KashmirForum.org
Title
- Kashmir Forum ::: Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir, Greater Kashmir, Gulmarg, Gilgit, Azad Kashmir
Description
Excerpted from the website:
- The Indo-American Kashmir Forum, commonly known as IAKF, was formed in 1991. IAKF represents the socio-political voice of the Kashmiri Pandit community residing in the United States. The Kashmiri Pandits, followers of the Shaivite branch of the Hindu religion, are aboriginal people of the Kashmir valley with nearly 5,000 year history much of which is well documented through archeological discoveries and written records. Following the march of Islam into Kashmir in the 14th Century, the followers of the Hindu faith were reduced to a minority. Repeated intrusions by foreign settlers during the Islamic rule led to further dwindling of Pandit population in Kashmir. By 1947, when the British rule ended in the Indian subcontinent, the Pandits in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir had been reduced to a miniscule minority. In the post-independence period, even though some Kashmiri Pandits rose to eminence in state and central governments, most Pandits continued to suffer economically and politically resulting in their steady migration from the valley to other parts of the world. By mid-1980’s Pandit population in Kashmir was reduced to about 4% of the total population in the valley.
