{"id":10900,"date":"2022-03-19T17:33:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-19T17:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/19\/how-balasaheb-thackeray-secured-the-future-of-a-displaced-community\/"},"modified":"2022-03-19T17:33:00","modified_gmt":"2022-03-19T17:33:00","slug":"how-balasaheb-thackeray-secured-the-future-of-a-displaced-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/19\/how-balasaheb-thackeray-secured-the-future-of-a-displaced-community\/","title":{"rendered":"How Balasaheb Thackeray secured the future of a displaced community"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

More than three decades ago, when thousands of Kashmiri Pandits fled the terror nightmare in their homeland in 1990 to seek refuge elsewhere in India, many landed in Mumbai, the city of Dreams, and Pune, the academic capital of Maharashtra. .<\/p>\n

A majority of the grown-up Kashmiri pandits, with their parents, wife and children, have fled a certain death with hardly anything more than the clothes they are wearing, and have spent months in filth and insecurity as they zero in on their future. rebuilding strange environments.<\/p>\n

Maharashtra was the only state that opened its doors, hearts, washed away its tears and helped the Kashmiri Pandits to grow new roots in this state, about a few thousand kilometers away from their birthplace.<\/p>\n

“At that time, a group of Kashmiri Pandits met the shaggy tiger of Shiv Sena, Balasaheb Thackeray. Suffering from the late Lt Gen (Retd) PN Hoon, the delegation discussed the whole issue of Kashmiri Pandits threadbare with Sena Pramukh, said Sanjay Nahar, who runs an NGO, Sarhad, in Pune.<\/p>\n

Well-known author-journalist Rahul Pandita, a teenager at the time, recalls how the Kashmiri Pandits – even if they were without a penny – did not seek monetary help from Balasaheb Thackeray, but wanted something that could help them stand on their own two feet. in the long run independent.<\/p>\n

Nahar said the delegation asked Balasaheb Thackeray to use his good offices and offer Kashmiri Pandits reservations in technical or engineering courses at various academic institutions here.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the session was facilitated by a reserved, young journalist – Sanjay Raut – now the stormy petrel of the Sena and his chief spokesman.<\/p>\n

Balasaheb Thackeray readily agreed with the proposal – although some opposition parties then cut it – and sowed the seeds to provide a stable future for an entire generation of Kashmiri pandits.<\/p>\n

Amit Wanchoo – the grandson of the legendary HN Wanchoo, who was killed by terrorists in December 1992 – said that it was only Balasaheb Thackeray at the time “who threw a lifeline to the Kashmiri Pandits” when they had no one to name their own.<\/p>\n

“Many have no funds or friends, have spent months in dirty ranches or slums, worrying about their future. We have always believed that education is important for children, but educating them from their homeland was a big challenge.” , sot de Wanchoo. <\/p>\n

He is one of the few who decided to stay in Kashmir despite the almost total exodus of his brotherhood.<\/p>\n

With Balasaheb Thackeray, who opened all the higher-tech engineering institutes for Kashmiri Pandits, thousands benefited from enrolling themselves and facing the future with confidence, and around 7,000-8,000 benefited, Nahar said.<\/p>\n

More importantly, Pandita said the gesture came without a “string connection”, and Balasaheb Thackeray never treated it as a sort of “political voice bank or a negotiating tool”, and it remained a totally independent measure.<\/p>\n

Sena MP Raut recalls the days when Balasaheb Thackeray was the only person who spoke for the Kashmiri Pandits, when the rest of the country kept quiet in fear of the terrorists.<\/p>\n

“When the delegation met Balasaheb Thackeray, he openly pleaded to give weapons to the Kashmiri pandits for their self-defense … Instead, they asked for educational quotas, which he easily closed and allowed 5 percent reservation in the state. “No one knows the pain of the Kashmiri Pandits more than the Shiv Sena,” Raut said.<\/p>\n

Pandita and Wanchoo point out how many Kashmiri pandits, who hold top positions in the Indian government or in leading companies worldwide, have benefited from the generosity of Maharashtra in its darkest hour.<\/p>\n

Wanchoo said that inspired by Balasaheb Thackeray, even Maharashtra proved great vis-\u00e0-vis Kashmiri Pandits and helped her mite to wipe the tears of her brothers from the snowy valley.<\/p>\n

“I met him in 1994 and he was surprised to learn that some – like me – still decided to live in Kashmir. There were many young students living in housekeeping, renting or as paying guests in Maharashtra. But. if they could not afford to pay their costs, the local owners \/ families would quietly hand them over, “said Wanchoo.<\/p>\n

Nahar recalls the times when many Kashmiris – Pandits, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs – who became overnight “refugees”, had problems with even basics such as food and clothing and many NGOs came to Mumbai, Pune, Aurangabad, Nashik and other cities to care. for them.<\/p>\n

According to Pandita and Wanchoo, “we owe Balasaheb Thackeray and so far we consider Maharashtra as our ‘second home’ for all practical purposes”.<\/p>\n

Years later, Balasaheb Thackeray’s initiative flourished across the country with other states and even the center had various reservations, quotas, grace marks, certain privileges etc. in life.<\/p>\n

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)<\/p>\n

20220319-133404<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than three decades ago, when thousands of Kashmiri Pandits fled the terror nightmare in their homeland in 1990 to seek refuge elsewhere in India, many landed in Mumbai, the city of Dreams, and Pune, the academic capital of Maharashtra. . 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