Kashmir refugees huddle together in a Jammu camp: fear, anger and helplessness Kashmir refugees huddle together in a Jammu camp: fear, anger and helplessness

In 1947, when Pakistani raiders pillaged the homes of Kashmiri Hindus, Sohan Lal was a seven-year-old child in the border district of Kupawara. He lost his father and eight relatives before fleeing to Srinagar. He returned home after two years. The neighbourhood mason, carpenter and shopkeeper - all Muslims - helped him start afresh. He became a teacher in the local school and lived with his family in a house which, over the years, expanded to 15 rooms.

Last fortnight, Sohan Lal fled Kupawara again. There was no raid on his house. No killings. Not even a threat. But when after Shivratri, his relatives from Anantnag and Srinagar did not visit him as they had done every year, Sohan Lal panicked. He locked up his house, gave the keys and his cattle to a Muslim friend and departed with nine other families for a relief camp in Jammu. Says Sohan Lal: "There was no communal tension. It took us six days to leave everything because of fear. And we cried - my family and that of my Muslim friend."

Protest march by refugees in Jammu: nowhere to go Protest march by refugees in Jammu: nowhere to go

On his third day in Jammu, Sohan Lal was exposed to an alien phenomenon. He was part of a 10,000-strong procession led by VHP acting President, Vishnu Hari Dalmia. As the protestors wound their way through the streets of Jammu, the sloganeering became distinctly communal. "Security for Hindus in Kashmir" and "Down with Pakistan" soon gave way to "Har-har Mahadev" and "Bharatvarsh main rehna hoga, Vande Mataram kehna hoga" (If you want to live in India, you have to chant Vande Mataram). If there were any doubts that RSS cadres had taken over the demonstration, they were put to rest when a placard that read "Down with Indian secularism" was raised. Sohan Lal had never heard such a communal outburst.

But Sohan Lal was just one among over 10,000 Hindu families which have left the valley - and whose insecurities organisations like the RSS and VHP are trying to exploit. And should they fall into the net of communal propaganda, they can reverse the political efforts (see box) for normalising the Kashmir crisis. Says Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed: "We can't afford more complications." Adds an IAS officer in Jammu: "Our hands are full with the migrants. The last thing we want is a communal flare-up."

In fact, by the time the all party delegation reached Srinagar, about 40,000 people had reached Jammu, 2,500 Udhampur, 600 Kathua and about 2,000 Haridwar and Delhi. In each of the dozen filthy camps in Jammu and in the decrepit Kashmir Bhawan in Delhi, most refugees said that though they were initially reassured by Jagmohan's installation as governor, the militancy was unstoppable. Said a doctor from Srinagar: "How can we raise slogans for Islamic rule or say Pakistan zindabad?" Understandably, the militant's movement has isolated the valley's 1.2 lakh Hindus.

Lining up for food at a Jammu refugee camp Lining up for food at a Jammu refugee camp

The migrants' woes were doubled by the unpreparedness of the Jammu administration. The first trickle of refugees began in mid-January. They took shelter at Geeta Bhawan, a pilgrims' transit house. When the organisers of Geeta Bhawan heard about the refugees' plight, they announced in the press that all persons looking for safe sanctuary could come to them. This resulted in a flood of migration.

Geeta Bhawan could not cope and the administration stepped in. Migrants were housed in government buildings and foodstuffs distributed. But with government housing also running out, the last batch of refugees was put up in a camp made up of 100 tents on the banks of the Tawi river in Nagrota, 12 km off Jammu. As most refugees belong to the middle class pandit community they are appalled at being forced to stay in tents.

Their reasons for abandoning their comfortable homes are easy to pinpoint. Most of the senior government officials killed by the militants were pandits, who have traditionally dominated the state's bureaucracy. Moreover, the movement in the valley has acquired a religious tone with processionists singing verses from the Quran and demanding an Islamic state. And when thousands of Kashmiris spilled on to the streets after Jagmohan allowed processions, the secession of Kashmir seemed inevitable to many Hindus.

Fleeing from the stranglehold of Muslim militants in the valley, many of the migrants have landed straight in the lap of Hindu fundamentalists. These groups choose to ignore the fact that many Muslims too have fled the valley because of crippling curfews and breakdown of the administration.

In Delhi itself, dislocated Muslims from the valley can be seen hawking the famed Kashmiri shawls and carpets. But such facts do not fit in, with the Hindu fundamentalists' perception of the Kashmir problem. So at the refugee camps, they are spreading rumours that the militant movement is directed against non-Muslims; that militants are infiltrating camps to identify migrants.

Jagmohan In Srinagar: under siege Jagmohan In Srinagar: under siege

So far, the administration has turned a blind eye to the communal propaganda. For instance, though Dalmia and other VHP leaders went to Jammu to sympathise with the refugees, they ended up exhorting them to support their cause. Said Dalmia at a public rally: "Why does V.P. Singh run to Bhagalpur with a Rs 1 crore cheque? The money was distributed only among Muslims. He should come here with a Rs 2.5 crore cheque."

In a knee-jerk reaction, Jagmohan recently announced two new posts of relief commissioners and stated that camps would be set up in the valley itself and that government employees and pensioners forced to flee their homes would receive their money regularly. But such steps amounted to locking up the stable after the horse had bolted.

Many of the militants too are unhappy with the flight of Hindus. The Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), in particular, realises that an exodus on communal lines would eventually discredit their movement. In a written statement, four area commanders of JKLF recently offered to "retire" from the secessionist movement if it was "proved by an independent agency or media that they killed anyone only because he was from a particular community".

An added twist to the problem is the hostility towards the migrants from some Jammu residents. Many Jammu Hindus harbour age-old prejudices against Kashmiri pandits who they believe corner all crucial government jobs and are more affluent.

With the fate of the migrants intertwined with the solution to the Kashmir problem, their ordeal threatens to be a long one. And if their plight is given a communal colour, it would have a disastrous impact. For a Hindu backlash will only strengthen the case of the Muslim fundamentalists in Kashmir.