When The Kashmiri Pandit Exodus Happened During The VP Singh Led Government

Eight locations across Central Kashmir were raided by the Jammu and Kashmir State Investigation Agency (SIA) on August 12, 2025, Tuesday as they are investigating the 1990 killing of Kashmiri Pandit nurse Sarla Bhatt. Sarla Bhatt, a 27-year-old nurse was kidnapped by the terrorists on April 18, 1990, from the Habba Khatoon Hostel of the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) in Soura, Srinagar. The terrorists had shot her dead and dumped her body in Umar Colony, Mallabagh, downtown Srinagar. This happened during the heights of insurgency that forced the entire Kashmiri Pandit community out of the Valley in early 1990. Vishwanath Pratap Singh was the Prime Minister of India during the Kashmiri Pandit exodus in 1990. VP Singh became Prime Minister from 2 December 1989 to 10 November 1990 by forming a coalition with both leftists and the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Many Kashmiri Pandits faced the atrocities in the early 1990

Not only Sarla Bhatt, many other Kashmiri Pandits bore the brunt of the atrocities unleashed by the terrorists in the early 1990. Some of the notable names amongst the affected were Kashmiri Pandit businessman Satish Tickoo. Separatist Farooq Ahmed Dar, alias Bitta Karate had admitted in an interview broadcast on India Today’s ‘Newstrack’ show. According to Dar, “Satish Kumar Tickoo was the first person I killed. I got orders from above to kill him. He was a Hindu boy. He was possibly from the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) (It was not a choice). I got the order to kill him, he was to be killed.”

Few Kashmiri Pandits didn’t left Kashmir

Even at the height of terrorism in Kashmir, few Kashmir Pandits didn’t leave the valley including Sanjay Tickoo, a socio-political activist and a member of the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti in Srinagar. 

Also read: Kashmiri Pandit Genocide: After 35 Years Sarla Bhat Murder Case Reopens