[Reader-list] Massacres - contd.

[Pawan Durani]

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KASHMIR SENTINEL

July 1st-August 15th, 2000

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Remnant Pandits face spectre of ethnic cleansing

Two-thousand Pandits, who continue to remain in Kashmir valley have
again been caught in the fire of ethnic-cleansing, resorted to by the
Muslim fundamentalists. Close on the heels of Telwani massacre,on Feb
5, when three Pandits were killed, the separatists attacked a Pandit
family at Brari-Angan.
In the renewed campaign of ethnic-cleansing, the separatists had asked
through posters and threatening calls, all the non-Muslim minorities
to leave Kashmir by March 28. As the sequence of events indicates the
separatists had chosen Brari Angan-Achbal belt for this renewed
campaign.
On the holy festival of Shivratri a group of twelve terrorists
appeared at the houe of Brij Nath at Brari Angan, Achabal and
kidnapped him. He was taken to a temple and killed there. Another
version said he was done to death in a nearby jungle. Brij Nath’s
family had trusted his neighbours and b did not migrate in 1990. He
was an employee of the State Irrigation deprtment.
The same night, the militants attacked a police post, guarding 6
Pandit families at Pethbugh, near Dyalgam in Anantag. Unidentified
gunmen fired indiscriminately upon the houses of Pandits.
Lalitashorie, wife of TN Raina was killed, while her husband was
injured critically. Gunmen, as usual escaped.
These three attacks and the latest massacre of Sikhs at Chatti
Singhpora have shaked remnant Pandits out of complacency. Since then
there has been a steady trickle of these people to Jammu. First to
arrive were Pandit families from Telwani and Chandrigam in the first
week of February. On February 22, four Pandit families from village
Fatehpura reached Jammu. One, Bansi Lal told mediamen that they have
been forced to migrate after receiving threatening calls from
militants. He said, "we were feeling insecure and helpless due to
inadequate security arrangements made by the government in the
matter". The families said Telvani massacre jolted them and they left
their places to preserve dignity and honour. Bansi Lal claimed, "we
were harassed and lived in fear. We were surrounded by fear and life
was full of agony".
Another group of Pandits, 4 families with 14 members, including 9
women from Akoora (where three families have stayed back) boarded
Jammu-bound vehicles under tight-police protection, after receiving
threatening calls. They reached Jammu on March 12.
Four more families from Noorpora, Traal fled in wee hours of March 10.
Santosh Raina told the media that recent killings of Kashmiri Pandits
had made them feel insecure. "We loaded our belongings in the truck a
night before and asked the driver to wait at Awantipora on the
national highway. Next morning, we pretended as if we were going to
Srinagar". Santosh’s husband ran a grocery shop in the village, while
her two daughters taught at a local private school. Her brother-in-law
Triloki Nath, who had migrated to Jammu in 1991 had been imploring
them to come but they stayed back. About not informing her neighbours,
Santosh said, "It was not safe to confide in anybody. The killing of
four Pandits in Telwani village was a warning".
As Santosh’s sister-in-law belongs to village Pethbugh, where
Lalitashorie was killed, insecurity grew stronger. She said though
they were all the time feling insecure, her father-in-law Ramchander
Raina was adamant not to leave the place of his ancestors. He died
about six months back. Presently there are twelve houses of Kashmiri
Pandits in Noorpora but most of them are posted in Srinagar, with
majority of their family members in Jammu.
Akoora Pandit families said that the militants had issued a deadline
for all the minorities to leave the Valley by March 29 or face
consequences. Infact, posters had appeared in some villages and even
in Anantnag town. Pethbug incident made them believe that the warning
could not be taken non-seriously. The families which migrated from
Akoora included those of TN Raina (3 membrs), Bihari Lal Raina (5
members), Kanya Lal Dhar (3 members) Ramesh Kumar Raina (2 members),
TN Raina (4 members), Surinder Kumar Bhat (4 members), Moti Lal Koul
(5 members). Avtar Krishan Dhar, a government teacher, alongwith his
brother’s family migrated to Jammu on March 14. He had to abandon his
house in Pethbug village on March 5, when terrorists killed
Lalitashorie.
Lalitashorie’s husband and two children have also left their native
village. TN Raina’s younger brothers and mother had migrated earlier.
Rueing his decison to stay back, TN Raina said "All of them have been
pressing me hard to come to Jammu. But the difficulty my brother,
Maharaj Krishan had to face in getting himself registered as a migrant
in 1993, discouraged me from leaving Kashmir earlier".
Following the massacre at Chatti-Singhpora, three Pandit families of
Prem Nath Bhat, Vishnath Bhat and Rattan Lal Bhat migrated from
Nowgam, Acchabal on April 2.
Meanwhile, Armymen foiled an attempt of separatists to target four
Pandit families at Wusan, Ganderbal. They after intercepting a
message, asked the families to move to their camp for protection.
On April 5, scores of Pandit Accountant General office employees had a
narrow escape, when the terrorists hurled a grenade on vehicle
carrying them when it was on way to office. At Budshah Chowk at 10:00
AM, a grenade missed the target and exploded on road side causing
injuries to two civilians. This is the second attack on AG employees
during the decade-long terrorist violence in the Valley.
The employees have threatened to force closure of office in case
authorities failed to provide adequate security to them. They blamed
their management for callousness in not prevailing upon the security
authorities for ensuring proper security. For the past two months the
AG employees have been receiving threatening calls. Despite warnings
by the security officials, their bus was not permitted to move via
high-security Gupkar zone.
While the attacks on the last outposts of minorities continue leading
to the exodus of remnant Pandits, both the state and Central
government have been making ‘Proforma’ statements about the return and
rehabilitation of Kashmiri Hindus (see Box0. In the state Assembly,
upper house, the BJP leader, Daya Krishan Kotwal embarrassed the
government by asking how many Kashmir migrant families had been sent
back so far after the NC government came to power. He also demanded
setting up of a committee to look after the safety of the Kashmiri
Pandit properties.