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| Brief Details about forcable conversion and En Mass Migrations of Kashmiri Pandits from their Homeland..... | | | Autar Krishan Trisal | 2/7/2019 10:50:36 PM |
| Migration-4th
Jahangir's (1605-27 AD) sectarian predilection and prejudices were clearly pronounced resulting in his shuffling his stances in dealing with kashmiri Hindu's, who were forced to marry their daughter's to Mughal Officers and Subedars. He disapproved and opposed matrimonial relations between Hindu's and Muslim's and declared that while a Hindu was debarred by law to marry a muslim women, the Muslims has all the license to marry a Hindu women. Itquad Khan the Mughal Sardar further sullied Jahangir"s image by forcing the Hindu's as gun point to get converted to Islam. He also tortured them by levying taxes. Shahjehan (1627-58 AD) also contributed his bit by desecrating and demolishing a number of temples. Aurangeb's (1658-1707 AD). Puritanical disposition did not go well with Kashmir. He visited the valley once in 1665 AD. He appointed 14 atrocious Subedars who persued policy of Islamazation. Notable among them was Iftekhar Khan (1671-75 AD) for his cruelity of all Sorts to leave Kashmiri Hindu's no alternative but to embrace Islam are quit homeland. A delegation of 500 Kashmiri Hindu's led by Pt. Kripa Ram a learned person, called on Sh. Guru Teg Bahadur to narrate the woeful tales of diabolical misrule of Aurangzeb patronized Iftekhar Khan. The great saint from Punjab went to Delhi for redressal of kashmiri Hindu's grievances and got martyred by cunning Aurangzeb 1675 AD. Hence due to continued persecution including killings and desecration of temples, the exodus continued unabated. Justice Jia Lal Kilam records in" history of kashmiri Pandit's" (with due reference to the earlier histories written by Muslim Historians like Fauk, Hassan and Azim Khan- the latter being reportedly an witness of the episode). That Muhatta Khan (who appeared on the sins towards the end of Mughal Rule), was credited with the deep knowledge of Islamic Laws, somehow or other found fault with the policy followed by the Naib Subedar Mir Ahmed Khan towards the Hindu's and made it plain the ascendency of the Hindu's was intolerable from every point of view. He laid a prayer before the Subedar to the following effect that no Hindu should ride a horse nor should he wear a shoe they should not wear Jama (an article of Mughal dress), they should not bear arms, they should not visit any garden, they should not have tilak mark on their foreheads, and their children should not receive any education. The Subedar refuse to agree to these proposals but Muhatta khan was of a sterner stuff could not take this lying down and he took the law into his own hands and established his seat in a Mosque wherefrom he issued orders in furtherance of his proposals. He gained huge following and his fans were deputed to harass and humiliate the Hindu's in general. He issued an edict that whenever a Hindu is seen riding a horse, he should be pull down, Tilak mark should be erased from his forehead and his turban and shoes should be snatched away. Besides, orders were issued that no Hindu should attend any school or visit a garden, nor should he wear decent dress and so on. This was a signal for a general rising and an orgy of loot plunder and murder was let loose. Muhatta Khan soon over powered the subedar assumed all powers of the state. Having done so, he ordered a systematic attack upon the Hindu area.Hundred's of them was killed and maimed and most of them were looted and their houses burnt.
Migration 5th
The Afghan Rule (1753 -1820 AD) was ruthless and atrocious. The period under two upstarts, namely, Lal Khan Khattak and Fakir Ullah was extremely tyrannical. Khattak was given to insane rage and sometimes got the entire family killer on mere suspicion. He got hundreds of Hindu's killed because he suspected his father had been killed at the instance of Kashmiri Hindu noble , Kailash Dhar , who was killed in broad day light in court of Shia governor, Amir khan Jawan Sher at the instance of Fazal Kanth, the diabolical son of Fakir Ullah who was then chief minister. The episode left Hindu's alarmed, Panicked , helpless and desperate resulting in their flight to safe shelters in Poonch and Kabul. The misrule touched lowest ebb under the Governorship of Haiji karim Dad Khan and Asad Khan for minor offences people were tired in pairs and thrown into rivers. Women were sexually abused. The despotic Asad Khan got the belly of an outside surjeon cut for failure to set right his eye, to verify this threat. Asad Khan assumed the title of Nadir Shah II in 1784 AD Atta Mohd. another Afghan Governor persecuted Hindu's relentless and earned notoriety for his insatiable lust for beautiful Kashmiri women. Apprehensive Hindu parents got the good looks of their daughter sullied to evade attention of Governor's agents. Anand Kaul Bamzie records in his book "the Kashmiri Pandit", Jabbar Khan the last Afghan Governor who got killed at Shopian on July15,1819 AD was one told by someone that it was a common notion among Pandit's that snowfalls invariably at the Shivratri night (13th day of dark fort night-Phagun). To test this, he ordered Pandit should not observe this festival in Phagun (February-March) but in Har (June -July) accordingly, it had to be observed on the corresponding night in the later month's. it so happened that even on that night, flakes of snow, preceded by a heavy rainfall which had rendered the atmosphere very cold fell. The Band then, mocking at him sang: "WUCHTON YI JABBAR JANDAH Haras ti karun vandah" (look at jabbar the wretch, even HAR he turned into winter).
The capture of Kashmir by Sikhs marked the deliverance of the Kashmiri Hindu's from the Barbarous Afghan Governor's. Pt Birbal Dhar's political maturity paved the way for Maharaja Ranjit Singh to established Sikh rule (1820~46 AD) in the valley. The sounds of the bell again stared emanating from the temples. The sikh rule was an era of peace for all. Somestray instance of harshness by sikh ruler apart, they were not cunning , cruel and fanatic religious zealots as their muslim predecessors. Younghusband a british political resident in Kashmir, wo had travelled extensively in Kashmir and other area around the himalaya's as also Central Asia/China observed the Sikhs were no so barbarically cruel as the Afghan's but they were hard and rough masters.
Migration 6th
The last governor of the sikh rule Imam~ud~din was made to surrender the possession of Kashmir to Raja Gulab Singh in pursuance of the treaty of Amritsar signed on march 16th, 1846 AD. The Dogra dynasty lasted for little over a centaury and saw four Maharaja's, namely Gulab Singh (1846-57), Ranbir Singh (1857-85), Pratap Singh (885-1925) and Hari Singh (1925-1952). The J&K state acceded to India on October 29,1947, but the hereditary rule of the Dogra's was abolished in 1952. In the wake of the British Government pervasive and decisive intervention in the affair of the state. The period could well be called the Dogra~ British rule rather than the Dogra rule alone. The British pursued their known policy of divide and rule and exploited the jealousy among the newly educated Muslim youth against the well educated Kashmiri Pandit's to carve out a situation to set stage for desperate Muslim's youth to an act scenes of violent political agitation. The Kashmiri Pandit's became a eyesore for the simple reason of their outshining others. Sheikh Abdullah then the most prominent leader of the Muslim Reading Room Group, minced no words to voice resentment and made provocative speeches in Mosques resulting in Kashmiri Muslims repeating history of loot, arson and murder on July 13,1931, a black day for Kashmiri pandits ironically celebrated by the local government and the muslims as martyrs day even now. The frenzied mob went beserk and the Maharaja adminidtation failed to protect the terrorized Kasmiri Pandits, who were taken unawares. Thousands of Kashmiri Pandits had to flee the valley for life.
Migration 7th
The post independence period witnessed yet another spell of migration by the hapless Kasmiri Pandits from northern, northwestern and northeastern parts of Kashmir; to capital city of Srinagar in the wake of Pak raiders invasion in October, 1947 aided and abetted by the state of Pakistan; where local zealots joined hands with hordes of savages from NWFP, except Srinagar and South Kashmir, behaving worse that their Afghan ancestors. Innumerable prominent Kashmiri Pandits had to bid unwilling adieu to their land of birth due to ever dwindling and waning chances of livelihood despite merit, abolition of zamindari system that reduced thousands of Kashmiri Pandit owners as paupers owing to lack of due compensation as also discrimination of Kashmiri Pandit youth in matters of admission to higher education and technical/professional institutions. The process of slow exodus was further aggravated by the events like relic agitation (1963) and forcible abduction and conversion of a Hindu girl (1967).
Migration 8th
When G M Shah @ Gul Shah snatched political power from his estranged brother-in-law in 1984 he mastermind the construction of a Mosque within the premises of new secretariat at Jammu and provoked muslims in Srinagar (February 20,1986) to communalize the situation to rebut the criticism of the valiant people of Jammu. He deliberately raised the bogey of "Islam Khatre Mein hai that led to unleashing spree of desecration of Hindu's places of worship. Mufti Syed, then president of the local congress unit , patronized a crude and confirmed fundamentalist theologist, Kazi Nissar of south Kashmir to spearhead a movement that led to level raising of the temples in the far and wide of Southern Kashmir and the consequent fear psychosis among Kashmiri Pandit"s. This episode of 1986 made two things crystal clear that Kashmir was for Muslim"s only and the slogan of Kashmiriat (seculariam with reference to Kashmir) was a farce. Looked from the historical perspective these events formed a link in the chain of persecution of Kashmiri pandits over centuries in the past at the hands of muslims. Numerous Kashmiri Pandit families disposed of their immoveable properties and left the valley for good.
Migration 9th
The Hindus of the Kashmir Valley, a large majority of whom were Kashmiri Pandits, were forced to flee the Kashmir valley as a result of terrorism, on or after 20 January 1990. Of the approximately 160,000-170,000 Pandits living in the Kashmir Valley in 1990, only 4,000-5,000 remain there.
According to Indian government, more than 60,000 families are registered as Kashmiri refugees including some Sikh and Muslim families. Most families were resettled in Jammu, National Capital Region surrounding Delhi and other neighbouring states In 2016, only 2,764 Kashmiri Hindus were left in Kashmir Valley. |
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