The Thursday Murder Club

 *Book Review*

Author- Rahul Pandita
Genre- Non fiction
Rating- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

A real life memoir of a Kashmiri Pandit caught in the turmoil during the 1990 exodus .
The horrors of militancy and refugee life seen through the eyes of the author who was then 14 years old.


The sufferings and pain of the survivors cannot be shared. It's unfathomable.
The unfolding of the darkest days of post independence India makes one wonder how could a country just forget their own countrymen caught in between geopolitical and religious cross fire.

I had enough of one sided narrative of the Kashmir situation which keeps on changing every year but one thing that remains consistent is the exclusion of Kashmiri Pandits in the whole story.
Why should they not be included in the fight for ' Azaadi'?

Quoting the author -
"𝙄𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙆𝙖𝙨𝙝𝙢𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘼𝙯𝙖𝙙𝙞, 𝙬𝙝𝙮 𝙙𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙? 𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙙𝙤 𝙬𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚?

Do you have an answer for that ?

What troubles me is that how nobody, even till this day brings up the issue of relocation of Kashmiri Pandits and giving them back their homes.
The social media has no dearth of social justice warriors. But I fail to see a single person addressing this issue.
The apathy of the media and the majority of India's intellectual class who refuse to even acknowledge the suffering of Pandits is horrific.

The book never becomes biased with one sided bashing of the other group of people. It remains true to facts. True to the history all through out.
The stark contrast between the heavenly beauty of Kashmir valleys and the dark- dingy refugee camps with the people caught in between makes the book as difficult read.
It tears you apart when you read about how it feels to be unwanted and unwelcome in your own homeland.
When you know there's no chances of going back to that house you built with all your hard earned money because from this day you'll be moving from camps to camps, treated like cattles , stripping off the last shred of dignity and self respect you preserved.

I may not be able to make any significant contribution to the struggle of my fellow countrymen, but from this day I'll urge every friend and family of mine to read this book and not let the truth bury under blankets of lies and untruths.