On the auspicious occasion of Shri Krishna Janamashtami

I wish all my readers a very happy Krishna Janamashtami today! Unlike Hindus in the plains Kashmiri Pandits observe complete fast one day earlier i.e. on seventh of this dark fortnight especially in the hope of safe coming of our sweet of the sweetest Lord Shree Krishna. Today on Ashtami we celebrate through special prayers, music, dance and sweet foods in plenty instead observing a fast. The celebration of many sacred occasions in the valley has been somewhat different in comparison to the Hindus of the plains. May be because of negligible means of communication a different attitude in religious ceremonies developed there including the observation of festivals.
On the occasion of Krishna Janamashtami today I recollect some glimpses of those good old days before eighties when things were comparably better for KPs in the valley. Hindus in the valley didn’t always live under a shadow of fear of the majority community but enjoyed a far better rapport and confidence with them as was seen especially on the occasion of such religious festivals. Very nice pleasantries were exchanged on festivals and the Muslims took active part in our celebrations. On this day huge processions were taken by Hindus in the valley depicting beautiful live scenes of Lord Krishna especially in Srinagar and other towns and were sincerely greeted by the majority Muslims everywhere and any untoward incident was unheard of. Late in the evening huge public meetings were arranged on this day to celebrate the birth of the Lord and all prominent leaders and social activists among Muslims took active part and extended due congratulations.
The things changed dramatically in the middle eighties when lots of young Muslim clerics from outside valley with conspicuous dress pattern and long beards were seen almost in each and every city, town and village in Kashmir delivering fiery speeches especially on Friday prayer congregations inside Muslim mosques instigating them to be ready for a long fight against so-called Hindu domination in India especially Kashmir. The unsuspecting Kashmir Muslims were on one hand taken in by this religious exploitation but alarmed on the other about an instable future. Since this all was going under a well thought plan so immediately some infamous local activists gained sudden prominence and took over enthusiastically this simmering tirade against India and her sympathizers. Till before ninety a big revolution had taken place. Thousands of Muslim youth were sent and had returned in open public view from across LOC from several special training camps equipped with fierce deadly arms and military training along with a special brain-wash to create terror with a deadly strategy of killing one and terrorizing a thousand. Every day in and out scores of sympathizers of India especially prominent Kashmir Hindus were killed in broad daylight most horribly and lots of women raped and killed in most inhuman circumstances. The state administration was strangely a mute spectator obviously trying to exhibit their open sympathy to this terror and the masses among Muslims were compelled to be dumb folded for fear of the gun present everywhere.
January 19, 1990 proved the final stroke for the fleeing Pandits, considered the active Indian agents, had to take their ultimate decision to leave their homes and hearths en masse to escape the dangling fear of life. Within less than a month more than eighty percent of Hindus had run away to seek shelter outside Kashmir and the rest took some more time to cut their roots of thousands of years.
The purpose of writing this all today is to stress again on the fact that the silver lining behind the dark cloud of terror still exists in Kashmir among the Muslims masses who do not at all support this reign of terror initiated by none else but our neighbor country with the support of a few disgruntled Kashmir leaders. They aspire for the return of those good old days and return of KPs to their homes as early as possible as they clearly reject the Taliban type fundamentalist policy of the terror mongers and want to return to that mixed culture of mutual trust and co existence.