Our Moon Has Blood Clot - Rahul Bandita

This is the second about Kashmir I read . The first one was written by a Muslim and this one was a by Hindu. Both gives two different perspectives but one thing was sure - the people of Kashmir had suffered a lot.

I have to admit that I did not know anything about the Kashmiri Pandits before this book, always that Muslims are the only sufferers. To my shock , the atrocities by the Pathans towards Bandits were unspeakable. While reading this book simultaneously I searched in the internet about the exodus of the bandits - really shocking.First thing that struck me - why there was not much news about this tragic events in main stream media. I think they mostly focused on militancy. Another pathetic thing was the inability of the government during that period, the book clearly says that the government did not do much .

"Tradition is like an embarrassing grandparent who needs to be fed and put back to bed in a back room."

The book starts with short history of Kashmir and its beauty, specially the author's place. Kashmir's history is unique on its own, ruled by very different kingdoms. According to the author the golden phases were  reigns of Lalitaditya and Avantivarman and the worst were the reigns of Sultan Sikander and other Afghan rulers. The author also explains how the Pandit community progressed and suffered throughout the history.

 The author feels that everything was perfect before the exodus.May be or may not but nothing is same after the riots. The author meets many exiled bandits and made them to talk about those dark days. The unfortunate things happened during 1947 was told through the eyes of Prithvi Nath. The story of Ravi his friend was too emotional for me . In all these conflicts mostly innocent people only get killed.

"God pervades every particle,every being
  Don't distinguish between a Hindu and a Muslim"

One can sympathize with the author's mother who was shocked at being called a refugee and her need to talk to everyone about their house with 22 rooms. Definitely one will get emotional while reading about the family's stay at the camp and later at  the lodge, their struggle for water and food. The slow deterioration of mother's health was something very unfortunate and the author explains the pain of the whole family.   The book also shows the abject failure of the state to provide for refugees.

This book depicts the pain of the exiled community aptly.A must read book for every Indian.