29 years of injustice: How Kashmiri Pandits were forced out of Valley on this black day

A few months before the harrowing incident on January 19, 1990, Pandit and political activist, Tika Lal Taploo was shot dead by armed men outside his residence on September 14, 1989. This was the first killing which eventually led to the exodus in 1990

The first killing happened on September 14, 1989 when Tika Lal Taploo, a lawyer and the vice-president of the J&K (BJP), was shot dead in Srinagar. #30YearsinExile pic.twitter.com/X3BYTHobNq

— Kashmiri Pandits News कोशूर न्यूज़ चैनल (@kpnewschannel) January 19, 2019

In January 1990, massive crowds assembled in mosques across the valley, shouting anti-India, anti-pandit slogans. Thus began the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. In the next few months, hundreds of innocent Pandits were tortured, killed and raped

The estimate of Pandits having fled from Kashmir ranges from approximately 1,00,000 to as high as 8, 00,000. Most of them then took refuge in Jammu and elsewhere, while only a handful of them stayed back in the valley.

The day is symbolically remembered by all Kashmiri Pandits where they were forced to flee from their homeland due to violence or were given an alternative to leave their women and go. January 19, 1990, is commemorated as the day when Indian secularism was butchered in the valley of Kashmir

Actor Anupam Kher who himself is a Kashmiri Pandit had earlier expressed pain and anguish of unheard voices of Pandit community.

He had once said that as far as the future of the community is concerned, everything is in dark. 

"As far as Kashmiri Pandit's future is concerned everything is in dark. I don't think even point one percent is also staying there. We need to go back but we cannot go back to an atmosphere of fear. We cannot go back to the atmosphere of false security. So we need to find a situation," he had said.

When asked as to how secure does he feel in Kashmir, the 61-year-old actor said that the removal of Article 370 is one of the solutions to make the situation better in the state.

"How can there be any safety? I have always told that may be after removal of Article 370 the situation might be better but I don't know how are these political things done. I believe if people are allowed to do business there if they are allowed to do start-ups if they are allowed to buy land then maybe the situation can be better. Also, Srinagar should be declared a smart city," he added.

The actor had also asserted that January 19, 1990, was a black day

While remembering the day, filmmaker Ashoke Pandit posted a video on his Twitter handle along with a caption which reads, "19th January is the day when in the year 1990, the nation’s biggest genocide & ethnic cleansing occurred. #KashmiriPandits were raped, killed and thrown out. #AndTheWorldRemainedSilen"

19th January is the day when in the year 1990, the nation’s biggest genocide & ethnic cleansing occurred. #KashmiriPandits were raped, killed and thrown out. #AndTheWorldRemainedSilent | Documentary - https://t.co/gZGbHxYkEv #30YearsInExile

— Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) January 19, 2019

As of 2012, thousands of Pandits were languishing in refugee settlements. They were dispersed all over from Jammu to Johannesburg.

Over the years, India has seen several changes- new governments have come and gone, multiple developments have come forth nationwide, but scores of Kashmiri Pandits who were chased out of their homes in 1990 have still not been able to find a way back in the ancestral land