An eye opener for all "Why Justice Has Been Denied and Delayed to Displaced Kashmiri Pandits for the Last 35 Years"

 

It is very unfortunate that even after 35 long years in exile, the displaced Kashmiri Pandits are still struggling not only for dignified return and comprehensive rehabilitation but also for basic justice. The question that naturally arises is - why has justice been denied and delayed to this patriotic and peace-loving community for so long? The answer lies in a combination of political disinterest, judicial apathy, administrative indifference, distorted terminology, and structural exclusion. To begin with, there has been a persistent failure at the judicial level to address the genocide and forced exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. Despite several appeals filed before the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India by displaced Kashmiri Pandit organizations, the apex court shockingly rejected these petitions more than once, citing "delay in filing" as the ground. How can the passage of time be a valid reason to reject justice for thousands of victims of targeted killings, rapes, forced displacement, and destruction of homes and heritage? The community didn't have the means or security to immediately file legal petitions in the 1990s - they were struggling to survive in refugee camps and rented accommodations. Using delay as a reason for dismissal is not just unjust but a glaring miscarriage of justice. It exposes how deeply the Indian judicial system has failed this peaceful, nationalist community. The law enforcement agencies, particularly the police, were equally apathetic. In thousands of cases of killings, threats, rapes, and lootings, no FIRs were registered. In instances where some FIRs were filed, they remained in cold storage without investigation, prosecution, or convictions. The killers and extremists who spread fear and drove out the entire population of Pandits from the Valley have mostly roamed free. The failure to investigate, arrest, or punish even a handful of culprits over three decades stands as a shameful example of deliberate inaction. No special investigative team was formed, no fast-track courts were constituted, and no national tribunal was established to even examine these crimes - clearly proving that the rule of law did not apply to the tragedy faced by Kashmiri Pandits. One of the biggest and most misleading acts by the Indian state is labeling the exiled Pandits as "migrants" instead of "internally displaced persons" (IDPs) or "victims of religious and ethnic cleansing." A migrant is someone who moves voluntarily in search of livelihood or other reasons. The Kashmiri Pandits were forced out of their homes due to targeted Islamist terror. Calling them "migrants" whitewashes the truth of their trauma and erases the brutality of the events that led to their exile. The terminology used in official documents, relief records, and government schemes reflects a deep insensitivity and denial of the reality. This mislabeling has had wide consequences - it has prevented their international recognition as victims of forced displacement and denied them protections and benefits that IDPs are entitled to under UN human rights norms. Political negligence is another major reason for this prolonged denial of justice. Successive governments at the Centre and in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have failed to treat the issue of displaced Kashmiri Pandits as a national humanitarian crisis. Except for occasional references in speeches and symbolic gestures, no comprehensive political roadmap has ever been implemented for their safe and dignified return. Their suffering was never made part of national political dialogue or electoral agenda. Instead, governments have often chosen to negotiate and pander to separatist voices while ignoring the original residents and victims. There was never a political cost for abandoning the Pandits - because they were violent force. never a politically aggressive or Even the rehabilitation packages announced by various governments, such as the Prime Minister's Employment Package, were half hearted and poorly implemented. The PM package employees, who returned to Kashmir in the hope of contributing to the administration, have been treated with neglect and humiliation. Their accommodations are unsafe, many have faced security threats, and their living conditions are subhuman in many cases. The recent reports of cracks in newly built housing blocks in Baramulla after minor tremors expose the corruption and substandard planning behind these so-called "relief projects." Their safety, dignity, and peace of mind have never been a priority. The plight of overaged youth among displaced families is another ignored tragedy. Due to displacement, financial instability, lack of resources, and absence of opportunities, thousands of youth crossed the age limit for government jobs. These young men and women lost their prime years in exile and have now been left without a future. No exclusive package, reservation, or age-relaxation policy was ever framed for them. While other communities affected by conflict in India have been given extensive economic packages, Kashmiri Pandits remain neglected. Land encroachments and property issues are widespread. Thousands of Pandit-owned homes, lands, and orchards have either been grabbed illegally or damaged beyond repair. Despite enacting the J&K Migrant Immovable Property Act, authorities have failed to implement it. Revenue officials and police on the ground have shown little interest in protecting Pandit land or helping in retrieval. Court cases take decades, and many displaced owners have died waiting for justice. Even the Shrines and Temples Bill, meant to protect and manage Hindu religious places in Kashmir, has been kept in limbo. These sacred sites, which hold cultural and civilizational value, are crumbling or misused - yet there is no urgency in the system to preserve them. Financial assistance for resettlement remains grossly inadequate. A family receiving Rs. 3,250 per month as cash relief can barely survive, let alone rebuild its life or return to its ancestral homeland. Despite multiple appeals to enhance the relief amount or provide a onetime financial package for rehabilitation, the government response has been mute. The community has been made to feel like beggars for what is rightfully their due. No serious plan has ever emerged to offer holistic resettlement - including housing, employment, security, religious protection, and political representation. Despite being the victims of ethnic cleansing, Kashmiri Pandits have been denied indigenous status, despite clear evidence of their ancient and continuous civilizational roots in Kashmir. Granting this status would not only ensure legal protections but also assert their cultural and historical claim over the Valley. Yet this too has been ignored or left hanging. What further deepened the injustice towards displaced Kashmiri Pandits was the indifferent role played by national and international human rights organizations. These institutions, whose very existence is based on defending the oppressed and highlighting violations, failed miserably to raise the cause of this persecuted community. Had they taken up the issue of the Kashmiri Pandit genocide and forced exodus with the same intensity and urgency as they do for other global conflicts, the world would have been compelled to acknowledge this tragedy and push for corrective justice. But silence prevailed. Similarly, large sections of the national press, electronic media, and global media networks did not cover this human catastrophe with the depth, consistency, and outrage it deserved. For decades, the massacre and displacement of Pandits was sidelined as a "minor episode" or deliberately hidden under the garb of political sensitivity. Even within India, while many citizens expressed sympathy in words, the expected solidarity, public mobilization, or civil society activism to support the Kashmiri Pandit cause never materialized. That too stands as a form of silent denial -a moral failure of the nation. Political parties and mainstream politicians, regardless of ideology, used the pain of the displaced community for lip service, without ever making a sincere and sustained effort to address their core concerns or ensure justice. Their promises remained hollow, and their actions superficial. This collective indifference - from institutions, media, and leadership - contributed immensely to the prolonged denial and delay of justice. In totality, the denial and delay of justice for displaced Kashmiri Pandits is not accidental - it is systemic. It stems from judicial reluctance, political apathy, administrative failure, distorted terminology, lack of representation, and a consistent national failure to treat their exodus as a humanitarian disaster and national shame. After 35 years, it is not enough to express regret. What is needed is action. India must rise above tokenism and correct a historical wrong. A special commission for displaced Pandits must be set up, a national policy for return and rehabilitation must be framed, a genocide and rehabilitation bill must be passed, FIRs must be reopened, perpetrators must be identified and punished, properties must be restored, and the label of "migrant" must be replaced with "displaced citizen." Justice, when delayed for this long, becomes a crime in itself.

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Courtesy:  Kundan Kashmiri  and Koshur Samachar-2025, May