Kashmiri Pandits’ many migrations

By Dr. B.N. Sharga

The civilizations change with the passage of time. It is a natural phenomenon. Many civilizations of the past do not exist now, but the archaeological excavations at different sites have conclusively proved that such civilizations used to exist once and were subsequently lost due to passage of time and the vagaries of the weather.

According to the European scholars and historians the civilizations of Egypt, China and India are generally considered to be the oldest in the world.  The Indian scholars and historians  consider their civilization to be more than 5000 years old, but they do not fix any time frame to the Vedic period as such.

Although the Vedas are generally being considered as a part of mythology but whatever is written in them is not all myth. The scholarly contents of the Vedas and their spirit are further explained in depth in other Sanskrit texts like Upanishads, Brahamans and Arankyas so that a seeker of knowledge may be able to grasp the subject in its true perspective in a scientific manner.

The river Saraswati has been mentioned in the Vedas and Puranas as a holy river which provided wisdom to thousands of saints and sages. It used to originate from the glaciers of the Himalayas and after passing through Pir Panjal range and the deserts of Rajasthan, it used to fall in the Arabian Sea. This holy river subsequently vanished around 2000 B.C. due to some genological changes after changing its course at regular intervals.

The modern researches through satellite imaging technique have conclusively proved, the existencive of this holy river, which was uptill now considered to be a myth. According to Dr SK Gupta, the Chairman of the Archaeological Society of India, the invisible holy Saraswati river described in the Vedas is still flowing but about 200 feet below the earth's surface. Dr Gupta in his path breaking research has found some proofs that the water of the Saraswati river is being used in the neighbouring country Pakistan as the main source of underground water.

In the ancient times the civilizations generally used to develop on the banks of the rivers for the availability of water, a vital ingredient for human survival. As we now read about the famous Indus Valley civilization likewise there used to be an equally important Saraswati valley civilization on which much work was not being done due to certain obvious reasons and it was always mentioned as mythical in the books instead of making an effort for its scientific study in depth to find the real truth.

When the holy river Saraswati disappeared due to some geological phenomenon; the saints and sages, who used to live on its banks, commanding both wisdom and knowledge then migrated to the Kashmir valley and took refuge there to pursue their search for the ultimate truth in a calm and serene atmosphere with plenty of natural beauty all around them. These saints and sages were the ancestors of the Kashmiri Pandits whose main profession was to seek knowledge for self enlightenment. They were all known as the Saraswat Brahmins i.e. the learned scholars from the banks of the holy river Saraswati.

With the passage of time their population increased and then a need was felt to evolve a code of conduct to govern the social system, so that their basic characteristics could be preserved without any dilution in them. The rules and regulations were then framed to be strictly followed for proper human behaviour just to maintain social equilibrium known as "Dharma". Any deviation from the prescribed norms was considered as sin inviting punishment. Naturally to enforce all this properly and effectively a kingdom was formed with a king vested with absolute powers to maintain social harmony and to punish the guilty on the basic of his wisdom and sense of justice. This Hindu rule in the Kashmir valley continued upto 1320 AD without much trouble.

The first turning point in the centuries old history of the Kashmiri Pandits, the original inhabitants of the Kashmir valley came in 1320 A.D., when a Tibetan Chieftain Rinchen invaded Kashmir and its Hindu ruler Suhadeo ran away to Ladakh. Ram Chandra the Commander of Suhadeo's army was killed in the battle field. Rinchen then declared himself to be the new ruler of Kashmir and married Kota Rani, who was the daughter of Ram Chandra.

Rinchen after becoming the ruler of Kashmir expressed his desire to accept the Hindu faith which was promptly turned down by the local Pandits for the reasons known to them. The very next day he accepted Islam and became a bigoted Muslim. He then started taking revenge against the local Pandits who obstructed him from becoming a Hindu. To avoid his wrath the local Pandits then started migrating to safer places to hide their faces so that they may not become a victim of their own doings.

The first major migration or the mass exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir valley took place during the rule of Sultan Sikander (1389-1413) when he started large scale conversions of the local Pandits at the point of sword. It is generally said that only 11 Pandits were able to save themselves from this onslaught by hiding themselves in deep forests and caves.

The Kashmiri Pandits became so much frightened that they fled to far flung places in India in order to save themselves. They went upto Bengal in the east and upto Karnataka and Kerala in the down south and out of sheer fear psychosis they even changed their surnames to hide their identity so that they may not be spotted and get killed. With the passage of time they completely got merged with the local population and could not maintain their separate distinct identity for certain reasons. Their descendants are still there, who call themselves as Saraswat Brahmins and their features, colour of the skin and body structure bear a close similarity with the Kashmiri Pandits. Even some of their customs and rituals are common which indicates that their ancestors might have migrated to that place from Kashmir at some point of time, because the river Saraswati never flowed through Karnataka at any point of time. Even in the Rameshwaram temple in Tamil Nadu only Saraswat Brahmins are appointed as priests.

Likewise the features, colour of the skin and some other traits of certain Brahmin groups in Bengal do not match with the local population which gives some credence to this phenomenon of migration of their ancestors from the Kashmir valley.

The second mass exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir valley took place during the rule of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (1658-1707). The Kashmiri Pandits who came out from Kashmir during this period mostly preferred to settle down in the big cities of North India like Lahore, Delhi and Lucknow for better future prospects. Unlike the previous migrants they some how maintained their distinct identity by observing certain code of conduct very strictly and religiously for about 300 years. They  maintained very close community links and never encouraged intercaste marriages in the community just to keep it a well knit unit. They helped each other in adversity. They succeeded in occupying the top slots in the administration and established themselves in the society with dignity and honour by their hardwork,  honesty and devotion to duty.

In 1752 the deputy governor of Kashmir Momin Kanth, invited the then Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Durani to Kashmir, to settle his personal score with the self appointed governor of Kashmir Abdul Qasim Khan. Thus Kashmir became a part of the Kabul kingdom in 1753. During this Afghan rule over Kashmir from 1753 upto 1819 due to torture and inhuman sufferings many local Pandits fled away from Kashmir to different parts of India in different times and many of them got converted to Islam to save their souls.

When the Dogra ruler of Jammu, Raja Gulab Singh became the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir Riyasat in 1846 through a treaty executed with the British, he made an all out effort to take back the converted Pandits into the Hindu fold and many of them even had expressed their desire to come back to the Hindu fold willingly. But when this crucial issue was referred to the high priests of Kashi for their advice, they gave the ruling that the converted Pandits could not be taken back into the Hindu fold as it was a one way process. The Pandits then had to face the music of this ill conceived ruling and many of them were subsequently coerced to migrate from the Kashmir valley to other places to seek refuge just to avoid their religious persecution.

The third major migration of the Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir valley took place in 1947; when Pakistani army disguised as Tribals in Afghan suits attacked the Jammu and Kashmir state on 22nd October 1947 to grab it by force after the independence of the country. But the Kashmiri Pandits who migrated during this period, being the citizens of a free country and being more liberal in their approach did not prefer to live in a particular area together like the previous migrants, but instead got scattered through out the length and breadth of the country and even some of them got settled in foreign countries where they found the future prospects for them much better at that point of time. In this process their unified strength became the greatest casualty as they were not able to build up any exclusive centre any where for them to project their unified strength representing their big number for any meaningful political bargain. This lack of cohesion among the community members gradually started the process of disintegration in the community and its marginalisation every where.  Because in a democratic setup it is the number which ultimately counts. If you don't have the required numbers with you then your voice obviously becomes meaningless, howsoever sensible it may be. The liberal western views adopted by some of them not only deviated them from their centuries old values and traditions for which they were known once but also accelerated the phenomenon of intercaste marriages in the community which have now become a very common affair as every second boy or girl is marrying outside the community and is feeling a great thrill in doing that. I am unable to understand as to where all this will lead us to say after another fifty years. Will we be able then to maintain our distinct identity or will be lost into oblivion forever. We are reaping now what we have sown all these years.

The fourth mass exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits due to terrorism took place on 19/20 January 1990 from the Kashmir valley. These unfortunate migrants numbering more than 3 lakhs are living under subhuman conditions in tattered tents mostly in Jammu and Delhi for the last 13 years and nobody has the time to listen to their grievances. They have been left high and dry by almost everybody. According to the reports published in the Statesman of Delhi a few months back some of these migrants in utter frustration embraced Islam just to take them out from the existing rotten and hellish conditions. What does this development indicate? Are we moving in the right direction for our progress and prosperity or are we cutting our own roots. A rudderless ship ultimately sinks in the deep ocean. The wise men always take the corrective steps at the right time  to survive the onslaught. It is true that nobody can predict the future correctly. But the coming events cast their shadows before. It is always, better to learn from the experiences of others rathers than taking a plunge without fully knowing about the consequences. The time has come now when we should realise the fact that without the adequate numbers on our side, we will not succeed in achieving any thing. So there is no fun in playing the ping-pong game just to keep every body in good humour. Now the sincere efforts should be made to strengthen the community bonds at every level to make it a force to reckon with having a single unified voice rather than projecting divergent views even on most vital issues concerning the community and its future prospects as was observed recently in connection with the elections in Jammu and Kashmir state where the leaders of different groups of our community were found singing different tunes thus creating utter confusion.  This also reflects our political immaturity to some extent. It is clear that if we go on following the Bamama policy then it is certain that it will lead us no where. We have to formulate clear cut policies and programmes as to what we have to do and therefore the approach of beating about the bush makes no sense here. One should at least have enough courage to take bold decisions in the wider interest of the community.

"Hum bewafa hargiz na the

Par hum wafa kar na sake"

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