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| Pandits Return- Onus on whom ? | | 
By B L Saraf
Speaking in New Delhi on 19th January , in a TV panel discussion on the occasion of a book release, Farooq Abdullah said about the return of Pandits to the Valley , “ nobody is going to come to them with a begging bowl and say come with us . They have to make a move .” He went on to say “onus to return is on the Pandits “. What he implied was that , in real terms , Kashmiri Pandits (KPs ) were reluctant to return to Kashmir . Farooq Abdullah explained it with the example of few KP doctors who sought his intervention to stall their transfer to the Valley . He said that those doctors pleaded with him to let them live in Delhi , because their children were in the schools and they had old parents to look after . See the irony ! Making of this statement coincided with the day when the displaced Pandits were on the streets , world over , to mark it as 26th anniversary of their enforced exodus from Kashmir .
How many times do we have to tell that the displaced community did not move out of the Valley to gain riches or have a world Darshan ; so as to make it incumbent upon it to return , in total disregard of the situation prevailing now and which ruled the Valley , then . In 1990 the violent sectarian extremism launched a direct assault on the miniscule community which was followed by a systematic destruction of its cultural institutions and obliteration of the civilizational sign posts . Well , it must be said , in fairness to him ,that Farooq Saheb truly understands why Pandits are out of the Valley .
Doctor Saheb , perhaps , had Kashmiri Muslims (KM ) in mind when he talked to the Pandits that “ nobody would come to them with a begging bowl “. In other words he said that a KP should not expect a KM coming to him with a begging bowl , seeking his return in alms . By inducting ‘ begging bowl ‘ idiom in the inter – community discourse we do great injustice to both KP s and the KMs . These words have a potential to construct a guilt narrative . The internally displaced have never accused KMs – as a community - of any guilt , and we fairly believe that the case is vice – versa . Both are victims of the unfortunate circumstances whose origin lies elsewhere .
Words like ‘onus ‘ and ‘ burden to discharge ‘ are out of the place . They belong to the judicial grammar and are invoked when two parties stand arraigned against each other, in an adversarial mode , before a court of law to seek settlement of their competing claims . KPs are adversaries to none - much less to the KMs . They are the direct victims of a sectarian disaster which engulfed our state . Nor are they in competition with anybody so for as their right to return to the birth place is concerned . Pandits don’t have to prove anything to anybody . Except , to re -establish a thousand years old right to their birth place . Theirs is a human tragedy of horrendous proportions . They need safe and healthy environs to live in the Valley , as equal stake holders . .
Physician Abdullah’s prognosis that exiled Pandits suffer from ‘ Return Disinclination Syndrome ‘ is based on his interaction with a dozen of community physicians , who , on the mentioned grounds , sought his help to avert their posting to the Valley . Well , Doctor Saheb’s diagnosis is flawed . After all , what Delhi based doctors pleaded before him is a part of standard pleadings an incumbent public servant adopts to ward off his “ inconvenient “ transfer . No matter he or she is transferred from Srinagar to Anantnag . Farooq Abdullah , as an ex- CM of the state , must have come across hundreds of cases where such request may have been made , routinely , to him by the affected officials , on the identical grounds, to avoid their transfers from one place to other . If the inclination / disinclination of the displaced community is to be judged by the choice of its employees to go or not to the Valley , then the case of a dozen doctors cannot be taken as an indicator . There are far more authentic cases to suggest the contrary and declare Pandits desire to return to the roots . One, is of the thousands young male and female members of the community who took employment in the Valley a couple of years back in not so pleasant conditions and second , is of some more young waiting in the queue to take up the jobs there .
Farooq Abdullah is the inheritor of Sheikh Saheb’s political and social philosophy . He is no ordinary politician . Nobody can doubt his secular and nationalistic credentials . That , however , demands right kind of phraseology from him which should , instead of causing more hurt , have a soothing effect on the bruised sentiments of the displaced community . He must use his good offices to solve the problem .Huge gulf has been created to divide the communities in Kashmir . Many stereotypes stand built . It is time to bridge the gap and break the stereotypes .
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The plight of the displaced community requires a unified response . There can’t be what the UN Secretary General Ban –Ki – Moon calls in this situation a “ One size fits all “ solution . All sections of the society , religious leaders and the organs of the state have to act in a way that remedies the problem . Pandits , too , will have to walk some distance towards the ultimate destination.
(The author is a Former Principal District & Sessions Judge)
(Disclaimer: The views, observations and opinions expressed in above write up of Scoop News are strictly author's own. Scoop News does not take any onus or liability for the veracity, accuracy, validity, completeness, suitability of any of information in the above given write up. The information, facts or figures appearing in the write up in no way manifest the position, standpoint or stance of Scoop News and the Scoop News does not assume any encumbrance or answerability of the same.)
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