For over three decades, the promise of Kashmiri Pandit return has occupied a special place in the political vocabulary of Jammu & Kashmir. Every few months, a conference is organized, a committee is constituted, a statement is issued, a package is announced, and photographs emerge of dignitaries discussing the return of the community. Yet, after all these years, one uncomfortable question remains unanswered: return to what?
The recent diaspora conference at SKICC once again brought the subject into public discourse. Such gatherings undoubtedly have value. They keep a forgotten issue alive and provide a platform for interaction. However, they also expose a contradiction that few are willing to acknowledge. The conversation often begins with return, whereas it should begin with conditions.
Bitter Truth No. 1: Exile Has Outlived a Generation
A Kashmiri Pandit who has spent thirty years building a life in America, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, or even metropolitan India is not evaluating Kashmir through nostalgia alone. He or she is comparing educational opportunities, healthcare systems, employment prospects, civic infrastructure, security perceptions, property rights, and future prospects for the next generation. Sentiment may pull at the heart, but life decisions are rarely made on sentiment alone.
The first bitter truth is that exile has lasted so long that an entire generation has grown up outside Kashmir. Many young Kashmiri Pandits have never lived in the Valley. For them, Kashmir is a story told by parents and grandparents. Their professional networks, friendships, careers, and aspirations are rooted elsewhere. Expecting them to uproot themselves merely because a conference was held is to misunderstand how societies evolve over time.
Bitter Truth No. 2: Rehabilitation Is Not a Housing Scheme
The second bitter truth is that rehabilitation has often been discussed as a housing problem rather than a civilizational problem. Governments have repeatedly focused on transit accommodations, employment packages, and financial assistance. These measures have value, but they do not answer deeper questions. Can a community rebuild its institutions? Can it sustain schools, temples, cultural centres, businesses, and social networks? Can it see a future for its children? Rehabilitation is not merely about constructing buildings. It is about rebuilding confidence.
Bitter Truth No. 3: Return Has Become a Political Symbol
The third bitter truth is that political leaders across ideological lines find the subject useful. For some, it demonstrates commitment to pluralism. For others, it provides a symbol of historical injustice. For still others, it offers an opportunity to showcase administrative concern. Yet the community often finds itself trapped between symbolism and reality. Return becomes a topic of discussion rather than a measurable outcome.
Bitter Truth No. 4: Kashmir Itself Faces Unresolved Challenges
The fourth bitter truth is that Kashmir itself is undergoing a transformation. The Valley faces challenges of employment, urban planning, environmental degradation, shrinking water resources, and changing social aspirations. Many local residents are themselves looking for opportunities outside the region. If a place struggles to retain its own talent, attracting back a globally dispersed diaspora becomes an even more complex task.
Bitter Truth No. 5: Most Seek Connection, Not Relocation
The fifth bitter truth is perhaps the most uncomfortable. Many Kashmiri Pandits do not actually seek permanent return. They seek connection. They want access to their shrines, ancestral homes, villages, neighbours, memories, and heritage. They want dignity and recognition. They want to be able to visit without fear and maintain a living relationship with the land of their ancestors. This is very different from abandoning established lives elsewhere and relocating permanently.
This is where the debate often loses its honesty. Return and reconnection are treated as if they are the same thing. They are not. One involves migration. The other involves belonging. A person can belong to Kashmir without residing there full-time.
The greatest irony is that Kashmir today may need its diaspora more than the diaspora needs Kashmir. Around the world, Kashmiri Pandits occupy influential positions in academia, medicine, technology, business, administration, and the arts. Instead of measuring success solely by the number of families physically returning, perhaps attention should also be given to how this global community can contribute knowledge, investment, mentorship, philanthropy, and institutional support to the Valley.
Bitter Truth No. 6: Kashmiri Pandit Return Has Become a Tool in the RSS–VHP Narrative
The sixth bitter truth is that Kashmiri Pandit return and rehabilitation have, over the years, become an important component of the RSS–VHP narrative on Kashmir. The suffering of the community is frequently invoked in speeches, campaigns, conferences and ideological discussions as evidence of historical wrongs and as a justification for broader political positions concerning Kashmir.
Decades after the exodus, the community continues to hear passionate speeches about return, yet the number of families actually returning and rebuilding their lives remains negligible.
Many displaced Pandits living in places such as Jagti, Purkhoo, Muthi and elsewhere often find themselves caught between political narratives and ground realities. While organizations speak of civilizational justice and national commitment, migrants continue to grapple with employment, housing, social mobility, healthcare and the future of younger generations.
The uncomfortable question therefore is whether the objective is the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits or the continued political utility of their tragedy. If return were truly the central objective, the debate would focus less on symbolism and more on practical, measurable outcomes.
Dr Sanjay Parva, who has authored ten books, doesn’t write to please. He writes because some truths, once seen, cannot be unseen (From the author).
