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A Long Dream of Home: The Persecution, Exodus and Exile of Kashmiri Pandits
Twenty-five years ago, in the winter of 1990, about four hundred thousand Pandits of Kashmir were forced to leave Kashmir, their homeland, to save their lives when militancy erupted there. Even today, they continue to live as ‘internally displaced people’ in their own country. While most Kashmiri Pandits have now carved a niche for themselves in different parts of India, several thousands are still languishing in migrant camps in and around Jammu. The stories of their struggles and plight have remained untold for years.
The authors of the memoirs in this anthology belong to four generations. Those who were born and brought up in Kashmir, and fled while they were in their forties and fifties; those who lingered on in their homes in Kashmir despite the threat to their lives; those who got displaced in their teens; and those who were born in migrant camps in exile.
These are untold narratives about the persecution of Pandits in Kashmir during the advent of militancy in 1989, the killings and kidnappings, loss of homeland, uprootedness, camp-life, struggle, survival, alienation and an ardent yearning to return to their land. These are stories about the re-discovery of their past, their ancestry, culture, and roots and moorings.
The authors of the memoirs in this anthology belong to four generations. Those who were born and brought up in Kashmir, and fled while they were in their forties and fifties; those who lingered on in their homes in Kashmir despite the threat to their lives; those who got displaced in their teens; and those who were born in migrant camps in exile.
These are untold narratives about the persecution of Pandits in Kashmir during the advent of militancy in 1989, the killings and kidnappings, loss of homeland, uprootedness, camp-life, struggle, survival, alienation and an ardent yearning to return to their land. These are stories about the re-discovery of their past, their ancestry, culture, and roots and moorings.
- GenresIndiaNonfictionHistory
352 pages, Unknown Binding
Published December 30, 2015
About the author
Siddhartha Gigoo
12 books27 followersSiddhartha Gigoo is a Commonwealth Prize-winning author. In 2015, he won the Commonwealth Short Story Prize (Asia) for his short story, The Umbrella Man. He has written two books of poetry, three novels--The Garden of Solitude, Mehr: A Love Story, and The Lion of Kashmir--, an experimental fiction--Love in the Time of Quarantine--, and a book of short stories--A Fistful of Earth and Other Stories (longlisted for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award 2015). He has also co-edited two anthologies, namely A Long Dream of Home: The Persecution, Exodus and Exile of Kashmiri Pandits and Once We Had Everything: Literature in Exile. His short stories have been longlisted for Lorian Hemingway Short Story Prize, Royal Society of Literature's V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize, and Seán O'Faoláin Short Story Prize.
Siddhartha's short films, The Last Day and Goodbye, Mayfly, have won several awards at international film festivals. His writings appear in various literary journals.
For more, visit:
https://www.siddharthagigoo.com
Siddhartha's short films, The Last Day and Goodbye, Mayfly, have won several awards at international film festivals. His writings appear in various literary journals.
For more, visit:
https://www.siddharthagigoo.com
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 24, 2016
Some books don't need a review or a rating. Some books just simply need to be devoured into and discussed at length, to understand the pain behind tears that leave a mark on the pages and between the lines of the writers. To feel their pain and loss, to come face to face with their fear and their suffering, which has not gone from last 26 years..
For 26 years, living in the memory of home which was Kashmir.
A Long Dream of Home- The Persecution, Exodus and Exile of Kashmiri Pandits is such a book that you just simply need to absorb into not expecting how interesting or entertaining it will be. When I came across the book, my motive was to see what exactly happened in the valley of Kashmir, when lacs of pandits were displaced from their homes. What made them leave and why everyone was standing like a mute spectator? Why no one questioned the scenarios unfolding against a community which was residing there from last 5000 years?
A Long Dream of Home is a collection of first hand accounts of Kashmiri Pandits who left their homes to save themselves and their coming generations. And even after 26 years, they cannot go back because they feel that as soon as the will put a foot down on that familiar soil, they will be shot dead. I have read accounts of Kashmiri Pandits before also from Rahul Pandita, Siddhartha Gigoo and Basharat Peer. But now, I have come across some new writers who can chronicle the pain of their community through A Long Dream of Home.
The book starts with the story written by Indu Bhishan Zutshi "She Was Killed Because She Was An Informant; No Harm Will Come To you" where you get to know the brutal murder of nurse Sarla Bhatt. A spine chilling account of daughter of Shambu Nath Bhatt, held captive for four days, sexually abused and murdered by militants who were sure that she was a police informant. The body of the girl was not even allowed to touch. More pain came when they weren't able to find a place to give last rites to Sarla. But the family managed somehow. A painful stab at your heart, Indu Bhishan's account of Sarla Bhatt will leave you shocked at the atrocities that went down in the once peaceful place, known as Kashmir.
A Long Dream of Home also captures the account of Pran Kishore and his experiences while shooting for tv series Gul Gulshan Gulfam. He shares his experiences when he had to shoot for series amidst the atmosphere of threats and bullets. B.L Zutshi has contributed knowledge from Camp Schools and Colleges for the Displaced Students. Ramesh Hangloo and his Radio Sharda is a household name for all Pandits residing in camps, to give them a piece of their home to hang onto. One of the best account is of Arvind Gigoo in his days of parting. An effortless style of writing, story within a story when mistrust was the only way of communication in the valley.
Like this only, many other stories shared by people who saw transition of their Muslim neighbors into enemies, their fears of walking right next to and supporting a Pandit. Stones being pelted at their homes whenever India lost a cricket match, teenagers working as informants for militants, stopping them on their way and interrogating them. Lecherous ways of looking at their daughters, hit list being pasted at the gates of their home, slogans against non Muslims and India blaring from loudspeakers of mosques, living in a constant fear that who will be shot next. Militants forcing inhabitants to set their watches on Pakistan time, brutal murders out of the blue, and the worst of all, authorities standing like mute spectators, turning their faces away from the atrocities.
A Long Dream of Home is not just a book chronicling stories from exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, it also covers their lives and experiences during the "ethnic cleansing" and after exile. How a wife who has planted Kashmiri roses in her garden, took a sapling with her to the camps of Displaced Kashmiris, so that she can have a piece of her home which she might never see again. How a professor mourns the loss of his collection of books that got left behind, how now millions of Kashmiri Pandits have a different permanent address.
As I mentioned at the start, A Long Dream of Home is a book that doesn't need a review or rating. It's a collection of stories that needs to read and heard by people, who are living within comfortable quarters and forgetting a community who has been displaced and forced out of their homes.
And even after 26 years, they haven't received their justice.
For 26 years, living in the memory of home which was Kashmir.
A Long Dream of Home- The Persecution, Exodus and Exile of Kashmiri Pandits is such a book that you just simply need to absorb into not expecting how interesting or entertaining it will be. When I came across the book, my motive was to see what exactly happened in the valley of Kashmir, when lacs of pandits were displaced from their homes. What made them leave and why everyone was standing like a mute spectator? Why no one questioned the scenarios unfolding against a community which was residing there from last 5000 years?
A Long Dream of Home is a collection of first hand accounts of Kashmiri Pandits who left their homes to save themselves and their coming generations. And even after 26 years, they cannot go back because they feel that as soon as the will put a foot down on that familiar soil, they will be shot dead. I have read accounts of Kashmiri Pandits before also from Rahul Pandita, Siddhartha Gigoo and Basharat Peer. But now, I have come across some new writers who can chronicle the pain of their community through A Long Dream of Home.
The book starts with the story written by Indu Bhishan Zutshi "She Was Killed Because She Was An Informant; No Harm Will Come To you" where you get to know the brutal murder of nurse Sarla Bhatt. A spine chilling account of daughter of Shambu Nath Bhatt, held captive for four days, sexually abused and murdered by militants who were sure that she was a police informant. The body of the girl was not even allowed to touch. More pain came when they weren't able to find a place to give last rites to Sarla. But the family managed somehow. A painful stab at your heart, Indu Bhishan's account of Sarla Bhatt will leave you shocked at the atrocities that went down in the once peaceful place, known as Kashmir.
A Long Dream of Home also captures the account of Pran Kishore and his experiences while shooting for tv series Gul Gulshan Gulfam. He shares his experiences when he had to shoot for series amidst the atmosphere of threats and bullets. B.L Zutshi has contributed knowledge from Camp Schools and Colleges for the Displaced Students. Ramesh Hangloo and his Radio Sharda is a household name for all Pandits residing in camps, to give them a piece of their home to hang onto. One of the best account is of Arvind Gigoo in his days of parting. An effortless style of writing, story within a story when mistrust was the only way of communication in the valley.
Like this only, many other stories shared by people who saw transition of their Muslim neighbors into enemies, their fears of walking right next to and supporting a Pandit. Stones being pelted at their homes whenever India lost a cricket match, teenagers working as informants for militants, stopping them on their way and interrogating them. Lecherous ways of looking at their daughters, hit list being pasted at the gates of their home, slogans against non Muslims and India blaring from loudspeakers of mosques, living in a constant fear that who will be shot next. Militants forcing inhabitants to set their watches on Pakistan time, brutal murders out of the blue, and the worst of all, authorities standing like mute spectators, turning their faces away from the atrocities.
A Long Dream of Home is not just a book chronicling stories from exodus of Kashmiri Pandits, it also covers their lives and experiences during the "ethnic cleansing" and after exile. How a wife who has planted Kashmiri roses in her garden, took a sapling with her to the camps of Displaced Kashmiris, so that she can have a piece of her home which she might never see again. How a professor mourns the loss of his collection of books that got left behind, how now millions of Kashmiri Pandits have a different permanent address.
As I mentioned at the start, A Long Dream of Home is a book that doesn't need a review or rating. It's a collection of stories that needs to read and heard by people, who are living within comfortable quarters and forgetting a community who has been displaced and forced out of their homes.
And even after 26 years, they haven't received their justice.
September 15, 2020
A collection of memoirs by Kashmiri Hindus who tell the tale of barbarity they faced, the apathy they received and the agonizing struggle they went through to rebuild their lives from scratch.
May 29, 2016
No amount of wiki and news reading can equal narratives from a first person perspective. This is precisely what the book does.
It is a compilation of thoughts / stories by several exiled Pandits spanning across the three generations that had to bear the brunt of this tragedy.
The thing that stood up the most was the resilience shown by this community that was robbed of its livelihood, ethos and most importantly - their homes.
It just makes you wonder what the State and Central government were doing when a tragedy was unravelling at such a large scale!
This truly is a must read for everyone - class, religion, creed notwithstanding.
It is a compilation of thoughts / stories by several exiled Pandits spanning across the three generations that had to bear the brunt of this tragedy.
The thing that stood up the most was the resilience shown by this community that was robbed of its livelihood, ethos and most importantly - their homes.
It just makes you wonder what the State and Central government were doing when a tragedy was unravelling at such a large scale!
This truly is a must read for everyone - class, religion, creed notwithstanding.
August 14, 2021
Technically, this book a is set of memoirs by Kashmiri Pandits who were subjected to the unjust and faced exodus. Hence the aforementioned author duo did not write but edited this.
This is not a very famous book. There are many books about the Kashmir issue which are discussed in depth. But what makes this book unique is the raw emotions and narration of what exactly happened. This book does not try to investigate how the issue happened, rather than it focuses on what happened.
It is very heart-wrenching to read a few of the stories. Exodus is not just a physical departure, it is a multilayered loss of and the quest for identity.
The very fact that history in Indian curricula ends in 1947, books like these should be read more. Indian freedom fight was important, so was Emergency, Indo-Pak, Indo-China, Kashmir issue.
This is not a very famous book. There are many books about the Kashmir issue which are discussed in depth. But what makes this book unique is the raw emotions and narration of what exactly happened. This book does not try to investigate how the issue happened, rather than it focuses on what happened.
It is very heart-wrenching to read a few of the stories. Exodus is not just a physical departure, it is a multilayered loss of and the quest for identity.
The very fact that history in Indian curricula ends in 1947, books like these should be read more. Indian freedom fight was important, so was Emergency, Indo-Pak, Indo-China, Kashmir issue.
February 4, 2019
A well compiled book written by Kashmiri pandits about their plight after 1989 when the political events in the valley forced them out of their homes to become refugees in their own country.
A captivating and illuminating account of the migration and persecution of half a million people rendered homeless and stripped of their dignity.
It's sad to read about the complete failure of governance in both protecting them in the valley as well as rehabilitation in miserable camps in Jammu and udhampur.
A captivating and illuminating account of the migration and persecution of half a million people rendered homeless and stripped of their dignity.
It's sad to read about the complete failure of governance in both protecting them in the valley as well as rehabilitation in miserable camps in Jammu and udhampur.
August 13, 2019
It is hard to imagine what kashmiri Pandits haves gone through since the Independence of India. we as an biggest democracy of the world should be ashamed of what was going on with them in valley, their own home. Thousands of families had to take shelter in refugees camps in Jammu. Government of India were so weak to take stand and act against the violence and the terrorist activities going on in valley.
September 17, 2019
Read this book to know the lifes of Kashmiri Pandits. Must read book
June 27, 2021
It's an *important* book, but I can't call it a *good* book. It is excellent testimony from men and (very few) women about the wrongs they/their families have faced. There is (understandable) anger, resentment and bitterness. But that alone does not make for a compelling read.
It's called "A Long Dream of Home", yet I didn't feel longing, or love for their home. And that's not to say the authors don't long for their homeland - I read a Twitter exchange between a few authors featured here. And those 4 tweets expressed more longing than their writings here. It felt like some of the authors here were so focused on proving they were wronged, they removed every other emotion from their work. My grandparents have had the exact same experiences seven decades ago in what was soon to be East Pakistan. I have heard them recount similar memories and express the kind of longings this book told me the authors felt. And while they were as bitter and resentful as these authors are, their stories also had love, and hope, and a lot of other emotions. And I could see their longing for home - without anyone ever saying it out loud. With this book, not so much.
Ultimately I think there were three problems that seriously hampered this book, and made it a 2.5 star read -
(a) the authors were writing in a foreign language that they have only used for official purposes. The stories just didn't flow in English. I wish they had done interviews in their native language and created an oral history - then gotten somebody to translate and make it a book. It would have been a much, much, better book
(b) the authors were very unwilling to be vulnerable. For example, one of the author (who had survived three bomb blasts and apparently taken them in his stride) mentions going back home and immediately hiding in his neighbours house - never once mentioning what was so different this time, that made him so scared. The lack of vulnerability meant I couldn't connect with these people (and it doesn't help that all of them apparently led incredibly privileged lives) - and the book didn't impact me as much as it should have
(c) The lack of diversity. Almost every author featured here were educated, well-to-do men - from a very specific socioeconomic class. I wish there were more of the women's stories (I would love to listen to the granny who inserted snakes into all her stories!), there were more of stories from people of lower socioeconomic backgrounds (even if the Pandits were the traditional power holders, there are always the poor and the dispossessed). Instead I got account after account that felt exactly the same - and bled into each other. If it was testimony in court, the repetition would be useful. But as a book, it just made reading it a slog.
It's called "A Long Dream of Home", yet I didn't feel longing, or love for their home. And that's not to say the authors don't long for their homeland - I read a Twitter exchange between a few authors featured here. And those 4 tweets expressed more longing than their writings here. It felt like some of the authors here were so focused on proving they were wronged, they removed every other emotion from their work. My grandparents have had the exact same experiences seven decades ago in what was soon to be East Pakistan. I have heard them recount similar memories and express the kind of longings this book told me the authors felt. And while they were as bitter and resentful as these authors are, their stories also had love, and hope, and a lot of other emotions. And I could see their longing for home - without anyone ever saying it out loud. With this book, not so much.
Ultimately I think there were three problems that seriously hampered this book, and made it a 2.5 star read -
(a) the authors were writing in a foreign language that they have only used for official purposes. The stories just didn't flow in English. I wish they had done interviews in their native language and created an oral history - then gotten somebody to translate and make it a book. It would have been a much, much, better book
(b) the authors were very unwilling to be vulnerable. For example, one of the author (who had survived three bomb blasts and apparently taken them in his stride) mentions going back home and immediately hiding in his neighbours house - never once mentioning what was so different this time, that made him so scared. The lack of vulnerability meant I couldn't connect with these people (and it doesn't help that all of them apparently led incredibly privileged lives) - and the book didn't impact me as much as it should have
(c) The lack of diversity. Almost every author featured here were educated, well-to-do men - from a very specific socioeconomic class. I wish there were more of the women's stories (I would love to listen to the granny who inserted snakes into all her stories!), there were more of stories from people of lower socioeconomic backgrounds (even if the Pandits were the traditional power holders, there are always the poor and the dispossessed). Instead I got account after account that felt exactly the same - and bled into each other. If it was testimony in court, the repetition would be useful. But as a book, it just made reading it a slog.
March 28, 2021
What I used to think about Kashmir struggles did change after reading this book
January 11, 2021
Few books, like this one, which is a collection of memoirs, are beyond "review." So, I'll just express my afterthoughts. There isn't a page, a story narrated and an account of events retold which didn't touched some raw nerves and disheartened me. Some stories left me gripped in thoughts about the Kashmiri Hindu community with which all this happened while some made me cry.
In the end, we can just salute the fortitude of Kashmiri Pandit community for surviving and thriving and pray for the day when they will be able to return to their ancestral homeland and ring the bells in temples and rebuild their culture again, some day.
But, but, but...we are just helpless, aren't we? What can we do but to carry the load of secularism, isn't it?
In the end, we can just salute the fortitude of Kashmiri Pandit community for surviving and thriving and pray for the day when they will be able to return to their ancestral homeland and ring the bells in temples and rebuild their culture again, some day.
But, but, but...we are just helpless, aren't we? What can we do but to carry the load of secularism, isn't it?
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September 23, 2018This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews