This is in response to the article, “From the Valley, a selective remembrance of things past” by Pradeep Magazine (Feb. 8). The author, who tries to paint an imaginary and rosy picture of Kashmiri society, has not only rubbed salt to the wounds of Kashmiri Pandits but also accused them of “playing victim.”
It is painful to see that in the 21st century India, the victims have to prove to their fellow countrymen that what happened to them was not a result of uprising against the “socially elite” but communal frenzy which tore the social fabric of Kashmir forever.
The Kashmir of 1947 was the Kashmir of Nund Reshi and Lal Ded — the great Sufi and Shaivite scholars whose ideals inspired the majority community to save Pandits from tribal invaders. But the Kashmir of 1989 was the Kashmir of Geelanis and Yasin Maliks who owe their allegiance to fanatical religious groups.
A. Munshi, Pune
Keywords: Pradeep Magazine article