A closed neighbourhood opens poll wounds in Srinagar

Until 12 years ago, Ganpatyar, a part of Habakadal constituency, used to be divided between the two major communities. The Kashmiri Pandits left in 1990, and of the roughly 59,000 voters, 23,233 are registered as migrant voters.

The choice of candidates by the two mainstream parties is part of the story. Habakadal was a National Conference stronghold for years, represented in the state assembly by former Law minister P L Handoo.

After Handoo’s death in February 2001, the NC chose Shameema Firdous as its candidate. She hasn’t booked her ticket to Jammu yet, to seek votes from the migrants. The Congress too has selected a Muslim candidate: Mohammad Sultan. The nine other candidates are all Pandits—including Peoples Democratic Party candidate Brij Krishan Vashnavi—of which three are independents. And all nine of them live in the migrant camps of Jammu.

So no flags and buntings flutter in the breeze here, no campaign jeeps tear down the roads. Apart from a scattering of cricket-playing children, the road is empty. Most of the shops in the market have their shutters down. ‘‘This market used to be the favourite shopping destination for Srinagar residents. Today, the few shopkeepers who continue to keep their shops open don’t see the face of customers for days on end,’’ Mohammad Shaffi told The Indian Express.

He says a decade-old habit and a longing for what once was have prevented him from shutting shop. I sit inside my shop and cry. Even those who come here for the first time can sense the sadness. Who has cursed Ganpatyar?’’ he asks. ‘‘They (the Pandits) left and took everything with them.’’

The renowned Ganesha temple on the banks of the Jhelum is still standing, but its entrance has been blocked by a sandbag bunker and a few tense BSF personnel. The temple priest, Pandit Mohan Lal, lives some metres away.

‘‘Don’t call us the living. We are already dead,’’ he says. Lal would open the temple doors at 3.30 in the morning, and would call it a day only by around midnight. ‘‘A flood of people would visit Ganpatyar. Now, we’ve vanished as a community,’’ he adds.

Ganpatyar is seeped in Kashmiri tradition and antiquity. This is where eminent Kashmiri scholars like Sukhdev Braru and Nathram Shastri were born. This is where the Kashmiri Pandit Chandra clan, whose contributions were mentioned by historian Bilhana in the 10th century, hailed from. Ganpatyar, in fact, went by another name: Gund Ahalimar. It was also referred to as Rajtarangni—the place where scholars would gather every year to discuss their astrological and astronomical findings.

‘‘Ganpatyar was some kind of a status symbol. It was a matter of pride to live here,’’ says Prof T N Ganjoo, a Sanskrit scholar.

‘‘Now, it’s like a big graveyard, where a culture and tradition lie buried.’’