Genocide denial, unfortunately, is extremely mainstream in India. While it is banned by law in certain countries to deny the Jewish Holocaust in Nazi Germany, the predominant intellectual stand on the genocide of Hindus is that it never happened.
Consistent with that approach, even the Kashmiri Hindu genocide that occurred as recently as 3 decades ago is conveniently buried under the rug despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
The situation is so dire that even the director of a supposed human rights organization engages in genocide denial. Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director of Human Rights Watch, claims that Kashmiri Pandits were ‘asked’ to leave the valley, presumably by the Indian State, in 1990.
We saw this in 1990 when Pandits were panicked, asked to leave the valley. They are yet to return. It is the state’s responsibility to ensure security for all, including Kashmiris, tourists and pilgrims, not disrupt civilian life. #Kashmircrisis. https://t.co/5KrdvchDL2
— meenakshi ganguly (@mg2411) August 3, 2019
Ganguly makes it seem like eloquent letters in neat envelopes were delivered to the homes of Kashmiri Pandits asking them to leave politely. The narrative appears to be that the rapes and the organized massacre simply didn’t occur. They were just magically ‘asked’ to leave out of the blue on one fine day.
There’s also another insidious insinuation in Ganguly’s tweet. She is comparing the current plight of Amarnath Yatris with the genocide the Kashmiri Pandits had to endure. According to her, the government asking devotees and tourists to leave before the situation gets worse is akin to a native population being hounded out of their home by jihadis.
There is absolutely no equivalence here. Amarnath Yatris are not being raped, they are not being killed. They were just politely requested by the government to return to their homes because bloodthirsty barbarians are knocking at the door. It was not the government that ‘asked’ Kashmiri Pandits to leave their homes. They were forced out of the valley by Jihadis.
Ganguly, of course, did not apologize for engaging in genocide denial. She doubled-down on her false narrative, as expected. It was the government alone that failed Kashmiri Pandits. The bigots that dominate Kashmiri society even 3 decades later share no blame whatsoever if Ganguly is to be believed. And again, she compared what is happening now to what happened in 1990.
Yes, the Pandits feared for their security. But it is for the state to ensure security and it failed, organising people to leave instead. The state has responsibility to protect civilians including minorities at risk—and not by displacing or evicting them whether in 1990 or now. https://t.co/wNILMOozwU
— meenakshi ganguly (@mg2411) August 3, 2019
Comparing the events of 1990 with current circumstances in the state is utterly despicable. However, the dominance of the Left in the corridors of power has made it entirely acceptable to deny the genocide of Hindus. Hindus suffered 4 genocides in the 20th century alone and yet, human rights defenders pretend as if that never happened. Ganguly, as said before, is the South Asia director of Human Rights Watch, an international NGO that conducts research on human rights.
Genocide denial is not only acceptable conduct in the Left-Liberal world but it’s also one of the pillars of Indian secularism. Unless people deny that Hindus suffered genocides in the 20th century, they shall not be regarded as ‘intellectual’ or representatives of ‘civil society’.
