Every new year brings with it gory memories of the loss of home for Kashmiri Pandits, the aborigines of the valley with a history of 5,000 years. It reminds Pandits of the dark times of terror they witnessed in Kashmir in 1990. It was the night of 19 January, 1990, when the valley reverberated with anti-Pandit and anti-India slogans like Zalimo, O Kafiro, Kashmir Hamara Chhod Do (O! Merciless, O! Infidels, Leave our Kashmir); Kashmir Mein Agar Rehna Hai, Allah-O-Akbar Kehna Hai (if you want to stay in Kashmir, you have to say Allah-O-Akbar); Yahan Kya Chalega, Nizam-e-Mustafa (what do we want here? Rule of Shariah); Asi Gachchi Pakistan, Batav Roas Te Batanev Saan (we want Pakistan along with Pandit women but without their men). The killings of Pandits had already started a year earlier in 1989. As the Indian government and Jammu and Kashmir state government failed to protect its citizens, left with no choice, Kashmiri Pandits left their homeland in 1990.

Kashmiri Pandits commemorate 19 January as their displacement day worldwide, renewing their resolve every year to reclaim their homes in Kashmir. While working on my book, A Long Dream of Home: The Persecution, Exodus and Exile of Kashmiri Pandits, I talked to several Pandits including my relatives about their life in Kashmir and the loss of their homes. Pandits are infuriated with the government’s attitude towards their predicament. Though Pandits wish to return to their homes, they don’t see any hope of returning back to Kashmir, including my own family. It is because of the fact that the issue has lingered on for a quarter of a century. In the last 25 years, Pandits have only got assurances from various governments. They have been told and retold that Kashmir is incomplete without Kashmiri Pandits and that the government is committed to the safe return of Kashmiri Pandits to the valley. Governments have changed from time to time but the rhetoric hasn’t changed.

The Indian state has not even once tried to address the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits. The reversal of ethnic cleansing must begin with justice –- with the prosecution of the culprits of the 1990 Pandit exodus. However, the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government, which has been in power for around 20 months, doesn’t seem to address the issue of ethnic cleansing. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is seen as a party that has compromised on its agenda so as to get a power share in J&K. Narendra Modi gave hope to the Pandit community that is now flickering.

The issue of Kashmiri Pandits has been raised by political parties only when it suits them. The most parties in J&K – Congress, BJP, National Conference, and People’s Democratic Party – have done for Pandits is to have a minority cell unit of their respective parties headed by a Kashmiri Pandit. Truth be told, Kashmiri Pandit organisations and their self-styled leaders, have not done much good for their own community. The exile struggle of 1990s was different from what it has become now. Certain Pandit outfits indulge in jingoism that does not yield any substantial outcome.

Modi government has still three and half years more in power. It has to be seen if it will move forward in the right direction of resolving the issue of Pandits or, like past governments, merely announce financial packages that result in nothing. I hope for the former. As the new exile year begins, it is time for Kashmiri Pandits, especially the youth, to reflect as to how they want to take forward their struggle for reclamation of homeland.