- INTRODUCTION
This is an appeal
by the intellectuals of a small yet distinct
ethno-religious community, the Kashmiri Pandits
(Hindus) who have a history of more than five
thousand years of a rich cultural tradition and
a unique religious philosophy of the
universality of man, peace and amity amongst
peoples. Down the ages, this aboriginal
community of the valley of Kashmir has readily
opened itself to foreigners of all faiths,
creeds and professions who came as travellers
and settlers. However, it has repeatedly been
the tragic victim of religious persecution,
forcible conversion, violence and brutal
massacre at the hands of invading muslim zealots
and religious fanatics leading to repeated
exodus of the community, rendering it a minority
in its own land.
 This
appeal gives a brief outline of the barbarities
that the community faced at the hands of the
despotic muslim rulers since the heydays of
Islamic fundamentalism, as it made inroads into
Kashmir after the 13th century. It traces the
present escalation of human rights violations
amounting to genocide of this community to a
cruel and criminal conspiracy by the fanatical
and fundamentalist forces which gained
ascendency and got fresh impetus during the last
four decades. It also provides a bird's eye-view
of the sprouting of dormant forces of Islamic
Fundamentalism during these years in the
religious schools that mushroomed in the valley
and became nurseries for the growth of religious
hatred, militancy and terrorism. This
indoctrination prompted and incited young cadres
to cross over to Pakistan and Pakistan-held
Kashmir so as to receive arms training and carry
out the diabolical plan for the muslimization of
Kashmir as a prelude to its secession from
secular democratic India. The hounding out of
more than three hundred thousand Kashmiri
Pandits (Hindus) from the valley from 1989
onwards was the first phase of this sinister
operation.
This appeal brings out
in vivid detail persecution of the minority
community followed by threats, abductions,
extortions, tortures and killing by brutal means
of its members from all walks of life which led
to exodus. A virulent disinformation campaign
was started before the mass exodus against this
community and followed up with fanatical zeal,
after the exodus, in order to secure total
ruination of the community. The present plight
of the community, once given to academic,
philosophical and spiritual pursuits, and now
rootless and without identity, is given in some
detail. Over one thousand members of the
community have been killed by the terrorists and
the thousands are dying in the miserable camps
for want of basic amenities, shelter, medicare
and family support; and thousands of its youth
are getting scattered in search of livelihood.
It is feared that at the present rate of
dispersal the community is disintegrating beyond
redemption and facing total extinction.
This appeal invokes the
conscience and compassion of the civilized world
to grasp the grim tragedy facing the Kashmiri
Pandit community and to stand up and speak for
it and help it regain its lost status and get
rehabilitated once again, with honor and dignity
in its own homeland.
One of many refugee
camps at Jammu.
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