Highlights
- According to Indian government records, 44,167 families have left Kashmir since 1990 due to security reasons
- Australian Kashmiri Pandits say they will get closure when perpetrators are brought to justice
- 'The Kashmir Files' starring Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher and Pallavi Joshi was released on 11 March
Yogi Gariyali was barely 15 when her family and thousands of other Kashmiri Pandit families fled their ancestral homes between January and March 1990.
Ms Gariyali, who now lives in Melbourne, said it's been 32 years, but she still shudders at the mere memory of the time that she describes as 'frightening and painful'.
"I was the youngest, and my family asked me to lock myself in the last room at the back of our house. They instructed me not to open the room for anyone, no matter what," she recalled.
Ms Gariyali said there was a threat that separatists would kill men from her community and take women.
"So, I left the valley with my mother, grandmother and aunt at the first opportunity we got on 25 January. My father and grandfather joined us a few days later," she added.
The recently released film 'The Kashmir Files,' which director Vivek Agnihotri claims is based on facts, has ignited a fierce debate on both mainstream and social media about the historical events and migration of the Hindu minority community from Kashmir.
Yogi Gariyali was barely 15 when she left Kashmir with her family on 25 January 1990. Source: Supplied by Yogi Gariyali
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have backed the movie. Some BJP chief ministers have reduced or removed the movie tax to get more people to cinema halls.
"The entire Jamaat (gang) that raised the flag of freedom of expression has been furious for five-six days. Instead of reviewing the film on the basis of facts and art, there's a conspiracy to discredit it," Mr Modi had said.
The movie has drawn flak from some sections of the society, including former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti.
Ms Mufti tweeted: "The manner in which government of India (GOI) is aggressively promoting Kashmir Files & is weaponising pain of Kashmiri Pandits makes their ill intention obvious. Instead of healing old wounds & creating a conducive atmosphere between the two communities, they are deliberately tearing them apart."
Ms Gariyali said she was reluctant to watch the movie initially, knowing that she would be devastated. However, she eventually went to the film with her husband.
"All the pain came back to me. I was numb, angry and frustrated at the same time. The movie transported me back in time when mobs carrying guns had filled the streets chanting slogans for Kashmir's freedom.
"There had been calls in the past when separatists wanted minorities to leave Kashmir, but that was more of an undercurrent.
"We sensed the change when some youth badly misbehaved with my grandfather, and our neighbours began telling us that we were on the hit list and our houses had been marked. They said we must leave. This was when we felt the threat real and decided to leave," Ms Gariyali told SBS Hindi.
Rakhil Razdan, former president of Kashmiri Pandit's Cultural Association of Melbourne, said the broad daylight killings of prominent people had jolted the already 'frightened' community.
Rakhil Razdan (left) with his parents. His parents fearing for their lives left Kashmir in March 1990. Source: Supplied by Rakhil Razdan
"The tipping points were the killing of Pandit Tika Lal Taploo on 14 September 1989 and former Srinagar District Sessions Judge Neelkanth Ganjoo on 4 November 1989," Mr Razdan said.
"89 Kashmiri Pandits were killed in attacks since the inception of militancy in 1990," the report said.
"Apart from the 89 Kashmiri Pandits, 1,635 people of other faiths were also killed during the same period."
Mr Razdan said separatists gave Pandits three choices.
"The first was to convert to majority religion in Kashmir, the second was to leave the valley, and the third was to die and leave our women to them," he added.
Thousands of Pandits left the valley in a suitcase on 19 January 1990, now marked as Vishthapna Diwas (Day of Exile). Most lived in refugee camps in Jammu, the twin city of Kashmir, on government doles for years.
"We were refugees in our own country and both the central and state governments at that time looked the other way," Mr Razdan said.
of the Indian government show 44,167 Kashmiri families have had to move from the valley since 1990 due to security concerns.
Protestors belonging to the Kashmiri Pandit group 'Roots in Kashmir' participate in a silent protest on 'World Refugee Day' in New Delhi. (file) Source: Madhurima Chaudhuri/ Hindustan Times via Getty Image
"Out of these, the count of registered Hindu migrant families is 39,782," the Indian government informed Parliament on 28 July 2021.
The Indian government further stated that it was rehabilitating Kashmiri migrants.
"Kashmiri Pandits have felt more secure in the recent past as evident from the fact that 3,841 Kashmiri migrant youths have moved back to Kashmir and have taken up jobs in various districts of Kashmir under the Prime Minister's rehabilitation package," it added.
In another reply to a question in Parliament on 2 February 2022, the : "In order to rehabilitate Kashmiri migrant families, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir has appointed 1,697 such persons since 5 August 2019, and selected an additional 1,140 persons in this regard."
Yogi Gariyali, who visited Kashmir in 2017 as a tourist, said the valley has changed over the years, and she is unsure whether Kashmiri Pandits feel safe enough to return.
Mr Razdan said he is also unsure how many from the second generation of Kashmiri Pandits settled worldwide want to return to their roots permanently.
"But yes, we want to visit our homes in Kashmir safely and freely. We want a say on the Kashmir issue as we have lived there for more than 700 years. We want our stories to be heard and acknowledged. Our closure will be only when these perpetrators are brought to justice," Mr Razdan said.
He claims many are still roaming free.
