A must watch lecture on The Pandits of Kashmir; India’s Forgotten Minority

Shri Sushil Pandit, Director & CEO of Hive Communication (India) Pvt.Lid., New Delhi, delivered the Seventh Sri P.A.Ramakrishnan Memorial Lecture today at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. He gave the lecture on “The Pandits of Kashmir; India’s Forgotten Minority”.

Shri Sushil Pandit, hailing from the Kashmiri Pandit Community has a successful career in Advertising Communication and Mass Media Promotion. He has been serving the cause of Kashmiri Hindus, who have been cleansed from the valley, dedicating himself to documenting the culture and identity of Kashmir.

Professor R. Vaidynathan from IIM Bengaluru gave a small introduction. Recalling the exodus of 1.5 million people from the valley carried out by a small group of terrorists, he said that it is really painful to have a such a talk and that we all must collectively accept our guilt with a collective sense of shame for failing the Kashmiri Pandits. He said it is important to revisit the tragic history, so that, a sustained fight is carried on until the Pandits, till the last man, get back to their cultural and civilisational roots regaining everything they have lost.

Then Shri Sushil Pandit started his address with New Year Wishes saying that it was 5091th year as per the Saptha Rishi Panchangam Calendar followed by the Kashmiris. He gave a detailed account of the true history of Kashmir starting from how Rishi Kashyapa ensured the death of Jalodbhava and built Kashmir bringing in Nagas, Kinnaras, Gandharvas and Yakshas. He also told about Kashmir’s connection with Krishna and Jarasanda. He mentioned the greatness of Raja Tarangini.

He talked about the glorious history of Kashmir under Hindu kings up to the middle of 14th century when the rebellion Prince Shameer from Swad entered Kashmir and slowly usurped the kingdom. Detailing the six exoduses of Kshmir Hindus which happened subsequently during the Islamic rule until the eighteenth century, he explained how the King of Punjab helped the Hindus regain Kashmir driving out the Pathans the last Muslim rulers. Then he gave a short narration about the arrival of East India Company and the subsequent British period thereafter.

Then Sushil Pandit took us all to the most painful history of the Seventh Exodus which happened in free independent India.