On Tuesday owner of Srinagar’s noted pharmacy Bindroo Medicate, ML Bindroo was shot dead by unknown gunmen while at his shop. His demise. which was a shock, was condoned by people, as Bindroo was a famous name in his domain in the valley.
For people in the valley Bindroo Medicate was a household name, his death has for sure hit people hard.
ML Bindroo was one among many who stayed in the valley even at the peak of insurgency in the 1990’s when many Kashmir Pandits migrated to Jammu, fearing for their lives, as several of the community members were killed during the period.
However, the Bindroo family, like many other families, stayed, despite almost all of their relatives moving to different places.
While as Kashmiris we relate and understand the grief of ML Bindroo’s family, some of the comments made by his daughter Dr. Shraddha Bindroo appear to be out of line.
We empathize with her in this moment of grief and sadness, and those who carried out this act are to be duly blamed, we want to clarify that you simply can’t paint all Kashmiris by the same brush.
Speaking to the media a day after her father’s death, Dr. Shraddha Bindroo talked about how her father’s spirit will live on.
Asserting that she is “her father’s Kashmiri Pandit Hindu daughter,” Shraddha Bindroo said her father will be alive in spirit and they have just killed a body. Calling on the gunmen to “have the courage to come out and face” her, Bindroo said such people are “just capable of pelting stones and attacking from behind”.
The Objection
Either Dr. Sharddha Bindroo was ill informed about Kashmir and Kashmiris despite being brought up here or she she was simply unable to heed her words at this grievous time, despite claiming otherwise.
One of the things she said that her father gave her education while Kashmiris gave their children stones, bullets and pellets. First she needs to understand that pellets were given by security forces to Kashmiri children, the scars of which remain to this day. Talking about education and making such a mistake is ironic.
This narrative that Kashmiri don’t provide education to their children is false as it can get, Kashmir still carries one of the highest literacy rates in India. Her assertion that her father educated her in Kashmir came across as if Kashmir is a war torn state where everyone takes up arms and only a select few take up education, far away from the Centre’s portrayal of the region.
She is an Associate Professor and there is little doubt Kashmiri Muslims would have had a big part in her education, yet she accuses the them of being uneducated. Baffling.
She then goes onto take this further saying that Kashmiri Pandits are educated and spread out in US and UK, while rest of the Kashmiris haven’t gotten anywhere and stones and bullets are their ‘aukaat‘ (status). This statement derogatory but also dangerous as it again highlights all Kashmiris in the same light.
By the logic of Dr. Sharddha Bindroo, can all the Hindus be blamed or termed as uneducated in the aftermath of lynching of Muslims in India? Thought not. Let us not go that far.
Kashmiri Muslims have made a name from themselves across the globe. Recently, Dr. Noor Ul Owase Jeelani, a Kashmiri born world renowned pediatric neurosurgeon in the UK helped a group of Israeli doctors to successfully save a pair of twins conjoined at the head.
This is just one example among many, it isn’t a competition like the daughter of ML Bindroo tried to show it was. Kashmiris have excelled in every sphere of life despite the obvious challenges facing them, be it art, business or education.
Implying the entire Kashmir as uneducated is an ill informed notion. She herself said that her father stayed back in the 90’s and continued to work at his shop. It will be a surprise if Mr. Bindroo’s decision wasn’t helped by seeing how Kashmiri Muslims rallied around Pandits asking them to stay and offering assurances not only during that time but years after that as well.
And the Bindroo family wasn’t the only one to stay back in Kashmir or for that matter in Srinagar. Many families stayed back and are part of the fabric of what constitutes the Kashmiri society today.
Attack on Kashmiryat
Kashmiryat (Kashmiri Brotherhood) is known to the world as we have shown time and time again. Be it the floods, months long shutdowns, sudden communication blackouts we have helped others before helping ourselves.
When Article 370 was abolished many tourists were left stranded in Kashmir, again Kashmiryat came to the fore and aided many people, many threw open the doors of their homes to welcome people from all over India and provide a safe haven.
Ask any outsider of their experience in Kashmir and you will hear them sing praises of our hospitality.
These statements are an attack on Kashmiryat, an unwritten duty which we have fulfilled, at times to our own determent.
Dr. Sharddha Bindroo repeatedly mentions Kashmiris as stone pelter. Stereotyping Kashmiris or anyone is a dangerous thing to do, and already we have been a victim of it.
Despite what you have been going through you can’t just stand up and stereotype the entire community, moreso when those very people have stood by you in all those years.
Blaming Everyone
ML Bindroo’s daughter straight out began blaming Kashmiri with stones and bullets for her father’s death, when there has been no inquiry yet about the real culprits. So far there is no news on who killed ML Bindroo, whether it was militants, people with personal vendetta or something we don’t know yet.
Even if the suspects are militants, how can she be so sure that they are Kashmiris? If she has proof wouldn’t be better to report it to the authorities rather than blame innocents?
She goes out of her way to imply Kashmiris are uneducated, stone pelters and cannot reach anywhere in life, words that harm the goodwill and sympathy Kashmiris have shown since Mr.Bindroo’s passing away.
Last Argument
Ofcourse this maybe an emotional outburst of a daughter over her father’s death, and we sympathize with the Bindroo family. But the power of such words cannot be underestimated and in a place as volatile as Kashmir this could lead to a situation out of our control.
How can you disregard the same place you were born and brought up in? Attacking the people of your own community by stereotyping them is an ugly precedent and she should refrain from such statements in the future to protect the social dynamic of the region.
We stress again that we empthaize with the kin of ML Bindroo in this hard and unfortunate time. The reason Mr. Bindroo’s death is such a shock is because he was known and respected by people as a noble soul and targeting Kashmiri Muslims will only brew communal hatred something we can all do without.