Title :
Our Moon Has Blood Clots
Author :
Rahul Pandita
Publisher
: Random House India
ISBN :
978-8-18400-087-0
Rahul
Pandita brings the ugly yet true story of Kashmiri Pandits who endured the
torture from time to time since 1947 because of their faith in one way of
reaching the almighty. In an ideal world, this reason for such brutal behaviour
sounds so senseless and shallow but oft man has managed to put even animals to
shame by his lowly actions.
Rahul was
14 years old in 1990 when his family was forced to exit their home in Srinagar
during ethnic cleaning by Islamic militant. This was the time when the
threatening calls for 'Azadi' from India by Kashmiri Muslims were getting
louder, aggressive and violent against the minority population of Kashmiri
Pandits. People were tortured and killed and were forced to leave their homes
and spend the rest of their lives in exile in their own country.
As the
author reminisces his personal story full of incidents of torture, violence,
looting, exodus and unhealed scars, many policies and politicians stand
disrobed in front of truth and revelation. While narrating his personal
experience as well as those of others in the similar situation, he talks about
the fictional mask that has conveniently been given to the facts to suit the
needs. The narrative reflects the pain and suffering of the author - who
witnessed everything first hand at a very tender age, who saw his parents
mourning the loss of their loved ones, who saw a big part of their being dying
when they became refugees in their own country, who still yearns to go back to
his roots someday. This heart wrenching tale brings in front the ignored plight
of a big section of Kashmiri land.
'For me,
exile is permanent. Homelessness is permanent. I am uprooted in my mind. There
is nothing I can do about it. My idea of home is too perfect. And home and love
are two intertwined. I am like my
grandfather, who never left his village his whole life. It was deeply embedded
in his matrix, too perfect to be replicated elsewhere.' There is yearning, there is hope and there is pain when Rahul says, 'We will return permanently'.
'Our Moon
has Blood Clots' is a sad yet compelling
story about the open wounds of numerous families which became homeless and
refugees in a matter of hours and days because of some mad fundamentalist fervor. Rahul Pandita has taken it upon
himself to bring the names and numbers of every person who bore the brunt of
this brutality. "I have made it my mission to talk about the 'other story'
of Kashmir. I have reduced my life to names and numbers, I have memorised the
names of every Pandit killed during those dark days, and the circumstances in
which he or she was killed. I have memorised the number of people killed in
each district. I have memorised how many of us were registered as refugees in
Jammu and elsewhere." This is his way of making people aware of the
forgotten chapter in the history of Kashmir.
It is
heartening to read that in spite of such extremely harsh circumstances, the
humane traits can thrive if one so desires and Rahul Pandita owes his thinking
to his upbringing when he could confront an army chief by saying, "I have
lost my home, not my humanity".
A great
book to understand the real blood-stained history of the 'Paradise on Earth'.
A brief
timeline at the end summarises the events in chronological order for reference.
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