After Kerala Congress launched a scathing attack at the Bharatiya Janata Party over the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, the BJP has shot back by stating that Congress does not understand history. BJP MP KJ Alphons, reacting to Kerala Congress’ allegations, said the grand old party has hugely distorted versions, adding that over 1.5 lakh Kashmiri Pandits were driven out on communal grounds.
As the politics intensifies, it becomes pertinent to separate the truth from myths. Congress has claimed that large number of pandit families did not feel secure and left the valley in fear but the truth is that hundreds of Kashmiri Hindus were forced to leave their valley. While Congress has claimed that BJP was engineering a divide over the ram mandir issue in Ayodhya, the truth is that Ram mandir and Kashmiri Pandit issue are completely unrelated. The Congress party has also claimed that no retaliatory killings of pandits took place in Kashmir but the truth is that Kashmiri hindus were targeted and they were not just victims of terrorism.
The question arises what do our politicians need to do. The first suggestion is that they should stop bickering and speak in one voice on Kashmir issue. Secondly, they must support and ensure justice for Kashmiri Pandits. Thirdly, instead of fighting, politicians should help restore pandits to their homes. Lastly, netas should back reconciliation commission to rehabilitate Kashmiri pandits.
Kerala Congress had earlier claimed that Pandits left the valley en masse under the direction of Governor Jagmohan who was an RSS man and the migration started under the BJP-supported VP Singh government. It added that Pandits’ migration started the very next month of BJP-supported VP Singh’s government coming to power in December 1989 and accused BJP of doing nothing but supporting VP Singh till November 1990.
