Hindus reclaim 5,000 years of history
* Most of the Hindus, or Kashmiri Pandits, who fled the Kashmir valley, left in a matter of months between the end of 1989 and 1990 when an armed militancy by elements of the Muslim community demanding autonomy gathered pace.
* Many took the decision to leave after certain mosques broadcast demands for them to quit and newspapers printed similar messages.
* Gradually, the leadership of the Muslim community has accepted its responsibility for the exodus.
* Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, leader of a coalition of separatist organisations, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, said: "We cannot deny that they had to leave the valley in very difficult circumstances at a time when there was a lot of chaos."
* Farooq Abdullah, a former chief minister of the state and currently a federal minister in Delhi, said earlier this year: "It is our fault [that] the Kashmiri Hindus have been made
Read original article in The Independent Asia written by
Andrew Buncombe
