On January 19, 1990, Kashmir Pandits were forced to leave their houses in Kashmir and till date they have not been able to return to their homeland.
Even though governments have changed both at the Centre and state in the past 26 years and everyone has promised the Kashmiri Pandits living in exile all over the country that they will return to their homes, there has been no action so far. According to Rajesh Raina, a Kashmiri Pandit, "We are still living life of a refugee in our own country."
Remembering the fateful night when they were forced to leave their homes to save their lives following threats by terrorists and their supporters, chill runs down the spine of the Pandits. Calling themselves 'victims', they only hoped to return to their homes one day.
"26 years have passed when terrorists forced us to leave our beautiful home in Kashmir. I still remember the night when we locked the main door of our house. Cries of my grandmother pierced through the darkness of night. We were left with only two options. Either get killed by terrorists or leave Kashmir. We chose the second option with a hope that one day we will return. Separatists and their sympathisers floated lots of concocted stories about our exodus but we are the victims and we know the truth.”
“Several regimes changed in the state and the Centre in the last 26 years but things have remained unchanged for Kashmiri Pandits. We are still living life of a refugee in our own country. But we still exist," said Raina who hails from Anantnag.
These are not haunted houses.We used to live in these houses 26 years back .Posted by Rajesh Raina on Monday, January 18, 2016
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