
> are also more than willing to be used by right wing forces such as
> the BJP and other mainstream parties (including sections of so called
> secular parties such as the Congress) that want to keep the so called
> 'Kashmir question' alive as a means to blackmail Indians and
> Kashmiris into submission for the sake of their agenda of an
> extractive and authoritarian state.
>
> In fact, it could well be said that they have a vested interest in
> the perpetuation of the pitiable state in which the majority of
> displaced Kashmir Pandits find themselves in today. As long as
> Kashmiri Pandits can be projected to the world as in a permanent
> status of victimhood and abjection, organizations like Panun Kashmir
> (all factions) and Roots in Kashmir, and their political mentors will
> continue to be in business. The repeated and monotonous attempts by
> these individuals and the organizations and networks they represent
> need to be seen in this light.
>
> While expressing our full sympathy with the plight of displaced
> Kashmiri Pandits, it is important at the same time not to lose sight
> of the fact that the displaced Kashmiri Pandits are one, and only one
> of the many displaced communities in India.
>
> Also, it is important to keep in mind that no other displaced
> community in India has had as much attention bestowed upon it as have
> displaced Kashmiri Pandits. This does not mean that there should be
> less attention given to the genuine and legitimate problems and
> concerns of displaced Kashmiri Pandits, it only means the
> monopolization of the discussion on internal displacement in India by
> the monotonous repetition of the woes of displaced Kashmiri Pandits
> does a great deal of violence to other communities that have been
> displaced. It also prevents an effective solidarity from within
> internally displaced communities on the question of displacement. In
> the long term, this can only be a disaster for the displaced Kashmiri
> Pandit community. It is a disaster for which organizations such as
> Panun Kashmir and Roots in Kashmir are responsible, and many sensible
> displaced and other Kashmiri Pandits are beginning to see through
> this game today. Hopefully, it is only a matter of time before these
> organizations are exposed and isolated from within the displaced
> Kashmiri Pandit communities that they currently hold in their
> stranglehold.
>
> The current leadership of organizations such as Panun Kashmir and
> Roots in Kashmir, and their representatives on this list and other
> fora have displayed a degree of 'Kashmiri Pandit exceptionalism' that
> needs to be seen as deeply insensitive to the plight of all
> internally displaced communities in India, and ultimately damaging to
> the constituency that they claim to represent. One would have thought
> that the experience of speaking for and on behalf of one displaced
> community (the Kashmiri Pandits) would have sensitized them to the
> predicaments of other communities that share their fate.
> Unfortunately that is not the case, neither organizations such as
> Panun Kashmir and Roots in Kashmir, nor their sympathizers in
> political parties such as the Bharatiya Janata Part and the Shiv
> Sena, nor their partisans in Hindutva outfits such as the Rashtriya
> Svayamsevak Sangh, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bajrang Dal, nor
> indeed the many prominent writers and intellectuals such as Arun
> Shourie, Swapan Dasgupta, Sandhya Jain and others who have commented
> on the displacement of Kashmiri Pandits have ever thought it
> necessary to make common cause with other displaced communities.
>
> This means that as far as most of the above are concerned, the plight
> of displaced communities other than Kashmiri Pandits is of no
> consequence. My concern with the displacement of Kashmiri Pandits
> stems from the predicament of their displacement, not because they
> are Kashmiri Pandits. This is what makes it necessary to view their
> displacement and abjectness in a way that is connected to the
> displacement and abjection of the many other communities.
>
> We might consider also, that of all the internally displaced
> communities in India, it is the displaced Kashmiri Pandits who have
> had the maximum political leverage extracted for them and on their
> behalf. This 'leverage' ranges from -
>
> a) special legislation to protect their rights to property left
> behind by them (J&K Migrants Immovable Property: Preservation,
> Protection and Restraint of Distress Sales Act, 1997)  to a stay on
> court cases and civil judicial processes involving displaced Kashmiri
> Pandits (J&K Migrants: Stay on Proceedings Act, 1997)
>
> to a series of
>
> b) administrative measures concerning health, housing, education, ex-
> gratia payments, stipends and employment enacted by central as well
> as state governments specifically with regard to displaced people
> from Jammu and Kashmir, the overwhelming majority of whom, happen to
> be displaced Kashmiri Pandits.
>
> In fact, the state government of Jammu and Kashmir had in 1997
> constituted an Apex Level Comittee under the chairmanship of the
> Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Minister to look into all aspects
> of the problems of displaced Kashmiri Pandits and suggest solutions.
> A sub committee headed by the financial commissioner (planning and
> development) was constituted to prepare a plan for the return of
> migrants. This sub committee finalized an Action Plan for the
> returnand rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants involving a total
> amount of Rs. 2589.3 crores.
>
> In the interim, many special relief packages have been announced from
> time to time from the discretionary funds of the Prime Minister for
> the upgradation of assistance to displaced Kashmiri Pandits living in
> camps in Jammu and Delhi Even the defence ministry has on occasion
> released funds from its 'Security Related Expenses' (SRE) fund for
> the improvement of camp infrastructure.
>
> [for details of all of the above, see 'Government Relief to Kashmiri
> Pandits and their Rehabilitation' - Annexure 1, pgs 91 - 101, in
> 'Kashmiri Pandits: Problems and Perspectives - A Dialogue for Dignity
> - Report  of the Conference on Kashmiri Pandits held at the Observer
> Research Foundation, New Delhi, 2003, published by Rupa & Co. in
> association with the Observer Research Foundation, Delhi, 2005]
>
> I am not for a moment suggesting that these measures are adequate to
> the needs of the displaced Kashmiri Pandit community. What I am
> however acutely mindful of is the fact that no other internally
> displaced community in India has had as much resources spent on it,
> as many special measures (legislative and executive) taken on its
> behalf and attracted as much media attention as displaced Kashmiri
> Pandits have had. Compared to the conditions in which other
> internally displaced communities in India live, displaced Kashmiri
> Pandits are in a far more advantageous position. This ought to have
> made the most vocal amongst those who claim to be their spokepersons
> less aggressive, less narcissistic and more compassionate.
> Unfortunately, that is not the case.
>
> Let us now turn to seeing exactly what the conditions of other
> internally displaced communities in India are like.
>
> I am going to quote extensively here from reports and facts available
> at the website of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, an
> international rights group that concerns itself with the situation of
> internally displaced communities the world over. Specifically, I am
> looking at the webpage within this site that concerns internal
> displacement in India.
>
> see - <www.internal-displacement.org/countries/india>
>
> This is an excellent site, and is totally non-partisan. It highlights
> the plight of all internally-displaced communities, without biases
> and is a good place to get to know a balanced overall picture of
> internal displacement in India (as well as elsewhere)
>
> ON DISPLACEMENT FIGURES
>
> "The most common figure for the total number of internally displaced
> in India is 600,000. This figure comprises:
>
> · at least 250,000 people displaced from Kashmir (government figure)
> · 45,000 people who are still displaced along the Indian side of the
> Line of Control between India and Pakistan and cannot return despite
> the ceasefire
> · 230,000 displaced in Assam due to the conflict between Santhals and
> Bodos during the 1990s
> · 31,000 Reang displaced from Mizoram to Tripura
> · 45,000 displaced in the state of Chhattisgarh due to insurgency"
>
> (these figures at the moment do not include the large numbers of
> people displaced in the Kandhamal district of Orissa due to the anti-
> Christian violence there, of which the site has good reports and
> updates.)
>
> The site goes on to say -
>
> "These groups reside in camps and are therefore relatively easy to
> identify, but they constitute only part of the picture. The number of
> 600,000 does not include thousands of displaced in the Karbi-Anglong
> area of Assam and in Manipur where fighting between ethnic groups and
> counter-insurgency operations have displaced whole villages during
> the past few years. Many are displaced temporarily and are able to
> return after some weeks or months in displacement while an
> undetermined number are still displaced and receive no assistance. In
> Tripura, as many as 100,000-300,000 people of Bengali origin are
> estimated to have been displaced for the same reasons during the past
> decade, but no information exists about the return or continued
> displacement of this group (AHRC, January 2007, "Tripura"). In the
> state of Chhattisgarh, it is assumed that thousands have escaped the
> conflict between the authorities and Maoist groups by crossing over
> to neighbouring states, and they too are not part of the statistics.
> Nor does the figure take in the flight of migrant workers, as for
> example in Assam in January 2007 when Biharis were forced to leave in
> a matter of days due to threats and killings by local insurgents. The
> current estimate should therefore be seen as representing the camp
> population only and not those internally displaced who largely live
> unassisted with friends or relatives, or blend with other slum
> residents on the outskirts of the urban areas.
>
> It is therefore fair to assume that the total number of displaced is
> far higher than the figure of 600,000, although it is not possible to
> give a global estimate."
>
> ON RELIEF CAMPS
>
> "The relief camps for internally displaced in the North-East are
> reportedly in a deplorable condition. Camps for the displaced across
> the region are said to lack adequate shelter, food, health care,
> education and protection. This pattern has been confirmed by earlier
> reports which have documented that displaced throughout the North-
> East face severe hardship. Many of them live in public buildings and
> makeshift shelters, with little health care and no access to formal
> education (SAHRDC, March 2001). Both in Assam and in Tripura, acute
> food shortages and lack of health care leave internally displaced in
> acute hardship (MCRG, December 2006; AHRC, January 2007, p.136). The
> state governments say they have no money to provide relief to the
> displaced population and that they depend on support from the central
> government. Furthermore, thousands of those displaced by local
> insurgent groups in the state are reported to have received no relief
> at all, and are camping alongside roads in makeshift houses seven
> years after having been displaced (Deccan Herald, 22 May 2005). In
> Assam, it has been documented that the relief camps in the region are
> a major recruitment ground for trafficking of women to other places
> in India (BBC, 10 April 2007; IRIN, 17 May 2006).
>
> The same situation is reported from other relief camps for internally
> displaced in India. In Chhattisgarh, several reports have documented
> that the relief camps offer neither adequate assistance, nor
> protection to the internally displaced. In Gujarat, there are reports
> of immense trauma among children and women who witnessed atrocities
> or were victims of the 2002 riots (IIJ, December 2003, pp.64, 67;
> HRW, July 2003). Also, the displaced Muslim population faces acute
> poverty as their livelihoods were largely destroyed during the riots.
> Continued discrimination has left most of them unemployed, with
> female-headed households being particularly vulnerable. The relief
> camps have inadequate basic amenities such as potable water, sanitary
> facilities, schools and primary healthcare centres (AHRC, 10 January
> 2007, pp. 19-20; Bisht, 16 January 2007; AI, January 2005, 7.6.c;
> IIJ, December 2003). "
>
> ON INDIAN GOVERNMENTS POLICIES REGARDING IDPs
>
> "The Indian government has repeatedly expressed reservations in
> international fora about the UN Guiding Principles on Internal
> Displacement, which it sees as infringing its national sovereignty.
> India has no national IDP policy targeting conflict-induced IDPs, and
> the responsibility for IDP assistance and protection is frequently
> delegated to the state governments. Furthermore, although it is well
> documented that Indian military, paramilitary and police forces have
> engaged in serious human rights abuses in conflict zones, there have
> been no attempts at transparent investigations or prosecutions of
> those responsible (HRW, 12 September, 2006)."
>
> ON AD HOC AND DISCRIMINATORY TREATMENT REGARDING DIFFERENT IDP
> POPULATIONS
>
> "Although the Indian government provides support to conflict-affected
> populations, such assistance is mostly ad hoc and does not correspond
> to the needs of the displaced. State governments are assigned the
> main responsibility to assist and rehabilitate the displaced, but
> practices vary significantly from state to state (Nath, January 2005,
> p.68).
>
> The Indian government has been accused of discriminatory treatment of
> internally displaced because the displaced Kashmiri Pandit population
> overall receives much more support than displaced communities
> elsewhere in the country (NNHR, 19 February 2007)."
>
> The Indian government has been accused of failing to adhere to the UN
> Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and other international
> human rights standards in its response to displacement in Kashmir and
> Gujarat (AI, January 2005; HRW July 2003, p.38; ORF, September 2003).
> One survey conducted among different displaced communities in India
> reveals that over 55 per cent of the internally displaced do not
> receive any support at all and only 13 per cent receive any
> assistance from the authorities. The report also reveals that more
> than 70 percent of the surveyed population believe that return will
> be impossible, a fact that underlines the need for the government to
> work out sustainable solutions (MCRG, December 2006, p. 16). In
> Gujarat, human rights organisations blame local authorities as well
> as the state government for failing to address the needs of the
> displaced altogether, despite promises made by the government with
> regard to rehabilitation (IIJ, December 2003; HRW, July 2003).
>
> INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT DUE TO DEVELOPMENT
>
> "Available reports indicate that more than 21 million people are
> internally displaced due to development projects in India. Although
> the tribal population only make up eight percent of the total
> population, more than 50 per cent of the development induced
> displaced are tribal peoples – in India also known as Scheduled
> Tribes or Adivasis (HRW, January 2006). Ongoing research indicate
> that between 1945-2000 the number of displaced who did not receive
> rehabilitation could be as high as 50-60 million people."
>
> Clearly, all of the above indicates that the problem of displaced
> Kashmiri Pandits in India needs to be seen within a larger
> perspective. And when we take that perspective into account we
> realize that displaced Kashmiri Pandits constitute what might be
> called the 'creamy layer' (by virtue of the disproportionate amount
> of resources and attention that they obtain) of the overall situation
> of internal displacement in India.
>
> Finally, a brief note on the extinction of cultures and human
> populations, a question that has been raised by Kshmendra Kaul in one
> of his recent postings. I fully agree with Kshmendra, we need to pay
> careful attention to the problem of cultural extinction. But even
> from that point of view, the situation of
>
> According to census figures, Kashmiri Pandits constituted 15 % of the
> Valley's population in 1941. This came down to 5 % by 1981 and 0.1 %
> by around 2003. While a significant proportion of the decrease of 4.9
> % (registered between 1981 and today) can be attributable to the
> political conditions pertaining since 1989-90 (the years that Pandits
> say there were targetted and forced to leave), to what can we
> attribute the 10 % decline (from 15 % to 5 %) in the Kashmiri Pandit
> population in the Kashmir valley between 1941 and 1981?
>
> In those forty years, India's writ ran unchallenged in the part of
> Kashmir held by India,  and the Kashmiri Pandit elite was very much
> part of the governing equation, both in the Kashmir valley, as well
> as in India. Clearly, a significant section from within the Kashmiri
> Pandit population (which was highly educated and considerably
> affluent) did not, in those forty years care as much for the
> retention of its cultural ethos in the Kashmir valley as much as it
> did for the betterment of the material prospects of members of the
> Kashmiri Pandit community in metropolitan India and elsewhere.
>
> In other words, while I totally agree with Kshmendra that we are all
> diminished when a community as culturally and intellectually vibrant
> as the Kashmiri Pandits find themselves virtually effaced from their
> homeland, I do at the same time think that this condition requires
> Kashmiri Pandits today to do some soul searching as to why they were
> so eager to abandon the Kashmir valley in the years between 1947 and
> 1989. Had they stayed on, or retained an interest in the way in which
> the valley was systematically misgoverned, under the aegis of the
> Indian occupation, then perhaps conditions might indeed have been
> different. '
>
> I still think that there is hope, no sensible person in Kashmir (no
> matter what their politics or affiliation)  for a single moment
> refuses to recognize that Kashmiri Pandits are part of the cultural
> mosaic of Kashmir. In countless conversations that I have had my with
> who stay in Kashmir, I have heard people state that they yearn for
> the return of all displaced Kashmiri Pandits because Kashmir feels
> incomplete without them. Perhaps a new generation of displaced and
> other Kashmiri Pandits will reciprocate (over the heads of Panun
> Kashmir and Roots in Kashmir) and re-engage with what is going on in
> Kashmir in a spirit of solidarity. For this to happen, there needs to
> be a recognition of the difficulties that everyone in Kashmir has
> faced in the last sixty odd years, and a reversal of the cultural,
> political and demographic abandonment of Kashmir by a section of the
> Kashmiri Pandit elite that began, not in 1989, but much earlier.
>
> I hope that this helps us clarify the terms on which the discussion
> on internal displacement, and the internally displaced Kashmiri
> Pandits, and the politics of perpetual victimhood can ensure, and I
> hope that the exploitation of a vulgar quantification of pain and
> oppression, which I personally find deeply distasteful, may cease on
> this list. We do not need to prove to each other how much worse off
> we are in our individual capacities in order to develop an argument
> against oppression.
>
> regards,
>
> Shuddha
>
>
>
>
>
>
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