‘HumWapasAayenge’: Kashmiri Pandits tweet pledge to return home
   Date :19-Jan-2020
HumWapasAayenge Kashmiri
 
NEW DELHI :
 
On January 19, 1990, lakhs of Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave their homes in the Valley following a genocidal campaign launched by the terrorists 
 
TO mark the 30th anniversary of the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley, members of the community took to social media to post videos of themselves by narrating the “Hum Aayenge Apne Watan” dialogue from an upcoming flick, ‘Shikara’, with the hope that they would return to their homeland one day. On January 19, 1990, lakhs of Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave their homes in the Valley following a genocidal campaign launched by the terrorists.
 
Theatre actor Chandan Sadhu participated in the campaign and said that Kashmiri Pandits have shown “unimaginable resilience” and hope to return to the Valley soon. “As Kashmiri Pandits complete 30 years in exile this weekend, let our cry for justice be finally noticed. We have shown unimaginable resilience, and today we resolve to return home. Kashmiri Pandit friends: please record this video statement and put it up with #HumWapasAayenge,” Sadhu tweeted.
 
The #HumWapasAayenge is trending on Twitter as more and more Kashmiri Pandits joined in the campaign to narrate the “Hum Aayenge Apne Watan” dialogue and a pledge to return to their homes. Noted political commentator Sunanda Vashisht tweeted a throwback image of herself and said that resolve to go back home has strengthened more. “I don’t have many pictures left of my childhood. Choosing between life and family albums is really no choice at all. When lives were rescued, family albums got left behind. 30 years have passed. Resolve to go back home has only strengthened.
 
#HumWapasAayenge,” she tweeted. Radio personality Khushboo Mattoo tweeted a video repeating the dialogue from Shikara and tweeted, “Said this in a BBC interview three years back. And I am saying it again #HumWapasAayenge #Shikara.” Journalist Rahul Pandita also took to his Twitter and captioned his post saying, “30 years of exile from Kashmir. Let us now pledge that we will return home.” ‘Shikara’ chronicles the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley on the night of January 19, 1990. Helmed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, the movie is slated to release on February 7.
 
Netizens have supported the initiative and have expressed solidarity with the Kashmiri Pandits. In July last year, Home Minister Amit Shah said in the Rajya Sabha that the Central Government is committed to bringing Kashmiri Pandits and Sufis back to the Valley saying a time will come when they will offer prayers at the famous Kheer Bhawani temple.
 
Kashmiri Pandits will return to their homeland: Shivraj Singh Chouhan
 
BHOPAL :
 
ON the 30th anniversary of the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir Valley, the BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday said that the Centre is committed to ensuring the return of the community to their homeland. “The injustices meted out to our Kashmiri Pandit brothers and sisters, the dent on their pride can never be forgotten.
 
We also cannot wipe away the pain of becoming refugees in their own country, but we (Kashmir Pandits) will be back (to the motherland), is a promise of our Government and it will be fulfilled,” Chouhan’s tweet, roughly translated in English from Hindi, read. In another tweet, the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister urged everyone to come together to “add to the beauty of paradise on earth, Kashmir” and to return the homes and rights of Kashmiri Pandits to them.
 
Earlier, he remembered the forced eviction of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley and termed it a “black day” when the members of the community “became refugees in their own country”. January 19, is remembered as the ‘Exodus Day’ by the Kashmiri Pandits as it marks the exodus of the members of the community from the Valley in the wake of an outbreak of terrorism. Around 5 lakh Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave the Valley after January 19, 1990, as they were a target of extremist attacks.
 
Chouhan further termed it a “black day” and said they will be penned in “black letters in Indian history”. “30 years back on this very day lakhs of our Kashmiri brothers and sisters were forced to leave their homes and live as homeless people. This is the black day on which these innocent and simple people became refugees in their own country and there was no one to wipe away their tears,” Chouhan’s tweet read.