Narrating the Pandit Exodus: A Study of Indian Administrate Kashmir

The rigging of the 1987 elections in Jammu and Kashmir Legislative assembly led to huge unrest among the youth and it gave rise to the armed struggle and consequently led to the forced migration of Kashmiri Pandit community. There are different views about the pandit exodus in Kashmir. There were few who held Jagmohan responsible for the exodus. Some people said Pandits left on their own because of the frightening situation in the Valley. Such people naturally emphasized how sponsored armed militancy destroyed peace and ruined communal harmony. A few said Kashmiri Muslims did nothing to prevent the Pandit exodus, although many felt the majority community was itself scared and it was impossible for them to stop the exodus. In this regard, the paper aims to provide different narratives to the Pandit exodus.