When Tika Lal Taploo was brought before the J&K High Court, the BJP leader was attacked by three militants who fired eight rounds at close range, marking the beginning of a long and painful era of Kashmiri Pandit murders. (News18)
Taploo was a top Kashmiri Pandit leader, career advocate and one of the early BJP leaders from the Valley who was killed in the years of insurgency by militant Yasin Malik of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front.
The BJP’s ‘Sankalp Patra’ or manifesto for the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections has many highlights – eradicating terrorism from the Valley, rebuilding Hindu shrines and temples, and organizing daily bets for the government and more.
But what is important is that the party is addressing its core vote bank – the Kashmiri Pandits – with the promise of ‘ghar wapsi’ through the Tika Lal Taploo Visthapit Samaj Punarvas Yojana (TLTVSPY), if and when it forms the government – the first to start withdrawing. of Articles 370 and 35A. But who is Tika Lal Taploo and why did the BJP name the scheme?
Taploo was a top Kashmiri Pandit leader, career advocate and one of the early BJP leaders from the Valley who was killed in the years of insurgency by Yasin Malik Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) militants. Taploo is a true pan-Indian figure who was born in Srinagar, received his higher education in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, but returned to work in his homeland – Jammu and Kashmir.
“He was a high-ranking Kashmiri Pandit leader. He was jailed several times in 1967 during the riots and later during the Emergency. He later became the BJP’s vice-president in the Valley but was shot dead like many Pandits,” recalled Utpal Kaul, international coordinator of Global Kashmiri Pandits. Diaspora.
In a manifesto released by Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday, the BJP said: “This initiative will incorporate input from representatives and the Welfare Council for Displaced Communities to protect, safeguard and defend the rights of displaced Kashmiri Pandits”. Along with Taploo’s association with the BJP, his deep roots with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) made him an ideal choice for the BJP to name the scheme for the return of the Pandits.
At a time when the BJP was in its infancy, Taploo’s personal charisma overshadowed the BJP, at least in J&K. After failing to kill him in Chinkral Mohalla on September 12, 1989, the militants succeeded a few days later. As Taploo was taken to the J&K High Court, the BJP leader was attacked by three militants who fired eight rounds from a nearby spot, marking the beginning of a long and painful era of killings of Kashmiri Pandits. The violence then escalated, leading to the exodus of nearly 97 percent of the Kashmiri Pandit community from the Kashmir Valley in the next few years.
Until today, September 14 is celebrated as Martyrs’ Day by the community. By naming the scheme, the BJP has cleverly touched the raw nerve of the many Kashmiri Pandits who live in Jammu and constitute the majority of voters in the region.
“We are happy and thankful that this scheme for Pandits was thought of by the BJP and named after Tika Lal Taploo,” Kaul told News18.
Like his aura, from BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani to influential Pracharks like Kidar Nath Sahni, who later became the Governor of Sikkim and Goa, attended his funeral. The respect he still holds among Kashmiri Pandits can be gauged by the fact that the killings were featured in the new Bollywood film ‘The Kashmir Files’.
But will it help the BJP by getting elected in the 43 assembly constituencies in Jammu Division, where Kashmiri Pandits hold most of the seats? In the coming days, the party will launch a social media campaign along with door-to-door visits to drive home the point, sources said.