The BJP Government and the Kashmiri Pandits: Managing the Politics of Displacement in India

ABSTRACT

After the Kashmiri Pandits were driven from their homes by a violent insurgency in the 1990s, the issue of their displacement and potential rehabilitation has featured prominently in mainstream Indian political discourse, and particularly in the messaging of the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP subsequently became the leading political force in India and as the governing party has had ample opportunity to respond to the Pandits’ plight. The displacement and possible rehabilitation of the Pandits is thus an appropriate case study to consider how the BJP in government has managed a grievance-based issue that served the party well while it was building its political base. In this article, I apply a critical discourse analysis methodology to the BJP’s handling of the plight of the Kashmiri Pandits. I argue that the government has used the plight of the Pandits for electoral advantage while doing little to resolve the issue and failing to create favourable conditions for the community’s rehabilitation. The BJP’s approach, and the consequent exacerbation of regional and religious polarisation, has instead led to further insecurity for the displaced Pandits.

KEYWORDS:

• Hindu nationalism
• Kashmiri Pandits
• internal displacement
• rehabilitation
• Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
• Narendra Modi
• India
• Jammu & Kashmir

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the anonymous reviewers and the editorial team at Asian Studies Review, especially South Asia Regional Editor Assoc. Prof. Tanya Jakimow, for their insightful feedback. A note of thanks also to Dr Zahid Shahab Ahmed for his constructive feedback.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

^1. Bazaz was a known confidant of Sheikh Abdullah who empathised with the grievances of the Kashmiri Muslims, as did Raghunath Vaishnavi (Ghosh, 2017). Their role, however, was controversial for the Kashmiri Pandits, who viewed them as traitors (Bhan, 2016). Other prominent Pandit leaders during this time, including Bandhu and Fotedar, while initially supportive of the National Conference’s reform agenda, challenged Abdullah’s leadership and parted ways.

^2. The Yuvak Sabha later joined hands with the Kashmir Hindu Action Committee with close ties to the Jana Sangh and other Hindu nationalist groups (Kaul, 1996; Rai, 2021).

^3. Reference is often made to the violence during protests regarding the ‘forceful abduction and marriage’ of Parmeshwari Handoo, a Pandit woman, in 1967. The protests were initiated by the Kashmir Hindu Action Committee with the support of prominent Pandits including Shiv Narain Fotedar and Balraj Madhok of the Jana Sangh. The support of the Hindu nationalists also indicates their early connections with the Pandit cause (Bhan et al., 2020; Rai, 2021).

^4. In the case of the failure of constitutional machinery in the state, the governor, who is a nominee of the central government, can suspend parliament and assume the functions and powers of the state government for up to six months, after which President’s Rule is imposed.

^5. On 21 January 1990, the Central Reserve Police Force under Jagmohan’s authority as governor opened fire on a group of Kashmiri protesters at the Gaw Kadal bridge, leading to the death of 60 people, which contributed to the ‘new phase of militancy in Kashmir’ (Bose et al., 1990).

^6. In May 2008, the Indian government agreed to transfer forest land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board in the Kashmir valley to set up temporary shelters and facilities for Hindu pilgrims. This led to demonstrations by valley-dwellers against the land transfer and protests from the Jammu region supporting it.

^7. More recently, in a 2020 programme organised by BJP district Jammu West, BJP general secretary (Org.) Ashok Kaul paid tribute to those killed during the agitation and stated that ‘the region of Jammu has suffered due to the vicious campaign and policies that were set in motion by Sheikh Abdullah and as a result Jammu had to struggle hard for every single thing’ (cited in Daily Excelsior, 2020).