| Book Review | Our Moon Has Blood Clots.
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"Women had been herded like cattle into the backs of trucks. Father and I got out of the taxi to stretch our legs. In one of the trucks, a woman lifted the tarpaulin sheet covering the back and peered outside. There was nothing peculiar about her except the blankness in her eyes. They were like a void that sucked you in. Years later, I saw a picture of a Jewish prisoner in Auschwitz. When I saw his eyes, my mind was immediately transported to that day, and I was reminded of the look in that woman’s eyes." - Rahul Pandita.
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It's a terrible feeling to love a book which narrates heartbreaking incidents. Kashmir is beautiful but is drenched in the blood of thousands of innocents and till this day it hasn't breathed a sigh of relief. I have never read a detailed article or a story about the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits so when I chose this book, I had no idea what to expect. But from the very beginning I realised the enormity of the situation back in the '90s. Imagine being thrown out of your own home, the one that your father built with his blood, sweat and tears using up all the savings. Imagine it being charred to death or left to rot only to be later lived in by strangers. The pain of thousands of pandits being killed, raped, shot and brutally tortured have all caused a tightness in my chest that made me difficult to finish it. But I did because stories like these are meant to be finished even if it leaves you broken into a thousand little pieces.
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In the early '90s thousands of Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave their homes by JKLF and Islamic insurgents. But before all this was written, the author narrates a brief history of Kashmir back when only the Pandits resided in the State. Many renowned scholars were born in the beautiful land of Kashmir who went on to write complex and praised books. In 1988 JKLF began demanding freedom from India and committed their first crime by murdering a Kashmiri Pandit in public. Having lived in harmony all these years, the pandits are unsure about the happenings in their neighborhood.
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The pandits who considered their muslim neighbours as brothers have now turned against them. There is murder everywhere while thousands of them were killed at gunpoint or worse, were tortured endlessly. Many Hindus were forced to switch their religion and denial of it led to rape or killings. They were made to eat cow all the while cutting the sacred thread while women were harrassed in front of their husbands and fathers. With the entry of militants, all the properties of the pandits were siezed leaving them with no money or even a place to live in. The book is divided into five parts and for me, part four was the most emotional. This particular entry has been narrated by the author's uncle who lost his son at the hands of militants. He was young and had a child of his own who was barely few years old.
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I find myself in a difficult position to write reviews for books that encloses a horrifying past. If I had a notebook, I would probably empty it and look for extra sheets to relieve my mind. This book is intense for it speaks of unspeakable losses. Loss of house, family, love, friends and even tradition. Nearly twenty-four thousand families had to relocate and this makes me utterly sad and helpless. This book is a masterpiece. The art of writing down stories and history can be done so beautifully only if one has lived through it. A must read. It made me thank my stars for I still have my family next to me. To see my grandparents alive and well.
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Rating - 5/5