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The '''Kashmiri Pandits''' ({{lang-ks|कॉशुर पण्डित, کٲشُر پنڈت}}, [[Hindi-Urdu]]: कश्मीरी पण्डित, کشمیری پنڈت) are a [[Hindu]] [[Brahmin]] community<ref name=USDS>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78871.htm |title=India |year=2006 |publisher=Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, US Department of State |date=6 March 2007 |accessdate=2011-07-08}}</ref> originating from [[Kashmir]], a mountainous region in [[South Asia]].
The '''Kashmiri Pandits''' ({{lang-ks|कॉशुर पण्डित, کٲشُر پنڈت}}, [[Hindi-Urdu]]: कश्मीरी पण्डित, کشمیری پنڈت) are a [[Hindu]] [[Brahmin]] community<ref name=USDS>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78871.htm |title=India |year=2006 |publisher=Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, US Department of State |date=6 March 2007 |accessdate=2011-07-08}}</ref> originating from [[Kashmir]], a mountainous region in [[South Asia]]. The Kashmiri Brahmins are Aryans and possibily the finest specimens of this great Race. It has often been specul;ated by experts that this Race originated in the Kashmir region.


==History==
==History==

Revision as of 15:38, 9 July 2011

Kashmiri Pandit
कॉशुर पण्डित, کٲشُر پنڈت
Regions with significant populations
India India
* Jammu and Kashmir * National Capital Region
Languages
Kashmiri,
Hindustani
Religion
Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Indo-Iranians, Dards, Saraswat Brahmins

The Kashmiri Pandits (Template:Lang-ks, Hindi-Urdu: कश्मीरी पण्डित, کشمیری پنڈت) are a Hindu Brahmin community[1] originating from Kashmir, a mountainous region in South Asia. The Kashmiri Brahmins are Aryans and possibily the finest specimens of this great Race. It has often been specul;ated by experts that this Race originated in the Kashmir region.

History

Persecution under Islamic rulers

Photograph of the Surya Temple, The most impressive and grandest ruins in Kashmir, at Marttand-Hardy Cole's Archaeological Survey of India Report 'Illustrations of Ancient Buildings in Kashmir.' (1869)

During the period of Islamic rule of the Kashmir valley there were hundreds of Hindu and Buddhist temples in use. Some Kashmiri Pandits gradually migrated to other parts of India to look for better economic prospects, and many of those who remained in the valley, as well as the Buddhists, were forced to convert to Islam. The devastation wrought by Zulju, a Turkish general from Turkmenistan, in 1320, during his conquest of many regions of Kashmir Valley was especially noteworthy, as were the actions of Sultan Sikandar Butshikan (1389–1413), the seventh Muslim ruler in Kashmir. The Sultan has been referred to as an iconoclast because of his destruction of many Hindu symbols and the manner in which he forced the population to convert or flee. The outcome of this shift both in population and in religion was that Kashmir became a predominantly Muslim area.[2][3]

Ethnic cleansing and exodus from Kashmir (1985-1995)

According to figures from the CIA for 2007, at that time about 300,000 Pandits living in India were "internally displaced people" from Kashmir and Jammu.[4]

The socio-political situation in Kashmir continues to be volatile, with the displaced Kashmiri Pandits beginning to lose their cultural identity. The US Department of State reports that, according to the Indian National Human Rights Commission, the Kashmiri Pandit population in Jammu and Kashmir dropped from 55 percent in 1941 to 0.1 percent as of 2001.[5][6] In 2009 Oregon Legislative Assembly passed a resolution to recognize 14 September 2007, as Martyrs Day to acknowledge ethnic cleansing and campaigns of terror inflicted on non-Muslim minorities of Jammu and Kashmir by terrorists seeking to establish an Islamic state.[7]

PRC and the JKMIP Acts

There are zones set up with offices for relief.[8] Many Orders, Circulars and recommendations have been issued for relief of Kashmiri Pandits.[9][10][11]

The Jammu And Kashmir Migrant Immovable Property (Preservation, Protection And Restraint On Distress Sales) Act, 1997, provides that "Any person who is an unauthorized occupant or recipient of any usufruct of any immovable property of the migrant shall pay to the migrant such compensation for the period of unauthorized occupation and in such a manner as may be determined by the District Magistrate."[12]

Panun Kashmir

The community had hoped to return after the situation improved, but have not been able to do so for 20 years because normalcy has yet to return to the valley and they fear a risk to their lives.[13]

In February 2011 Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti President Sanjay Tikkoo said that "We strongly believe that the State and central governments treat Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley as second class citizens."[14]

Culture

File:Panditani.jpg
A Kashmiri pandit lady, photograph by Fred Bremner, circa ~1900

Pilgrimage sites

Mount Harmukh

Harmukh is traditionally revered by Kashmiri Pandits and in 2009 there was an attempt by them to revive pilgrimages to the site.[15]

Festivals

See also: Kashmiri Pandit Festivals

The religious festivals of the Hindus of Kashmir have Vedic roots. The Kashmiri Pandits share most of their festivals with other Hindu communities.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ "India". Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, US Department of State. 6 March 2007. Retrieved 2011-07-08. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
  2. ^ Davidson, Ronald M. (2004) [2002]. Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric Movement (Reprinted (for SE Asia sale only) ed.). New York: Columbia University Press. p. 70. ISBN 9788120819917. Retrieved 2011-07-08.
  3. ^ Hasan, Mohibbul (2005) [1959]. Kashmir Under the Sultans (Reprinted ed.). Delhi: Aakar Books. pp. 28–95. ISBN 9788187879497. Retrieved 2011-07-08.
  4. ^ "CIA - The World Factbook". Cia.gov. Retrieved 2011-05-21.
  5. ^ The valley of Kashmir
  6. ^ Rai, Mridu (2004). Hindu rulers, Muslim subjects: Islam, rights, and the history of Kashmir. Princeton University Press. p. 37. ISBN 9780691116884. Retrieved 2011-07-08.
  7. ^ Senate Joint Resolution 23, 75th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2009 Regular Session
  8. ^ Untitled Page
  9. ^ Untitled Page
  10. ^ "Recommendations of Koul Committee" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-05-21.
  11. ^ http://jkmigrantrelief.nic.in/pdf/recommendations_of_inter_ministerial_team.pdf
  12. ^ "The Jammu Jammu And Kashmir Gazette" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-05-21.
  13. ^ Masih, Archana (29 April 2011). "The tragedy of Kashmiri Pandits (Part IV)". Rediff.com. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
  14. ^ "Kashmiri Pandits celebrate Basant Panchami in Valley". Indian Express. 2011-02-08. Retrieved 2011-05-21.
  15. ^ "Gangbal yatra to commence after 100 yrs in Kashmir". Zeenews. 31 May 2009. Retrieved 2011-07-08.

Notes

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