Dr Happymon Jacob speaks with Siddhartha Gigoo (Author of ‘Long Dream of Home’ and ‘A<br />Fistful of Earth’) about the social and political circumstances in which Kashmiri Pandits had to leave<br />Kashmir. Mr Gigoo narrates his first experience of persecution as a young boy and the escalation of such<br />instances from harmless banter to organized exodus. He asserts that successive governments have failed to<br />rehabilitate Kashmiri Pandits to their ‘homeland’, and have merely used their cause for electoral gains. Mr<br />Gigoo laments at the loss of identity, dignity and a sense of belonging that Kashmiri Pandits, now settled<br />across the world have experienced. The Kashmiri Pandit mind is now torn between deceitful hope and a<br />dissipating longing for return.
