Victims of Kashmir – The Hindu Pandits
By Francois Gautier
(CHAKRA Blogs) I have fought for the Kashmir Pandits ever since I covered Kashmir in the nineties and saw them flee helpless and terrified. In 2005, I received the Natchiketa Award of Excellence in Journalism at the hand of the PM in Lok Sabha and with the prize money, I started a Foundation FACT (Foundation Against Continuing Terrorism) and my first exhibition was on the plight of the KP. You can see information and pictures on it here.
HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was so touched by it, that He took it all over the world with Him. We showed it to the Polish Parliament, the Israeli parliament, the Scottish Parliament, in the Commonwealth Club in London and even to the US Congress in Washington, which led to a Resolution on the plight of the Kashmir Pandits.
But I have to tell you something, Hindus are still a huge majority in India, but it’s like a lion who thinks he is a mouse and does not know its strength. It’s pretty pathetic that out of 400.000 Hindus, (there were a million of them in the Valley of Kashmir in 1900), not a single one put up a fight and fired a shot in defense, when their brothers were killed, their wires raped, their children burnt in the Valley of Kashmir. Hindus pride themselves in their peace loving way. I really appreciate it myself, India a land of peace, where all the persecuted minorities of the world have found refuge, including lately the Tibetans. But isn’t it cowardice sometimes? The Gita tells us in the words of Lord Krishna that when your way of life is threatened, when Untruth is about to overcome Truth, when your borders are threatened, your wives raped, you children killed, it is rightful and dharmic to fight, by force if necessary.
Sri Aurobindo came to remind everybody that it was all right to throw out the British manu militari, to the point that his brother Barin, manufactured bombs in the basement of Sri Aurobindo’s house, but his voice was not heard. Today, Buddhism, Gandhism and Leftist intellectual thought have weakened India and She seems sometimes ready to let go of huge chunks of Her territory, whether the Valley of Kashmir, Assam to the Bangladeshis, Arunachal to the Chinese, without a fight. Wake-up O children of Bharat! Kashmir is a very ancient and sacred place not only for Hindus, but also for Buddhists.