The forgotten People
Kashmiri Brahmins or Pandits are the original remaining Hindu population after a large-scale conversion of the valley’s population to Islam in the 14th century.
The Pandit community is a part of the tumultuous history of Kashmir. Kashmir was an important center of Hinduism in the first millennium. However, over the years as the main land India which came under the influence of Mauryas and Kushanas, Buddhism started playing a key role including in the valley and Ladakh and thus eclipsed Hinduism in Kashmir till Islam took over.
All Kashmiri speaking Hindus are Brahmins. This is because the Hindu caste system of Varnas which divides society into four classes (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras) was influenced by Buddhism in the 3rd century. That was the time when most of the non-Brahmin casts of Hindus embraced Buddhism because of its casteless appeal.
Kashmir had no major invasions in the early days and the Turks and Arabs found it more lucrative to invade other parts of India during the 8th century. Meanwhile in the ninth century, during the rule of the Karkota dynasty, a native tradition of Shavism emerged, became popular and widely acceptable. It flourished for seven centuries of the Hindu rule, continuing under the Utpala and the Lohara dynasties till the 14th century. This was the time Islam gained wide acceptance and it came through Sufism of Bulbul Shah which led to Sultans coming in with Shah Mir becoming the first Muslim ruler of Kashmir and the Shah Mir dynasty ruled for the next five centuries. The status of Kashmiri Hindus became downgraded and they were subjected to all kinds of difficulties and their places of worship vandalised. They started leaving Kashmir, consumed poison or to save their lives accepted Islam as their religion. They, however, got a reprieve for 50 years during the rule of the 9th Sultan Zain ul Abdin. He brought some of them back, gave them suitable jobs and took good care of them during his regimen till 1470 when things again took a turn for the worse.
Brahmins of Kashmir were a very literate community and they had a very trying time with the changing scenes after the 13th century. They would desist conversion to Islam and in order to divide responsibilities split into their 3 sub-castes. Guru’s (Priests), Jotish (Astrologers) and Karkuns (employees of the rulers). The majority for making a living became Karkuns because priests and astrologers were not in great demand in view of their diminishing population. They chose professions like doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers and those who could not enter these professions opted to become clerks and accountants. This was also the time when many of them started seeking jobs in other parts of India because of their educational background. During the Sikh rule between 1819 to 1846, Kashmiris in general were not treated well and this period was also marred with famines and epidemics. Many Pandits as well as Muslims went to Panjab and were called Panjabi Kashmiris and did menial jobs for survival. Pandits in general received no favours from the rulers. The Dogra rule which followed was a comfortable time for Pandits as they were a favoured section of the population of the valley during their rule (1846–1947).
However, after 1950 with the independence of India during Mr Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah’s regimen of the National conference, a large number of them left the valley. This was because Kashmiri Pandits were major land owners and the policy of the “land to the tiller” resulted in financial losses to them. Over a period of time their population percentage steadily declined from 6 - 7% during the period 1889 -1941 to around 5% in 1950-1960. However, the harmonious living of the two major communities Muslims and Pandits continued. This was the result of socio-cultural and historical ties that bind all Kashmiris regardless of religion. Both share many cultural practices, the language and the dietary and dressing habits. These commonalities and close association were not eroded by the historical mass conversion to Islam.
Kashmiri Pandits have been at the helm of bureaucracy of India with names like D P Dhar, S L Shakhdar, T N Kaul, P N Haksar, P N Dhar, R N Kao all working out in the highest circles during previous regimens.
Post 1990 status of Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley:
It has been a sad story as militancy erupted and there were targeted killings of some well-known and prominent Pandits. The atrocities on them resulted in a mortal scare. During this period the state apparatus also failed to control militancy and provide security to minority groups. A majority of Kashmiri Pandits who had been comfortable with Kashmir’s accession to the Indian Union could not identify with the azadi movement led by the masses who were challenging Indian sovereignty. It was in the backdrop of these circumstances that Pandit migration took place from the valley to Jammu and other parts of India. According to a number of reports approximately 100,000 to 140,000 of the total Kashmiri Pandit population left the valley during the 1990’s. Maharashtra Government of Bal Thakrey and the Punjab Government did help their children with reservation of seats for higher education after their forced migration out of the valley. Muslim population also got affected and numerically had more killings during this turmoil.
Even after three decades the question of Pandit migration is very much alive during the discourses on the history of the valley. The number of Kashmiri Pandits living permanently in the valley currently is very small and is not more than 4,000 to 5,000. Most of them these days are in Jammu, NCR with a sprinkling in other parts of the country. Those who are still living in the valley are reported on the terrorist threats from time to time with occasional random killings. Situation has not changed significantly for them to even think of returning. Most of them have settled with jobs in other parts of the country and have sold off their properties and land and have left no roots there. However, the people who had migrated from the villages are still languishing in townships made for them by the authorities on the outskirts of Jammu city. They keep on lamenting about their past and the good old days.
Despite attempts by successive Governments to create jobs and accommodation for them things have really not worked out. Unfortunately, now this small community consisting of around 8 lakhs don’t have the numbers to have their representatives in either the State /UT assembly or the National Parliament. For this reason, they get only some lip service from the administrators yet their plight is exploited for getting votes in various parts of the country by all the political parties. It is a sad story for this small but a bright and highly educated community which has seen such difficult periods for no fault of theirs.
Prof Upendra Kaul, Founder Director Gauri Kaul Foundation
