Kashmiri Pandits through Fire and Brimstone

On 15 August 1947 India attained independence but the Hindus of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly those in the valley lost it for two reasons. One was the Pakistan sponsored tribal attack on 22 October 1947, and the second was the incorporation of a clause of Special Status for J&K in the Indian Constitution. Incorporation of this clause was tantamount to writing the death warrant of the minuscule Kashmiri Hindu (Pandit) religious minority of the valley. New Delhi snatched J&K from the hands of a benign secular ruler and gave into the hands of a rabid despot, who, through dubious maneuvering and machinations established his dynastic rule over J&K with the patronage of the contemporary Sultans of Delhi.