[Reader-list] Massacres - Part 3

[Pawan Durani]

Dear Shuddha,

I agree that all bitter things must come to an end . However my
intention is not to let things remain bitter for ever.

I am just educating the members about History , since Kashmir has been
something which has been very passionately discussed in this forum.

Orzuv

Pawan

On Wed, May 27, 2009 at 12:31 PM, Shuddhabrata Sengupta
<shuddha at sarai.net> wrote:
> Pawan,
> For every one instance of assaults on Hindus by Muslims that you post,
> someone else may be able to find one, two, three, four instances of assaults
> on Muslims by Hindus. And none would be false, neither your claims, nor
> theirs. And then you would find more, and then they would find more, and
> life on this list would continue to spiral on to a vulgar exhibitionism of
> everybody's agony and mutual hatred. We've been down that road before. Who,
> after all, has not had a hard time in the twentieth century? Which identity
> cannot claim for itself the mantle of the victim?
> All this would only demonstrate what we know only too well, that human
> beings are vile, that religions (all religions, without exception, and
> modern ideologies, offer rationalizations for gratuitous acts of violence).
> So, what does that achieve ? I think nothing.
> Can we move on from this, and explore things that are new, that are
> surprising, that are discoveries, that extend our appreciation of our
> histories instead of trading the same monotonous charges, can we sometimes
> locate the occasional highlights that still continue to shine in the fragile
> house of the human spirit?
> Or must we remain forever trapped in this cycle of proving who had a worse
> twentieth century than whom? Speaking for myself, I have better things to do
> than be caught being a spectator to this kind of sado-masochism of the
> spirit. I hope I am not the only one who feels this way.
> Shuddha
> On 27-May-09, at 10:07 AM, Pawan Durani wrote:
>
> Sanity and Madness on 13th July, 1931
> The communal pogrom against Kashmiri Hindus and Khatri traders was a
> pre-planned move by the leaders of 13th July agitation and their
> sponsors - the British Political Department.
> Hindus became victims of the mad frenzy in Vicharnag, Maharajganj,
> Khankah Mohalla, in Srinagar city and at Shopian and Anantnag towns.
> The events which took place in Khankah mohalla reveal an interesting
> pattern. While the members of the majority community displayed strong
> communal passions when they came to attack Pandits, the immediate
> neighbours played a positive role.
> Five Pandit families lived in Khankah mohalla, opposite the Kali
> Shrine. These families included three families of Kouls - Ram Nath,
> Nilakanth and Rughnath. They were all cousins. The other two families
> - Niranjan Nath Wali and Dina Nath Wali lived jointly.
> Soon after looting Khatri shops in Maharajgunj the big mob turned to
> Khankah Mohalla to attack Kashmiri Hindus. The neighbours of the
> Pandit families - Gh. Mohammad Qalinbaf and Ahad Sakka (water carrier)
> rose to the occasion and decided not to betray their neighbours with
> whom they had been living through generations. At the suggestion of
> these neighbours the Kouls hid themselves in attic storey (Brer Kani)
> of the house. Sakka had asked Kouls to throw some household refuse on
> the verandah and keep windows and doors open to mislead the rioters.
> The Pandits, on hearing about the atrocities in other parts of the
> city were gripped with fear. Ram Nath recalls, "we tied our womenfolk
> with rope lest they escape out of fear. We had also decided to poison
> them to death in case an eventuality of kidnapping/molestation arose".
> When looters came, the families of Ahad Sakka and Qalinbaff told them
> that Pandits fled from their home on learning that the mob was on way
> to attack them. To keep rioters in good humour, Sakka and Qalinbaff
> mockingly abused Pandits and succeeded in turning the mob away. The
> mob stood for 25-30 minutes at Kaul's house.
> Neighbours of Walis also tried to save Walis but the mob had its way.
> Niranjan Nath Wali was an affluent person. Some people in the mob owed
> him money. They succeeded in instigating the frenzied mob to attack
> Niranjan and loot his property.
> After the looters left, Kouls shifted to the house of Ahad Sakka and
> stayed there for three days. This was the fortnight when Hindus
> observe shraddas of their departed near and dear ones. Members of the
> Koul family would stealthily during the night go to their home,
> prepare food and come back. At Sakka's home they took only pears and
> water.
> 3 days later Kouls shifted to Chinkral mohalla first and later to
> Sathu Barbarshah where Ramnath's aunt lived. Nilakanth Koul served in
> Police Department.
> He shifted his family to police lines. Such was the terror that
> Ramnath's family was brought back to Chinkral Mohalla in a special
> police van, nicknamed by locals as 'Rat Trap'. The Kouls never went
> back to live in the Mohalla where they had lived for centuries. They
> sold their house to Gh. Mohammad Qalinbaf in 1932. This in itself is
> an indicator of the terror created by the events of 13th July. Kashmir
> Sentinel
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