‘Criminal’ silence of majority community responsible for KP ‘exodus’, claims Sandeep Mawa

Srinagar, Mar 17: Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘The Kashmir Files’ blames directly Muslims for the ‘migration’ of Kashmiri Pandits in the 1990s. The film is garnering support and criticism in equal terms. Social media is abuzz with the messages of ‘hate’ and videos are viral showing how cinemagoers are spewing venom against a particular community after watching this movie.

    There are some Pandits who describe the movie as mere propaganda, however, equally important is that some of the Pandits blame Muslims of Kashmir Valley for the migration saying the majority community remained silent when Pandits left Valley.

    Sandeep Mawa, founder of Jammu and Kashmir Reconciliation Front (JKRF) and who runs a dry fruit shop in old Srinagar city blamed Muslims for the ‘exodus’ of Kashmiri Pandits. Mawa’s Muslim Manager Muhammad Ibrahim was shot dead by militants at his shop in Bohrikadal Srinagar last year. Mawa had claimed that it was an attack on him but his Muslim Manager sacrificed his life for him.

   When news agency Kashmir News Trust contacted Sandeep Mawa to get his reaction about ‘The Kashmir Files’, he responded: “Everyone suffered in Kashmir, but the ‘criminal silence’ maintained by majority community in Kashmir proved costly for both Muslims and Pandits in 1990. Holy Quran says Majority should protect the minority, but Muslims maintained ‘criminal’ silence. If silence paved the way for the killing of 50 or 500 Pandits, it also facilitated the killings of other people,” Mawa said.

   He said ‘The Kashmir Files’ is just the tip of the iceberg of facts. “Bita Karate himself admitted he killed Pandits. Didn’t he kill his friend Satish,” he said.

   When asked the data from the Government of India shows only 89 Pandits were killed while the number of Muslims is much higher, Mawa said, “Muslims wanted ‘Aazadi’ that’s why got killed while Pandits didn’t yearn for ‘Aazadi’ and still got killed. My father Roshan Lal Mawa was shot four times in 1990. I was attacked in November 2021 in which my Manager (Muhammad Ibrahim) was killed.”

   Mawa said that it is being claimed that Muslims are innocent but I am asking you, how much innocent they (Muslims) are? “Why there is an anti-Muslim wave in France. Are people crazy there? There are some elements in Muslim Community who are ‘terrorists’ and the media promote these ‘terrorists,” Sandeep Mawa claimed.

      When asked who suffered the most, Mawa said that he can’t comment but added that Pandits were loyal to their country and suffered immensely. Mawa added that from this year, Pandits will hopefully return to their native land.

    Pertinently, as per official data 89 Kashmiri Pandits have been killed during the past over three decades.

   In response to a query raised by RTI activist PP Kapoor from Haryana’s Samalkha (Panipat), Jammu Kashmir Police has informed that as many as “89 Kashmiri Pandits were killed in attacks since the inception of militancy in 1990”.

  According to the information, “Apart from the 89 Kashmiri Pandits, 1,635 people of other faiths were also killed during the same period.”

   Chairman, ‘Reconciliation, Return and Rehabilitation of Migrants,’ Satish Maldhar also said that ‘The Kashmir Files’ movie is based on ‘facts’ but it is also one-sided. He said Pandits were ousted in the name of religion but at the same time Muslims were also killed in the name of ‘informers’ and the film is silent on that issue.

    “Kashmir Files has ignored the fact that during migration of Pandits, the government of India was run by VP Singh with the support of BJP. That government released top militants from the jail which proved disastrous. Kashmir Files is silent on the issue and in fact, it is a one-sided approach,” Maldhar said.

    “When Pandits were asked to leave Kashmir, State and Central Government had been collapsed. Why the government didn’t arrange transit camps for the Pandits in Anantnag, Baramulla or some other place and why Pandits were asked to leave Kashmir abruptly,” Maldhar said adding that after reaching Jammu, the government informed Pandits that they have to stay in Jammu permanently.

   “If BJP Government has patronized Vivek Agnihotri’s movie, why then the government is reluctant in declaring ‘genocide’ of Pandits. It was BJP then and it is BJP now.”

   Chairman, ‘Reconciliation, Return and Rehabilitation of Migrants,’ Satish Maldhar added that migration of Pandits is a fact but it is also a fact that over 800 Pandit families and Sikhs are still living in Valley. “It is also a fact that Muslims were killed but the Vivek Agnihotri’s film didn’t show this.”

    “Instead of relying on films, why the government is not ordering inquiry about the migration of Pandits. Why the government is not ordering inquiry about what happened in Gawkadal, Kunanposhpora, Chatisinghpora. If we believe that we have nothing to do with Muslims, what about Sikhs who are part of Hinduism. Didn’t they were massacred in Chatisinghpora and doesn’t it deserve an inquiry,” Maldhar said adding that Kashmir is his land and he loves the people of Valley. (KNT)