I have tried to explore & evaluate the present situation of those small ‘Kashmiri-Hindu-babies’ who at the time of exodus around three decades back was not knowing anything about the violence but still faced atrocities with their families at that time of uncertainty. Now after three decades, they have become the young promising youth of around 30 years of age.

1. The Kashmiri Pundits Proved It
Despite The Odds Of Mass Exodus.
Ravi Speaks-The Kashmiri Pundits Proved It Despite The Odds Of
Mass Exodus.
I have tried to explore & evaluate the present situation of those
small ‘Kashmiri-Hindu-babies’ who at the time of exodus
around three decades back was not knowing anything about
the violence but still faced atrocities with their families at that
time of uncertainty. Now after three decades, they have
become the young promising youth of around 30 years of age.
This article talks about their careers and their situation
vis-a-vis their condition around three decades back. There is a
small account of the exodus also given, highlighting the grave
situation which was created with a sense of fear and
uncertainty. Finally, in the end, the conclusion shows that the
whole youth is settled very well outside the valley. They may
not go back to their motherland looking for the good fat jobs
they have got with their hard efforts. That

2. way-Kashmiri-Hindus have proved to the world that they could
progress very well despite the various odds coming their way.
At the same time, the older generation may be the predominant
one who still despite so much happening and turmoil -yearns
to be back to their motherland.
Kashmiri Pandits In States In support Of ‘Kashmir Exodus-Day’.
Author Ravi Tiku.
Kashmiri-pundits’ mass exodus in 1990: -
The Exodus of Hindus from Kashmir, also known as the Exodus of
Pandits from Kashmir, refers to the series of anti-Hindu pogroms
and attacks that took place shortly after the start of the
Muslim-dominated insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989.
Which eventually forced Kashmiri Hindu Pandits out of the
Kashmir Valley. The highest phase of the exodus was in the early
1990s, when Hindus from Kashmir, because of being targeted by

3. the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front and other pro-Pakistan
Islamist insurgents, fled the Kashmir Valley to seek refuge
elsewhere. place of India. In 2016, only 2,000–3,000 Kashmiri
Hindus remained in the Kashmir Valley compared to approximately
300,000–600,000 in 1990. Consequently, January 19, 1990, is
widely known to Kashmiri Hindus as the “Day of Exodus”. In
memory of the Hindus of Kashmir who were assassinated or
expelled from Kashmir. According to the Indian government, more
than 62,000 families in India are registered as refugees from
Kashmir, including some Sikhs and Muslims. Most of the exiled
Kashmiri families were resettled in Jammu or the national capital
region surrounding Delhi, as well as other neighboring Indian
states.
Likewise, a lot has been written about the post-exodus scenes
developing over the last three decades. I am not going into those
details of various atrocities that our community faced after they had
to forcefully leave their birthplace for the uncertainties to be faced
later. For that, a lot of literary discussions have already taken place

4. and even the various organizations have fought for getting the
rightful justice for our suffered community.
Story of the new generation after the exodus. They are 30
years of age as of now: -
What I want to highlight here is the generation that has come up in
these three decades after the exodus. Those who were the kids in
1990 are today the successful young and promising people of our
community. Yes, they did not know that much about what their
parents had to face at the time of the exodus. But they were a part
nevertheless of the same fearful people who had to run away from
their birthplace. They were consequently reared and brought up in
the new atmosphere outside the valley.
It is those young men and women of our community who have
grown out of those uncertain times and most of them have proved
to the world one major point. That is their placements at the
reasonably high and the most sort after positions-career-wise. They

5. are either heading the professional segment/start-ups in which they
are working or are even well settled otherwise if they had gone in
the business segment -which never used to be our community’s
forte earlier. Our community in Kashmir was such that we never
had any solid business background and most of our ancestors were
in the serving class, of course, educated, and intelligent people that
way. It was a normal routine that right from the birth of a child in
our community, it was put into the mind of the growing child that
he had to go in for the necessary education and excel in that. Since
we didn’t have any business background or even any industries
being run by our people, the only path to be followed was to be a
professional one of being a doctor or an engineer, or even following
higher studies and pursue the teaching profession. I have observed
so many of my near relations opting for higher engineering courses
in developed countries like the US and European continent. Also,
there are quite a few who have gone in for higher management
studies and got settled that way again not only in Indian metros but
also in the other advanced countries holding the higher posts of
responsibilities.

6. Youth of Kashmiri pundits are very well settled outside: -
Till the time they were in Kashmir valley with their parents in their
motherland-they undoubtedly were having a limited excess to the
outer world. The moment they had to come out of that place, they
were exposed to the new avenues and looking to their brighter and
intelligent side as far as their IQ and creative abilities were
concerned. They have shown far too bigger progress even in the
other lines related to Arts, Industries, and Bureaucratic sections as
well.
Today a Kashmiri Hindu is proving to be a successful Art Director
and Actor. Also clearing the UPSC and going in for the higher
administrative posts anywhere in India. My friend did his MD in
Medicine and later went to clear the Administrative services. We
have the top-notch Judiciary men in the Apex Court of India as the
full-fledged judges of the Supreme Court. If we see the high-ranking
boards of Indian Defence services-we would be very proud to see
the names of the Kashmiri Pundits there, who had held the

7. top-notch posts of Army, Navy, and Airforce as well. I know for sure
so many of my relations heading the posts as the HODs of various
specialties in the prestigious institutes like AIIMS, Apollo-Chennai,
Max Super Speciality Centre-branches, and many such people
likewise settled in the advanced and developed countries as well.
Abrogation of article-370: -
Although the abrogation of article 370 has been a very big
masterstroke from the Prime Minister of India still the rapid
changes which one would expect to happen thereafter, are yet to be
observed. The Central government has been repeatedly requesting
the migrated Kashmiri Hindus to come back to the valley and
rehabilitate themselves under the full protection to be provided by
the central government but still, the confidence in the community
has not come fully and the move by the government may fall flat yet
again.
Roshan an exception for being happy to be back: -

8. Three decades after the birth of the separatist insurgency in Indian
Kashmir, and the consequent persecution and exodus of the Hindu
minority, the merchant Roshan still does not believe the welcome
he received from Muslim shopkeepers when he returned this week
to reopen his shop. According to data from the regional
government, the vast majority of “Kashmiri pundits” fled the valley
at the outbreak of violence in 1989 and settled in neighboring
Jammu — where there are around 40,000 families today — and in
New Delhi — 20,000 -, while that only about 800 decided to stay.
Roshan Lal Maw, 79, is one of the Hindus who chose the Indian
capital, where he escaped in 1990 with his wife, two sons, and a girl.
Last Wednesday, 29 years after that episode, he returned to the old
part of the capital Srinagar to reopen his small grocery store. In the
only Indian region with a Muslim majority, disputed with Pakistan
and where there are strong separatist and anti-India feelings, an
emotional Roshan explained that the other shopkeepers were not
expected to crown him with the traditional turban or hang garlands
on his neck to welcome him. He recounts that on October 13, 1990,
he was shot three times in the stomach, allegedly by insurgents, but

9. insists that he wants to leave the “horrors of the past” behind and
focus on this “new beginning” in his homeland. The old man
recognizes that the “great” business and the important real estate
that he harvested in New Delhi did not serve as a bridge to connect
with the capital’s population. “A breeze from my homeland is worth
more than all the comforts of life in Delhi.
All these years I missed my homeland, but now I am happy because
I am back,” he declared in a shop that still smells like paint. And
many others in Srinagar share his happiness. Ghulam Muhammad,
a spice seller in an adjacent market, describes him in statements as
a “noble soul” and an “honest businessman”, so they never stopped
negotiating with him even when he lived in the Indian capital. The
idea to rebuild the grocery store came from Roshan’s son, Sandeep
Maw, who heads an organization dedicated to “bridging the gap
between communities,” in his words. “I am working for the return
of the ‘Kashmiri pundits’ to their land. I am hopeful that one day
not too far away everything will be fine in Kashmir,” he said, adding
that the reconstruction of trade began last year. On the

10. recommendation of the Kashmiri government, the Indian Interior
Ministry recently cited “ethnic cleansing” of “Kashmiri pundits” as
the main reason for outlawing separatist groups active in the
troubled region. However, some Muslims argue that the exodus of
the “pandits” was orchestrated by the local and central authorities
and not due to the persecution of those seeking Kashmir
independence or accession to Pakistan. “The murder of many
‘pandits’ cannot be denied, but there are many reports that reveal
that the ‘pandits’ were escorted out of the valley by the
Administration to launch an attack against local Muslims,” ​
​
the
professor at the Central University of Kashmir Rashid Maqbool.
Whatever the cause of the exodus, the truth is that for the moment
at least, stories like Roshan’s can be told on the fingers of one hand.
Kashmir, one of the most militarized territories in the world, has
been the subject of litigation between Pakistan and India since the
partition of the subcontinent in 1947, which has fought two wars
and numerous minor war conflicts over this territory. India has
repeatedly accused Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism”,
and of allowing and sponsoring the operation on its territory of

11. terrorist groups that aim to attack Indian targets and fuel separatist
protests among the Kashmiri population.
Why should they return?
So why the present Kashmiri Pundit very well settled outside the
valley in a good atmosphere with a very high & fat job, should even
think of going back to the valley. It is not at all due to the fear of the
people of Kashmir anymore. No fear psychosis would work at all
nowadays. Therefore, a resilient, educated, well-connected
community, the Pundit refugees have got education and jobs and
are now spread across India and the world. Would a Kashmiri
Pundit refugee’s son or daughter working in a corporate job return
to the family home in the old city of Srinagar? Why would someone
leave a corporate job in Mumbai unless they could find an
equivalent job in Srinagar? The simple answer to this is- no such
facilities are still made up there in the valley and further
development of the Kashmir Valley has been suffering very badly at
the hands of the terrorists’ activities. There is a lot of destruction

12. even after the exodus in 1990 and no tangible change is seen there
in the atmosphere.
Cruel and inhuman as the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits was, being a
refugee is a complicated matter. Aged-Kashmiri Pandit refugees
may be able to physically relocate to their old homes, but they can’t
go back in time. If Kashmiri Pandit refugees are unable to return to
live in Kashmir due to fear, how is it that 808 Kashmiri Pandit
families (or around 3–4,000 people) still live in the Valley in 292
different locations? That’s the count done by the Kashmiri Pandit
Sangharsh Samiti. If fear is the reason, how is it that thousands of
Kashmiri Pandits visit the Valley, on holidays and personal trips, or
for pilgrimages such as the ‘Tulmul’-festival held in the valley
annually?
The example of Roshan is just not sufficient to prove that there
would be the return of Kashmiri Pundits to Kashmir. Now, look at
the opposite example of Prof. Sharma-where he sold off his property
in Kashmir only to settle out of his motherland.

13. Prof. Sharma-yet another example contrary to Roshan: -
Prof. Sharma is a retired English lecturer from Kashmir, now living
in a flat in Jammu with his wife. He moved to Jammu after the
exodus in 1991. Over several meetings in Jammu and Delhi, I asked
him why he never thought of returning and living in his home in
Srinagar. He explained that his friends were now all in Jammu. It’s
the same reason why he doesn’t live with his son in Delhi, working
in an IT multinational company. When Prof. Sharma went back to
Srinagar after many years, he felt like an outsider, because he didn’t
know anyone anymore. People migrated and died, and so on. The
young look at a Pandit speaking in Kashmiri was just like an oddity
from a mythical past. But the most important reason he couldn’t
imagine going back to living in Srinagar was comfort. The old
house, the old way of living, the old kind of toilets, the dirty old
lanes. He was comfortable living in a more modern house in
Jammu. He eventually sold the Srinagar house-something many
Pandits did.

14. Now if we analyze the various reasons for the Kashmiri pundits why
they would not go back to the valley despite various ‘lolly-pops’
being announced by the government authorities-it is not there the
utmost urge to go back into the same old fearful and uncertain
atmosphere, but it is their very good placement into various
promising and career assuring setups in India and around the
world. It is their comfort level and aspirational level for their future
and their future generations-which, they foresee at the new places
of their having got settled.
Proposal of Israel-model would be a failure: -
Now that we have debunked the myth of security fears preventing
Pandits from returning to the Valley, let us look at the famous-
‘Israel model’ that drew applause from the audience. This model
implies creating a special enclave for Pandits. So, there could be a
Hindu Kashmir and a Muslim Kashmir, physically demarcated.
Which by no means is going to work out for us as well as for our
country-India?

15. This community is a brave and progressive one: -
So, when we speak of the “return” of Pundits, it is not a physical
relocation of the young Pundits, we need to think of it. Because that
is a gone solution. Let the authorities think of something else to give
real compensation to the community for the terrific time seen and
atrocities faced by our community during pre-1989 and even post
1990-exodus.
The real fact is that this Community of India is not an ordinary one
to play with. They have braved the various obstacles in the last three
decades and reared and brought up their progeny so strong that
need not even think of all the atrocities which they faced in the past
but only keep themselves focused on the pursuit of achieving
excellence through their offsprings.
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Originally published at https://www.ravitiku.com.