Permanent Rehabilitation Of Kashmiri Pandits Remains A Pipe Dream — Ground Report From Jammu's Jagti 'Migrant Colony'

"We all knew something was about to happen; just didn't know when and how," Ramesh Raina says, seated cross-legged in his Jammu residence.

A former employee of the state government, Raina's father used to serve as an executive engineer and had a stable job, income and a beautiful five-storey house adjacent to Dal Lake in Srinagar.

In 1990, when the exodus happened, Ramesh was a recently married 28-year-old with a one-year-old son.

He was in Jammu when he first heard the news about the impending exodus. His family, including his parents, wife and a child, were in Srinagar at the time.

His family were among the thousands who were forced out of the valley in 1990. There were rapes, killings and indiscriminate violence against the Hindu minority in the valley.

Swarajya decided to visit Jammu to speak to a few of them, some, still living in 'migrant camps' in Jagti, and asked them what had changed in the last 30 years.

'Raliv, Galiv Ya Chaliv'

The atmosphere in Kashmir Valley remained tense, ever since the Indian government under Rajiv Gandhi was accused of allegedly rigging the assembly elections in 1987.

It was a watershed moment for India's handling of Kashmir. It was on the boil already, and this only made it worse, enabling Islamists to openly operate against India.

Recalling that day, Ramesh tells Swarajya, "I decided to rush to Srinagar. As soon as I arrived, I heard announcements from mosques saying, 'Infidels must leave, Indian dogs should go'. At the main square, security forces used people from our community as human shields, forcing them to walk ahead while the forces followed behind."

On 19 January 1990, a couple of hours past noon time, the Raina family made their attempt to flee from Srinagar.

“My father took only some important papers, and my wife’s trunk into his van, leaving behind our five-storey building and all belongings there. On our way, we were stopped in Pampore, where we were pelted with stones but managed to escape to Jammu," he adds.

This was not just Ramesh’s story.

In a systematic campaign of terror, militants targeted Hindu homes, killing families and subjecting many women to horrific acts of violence.

Gripped by fear, the surviving Kashmiri Pandits gathered whatever belongings they could and fled the valley overnight and in the weeks that followed, becoming refugees in their homeland.

Since then, 19 January has been commemorated as the day of the Kashmiri Pandits' exodus from the valley.

'Never Begged Come What May'

According to the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti, an estimated 75,343 Kashmiri Pandits fled in January 1990, with around 70,000 more following by March. During this period, approximately 650 Pandits were killed.

Upon reaching Jammu, Ramesh had a small house to settle in, but many others had nothing.

"I remember going to bus stands and camps, trying to help families, women with small children, whose husbands and fathers had been killed in the valley," he recalls.

Tents were set up along drains and canals in the Jammu region to house the displaced. These tents were given to each family. Large families of up to 10 or more members were forced to live in a single tent for many years.

While they remain affectionate of their homeland even today, people like Ramesh have managed to rebuild their lives from scratch, relying on their education and skills.

"Kashmiri Pandits are a literate community. We never did odd jobs or begged even in dire straits. We focus on growing through education. However, the way we have been treated over the years is unacceptable. Many in our community still struggle to recover from the devastation," he tells Swarajya.

Although some have managed to settle, many were rehabilitated after the exodus through various political and economic schemes, including pension schemes, free housing, and ration.

Since 1990, these displaced people have lived in tents along drains for years, before being moved to various colonies, known as migrant camps, across Jammu and Udhampur.

However, even after 30 years, many displaced families continue to face multiple challenges, wondering if they will ever be permanently rehabilitated.

At Jagti ‘Migrant Colony’

Today, most Pandits reside in a migrant colony in Jagti, located about 25 kilometres from the main town of Jammu. It is not very far away from the two premier educational institutions — IIT and IIM Jammu.

Rajnath Dhar, now in his early 50s, has been living in this colony since 2011. However, this is not the first place his family, along with many others, has been settled.

He shares with Swarajya, "I had just finished my graduation and was searching for jobs in Kashmir when the ultimatums were made. We all decided to flee and ended up in a camp in Muthi, Jammu."

"I cannot even describe the conditions there. My brothers, parents, and I were all crammed into the same tent. The bathrooms were open and shared by everyone. That image will never escape my mind."

"I witnessed many people die in front of me, even after reaching Jammu, from snake bites, heatstroke, and overwhelming trauma. That was all we saw for the next decade of our lives," he adds.

For the next five years, Rajnath and his family, along with thousands of other displaced families, continued living in those tents.

It wasn’t until 1996 that they were provided with a single-room concrete shelter for each family.

"We had to protest, and after persistent efforts, we finally got a solid roof over our heads. Life continued, I got married, and my children were born. But that was not the end of our troubles. Then in 2011, we were again relocated to Jagti colony," he says.

No Home To Go To

Rajnath recalls, "After getting the concrete room, I found a private job at a shop and slowly got involved in sports here. For the first five or six years, I didn’t know anyone, and no one knew what to do. It took years before we could stand up again and continue our lives while fighting the injustice we faced."

He eventually secured a job and began to stabilise his life, but in 2011, the families from the Muthi camp, along with multiple other camps across Jammu, were all moved to this — what has been named ‘migrant colony’ in Jagti.

This shift was their third displacement since 1990. For many, this continuous displacement has been a challenge, as there has been no 'permanent solution' for them in the last 30 years.

Another resident, Surender Bhat, originally from Kulgam, tells Swarajya, "I had managed to open a shop in the previous camp, but when we were moved here in 2011, I lost everything. Since then, I have not been able to rebuild my business and have been struggling to make ends meet.”

“How can we keep doing this? First, we were displaced from our homeland, and since then, we are moving around repeatedly. Even in this colony, we have no assurance and it’s still uncertain if we will be moved again at any time."

"Imagine the impact of this continuous dislocation on our younger generations. Most of our children have moved away — they don’t want to live like this. We have ensured they were educated, and now they are trying to stand on their own and take care of us," he adds.

Despite the constant financial instability, they ensured that their children received a good education.

Rajnaths's daughter is now pursuing her MTech and is determined to work towards securing permanent housing for the family — something they believe the government has failed in doing.

Recalling his home in the valley, Pawan Kaul, from Shopian, whose house was later burned down, says, "We had a family house surrounded by apricot, apple, and cherry trees. It was not just about the land, but the mental peace and sense of belonging that came from knowing that place was ours, built by our family’s hard work. All of that was stolen and snatched away from us."

"This is not rehabilitation; it’s nowhere near what we originally had. What we’ve been provided are just temporary quarters, with no ownership".

What Lies Ahead

Still living as migrants in areas referred to as "camps" in their own country, with no assurance about their future, the residents reject the labels imposed on them.

"We are not migrants — migrants are those who move to different countries or towns of their own will. We were forcibly displaced. We are Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)," says Dr Agnishekhar, Kashmiri author, poet and the brain behind Panun Kashmir, a movement to demand a separate Indian state for Kashmiri Hindus in the Jhelum Valley.

They question the idea of voting.

"Who do we want to vote for? Why would we vote for someone from the very community that took our land? How can we trust that they would now do something for us? This is the sentiment among our people here," says Pintoo Pandita, who has been working for the relief and betterment of these helpless families since 1990.

"We receive 3,200 rupees per person from the government, which can go up to a maximum of 13,000 rupees per family. Over the years, it’s our community that has come together to support each other. Our demand is for representation from our own community," he tells Swarajya.

Most displaced Hindus from the valley who Swarajya spoke to, told that their lives in the valley was very different. It was much more than just opulence.

It was the land of Adishankaracharya and Kashyapa Rishi. They could wear janeus and walk across the Saraswati Dal, without fear or fervour.

Although most of them dream of going back to the valley, they know that they are not safe there. While the housing has been provided in parts of Jammu, a major portion of the plans to build housing for rehabilitating Hindus remains only on paper.

With the hostile population turned against them, they feel powerless. They say that they cannot bear arms, unlike the others. In such a situation, they can only but dream of a Jhelum that is safe for Hindus.

"One day. Panun Kashmir will be a reality," says Dr Agnishekar.