Open Letter to Panun Kashmir Leadership

Open Letter to the leadership of Panun Kashmir,
a front-line organization of Kashmiri Pandits

Dears Ajay Chrungoo Ji, Agnishekhar Ji and Ashwani Chrungoo Ji,

Namaskaar !!!

First of all, let me THANK YOU and all your comrades for all that you have done for our community since the time we all were ethnically cleansed from our homeland. No words, no felicitations, no plaques, no medals can ever fully appreciate the time and efforts you all have put in in the Panun Kashmir struggle. Without you and your comrades, who initiated this noble struggle for our homeland, we would not be even talking about Panun Kashmir today. It was YOU folks who had the drive, the initiative, the passion, the fire in the belly, the vision, the pains, the desire, the dreams to create a land for all of us that we can proudly call OURS. It was you and your comrades who toiled hard, burnt midnight oil, spent your sweat, blood and tears to mobilize all our resources and carry each one of us on a path to our homeland.

Last 15 years of our exile have seen many ups and downs in our struggle.

There were times, when you all led us from the front and we all blindly trusted you and followed you on the path to our dreamland – the homeland – the Panun Kashmir. There were times, when we were high with hopes of achieving our homeland, where we all can live freely without any fear of persecution and prejudice. There were times, when nothing else mattered. There were times, when the only dream that mattered was Panun Kashmir. There were times, when we all did not care about our personal ambitions and worked for a single goal of Panun Kashmir as laid out in the Margdarshan resolution of December 28, 1991. There were times, when we all put “The Cause” first and everything else second.

And then there were times, when some of us got tired. There were times, when “The Cause” took a back seat because there was something else more important in our lives and that was “The Family”. Some of us had to put “The Family” first and “The Cause” second. There were times, when some of us had to slow down because our health did not permit the strenuous efforts that the struggle for Panun Kashmir needed. There were times, when our personal careers took over because at the end of the day, for our survival, we all needed food on the table. There were times, when some of us got disillusioned when the authorities played games with us. There were times, when some of us thought of quitting. There were times, when some of us failed. There were times, when some of us did not recognize the dangers posed by our enemies and took a wrong path at a fork on the road to our homeland. There were times, when we did not trust our own brothers and sisters and instead fell for external patronage with very adverse consequences on the movement.

And then there were times, when in spite of our personal commitments, we once again pledged to keep the flame burning. There were times, when some of us did not want to quit and instead wanted to keep fighting for our just demand of our own homeland – the Panun Kashmir. There were times when the gruesome tragedies brought us all together again under one roof with one agenda of realizing our dream of Panun Kashmir.

But today all that is water under the bridge. All that is history.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross has said:

“There are no mistakes, no coincidences. All events are blessings given to us to learn from.”

So shall we.

This history of past 15 years has hopefully taught us some lessons. At present, we are at a crossroad. 15 years have passed and we as a community have not made much progress in our quest for our own homeland. Let us face this stark reality that we are stuck in a status quo from where we have not been able to move. The reasons for our failures are irrelevant at this time. What is relevant is to take a fresh look at our strategies and see what needs to happen.

At this crossroad, we have to make a choice and act upon that choice. We have come to a place where we can make our choice with which we will have to live for generations to come. Today we are at a point where we will make choices that will tell us how we will be judged by our future generations. Today we are at a juncture where we will make choices that will tell our sons, daughters, grandsons and granddaughters what their older generations were made of and what they believed in.

In my honest and sincere opinion, I think we are left with two distinct choices:

The First Choice is to stay in “Status Quo” mode and let the things take their own course and shape. This basically means doing nothing new and radical and staying on the same course we have been on for the last decade. This choice will have following repercussions:

It will let someone else define the agenda for Kashmiri Pandits;
It will let the anti-Panun Kashmir forces take over the Kashmiri Pandits’ agenda and play havoc with our dreams and aspirations;
It will mean intentionally or unintentionally playing right into the hands of governmental agencies, who do not want our movement to succeed;
It will mean that we as a community do not dare to dream about our own homeland and have thus given up; and
It will mean a sure death for the Panun Kashmir movement.

Alternatively the Second Choice is to:

Learn from our past and make amends;
In the interests of community, take a high road, be humble, be modest and sacrifice our own personal aspirations;
Make a fresh start and let all hands join under one umbrella, one flag, one constitution, one slogan, and one demand;
Rededicate ourselves to our agenda;
Focus our energies on our one collective agenda and action plan;
Learn from our elders and guide our youngsters; and
Take the Panun Kashmir movement to its logical conclusion.

The Second Choice will have following repercussions:

It will reenergize the mass activist base of Panun Kashmir activists;
It will send a loud and clear message to our opponents that we mean business and we are back in business;
It will deter the anti-Panun Kashmir forces from taking over and redefining Kashmiri Pandits’ agenda;
It will take away the excuse from government agencies that they don’t know who represents Kashmiri Pandits;
It will enable us to put our voice on the negotiation table as and when any negotiations for the Kashmir issue occur;
It will help us all to fight as ONE force for our just demand of our own homeland – the Panun Kashmir; and finally
It will help us to build our own destiny.

William Jennings Bryan has rightly said:

“Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”

So we have to make a choice.

So which choice are you all going to make?

One that gets us closer to our dream of our homeland – the Panun Kashmir or the one that keeps us on the same track to nowhere?

I trust that all of you are aware of the recent developments happening around Panun Kashmir organization. There is a concerted effort going on to bring all three factions together under one roof. And I commend these efforts by selfless activists who still have that fire in their bellies to take the Panun Kashmir movement to its logical conclusion.

As a first step in that direction, Dr. Agnishekhar has already dissolved the faction he belongs to. And I respectfully commend him and his comrades for that step. This is a right step to allow all the factions eventually come under one roof and one agenda.

At this point, I would like to request and beg all of you to please be the “Leaders” that you are capable of. Please work with these selfless activists who are ready to sacrifice their personal interests for the sake of community interests. Please rise to the occasion and lead us all to the homeland. Please remember the days when you all had that passion and you all did not care about anything else other than the dream of Panun Kashmir. Please remember those days when you all worked together as a cohesive team that was a force to reckon with. Please remember those unsung heroes who laid down their precious lives for the cause. Please pay your homage to them on the coming Martyr’s day by joining your hands together. Please work with your supporters and convince them to accompany you and us on this path to our homeland. Please make sure that events over the coming days turn out to be the events that will go down in the Kashmiri Pandits history as the significant events that shaped our future.

I am writing to all of you with very high hopes. I trust you will make the best use of the present opportunities and will not let this opportunity squander. Your actions at this time will decide the fate of our community for times to come. And thus you have the responsibility of great consequences on your shoulders. I am hopeful that you all will make the best decision in favor of community interests. I am confident that you all will not disappoint me and the community.

With respects and trust,

Sincerely yours,
Lalit Koul
United States