Srinagar- Every morning, before the world fully wakes, Tasleema makes her way to the home of her ‘father-like figure’, Pyare Lal, a Kashmiri Pandit. It’s a routine born not out of duty, but out of love and respect.
As an Anganwadi worker in the social welfare department, her days are busy and demanding. But before she heads to her center, she ensures that Pyare Lal is doing fine and that he lacks nothing essential.
Not only Tasleema, a host of compassionate neighbors regularly stop by to visit the 80-year-old Kashmiri Pandit. Their visits not only serve to ensure his wellbeing but sometimes to offer him companionship too.
Lal lives in a dilapidated house in Aamno village of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district. Despite the decrepitude surrounding him, he leads a solitary existence, having chosen to remain in the valley even amidst the tumultuous outbreak of militancy in the 1990s. Thousands of Kashmiri Pandits, including Lal’s own cousin and other relatives left the region, driven by fears for their safety.
Yet, Lal, an individual of intellect and once a respected landlord, opted to stand firm amidst the upheaval. Having lost his parents earlier in life, Lal never got married.
For the past 30 years, he has been living at his house alone, but his health has been on the decline. “He wasn’t mentally stable,” said his nephew, Shuban Krishan Koul.
Last week, a moving video capturing Lal’s condition in the worn-down confines of his home in Aamno village, circulated widely on social media, prompting administration to take necessary steps for his rehabilitation.
Athar Aamir Khan, Deputy Commissioner Kulgam, along with concerned officials rushed to Pandit’s house and made necessary arrangements including his health check-up.
Lal was requested to move out to a better place where government officials would provide him with care and support, but he refused.
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“I will die here,” he told Athar Aamir in a video, adding, “Tasleema will get me a pheran.”
Tasleema told Kashmir Observer that she along with her neighbours have been taking care of Lal since the last three decades.
“He says I am his daughter and I treat him like my father,” she said, adding that Pyare Lal has named one of her sons ‘Sooraj’ and still calls him by this name.
Lal likes to have good meals and usually asks Tasleem to cook Cheese, fish and Nadru for him.
“Be it a normal day or a Hindu festival, I cook the food that he demands,” she says.
Tasleema’s husband, Ghulam Rasool Parray said that Lal possessed such intelligence that he would take the time to teach the children of his neighbors.
“His handwriting is amazing and he used to read a lot, until his mental conditions started worsening,” Parray said.
Parray recalled Lal’s fondness for sharing various tales and anecdotes about Kashmir, including his conversation with former Chief Minister Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq.
The neighbors say that lal is malang (a mystic) and connected to his god.
Zahid Bhat, another neighbor of Lal, told Kashmir Observer that they would ensure that Lal doesn’t skip any meal and would provide him with heating gadgets, blankets and other necessary items during winters.
“It was very heartbreaking to see him in these conditions but this is all we could have done,” Bhat added.
His relatives who are currently living in Jammu came to Kulgam a number of times to convince him to shift to Jammu, however he refused.
“He was so attached to Kashmir that he was ready to die here,” Shuban Krishan Koul said, adding, “We occasionally go to visit him.”
Lal is acquiring apple orchards spanning over 14 kanals, valued in crores, in the village, while his neighbor Farooq Ahmad is responsible for its maintenance.
Koul said they would have returned to Kashmir but due to the killing of Kashmiri pandits post abrogation, they decided not to.
Koul acknowledges that his Muslim neighbors have been feeding and ensuring the well-being of his uncle for the past 30 years, for which he is very thankful.
Over 60,000 Kashmir Pandit families migrated from Kashmir during the early nineties. Ever since their migration, their muslim brethren have taken care of their property and have returned back whenever they asked for it.
Many Kashmiri Pandits sold their property to their Muslim brethren, while others appointed their Muslim neighbors and friends as custodians of their properties.
Notably, since September 2021, the Jammu and Kashmir administration started retrieving/freeing the migrant KP properties across Kashmir.