New Delhi, Jan 19: A majority of Kashmiri Hindus view Farooq Abdullah and Mufti Mohammed Sayeed as the main culprits of the terror violence committed against them.
When terrorism first began raising its ugly head in Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah, the National Conference president, was the Chief Minister of the then Jammu and Kashmir state Mufti was the Union Minister.
The two most powerful political leaders of the valley in post-Shiekh Mohd Abdullah were at the helm when the Hindus in Kashmir became the top terror targets. The two knew everything that was happening in the valley. Mufti died in January 2016 when he was the J&K Chief Minister. Farooq Abdullah continues to be the top leader in Jammu and Kashmir politics and his son is the CM of the UT.
The Kashmiri Pandits believe that he was responsible for all the events that preceded the mass exodus of the minority community and the advent of terrorism. Farooq Abdullah was the Chief Minister from November 7, 1986 to January 18, 1990. It was this period which saw Kashmir gradually falling down the precipice, and despite warnings by intelligence agencies, the indifference was insurmountable.
In February 1986, massive communal attacks occurred in South Kashmir. Muslim mobs looted and plundered or destroyed the properties and temples of Kashmiri Pandits. Ghulam Mohammad Shah, the brother-in-law of Farooq Abdullah, was the Chief Minister then. He failed to curb the violence and called in the army to curb the mayhem.
His government was dismissed in March 1986 by the then-Governor Jagmohan. It was reported that Mufti Sayeed, then a Congress leader, had instigated the violence as he was keen to be the Chief Minister and replace Shah.
Rajiv Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, later gave Sayeed a seat in the Rajya Sabha and made him a Union Minister. In November 1986, after months of hectic parleys, Rajiv Gandhi and Farooq Abdullah signed an accord and the latter was reinstated as the Chief Minister.
It was this period that saw the build-up to the pogrom.
This 1986-1989 period is significant in the history of Kashmir, which is often ignored. The exodus did not happen overnight. There was full preparation for this. Muslim men, especially youths were sneaking into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir where they were given armed training for unleashing terrorism.
The fact that the intelligence agencies had repeatedly been alerting about the hordes of Kashmiris, especially youth, crossing over to PoK for arms training, went largely unheard of.
A lot of kidnappings were taking place, especially of the government employees, a maximum number of them were Kashmiri Pandits, but no action was taken.
Threats were openly given in local newspapers, posters were pasted and hit-lists made, but the administration seemed lifeless. The police were compromised and some were helping the terrorists.
During Farooq Abdullah's tenure as CM, many terrorists were released from jails. Former Jammu and Kashmir DGP, S.P. Vaid, had said some time ago that many people in the country do not know that the first batch of ISI-trained terrorists were arrested "but ill-thought political decisions had them released and the same terrorists later on led the many terrorist organisations in J&K".
Vaid was the DGP of J&K from December 31, 2016 till September 6, 2018. He had tweeted: "Some of the notorious names: Mohammed Afzal Sheikh of Trehgam Rafiq Ahmed Ahangar Mohammad Ayub Najar Farooq Ahmed Ganai Ghulam Mohammed Gujri Farooq Ahmed Malik Nazir Ahmed Sheikh Ghulam Mohi-Ud-Din Teli. Could this have been possible w/o the knowledge of the Union Govt of 1989?"
There are several questions which only Farooq Abdullah could answer. Unfortunately, he was never questioned. In fact, the exodus of a whole minority community was never investigated. Hundreds of Kashmiri Pandits were killed, many women raped and brutally murdered, properties of the minorities were usurped. Many temples and other religious places were desecrated and lands grabbed. But all this never warranted a probe. No government, in state or Centre, took the initiative to form an SIT or a judicial commission to investigate the violence against the Kashmiri Pandits.
Kashmiri Pandits feel that if Farooq Abdullah or Mufti Sayeed had taken strong steps, then Kashmir would not have fallen to terrorism and the minorities would not have been tormented and forced out.
The community is seeking answers and wants a judicial commission with Farooq Abdullah to be questioned first.
(Deepika Bhan can be contacted at deepika.b@ians.in)