Kashmiri Pandit Exodus Day: Remembering Horrors of Kashmiri Hindu genocide on its 35th anniversary

Today, on 19th January 2025, the nation remembers with a very heavy heart the 35th Anniversary of Kashmiri Pandit genocide, their ordeals and the extent of brutality that was unleased upon them, by the Islamists forces sitting in the valley and across the borders. Through a brutal repression, cold blooded murders in broad daylights, rapes, communal and genocidal calls given from the Mosques, Raliv, Galiv, Chaliv (Convert, die or leave), the Kashmiri Hindus, predominently, Pandits were forced to leave their homes.

This mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from their homeland is one of the darkest chapters in the history of India. This tragedy was not just the loss of land for a community; it was the brutal displacement of an entire culture from its roots. The greater traversty is that their calls for Justice have been time and again brushed under the carpet, citing flimsy excuse that “a lot of time has passed by” and finding evidence is nearly next to impossible now. 

Kashmiri Pandit community remember the Islamic barbarism they endured, forcing them to leave their homeland and save their future generations, women folk from Islamist terrorists 

Bollywood Actor Anupam Kher, a Kashmiri Pandit, shared a video to mark #KashmirHindus Exodus Day!.

Taking to X, he wrote, “19th January, 1990. #KashmirHindus Exodus Day! It has been 35 Years since more than 500000 Hindus were brutally thrown out of their homes. Those homes are still there. But haunted and forgotten! #SunayanaKachrooBhide a victim of this tragedy has written heartbreaking poem about memories of those homes. The lines will resonate with all the #KashmiriPandits who were the victims of this mammoth tragedy! It is both – SAD & TRUE! 💔🙏💔 #Exodus #19January”. 

Another Kashmiri Hindu, Sunanda Vashisht wrote, “19th Jan 1990 – 35 years today since we heard those genocidal slogans from mosques in Kashmir threatening Hindus of Kashmir and forcing them to leave their homes. 35 years since our seventh exodus. Anniversary of 35 years of continual genocide of 700 years – entering 36th year today. We will not forget #KPGenocide”.

First Exodus under Sikander Butshikan

The first Kashmiri Exodus of the Hindu community happened in 1389-1413 CE, when Sultan Sikandar Shah, commonly known as Sikander Butshikan (destroyer of idols), unleashed an Islamic terror crusade throughout the valley. During his tenure, temples were razed, and mosques were constructed in their place. The Centre for Integrated and Holistic Studies claims that during his reign, native Hindus were subjected to forced conversions. Other forms of brutality, like looting, rape, and pillage, became a norm, and this forced thousands of Hindus to leave the valley in order to protect themselves.

Second Exodus under Shah-II

The second Exodus was marked in the reign of Fateh Shah II, during 1505-1514 CE. Shah came under the influence of Shams-ud-din Araqi, who was a Noorbakshi Shi’a Sufi, and then began the heinous practice of persecuting Hindus in the valley.

Third Exodus under Mughals

After the dismissal of the Shah Miri dynasty, Kashmir Valley went under the control of the Mughals, and after that, atrocities began on the Hindu community. The reigns of Jahangir and Shahjahan were like nightmares for the community. Jahangir’s commander, Sardar Itquad Khan, specialized in converting Kashmiri Hindus under torture. Aurangzeb and his famous governor, Iftekhar Khan, continued the reign of terror unleashed by his predecessors. This, in turn, forced the Hindu community to flee to other parts of India.

Fourth Exodus under Durranis

Taking advantage of the declining Mughal Empire, the Durranis of Afghanistan took over control of the Kashmir valley in 1752. The Durranis mastered Aurangzeb in cruelty, triggering the fourth Kashmiri Exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits community.

The Kashmir valley has seen many rulers, like the Sikhs and the Dogras. It’s important to note that during the Sikh or the Dogra rule, the valley’s majority, i.e. Muslims, were not subjected to any kind of religious persecution.

However, after the death of Dogra ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Britishers invaded the valley.

Fifth Exodus by the Britishers

A British officer’s cook , Abdul Qadeer, was facing sedition charges for his fiery remarks against Maharaja Hari Singh in July 1931. The trial of Qadeer stirred up sentiments; protests were being held against the Dogra ruler. Things became ugly after the protesters were fired upon; this firing triggered communal violence in areas of Naushehra, Bohri Kadal, etc. Since the firing orders were given by local Governor Trilok Chand, the Kashmiri Pandits were targeted, attacked and ransacked. Communal riots took place in several places, and properties of the minority community were razed to the ground, forcing them to flee the valley.

Some historians believe that the onus of this Exodus was on Britishers. There is no need to tell that Britishers thrived on the agenda of ‘divide and rule’, but this is mandatory to say that this politics of the the Britishers had triggered the fifth Exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits.

Sixth Exodus

Kashmir has not been a very peaceful land for long periods. In the 1900s, the condition of Kashmiri Pandits kept deteriorating. A series of communal violence had been reported in the state. After 1947’s independence, Pakistan’s ISI-backed groups started pushing for the radicalization of Kashmir. To sustain their agenda, they bred hatred for Kashmiri Pandits. There were concerted efforts to orchestrate a public relations campaign to change the Kashmiri people.

Seventh Exodus in the wake of Islamic Fundamentalism

The prior exoduses and persecution are often being brushed under the carpet with the logic that back then, there were dynasties. But the most barbarous genocide faced by the Kashmiri Pandit community was under a democratic nation. This became the event Kashmiri Exodus from the state. 

It’s not a hidden fact that in the 1980s, Pakistan-backed terrorism started rooting in the valley. Terrorist outfits and their members started persecuting the religious minorities, i.e. the Kashmiri Hindus. The message was loud and clear, ‘Convert, leave or Perish’. The brutal targeted killings, rapes of Kashmiri Hindus forced the community to leave the valley.  More than five lakh Kashmiri Hindus fled the valley to save their lives. Thus, the Kashmiri Pandit community marks the day of 19 January 1990 as the Holocaust day, a day when a community was reduced to the status of refugees and was forced to live in camps in their own country.

The innocent community of Kashmiri Hindus, time and again, had become a victim of fatal Islamic fundamentalism in the Kashmir valley.

Today, as we reflect on this tragic anniversary of the Kashmiri Exodus, let us honour the resilience of the Kashmiri Pandits, who have kept their identity alive despite several waves of genocidial attacks directed against them. Their stories are a reminder of the horrors of intolerance and the importance of standing firm against Islamist forces that threatened the Hindu conscience.

It is the collective responsibility of all Indians, especially Hindus, to remember this chapter, not to harbour bitterness, but to ensure that history does not repeat itself. May justice, reconciliation, and peace prevail, and may the Kashmiri Hindu community one day return to the land of their ancestors with dignity and security.

Nonetheless, as the nation marks the 35th anniversary of the ghastly Kashmiri Pandit Genocide, it is time to recall their ordeal, the travesty that the apex court vehemently turned down their pleas seeking Justice. This is the day to recall that it was not the only sad state of affairs in the valley, the Islamist forces in the valley have spilt the blood of Hindus at least 7 times; that is, there is at least seven documented genocide of Kashmiri Hindus.