Thread by @thearthindia

19 January 1990 - "the nightmare that still haunts"

is one of the darkest days that #Kashmir has ever seen. With utmost sorrow, we take you to this page of Indian #History. The page that is filled with terror, rapes, massacre and countless nightmares. #KashmiriHinduExodus

31 years ago, the Kashmir valley witnessed a genocide of the #KashmiriHindus. Why did lakhs of Hindus have to face this genocide? The very basic reasons were that they were infidels. Because they did not believe in Islam. Because they did not wish to join with Pakistan.

What happened on that day? #KashmiriHindus were given three choices: Leave, Convert to Islam or Die. Mass murder, rapes, vandalism, what not; Kashmir, the place which once gave immense contribution to art, literature, spirituality and education, now witnessed all this.

Slogans raised, announcements made from Mosques on loudspeakers. Kill the kafirs. Pakistan ka matlab kya / La ilaha illallah. #KashmiriHindus were asked to flee but leave their women behind. Temples were desecrated. Mobs littered the streets ready to slaughter.

At a time when fundamentalists and radicals in the valley were asking for AAZADI and wished to join Pakistan, the #Hindu minority lived in constant fear but stood firm on its loyalty to Bharat. Was that their crime?

To signify the secession of Kashmir from India, Benazir Bhutto, the then PM of Pakistan, gave the slogan of

AAZADI

Yes, the same slogan that plagues our college campuses, web series, movies, art and youth today.

The slogan that signifies the breaking of India is now glorified in web series and movies, and is being engrained in the minds of Indian youth as a cool word that one chants during any and every protest.

#KashmiriHindus still await #Justice. They are still waiting to go back to their homes. Unfortunately, history and academia have taken away their only hope of justice by denying even the REALITY of their painful experiences.

#KashmiriHinduExodus

Today, no school-going child knows of this exodus, no History student reads about this exodus and no debate or discussion is ever about bringing justice. Until a few months ago, even the basic Class 12 NCERT Textbook on Political Science did not include information on this exodus

While many live in denial of all this ever happening, there is also one section of people that tries to justify the treatment meted out to #KashmiriHindus.

When Barkha Dutt says “Today, helpless victims. They were once the privileged elite of the valley. They might have been a minority but at that time they have monopolised government jobs, plum posting and other such social benefits...

In fact the sharp economic disparity between the Pandits and poor muslim majority was one of the earliest reason of popular discontent in the state...”

Is this a justification of a genocide? Do these reasons justify the ethnic cleansing in the #Kashmir valley?

Would ANY reason EVER justify the fact that #KashmiriHindus are still refugees in their own country?

#NeverForgetNeverForgive