5 Books to Better Understand the Tragedy of the Kashmiri Pandits
January 19, 2017 marks 26 years of exile of the Kashmiri Pandits from the valley. There is much deserved outrage on the web and beyond on the exile of the community living as refugees in their own country.
We suggest that you read these books which are critical to understanding the tragedy of the Pandits and the context in which it happened.
1.‘Language of belonging: Islam, regional identity, and the making of Kashmir’ by Chitralekha Zutshi
This book is a scholarly study of a relatively recent period in the history of Kashmir (1846-1953), the period of Dogra rule. It attempts to show that there is nothing inevitable about the identity of kashmiriyat.
2.‘Culture and Political History of Kashmir’ by PNK Bamzai
Till the appearance of this book, there was no authentic and comprehensive history of Kashmir available in English. This work filled, to a great extent, the void. Jawaharlal Nehru says in the Introduction. “This fairly comprehensive history is, so far as I know, the only book of its kind and it is to be welcomed.”
3. ‘Kashmir: Behind the Vale’ by MJ Akbar
This book by former journalist and now BJP spokesperson MJ Akbar makes it to the list not for its contribution to the study of the Pandit exodus per se, but because it places religion and secularism as a a critical part of the Kashmir issue. This approach helps in analysing the historical and socio-political contexts of the tragedy than the tragedy itself.
4. ‘Our Moon has Blood Clots: A Memoir of a Lost Home in Kashmir’ by Rahul Pandita
This first-hand account of the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir Valley was recently described by Ramachandra Guha as the most evocative book on the subject. Journalist Rahul Pandita tells the story of the exiled community through the story of his own family
5. ‘My Frozen Turbulence in Kashmir’ by Jagmohan
This book becomes an important read because Jagmohan was the governor, Delhi’s man in Kashmir, from the mid-80s and through the critical period of ’89-90 when the Pandits were driven out of the valley.
Correspondence:
On April 21, 1990, Jagmohan wrote a scathing letter to Rajiv Gandhi. You can read it here in full. In this letter, Jagmohan rebuts the charges of communalism imposed on him and goes on to list the multiple instances of gross negligence of the central government in the face of imminent breakdown of constitutional machinery.
Video: In this chilling clip, terrorist Bitta Karate, who killed many Kashmiri Pandits, narrates the events in a sordidly simple manner.