ETHNIC CLEANSING, EXODUS AND HOMELESSNESS: A CRITICAL EVALUATION OF RAHUL PANDITA'S OUR MOON HAS BLOOD CLOTS

The tale of the Kashmiri Pandits proves almost like that of dodos, who fell prey to the Europeans settlers in Mauritius. Kashmiri Pandits, otherwise termed Kashmiri Brahmins, largely lovers of peace and nonviolence, form the native minority Brahmin community of the Kashmir Valley. The pristine and placid nature of their homeland with its lush green, snowy environs had long been lost. Once owned orchard of apples, walnuts and apricots, the Pandits of the valley have been transformed to almost nomads. The multiple forms of ineffable atrocities levelled against the community range right from the fourteenth century, under the reign of Sultan Sikandar, to the contemporary militant sponsored ethnical cleansing. However, with much endurance and fortitude, the Pandits bore the brutal onslaught on themselves at the hands of militant terrorism and religious extremism. With almost nobody to raise their voice and stand with them, they had the only alternative of meeting horrid death, or moving to elsewhere. My paper is an earnest endeavour to analyse the carnage, exodus, exile and related issues of the members of the Kashmir Pandit community, with reference to Rahul Pandita’s 2013 book, Our Moon Has Blood Clots. It would be better to commence with some words about the Pandit community.