Just like any other place on earth Kashmir is not perfect, neither are its people. We have our own share of strengths and weaknesses. We might not have smooth roads nor continuous supply of electricity, but we have beautiful mountains and valleys. ALLAH puts love in your heart for your birthplace. ALLAH put the love of Kashmir in our hearts with all its shortcomings which exist because we never set them straight or never tried to. As a result of some shortcomings sometimes we don't rise to the occasion and we fail ourselves.
One such occasion that I think when Kashmir as a nation failed itself was when hundreds of thousands of Kashmiri Pandits left their homes. It is very painful to leave a place where you have lived for centuries. Leaving everything behind: homes,friends, aspirations, dreams and even memories. As if you start your life afresh but then you can't really get rid of your past , can you? So for all these Kashmiri Pandits who had to leave Kashmir, it must have been very painful and I am sure Kashmir resides in their hearts.
Different people give different versions for the reasons of their migration. The two most prominent ones are: the Kashmiri muslim version and the kashmiri pandit version. According to the kashmiri muslim version; hindus left because Jagmohan, the governor of Jammu and Kashmir, wanted them to, so that he could have a free hand in crushing the mass movement that was erupting at that time. Kashmiri pandits say, they left because they were killed by muslim militants and feared for their lives and the lives of their families.
I don't know which version to believe. Probably I don't even want to know. One thing I know is that Kashmiris are very loving people. However, I fail to understand, why then did they not stand as a nation and tell these Pandits that we are with you and we will be with you. May be things were too complicated at that time and everything was changing so fast that majority itself didn't know what to do. Ask any Kashmiri pandit and I am sure they will acknowledge, the muslim majority of Kashmir never hated them and they did not drive them out. No matter what the reasons were, on that occasion we failed ourselves. I hope they return back to Kashmir sooner than later.
Things happen and sometimes nations do fail themselves. But then things could be set right, may be.
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