The angst of the editor searching for his roots

On world refugee day, Mail Today editor Sandeep Bamzai writes:

“Displaced in your own country, willy nilly ignored by different political parties and in many ways expunged from the national discourse. That in many ways sums up the plight of Kashmiri Pandits in India. One of the greatest human tragedies since partition, a lost community and perhaps at one level a lost generation….

“I must confess that I am not a refugee, though I was born in the land of my ancestors, very much in the Vale of Kashmir. Against that, I would like to believe that I am an Indian first, having lived and worked in three of the biggest metropolitan cities of this wonderful country — Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and now once again in the rajdhani . But at another level, I am also a Kashmiri, my roots call out to me constantly.

“They ask me searching questions, they probe, they irritate my sub conscious wanting to know what I have done about my heritage, legacy, call it what you will. This Wednesday, the World Refugee day is to be celebrated, though I wonder how a refugee can celebrate his displacement.”

For the record, Sandeep Bamzai’s sister Kaveree Bamzai is editor of India Today.

Read the full article: Refugees in their own country