Recently a number of statements have appeared in the public domain about the exiled Kashmiri Pandits. Leaders of various Kashmir centric political parties including the members of the Parliament and the Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir besides the past Hurriyat leaders have come out with a number of expressions regarding the mass exodus, welfare, return, resettlement and the general situation of the members of the displaced community living as refugees in their own country.
Quite recently a section of the social media is also abuzz with a threatening note issued by some Kashmir based fundamentalist-terrorist combine asking the Pandits of Kashmir valley to desist from associating with the organisations like RSS in Kashmir and also outside the Kashmir valley in order to ensure their safety and security in the valley. It would be important to decode the scenario so that a positive debate on the issue is generated and evolved eventually.
Some of the statements and expressions carry the sentiments like brotherhood, the so-called historical bonhomie in Kashmir, possibilities of return to the valley, reconciliation and eventual co-existence in the Kashmir valley. The most talked about words and expressions are indeed reconciliation and resettlement in the valley of Kashmir in relation to the return of Pandits to Kashmir. It is expected that the Kashmiri Pandits, who are the primary victims of the Jehad, genocide and ethnic cleansing in the valley, thrusted upon them only three to four decades away, need to extend their hands for reconcilition with the Muslim majority community of Kashmir thus paving the way for their return and resettlement in the valley.
Reconciliation has two faces, one is ‘reconciliation based upon truth’ and the other is ‘reconciliation sans truth’. It is easy to understand the meaning and purpose of ‘reconciliation based upon truth’, however ‘reconciliation sans truth’ needs to be explained for the general understanding of the term. ‘Reconciliation sans truth’ means a superficial, fragile or forced restoration of relations that lacks genuine healing, accountability, or justice. It is often described as ‘patching up’ a conflict, which, without addressing the under-clauses (the truth), leaves the relationship vulnerable to future and more severe problems. It is often considered as a ‘pseudo-reconciliation’ that is merely a polite, looking lovable and outward appearance of peace. It essentially carries the factor of superficiality in it that every side in their heart of hearts understands without explaining the same.
The above-mentioned leaders who expressed their opinion on this important issue of relevance recently include Farooq Abdullah-NC, Mehbooba Mufti-PDP, Umer Farooq-AAC and the latest the Shopian MLA Adv. Shabir Ahmad Kullay. The quiet latest in this series now is the statement dated 03-02-2026 by the one Kashmir based Falcon Squad (Soldier of Resistance COFS). It is worthwhile to note that the votaries of the so-called reconciallition didn’t refute or reject the threat issued by this outfit in the valley. Farooq Abdullah went to the extent, without taking care of the basic sensitivities, to declare that the ‘Kashmiri Pandits won’t come to the valley of Kashmir again’. Some others used mourning-platforms in Delhi to describe Kashmiri Pandits as ‘a part of their story’, which they were never.
Others like Mehbooba Mufti and Shabir Ahmad Kullay keep on speaking to the press and their party followers about the issue and speak everything about them minus the truth about their forced mass-exodus from the valley. On the one hand, these political and religious figures day in and day out repeat their voices like ‘that Kashmir is incomplete without the Kashmiri Pandits’ and on the other hand they don’t skip any occasion to make violently blatant allegations against the displaced community. Their perpetual lies against the victims of Islamic terrorism and genocide in Kashmir are unabated. They need to be reminded about the days of the 1990s when each and every mosque in Kashmir used to ask the Pandits for ‘Raliv-Chaliv-Galiv’ (convert-flee-get killed) ‘tabaleegs’ and slogans.
The most common and popular slogans of that era included “Asi gachi Pakistan, Batav rostue Batnev saan”, ‘Yahan kya chalega-Nazame-Mustafa’, ‘Hamen chahiye Azadi, Azadi ka matlab kya: Lahilahi-Illallah’, ‘Aye Kafiro Aye zalimo: Kashmir hamara chod do’ etc etc. These people need to be reminded of their past blunders, crimes and sins time and again only to further assure them that the Kashmiri Pandits though living in exile, are conscious of history and their role in future. They have vowed ‘neither to forget nor to forgive’.
Kashmiri Pandits and the other minorities have withstood the exile only to redeem their resolve and promise aimed at to once again thrive Kashmir and throng the sacred banks of Mata Vitasta (river Jehlum). Kashmir is in their soul and they have given birth to its ten thousand years old civilization and culture. Ethnic cleansing was thrust upon us when everyone during the 1990s showed us the road to exodus ‘for some time’. Kashmiri Pandits are conscious of their civilization and history and everything that was done to them.
Our hundreds of temples, shrines and other places of worship were burnt, destroyed and razed to the ground. Thirty thousand houses of Pandits were consigned to fire while those remaining were usurped and occupied. Distress sales were initiated only to take their possession in a pseudo-legal manner. All dispensations for the last four decades in the state ensured that the indigenous people of the valley of Kashmir, the Kashmiri Pandits, are forced to get delinked from Kashmir politically, culturally, socially and also mentally.
Kashmiri Pandits have vowed to keep their cultural and religious moorings intact based upon their civilizational values. They are practicing Hindus of Kashmir even in their four-decade old exile and have been successful in carrying their ethos to their next generations. They stand committed to return and resettle in Kashmir with the establishment of the Homeland in the valley for them as per Margdarshan-1991 resolution. The other side of the coin demands demographic balancing in the entire valley since the Hindus of Kashmir have lost their faith completely in the majority community of Kashmir who all along played every card and tune to cleanse the valley from the ‘Kafirs’. That mindset is prevalent even as on date.
Moreover, the Kashmiri Pandits were made a victim of genocide only because that they were/are Hindus and form the core patriotic and nationalist community. History bears testimony to it and there is no need to explain it to anyone. The NC, PDP, Huriyat, Jamaat E-Islami and Awami Action Committee are parts of the same thinking and design to ensure Nizame-Mustafa directly and indirectly leaving no space for the non-Muslim minorities in the valley. The statements of Farooq Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, Umer Farooq-AAC and the latest of the Shopian MLA Kullay are proof of the same ideology of Muslim majoritarianism which is inherently communal in nature. This mindset is severely condemnable, thus these statements have also been rejected by the exiled community lock, stock and barrel.
Reconciliation narrative of many is indeed bereft of truth. It ignores the pain and, in cases of historical trauma, fails to acknowledge the experiences of victims, allowing the cycle of injustice to continue. It avoids identifying who was at fault, meaning the perpetrator is not held responsible for their actions. Without dealing with the truth, the relationship is unlikely to last, as the unresolved issues remain to cause further dysfunction. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in its decision in June-1999 on the complaint filed by this author in March-1994 described the atrocities committed against the Hindu community in Kashmir as ‘acts akin to genocide’ and also said that ‘a genocide type design may exist against the Kashmiri Pandits in the minds and utterances of the militants and terrorists’.
In connection with the return and resettlement of the exiled people, there is an established norm and practice followed globally known as ‘the principle of non-refoulement’. This principle of non-refoulement is a fundamental rule of international law prohibiting states from returning individuals to a country (region) where they face irreparable harm, including persecution, torture, or inhuman treatment. It applies to all migrants, regardless of status and is considered customary international law. It extends beyond refugees to include anyone at risk of toruture or serious human rights violations, protected under treaties like the Convention against Torture. The victims of genocide, the Kashmiri Pandits, fall within the definition of the ‘principle of non-refoulement’.
Here it is important to explain that in essence, ‘truth’ is considered a prerequisite for ‘reconciliation’ -without it, the process is deemed a failure or a ‘futile exploit’. It is this aspect that the Kashmir centric political & religious leaders; social activists and the so-called intellectuals of Kashmir are consciously and deliberately turning a blind eye and their deaf ears to publicly. It is also reflective of their hidden guilt and connivance in relation to the forced mass-exodus and ethnic cleansing of the indigenous population of Kashmir -the Kashmiri Pandits.
The worrisome factor is also about the so-called relationship of the Muslim majority community representatives with the ‘no-ones’ within the Kashmiri Pandit community. Those among the displaced community who have been considered as disgruntled elements, men and women of no substance or working against the community’s collective interests are the most dear to these representatives of the majority community. They keep on doing this only to dislodge and derail the struggle of the Kashmiri Pandit community aimed at their community’s existence and survival in exile in order to build a false and fake narrative about the situation. Their efforts at narrative-reconstruction are bound to fail as always.
The narrative of ‘Reconciliation sans Truth’ is completely an out-dated idea for the exiled Hindu community of Kashmir. They would return and resettle in the valley only on their own terms. They have reiterated their terms time and again and are committed to their position as always. The government of Bharat is also aware of this position of the exiled community. It is an appropriate time that the government opens doors of dialogue with the Kashmiri Pandit community formally with honesty and commitment. The time is up now…!
