Stories from Jammu: Revelations from the interaction with Kashmiri Pandits!

Today, 19th January, thirty years ago, was the worst nightmare in the life of Kashmiri Pandits!

My visit to Jammu would have seemed incomplete had I not met and interacted with the Kashmiri Pandits! The neighbour of my room was a retired Kashmiri pandit (KP) who migrated to Jammu in 1990 during the genocide. He used to visit Jammu since when he was in grade 7 in early 70s along with his father. He later moved to Delhi for the higher studies and worked as part of a public sector... As part of our conversation, I asked him as to why didn't they revolt at the time of genocide. The natural answer came, saying it was because they were minority 1% of the 1.5 crore population in the entire Jammu and Kashmir and the then govt didn't help them in anyway. I commented, saying that at least I didn't come to know about it till only recently!

KP: That's because the then govt never let that happen - to be known to the rest of the world. The people fled to different places such as Jammu, Delhi, etc. People who were well educated took up jobs elsewhere however those who were peasants and landlords of orchids, etc. couldn't make a living. So they settled in the refugees camps in Jammu and later, govt allotted them lands in Jammu and they have settled here permanently.

Me: What surprised to me was that following the removal of article 370 and 35A, due to the curfew, there were lots to hue and cry that communication is cut off, human rights violations, etc. However there was hardly any voices from the Kashmiri pandits about the sufferings they had gone through 30years ago, except a few here and there.

KP: There are diaspora at different places such as in Delhi, Bangalore, etc of some 1000 people.

Me: But there is no collective voice... Nor has the voices made enough noise... is that because there is not enough unity among yourselves?

KP: On the other hand, not every KP wants to go back. Our children who have not seen much of the Kashmir have settled elsewhere. For ex., my daughter has studied in London and settled there. Why would she want to be going back to Kashmir?

Me: But you said there are many families who have no greater education and still remains poor. Do they not want to go back? Do you not want to support them?
KP: Yes ofcourse!

Me: However, I don't hear much of this anywhere even today.
KP: The govt will be doing it.
Me: But for the govt to make anything isn't it your responsibility to make a voice?

"We are an educated people. We don't go out throwing stones", was the swift answer from this gentleman. "We are raising the concern with the govt. We are seeking a separate settlement with retired army families staying among us! And security to be provided in our area."

Me: Do you think that will be a permanent solution. Do you think this govt will remain permanent who are making positive attempt for your welfare?
KP: Of course! Do you think the opposition will ever come back here? That's a hypothetical situation! That won't happen! We know what they have done to us. Now that article 370 is removed and the respective folks are arrested, we will not let such a govt to come again!

Me: Ok, but what if the govt changes at the centre?
KP: The Congress must be wiped out of India!

I wondered, which govt or a kingdom has remained permanent in the entire history of not just our nation, but in the entire world?? Will this gentleman and many pandits like him ever learn the right lessons from the history...? What is equally surprising to me from the interactions with a few KPs is that, I didn't hear from a single pandit expressing the idea of becoming stronger and gain ability to secure themselves than depending on others! I never heard a pandit seeking martial arts or other defensive training. It might be a sensible choice to have retired army families with them. But the history teaches us that its a futile idea to depend on someone else for the basic necessities as security, food and shelter!

Irrespective of whether it's a boy or a girl! Irrespective of whether they are in refugee camps or well settled in US or London or elsewhere, a collective lifestyle changes as a community to adopt the life saving, defending skills could bring much good to them as a race. Have you ever heard a lion hunting another lion? There was one Guru Govind Singh for Sikhs, then. I wondered, if there was one for the KPs today...

The Varna system was great when it was made. But neither did we use it sensibly nor has it remained sensible enough with 1000+ years of invasions! Have we not heard the story of a boastful Brahmin who did not know the basic life saving skills of swimming, getting drowned?

    Not just a small community, there are nations who took up a collective decision of single common goal -  Japan and Israel are two such examples. For them nation comes first and foremost than anything else. And those are the nations that are in the forefront in every profession - be it medical science, technology, business, etc. A strong nation building can only happen first, through self-discipline, whichever profession one might be in.

KPs are not the only ones who have faced persecution in the entire history of this nation. But it's the most recent, especially in a democratic independent nation. I wish at least the KPs will wake up and set an example to the rest of the Brahmins and other communities in this nation that the ideal of today's humanity is the combined growth of brahmin-hood with the valour of a kshatriya, in each individual.

While one race is racing blind-folded towards its own destruction, the other is slowing down to become vulnerable to be destroyed!

Here are a few statements made by Swami Vivekananda nearly 130years ago, which are very relevant in this context:

"I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal."

 "For our own motherland a junction of the two great systems, Hinduism and Islam — Vedanta brain and Islam body — is the only hope."

"My child, what I want is muscles of iron and nerves of steel, inside which dwells a mind of the same material as that of which the thunderbolt is made. Strength, manhood, Kshatra-Virya + Brahma-Teja."

 Leave alone our nerves being steel, is it atleast alive??

Stories from Jammu: Conversations with the Jawans

An old man was sitting next to me silently sipping a cup of tea, as if he was lost in his own world. I asked softly, "Are you local of Jammu?" He took his time to finish his last sip, stared into my eyes and replied, "Yes" in a deep & serious tone. I introduced myself saying am from Karnataka state. Immediately, his smiled a bit. He later shared his visit to Bengaluru long ago on duty. , From there, we spent a good time discussing from climate to traffic to pollution. From IT companies to present lifestyles to politics.
     Two days were passed, since NRC bill was approved. I enquired about the situation in Jammu, he asked back, "Did you see any issues around?". I said, "I see soldiers standing here and there, I didn't see any problem anywhere. In fact, throughout my journey from locals to soldiers, people were very helpful." He replied, "That is it! This is how it has been all throughout since Aug 2019. These opposition parties are unnecessarily creating wrong impression among the citizens." I nodded in acceptance.

    When i came to Jammu after having darshan at Vaishnodevi temple, the bus dropped me at some location which I had no clue about. We are so used to the modern internet technology, that my hand immediately snapped my mobile from the pocket to open the Google maps! Only to realise that the data n/w was disabled by the govt in whole of Jammu & Kashmir. This made me to fall back on the most reliable, time tested good old human technology of asking the people around! :-) I walked a little and came to the opposite side of a "Super Speciality Hospital". I looked around and saw two of our nation's most respected men, the soldiers, standing there. I asked them, with my broken Hindi, for the address I was looking for. One of them casually enquired about from where I had come, etc. He then explained, that the address was a bit far from here and asked me to catch a mini bus till a particular place and then to take an auto. He further went on to explain how much it will cost me and what does the mini bus conductor would shout about that place while nearing the bus stop, and even the different names with which he calls the same place, etc. Our dear jawan seemed still not convinced that I understood or I could manage as I had to cross two roads passing through a subway. He informed the other soldier and accompanied me till the bus stop. As we walked, I thanked him for helping me out, in hindi. He said "Why thanks, its my duty to serve you. I am privileged to do so." I was quite humbled by his act! We both then reached another road. He stood there and asked me to cross the road to reach the bus stop. I followed his instructions. After waiting for about 5mins, I got the bus which could take me to my destination. He signalled me from the other side of the road to get into that bus. The soldier was standing there till i got into the right bus.
     My solute to our wonderful soldiers! The ones whose very goal of life is to protect the civilians even at the cost of their own life just as the mothers do.

Next day morning, close to my room, I had a chance to meet three soldiers standing guard. They were from the SSB ( Sashastra Seema Bal ) which is one of the para military police forces along with ITBP, BSF, CRPF and CISF. Each where from different states. After we exchanged greetings and some casual talks including our home town, one of them said, they were deputed on the election duty, to Bengaluru, the capital of the state that I belong to. Naturally, the next talk was about the weather and then the IT industry. Another jawan joined the conversation and said, one of his relatives is working in an IT company there. Then the conversation was about family and how they spend their holidays.

    When a soldier is a bachelor and have just joined the services, during their visit to the home town, often they spend time with their friends like many of us do meeting the people, chatting with friends, partying, drinking, etc. As a Jawan get seasoned with discipline, he becomes capable of taking up any responsibility thrown upon him - from polishing his shoes to sweeping the floor to serving food. Saving the civilians during flood to guarding them from terrorist activities to fighting the enemies at the borders! Towards whom he owes his responsibilities now, are two fold - his smaller family in the home town and his much larger family, the nation. the way he looks at life and society has gone through a great transformation!

However, back in his home town, his friends are living the same mundane life as most of us do. Their greatest challenges in life are multi fold! On one side, their office or business or in search of a suitable job and on the other hand, their family of a handful members. Unlike their friend in the border, their fight is not only far more fierce, it also requires extreme intelligence. That's because, while they can fight, out of their own choice, they are not entitled to kill their enemies. And, these enemies appear and disappear every now and then. Sometimes, their spouse become the enemy, sometime the children, sometime parents or in-laws, or one's own self! Its not surprising that the some educated intellectual class expects the govt to provide free medical assistance, free education and free food too for all the citizens (in honour of their bravery?)

    Anyway, coming back to our three musketeers, one of them shared his thoughts, "when I get leave and go to my village, like before, my friends wants me to spend time in having drinks with them. However, I no more find it sensible enough. Moreover, my parents, wife and children will be waiting for months before I am granted a holiday. Neither the holiday is guaranteed nor the number of days I would stay in home. And if I go home having drunk, it doesn't look fine, isn't it?" I nodded in agreement and thoughtfulness. "But they do not understand the subtleness. All they would expect from me is to join them in partying!" At this time another senior called them. I saluted them and they left the place saying goodbye.

   Dear brave fellow citizens, let us raise above our comforts, let's be inspired by the discipline and services of these great men. When you meet a soldier next time, a salute to him will do far more good to you and him both, than a selfie. Try and see!

A very Happy Army Day! 

Stories from Jammu: Face to face with the LOC!

At the LOC, often the ceasefire violations are done by Pakistan for various reasons such as

• To provide cover to infiltration, 
• Attempt to derail the morale of our soldiers. Moverover, BSF couldn't retaliate at every situation as they did not have the free hand till 2014.
• Political gain
• Kashmir issue

Whenever these violations happen, the villagers at the border are affected. The Pakistan usually doesn't target the villagers directly. The firing first starts on the fields and after a while it turns towards the village houses. The locals of Jammu can hear the firing that happens at the borders even upto 5kms away. The mortar firing will be quite powerful such that the locals standing on the ground can feel the vibration hitting their hearts and ears.

Mortar firing at night

The villagers and the Jammu locals near the border are so used to it that the villagers upon hearing the firing immediately vacate their houses and move towards interior parts of Jammu either to the houses of their relatives or to the makeshift camps setup by the administration. These temporary relocation is so commonly occuring phenomenon that each of the village groups know exactly where to relocate. For example a particular village groups know which school building they must go to. And likewise the locals starts arranging food and shelter in such places for the villagers. Sometimes the firing happens overnight or other times, it continues for several days.
 The damages do happen to the houses.  The govt. then provides financial help to mitigate the damages. In 2018, the govt had sanctioned thousands of bunker houses as well as hundreds of community halls. In an article by economic times, dated 23, May 2018, here's how the villagers had expressed their resentment - "We are facing shelling for generations. This is the third generation which has lived under the shadow of death"

  When I landed at the Ramakrishna Mission center, Jammu, knowing that the border is very close to this place, I was quite eager to visit the border. The swami  incharge there, was equally happy to take me there. As soon as we finished our lunch, he arranged for a vehicle and took me to the border along with the two local village youths. He personally showed me and explained each of the places described above. All three of them owing to their simplicity, answered my countless questions that I asked like a child, without getting annoyed.

Border fencing

We also met Jawan guarding the border. He stood motionless at the top of the tower, and his eyes piercing across the fencing. Noticing us coming closer to his tower he signalled to us to park the vehicle at a distance and informed us not to take out the mobile phone. We spent a few minutes there observing the various segments of the border. It comprises of our side of the fencing, then the No-man's land and then fencing at the Pakistan side. We could also see their side of the tower too and their flag. Just a day before i came here, a night long firing was witnessed by one of the adjoining villages

On the way back, we also saw some of the tribal huts with plenty of buffaloes.

One of the youth in our vehicle said these huts are used by the militants to hide at the time of infiltration. They also use such huts to hide the weapons that will eventually reaches the hands of the milltant groups within Jammu and similarly in Kashmir. Unfortunately, the innocent tribals gets poked and disturbed by the militants to hide and our army, in search of these militants, inevitably! From tribals to locals to RKM monks day in and day out, not only witness the firing and buffaloes, but also plenty of snakes.

Snake catching tools used in RKM

The RKM Jammu plays an important role in keeping up the morale of the villagers and help them which as detailed in my previous post. One of the village youth shared an interesting incident that happened with one of the senior monks there. This mission center distributes blankets and garments to the poor and needy villagers. Once this group comprising of the monks and volunteers including this boy, while distributing to the needy, went deeper and far off villages from the mission center. They arrived at the muslims populated village. When they approached a Muslim family a large number of them gathered and first resisted violently assuming that they have come to convert. The senior Swami, with an unperturbed, tranquil mind and motherly affection, explained to that muslim men asking them to follow their religion and that the RKM accepts all religions as true and therefore have no intention of any kind of conversation. And added that they have come to do seva treating you as a human being in need rather than based on any religion. After the distribution, while this group were returning back, this boy who was following the swamis overheard one of the muslims saying, "Insaniyat ko dekha hun, magar aisa kabi nahi !". Meaning, "I have seen humanity, but have never seen, of this quality!".

photo credit: Defence Images Exercise Lions Thunder  via (license)