This is bound to happen if you oppress the minorities.
They were not the minorities.
We are!
2% minority.
Minority amongst minorities.
We're living like refugees in our own country since 30 long years!
We are not refugees!
We are not minorities!
We are Kashmiri Pandits from Kashmir.
This land rightfully belongs to us.
Only one nail is left. Let me clip it.
We used to be 100% before they came.
They converted us.
The lineage of Kashmiri Pandits can be traced back to 25 generations.
Can they do that?
They still use our surnames!
Kaul, Pandit, Bhatt, Mattoo.
Think about it...
If you have had such a glorious history,
then what made Kashmiri Pandits convert?
Terrorism!
And the swords of Sufis!
No politics.
You will only study!
When was Kashmir formed?
Archaeological surveys have confirmed that the civilization of Kashmir
is a Vedic civilization
which has existed since more than 8,000-9,000 years.
That means, it is older than Ramayana and Mahabharata eras.
Even Harappa and Mohenjo Daro bear
testimony to its existence.
When discussing any place,
firstly, we see what ancient texts
are there about that region,
followed by astronomy,
followed by archeology,
and archeoastronomy,
and finally, DNA testing.
We can use all these fundamentals
on Kashmir as well.
We get a lot through which we can identify
how ancient Kashmir's history is.
Kashmir has always been an important part of India,
whose history is that of, what we know today to be
the Indus Valley civilization, Harappan civilization
or the Sindu Saraswati civilization
or culture.
The remnants of this date as far back as approximately 8000 BCE.
The world's oldest scripture is the Rig Veda,
meaning, it is more than 4000 years old.
And since Vitasta is also mentioned in it,
River Vitasta comes from Kashmir
hence, we also find an implicit description of Kashmir as well.
Kashmir, the land of Sage Kashyap, is also described in
in Mahabharat,
Followed by Neelmat Puran and Rajtarangini.
As per these, the native people of this land were the 'Nagas'.
They got this name
because they worshipped 'Naga' (Serpent)
which is a symbol of Lord Shiva.
Thus, the population here was 100% Hindus.
During the reign of Emperor Ashoka, Buddhism reached here,
followed by Sikhism.
All of them lived here with harmony.
And then Islam came here.
But after that,
what exactly happened that changed the place completely?
While researching medieval times through history books,
we found that historians have written
about the changes in Kashmir.
They have also mentioned the conversions of Kashmiri Pandits.
But the actual plight of Kashmiri Pandits
never made it to history books!
Whose responsibility is it to take real history to people?
The historians, authors,
academicians, film makers,
even scholars!
How could they all forget the truth of the medieval times of Kashmir?
How ironic it is,
that we learn the truth about atrocities against Kashmiri Hindus,
during the medieval period, from Persian literature,
from Al-Baruni's books,
and from the descriptions of
foreigners who visited Kashmir.
Why did we not come to know that
being terrorized, being massacred, being evicted from homes,
being religiously converted, razing of temples,
all of this was happening with Kashmiri Pandits
since invasions began in Kashmir?
Just before 1320, Kashmir faced
a huge attack.
There was a Turkish General named Zulcha,
he was is called Dulucha in history.
He invaded with an army of 70,000 people
and wreaked havoc in Kashmir.
He took 50,000 Hindus with him
as booty.
He sold the women and kids
to Turkish traders and merchants.
He had brought Turkish traders with him.
He took the young people along.
When he reached the Devsar Pass,
they faced torrential rains, raging storm
and cloud burst. All were killed.
A couple of years before 1320 until 1350,
it was a crucial period. People should know about it.
Three people played a vital role during this period.
Shah Mir, Rinchan and Bulbul Shah together
established Islamic reign there.
Islamic invaders started getting married
and attacking prominent people
and thus, began the game of mass conversions.
Martand Temple was the Sun Temple of Kashmir.
It was built in Mattan
where the first rays of the sun touched the valley.
Sikandar Butshikan
Sikandar, the Iconoclast...
Iconoclast means one who breaks idols.
He ruined it and caused huge destruction but the temple did not break.
He then torched it, but it kept burning for 2 months!
Sikandar died by then.
What you see today bespeaks
how the temple withstood such destruction.
The ruins bespeak its magnificence!
In the Shankaracharya temple,
the original 'Shiv lingam'
and 300 idols of gods and goddesses,
were all destroyed by Sikandar Butshikan.
There is a place in Rainawari, where almost
a million Kashmiri Hindus were killed
by drowning
All their sacred threads were drowned too.
That's how that place
came to be known as Bhatt Mazaar, a place where Hindus were killed.
We were evicted for the 7th time in 1990.
Before this, in the last 700 years we were forced out
6 times through terrorism and massacres.
You must understand that the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus in 1990
was the 7th forced eviction of Hindus.
From 1349 to 1990,
Kashmiri Hindus faced exodus 7 times.
The first exodus of Kashmiri Pandits happened during Sikandar Butshikan's reign.
The second exodus happened during his son Sultan Ali Khan's reign
The third exodus happened during Mir Shamsuddin Araqi's period.
The fourth and the fifth exodus happened during Aurangzeb's reign.
And the sixth exodus happened during the Afghan reign.
At the beginning of the 14th century,
the majority population of Kashmir was Hindu.
The changes that took place by the mid century
and then by the end of the century
were unheard of!
No city in India
faced such rapid and massive religious conversions
like Kashmir did, within one century!
And, I'm not saying this, but the
Persian books of those times
and the foreigners who came to India
have described this in detail.
So, when we talk about Kashmir
we must take the entire era into consideration.
Sufism is a benevolent branch of Islam
whose spiritual aim is to unite with God.
This is the definition of Sufism that we have been aware of, and accepted since centuries.
Sufism came to Kashmir after the advent of Islam.
It blended with the Hindu culture there and flourished widely,
and left its mark on India and world over.
This is the Sufism that we were taught.
This is our understanding of Sufism.
But do you know who the original Sufis were?
Kashmir is called the land of Sufi Bulbul Shah, Hamdani and Araqi.
If you read their books,
you will find the description of a different form of Sufis.
Was this their original form then?
And if this was their original form,
then why wasn't this taught to us in schools and colleges?
The actual question is
what this form really was?
Abdul Rehman Sharafuddin,
who is now known as Bulbul Shah in Kashmir.
Bulbul Shah aka Emperor Bulbul.
He was a proselytizer.
He came to Kashmir for religious conversion.
What kind of a Sufi was Hamdani?
What kind of a Sufi?
Listen to his own words.
He made 20 rules.
They said, if a Muslim
enters a temple, he should be allowed to live there.
If he enters your house,
he has the right to come in.
Kashmiri Pandits will not ride horses.
Kashmiri Pandits can not keep swords,
bows or arrows.
If Kashmiri Pandits have Muslim neighbors
he must speak softly.
They were barred from performing Hindu rituals and prayers.
Araqi!
Araqi is called a Sufi?
What kind of Sufis yielded swords
and decreed
that each day 500-1,000
Kashmiri Pandits were to be brought and converted.
Around 200-300 BC, during Emperor Ashok's reign,
in Neelam Valley in Kashmir,
at the confluence of Rivers Kishanganga and Madhumati,
Sharda University
was established.
This was way before Takshashila and Nalanda Universities existed.
It became one of the best and most famous universities around the world.
It had the world's largest library.
People from every corner of the world came here to study.
Kashmir became a big center of learning for the world.
It made huge contributions towards science, philosophy, engineering,
literature, art, and culture.
Adi Shankaracharya came here all the way from Kerala to study.
Scholars like Kalhan, Utpal Dev, Abhinav Gupt are the gems who came out of this university.
Sharda University's influence reigned over the world until the 12th century.
To this day, when we worship
goddess Sharda or Saraswati, we say,
'Salutations to you, O Sharada, O Goddess, O one who resides in Kashmir'
So why is not the land where goddess Sharada dwells on this planet
remembered as Sharda Desh (Land of Sharda)?
We cannot perform
a single action in a day
which does not speak of Sharda University's contribution.
If we talk about the creative arts,
Bharata, who wrote Natya Shastra
belonged to Sharda desh.
Patanjali yoga came from Kashmir.
If we have Ayurveda and alternative medicine today...
Charaka, was from Kashmir.
If I'm an author,
the word 'sahitya' (literature)...
was first used by Kunika in Kashmir.
Number one poet of India, Kalidas
belonged to Sharda Desh.
If we look at any idol,
any idol in any temple,
they have been carved following
the dictates mentioned
in Vishnudharmottra.
Vishnudharmottra came from Kashmir.
Today if we
speak about stories,
the most translated stories in the world
are Panchtantra stories from Sharda Desh.
If in the west, in Europe,
there are Aesop's Fables, Canterbury Tales,
here there is Kathasaritsagara by Somadeva.
Like Silicon Valley
is the technology center of the 2nd millennium,
in the first millennium
Sharda was the technology center in Kashmir Valley.
The only difference is that
Silicon Valley's technology
goes obsolete in 5-10 years
because of updated versions
but the technology from Sharda is immortal!
Tell me, who was the greatest Kashmiri leader?
Sheikh Abdullah.
It was Lalit Aditya!
He was a Hindu king. He ruled most of India.
Look, all of us feel we know everything
but we don't.
Lalit Aditya!
a great emperor!
Lalit Aditya's empire comes second only to Chandragupt.
Lalit Aditya's most remarkable feat
was that he drove away the Arab attackers.
Then he triumphed over Kabulistan and Zabulistan in Afghanistan.
Following that he triumphed over Bactria, Turkmenistan
and included them in the Kashmir empire.
Then he gained control over the old trade route in the Himalaya
that is the silk route.
He triumphed over Gilgit Baltistan.
He came to Drass and triumphed over Zojila pass.
He went all the way to Leh and took control of the trade routes over there.
Kashmir gained complete control over the entire Asian trade.
When he returned, he built the major pilgrim center,
and today's World Heritage site, the Martand Temple in Kashmir.
Then he went from Madhya Pradesh to Bengal, on to Orissa,
then Rajasthan and Sind in the west, bringing all this under Kashmir empire.
Thus, Kashmir became an Indian empire
that spread from Central Asia, to West Asia
and all the way to Central India.
First, the history of Kashmir was wiped off.
Then the amazing contributions of Kashmiri Pandit's were erased.
Likewise, the plight of evicted Kashmiri Hindus
in 1990 was forgotten.
For 33 years,
nobody cared to ask,
that with small kids,
young girls and old parents,
with no roof over their heads,
and no money,
how did the Kashmiri Hindus survive?
We had to beg and plead but they would not budge,
I somehow grabbed a tent and survived.
One day,
I was sitting there at around 6:30 in the evening
and I saw a snake slither away from the gutter.
Then another one came half hour later...
The water's filthy. There is no tap or other amenities.
We use small pipes to get water that is infested with worms.
Even the tube well used to store water is filthy.
Our clothes become dirty.
There is no drinking water either.
Kids have fallen ill due to this water.
We don't know what filth goes in our stomach.
We are wandering from one place to another to yet another,
only being harassed.
We do not know where our future is?
When we reached the camp, the hospital building,
it was only like... many people were already there
in the lobby...
In the lobby we could find...
It was occupied by then when they arrived...
In the lobby we could find a small space
so we put our belongings there
and made sort of arrangements, this is ours.
Then there was another family.
And some posh families had put curtains.
- It used to be a privilege those days. - We didn't have curtains.
We didn't even
have a curtain.
To sleep without even a curtain,
eat while others are watching...
When the daughters are exposed,
how traumatized a mother feels, I can understand now
now I'm a mother...
My mom would always be worried,
my daughters are sleeping and she would keep vigil.
Although I remember those tired eyes looking at us...
She's already slept, and I'm awake.
'Mom, go to sleep'
Again, its uncomfortable,
young ladies would want to sleep but...
Like sometimes me waking up at night time
and mom would be sleeping, putting that cover on my sister...
Hide it.
There are so many people, hide it.
She would be sweating.
'Sis, no let me sleep'
We are girls, we must cover up. So yeah!
There was one day when we had nothing to eat.
We were thinking what to do now.
And we gathered all the news papers
and some old books in the house and sold them in the scrap.
We got 30 rupees.
I still remember those 30 rupees.
And we bought some potatoes
and that's how that day we had food on the table.
I've never said this to anybody.
That this happened.
And this didn't happen to just one family.
Hundreds of thousands of families.
That's how they were. They were scraping and scavenging.
That's how they carried on with their lives.
We couldn't bear the heat. People died of heat stroke.
Many died due to snake bites.
There's so much trauma we've seen
that for one year after marriage
in my dreams, every night I would just
be sweating because I would be surrounded by these people
wearing long robes with Kohl in their eyes
having guns in their hands
and it was so scary. Even now
there are a lot of times in my dreams
I dream of these people and it's very very stressful.
There was no fan in the tent.
Jammu would have 48 degrees temperature
and ladies would be on their periods
and they had no wash room.
Hygiene was out of the question.
Don't even ask about it.
There was no bathroom
where she could clean herself.
There are pains... where would you go,
your father-in-law,
brother-in-law and whole family would live in one tent.
The pain that our ladies went through
is unspeakable.
I mean you can't measure and compare it with any pain.
A newly wed is pregnant
but she's sleeping with all family members around her.
Be it winters, summers or rains
there was no respite.
Whom to say this to? Who'd heed us?
Now we see Kashmir Pandit is
appointed in offices
and Kashmiri ladies are successful everywhere,
but basically, Kashmiri ladies are dead from within.
When I look at my grandmother,
when I look at my mother,
they are living in a limbo...
They neither belong to Kashmir nor any place else.
This... this is the pain.
Every Kashmiri Pandit, in one way or another,
suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
It was just one strength that
they held onto with dear life
and kept moving ahead.
No matter what the circumstances were,
these residents of Sharda Desh
did not give up on education.
Our school fees...
I asked my mom how did you pay those?
I could see her dejhoor getting smaller and smaller
How she was selling one ornament after another
And that was going towards our education.
45-degree heat...
We used to start school at 2 in the afternoon,
when the sun used to be the hottest.
The classroom was made up of a tin shed.
That's where we studied.
It used to be an oven. We used to open our shirts
just squeeze the sweat out, wear it again...
It was terrible.
As soon as we are born, right in the beginning our families tell us
education is a must. It is a priority.
It was difficult during exams.
We can not study in the day due to the heat.
We study at night but there is no electricity.
I want to be a pilot.
It is my parents' dream that I become a pilot.
I will not let them down.
I will fulfil their dream.
We want to study.
No matter how many hurdles we face, we will study.
Today, we have reached this far and this is not a small achievement.
A community started from scratch 30 years ago
and now
they are all settled in different places.
Because our education
was our strong fundamental strength.
The natives of Kashmir lived in the land of Kashmir since ages.
Today, Kashmir is still here
but these natives
are scattered across the world.
They have suffered the pain of
being homeless and rootless for years.
And now that pain has turned into a looming fear.
We are living in a house, but this is not a home.
We do not have an identity.
Another 20 years will pass by
and there will be no sign of Kashmiri Pandits.
Children who moved abroad are settled there.
They have adjusted there.
They won't be known as Kashmiri Pandits in future.
The main thing is that we do not have a permanent address.
When people ask me for my address...
My one child is in Pune, the other is in Mumbai.
Some people are in Delhi while I'm in Jammu.
We don't have a permanent address now.
Our identity lies in Kashmir.
That's our home.
Even now when we sleep,
we dream of the lanes in Kashmir.
Who would want to
leave his motherland and settle elsewhere?
What do you want? That I must not go home?
If someone is in Pune, Maharashtra,
and if things get tense in Pune
and people are told to leave
and told that you cannot return?
A Marathi person from Pune or Maharastra
relates his rituals and traditions,
or Shivaji Maharaj's legacy,
his civilizational and cultural heritage,
to his homeland.
He says Maharashtra is his home.
But if you say I should forget Kashmir,
and I should live with a scattered identity, across the world
then this is not acceptable to us.
This remains on our minds that
15/16 years from now,
how our next generation will reclaim our legacy?
This is not a feeling of revenge,
it is my right.
I want to go back to my motherland.
The environment there should be
made congenial for me.
You cannot make such an environment where we go through the 8th exodus!
You cannot build transit camps for me
In different places, small camps
The same thing will happen again.
A separatism will rise again after 50 years
and pelt stones, and burn everything and abduct our women
and we will talk about the same things again
They traced us to where we lived,
Jammu, Delhi and everywhere else.
Why did they come to us?
They compelled us to sell our homes.
If they felt akin to us
and had love for us,
why did they not ask us to come back?
How do I express a dying mother's pain
looking at me from her death-bed when I came there?
She was talking about her home in Kashmir.
Before I could check on her health, she said,
"Why didn't you shut the window, it's raining"
She thought she was in Kashmir!
My father said
he had only one wish...
"I want my dead body to leave from my house,
my own house.
This is a rented place.
This belongs to my son and his wife
- When did your father... - The house that I built
with my own hands and with hard work
my dead body will not leave from that house?
Why not?"
That was our pain.
And when people think in terms
Oh... how many died and how many survived?
You...
You're talking about numbers here?
You're talking about evidence?
How many Hindus died?
2,000, 5,000 or 10,000?
You're talking about human life!
It has been 30 years since
we left the place.
But I've never gone back.
Not even once? No...
Didn't you want to go back?
Everyday I want to go back, but not to a hotel.
I want to go to Shopian,
my house.
Our pursuit of understanding the truth about Kashmiri Pandits
lasted for 4 years.
But did we succeed?
Did it help Kashmiri Pandits in any way?
We had named this pursuit of truth 'Right to Justice'.
But when the truth came out,
did Kashmiri Pandits get justice?