On 15 August 1947 India attained independence but the Hindus of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly those in the valley lost it for two reasons. One was the Pakistan sponsored tribal attack on 22 October 1947, and the second was the incorporation of a clause of Special Status for J&K in the Indian Constitution. Incorporation of this clause was tantamount to writing the death warrant of the minuscule Kashmiri Hindu (Pandit) religious minority of the valley. New Delhi snatched J&K from the hands of a benign secular ruler and gave into the hands of a rabid despot, who, through dubious maneuvering and machinations established his dynastic rule over J&K with the patronage of the contemporary Sultans of Delhi.
The book in hand is a sordid saga of the atrocities, discrimination, blackmail and repression unleashed by fanatical and fundamentalist Kashmir Valley leadership moving about wearing a mask of “secular democracy” for seven long decades, of course with the sadistic patronage of New Delhi. Few communities in the world have suffered what the Kashmiri Hindus suffered viz. discrimination, suppression, ethnic cleansing, genocide and exile. They are refugees in their own country. And what is more, 73 years have gone by and no state or central government, no human rights organization, no NGO and no international organization ever demanded an impartial inquiry into this huge human tragedy that has resulted in the genocide of nearly two thousand people and the extirpation of the entire community of about five hundred thousand souls from their five thousand years old homes and hearths in Kashmir, The contents of this volume will make one understand what religious bigotry and persecution mean. The authors have been an eye witness to the entire saga, nay, they have been part of this sordid narrative and a such nothing can be more authentic than what they have recorded.
Dr. Kashinath Pandit, originally from Baramula, has PhD in Iranian from Tehran University. He retired from Kashmir University as Director of the Centre of Central Asian Studies, an area in which he has a specialization. He has won President of India’s Award for Classical Studies and was awarded Padam Shri by the President of India in 2017. He is the author of about ten works on Kashmir and the region.
Hailing from Budgam proper in Kashmir, Piaray Lal Koul Budgami post-graduated from Kashmir University and professional Degree from Govt. Teachers Training College, Srinagar, He has also a Diploma in Modern Persian from JNU. In 1995 the J&K Government awarded him for academic excellence. He retired as Lecturer in State Higher Secondary Department. He has been a social activist throughout and has six books to his credit.
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