10-01-2003, 09:31 PM
Unfortunately, there is ethnic cleansing going on in India too. But wait it is not what you may be thinking,i.e. against the Muslim but against the Hindu.
[url="http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/web1/03sep08/national.htm#9"]Kashmiri Pandits facing "extinction" : Experts[/url]
NEW DELHI, Sept 7: Kashmiri Pandits are "threatened with extinction," Experts have warned.
Premature ageing and premature death, unnatural death, high incidence of serious and potentially fatal diseases, affliction with multiple disease syndromes, poor medical aid, economic bankruptcy and lack of desire to live, are some of the factors that have contributed to an already high death rate among them.
Late marriages and late conception, premature menopause and reduced fertility span, diminished libido and hypo-sexuality of exile, forced celibacy and sexual deprivation, contraception, elective abortion and high divorce rate have spurred low birth rates.
According to a paper presented at a two-day conference here on September one-two, on the problems of Kashmiri Pandits, in 1993 (three years after their migration from the Valley), 108 Kashmiri Pandits died while only 42 were born. In 1995, there were 200 deaths and only five births while in 1997 the figure was 134 deaths and 85 births. The statiistics were obtained after surveys conducted at various camps at Jammu where most migrants stayed in pitiable condition after their migration.
The study conducted by Dr K L Choudhary, a noted physician who himself was forced to flee from the Valley and has been living in Jammu, says there is hardly any system in the body (of a migrant) that has gone unrepresented in the wide spectrum of afflictions from which the exiled community is suffering.
"A whole community has aged prematurely. Multiple disease syndromes have overtaken most of them. Many have died prematurely, others are languishing...Common and uncommon diseases, new syndromes and unique and bizarre constellation of signs and symptoms, have all surfaced giving rise to a wide array of psychological syndromes and mental and physical diseases..." says Dr Choudhary.
The study says they (Kashmiri migrants) have been housed in tents or one-room tenements, living an "animal existence" on petty doles, bereft of basic amenities of life. Others are on the move in search of shelter and livelihood and living a nomadic existence. Health, both mental and physical, has been the greatest casualty.
The All India Census cunducted early this year, which put the total population of the country at around one billion, also did not give the exact number of the Kashmiri migrtants left as most of then have migrated and settled in various parts of the country âfrom Jammu in the North to Chennai in the South, Calcutta in the East to Maharashtra in the West.
"Kashmiri Pandits have scattered all over the country for survival, making it almost impossible to get their official count," a senior official of the Census Department told UNI.
A delegation of Kashmiri Pandit leaders met Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani and urged him to order a special census of the Pandits.
The Pandit leaders feared that their language, culture and tradition and also their number was fast disapearing and it was just a matter of time (few years) when they would be lost for ever.
A survey conducted at various Kashmiri Pandit Settlement Centres revealed that 14 years of exile had given rise to dispersal, diaspora and dissipation. The moral fabric of the migrants is tearing apart. The family structure has broken down. The economic, social and administrative support has collapsed. The memories of terror, persecution and violence in the Kashmir Valley are superimposed upon a feeling of being dispossessed and uprooted.
The trauma of forced exodus and the exposure to an alien and hostile environment are further compounded by the problems of acclimatisation, lack of basic amenities like drinking water, drainage and sewerage, absence of proper lavatory facilities, poor housing, over-crowding, extremes of climate, lack of healthcare, joblessness, idleness, depression, disease and death.
According to the survey, the multitude of these problems conspire with the compromised nutritional standards of the displaced population and snap the tenuous reserves of body and mind exploding in myriad manifestations of disease. Medical facilities are almost non-existent and the cost of investigations and treatment prohibitive. The results are devastating in terms of morbidity and mortality.
A study conducted among 2345 inmates of a camp at âMuthiâ on the outskirts of Jammu revealed that they live in 498 one-room tenements of 10 Ft by 10 Ft in size. As many as 41 families having more than seven members each, stayed in one room tenement each.
More than 40 families (in the camps) have lost one or more members to terrorist violence in the Valley and houses of 36 families and comercial establishments of 10 families have been burnt down by terrorists. There were 61 unemployed youth in the camp and two doctorates, 40 Post Graduates and 53 Graduates. There were two camp inmates of more than 40 years of age and 98 inmates between 30 and 40 years while the rest were either very old or very young.
The inmates suffer from physical and mental stress syndromes, environmental and nutritional syndromes. The stress syndromes include cardio-vascular stress, psycho-trauma, endocrine stress, musculo-skeletal stress, stress-belly (ulcers etc) and cranial stress (tension headaches and migraines).
A comparison between 400 females with menopausal symptoms after migration and an equal number who developed menopause before exile, showed that 25 women in the age group 35-40 years developed menopause after exile compared to nine before migration. In the age group 41 to 45 years, 34 developed menopause after exile as against 26 before exile.
More than 36 per cent women become infertile by the time they reach 40 years of age after migration.
An amazing 79 per cent migrants suffer from depression while 76 per cent suffer from anxiety disorders, phobias and panic attacks, eight per cent from post-trauma disorders, 11 per cent from dissociative disorders and hysterical neurosis, 20 per cent from sleep disorders and eight per cent from delusional disorders and psychosis.
Dr Chaudhary says that between 1991 and 1993, immediately after the migration, out of 11,150 patients, 96 per cent suffered from skin disease, 91 per cent from psychiatric disorders, 61 per cent from nutrition syndromes, 38 per cent from allergic syndromes, 21 per cent from ulcer dyspepsia, 11 per cent from hypertension and 12 per cent from stress diabetes.
Between 2001 and 2003, out of 5004 patients, 18 per cent suffered from skin disorders, 44 per cent from psychiatric disorders, 62 per cent from nutrition syndromes, 15 per cent from allergic syndromes, 31 per cent fron ulcer dyspepsia, 18 per cent from hypertension and 15 per cent from stress diabetes. The incidence of tuberculosis, renal stones, renal failure and asthma had also increased markedly.
Nearly 36 per cent women had developed ovarian failure which was a new trend witnessed.
In 1990, 1056 people died because of heat-related diseases while 409 died in 1991, 397 in 1992, 178 in 1993 and 148 between 1997 and 2003.
Dr P K Hak, a Professor at the Srinagar Medical College, says in the study "while the incidence of the ailments the exiled community suffered traditionally has increased, a host of new diseases and syndromes, previously unknown or rare, is also afflicting them."
"Malaria has caused great morbidity among migrants because the community lacked the immunity acquired by people living in endemic areas. Overcrowding has caused a greater number of pneumonia and tuberculosis cases. Skin diseases afflict almost all. Most patients suffer from renal colics, renal stones and renal infections. Angina pectoris has got precipitated. Hypertension is common even among the youth...Stress diabetes is a new syndrome. A large number of displaced Kashmiri diabetics have no other visible factors except stress," says Dr Hak.
Noted Neurologist Dr Sushil Razdan says that dozens of patients have died because of heat stroke. The incidence of neuro-cystocircosis has also increased. Older people, very young and women are the worst sufferers.
A survey conducted at migrant camps in Delhi revealed that families lived in separate enclosures in a single hall partioned by cloth and cardboard. At the community centers at Hauz Rani and Bapu Dham, two of the camps where the migrants stayed, enclosures were made with the help of cloth and cardboard for each family. In Delhi, fifteen camps were sponsored by Delhi Administration in community halls.
In Jammu where most of the Pandits stayed after migration, eighteen camps were set up at Muthi, Purkhoo, Mishriwala and Nagrota on the outskirts of Jammu. A large number of migrant families were housed in Government quarters at various places in the city these people were not given camp facilities which includes Government assistance and subsidies. (UNI)
[url="http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/web1/03sep08/national.htm#9"]Kashmiri Pandits facing "extinction" : Experts[/url]
NEW DELHI, Sept 7: Kashmiri Pandits are "threatened with extinction," Experts have warned.
Premature ageing and premature death, unnatural death, high incidence of serious and potentially fatal diseases, affliction with multiple disease syndromes, poor medical aid, economic bankruptcy and lack of desire to live, are some of the factors that have contributed to an already high death rate among them.
Late marriages and late conception, premature menopause and reduced fertility span, diminished libido and hypo-sexuality of exile, forced celibacy and sexual deprivation, contraception, elective abortion and high divorce rate have spurred low birth rates.
According to a paper presented at a two-day conference here on September one-two, on the problems of Kashmiri Pandits, in 1993 (three years after their migration from the Valley), 108 Kashmiri Pandits died while only 42 were born. In 1995, there were 200 deaths and only five births while in 1997 the figure was 134 deaths and 85 births. The statiistics were obtained after surveys conducted at various camps at Jammu where most migrants stayed in pitiable condition after their migration.
The study conducted by Dr K L Choudhary, a noted physician who himself was forced to flee from the Valley and has been living in Jammu, says there is hardly any system in the body (of a migrant) that has gone unrepresented in the wide spectrum of afflictions from which the exiled community is suffering.
"A whole community has aged prematurely. Multiple disease syndromes have overtaken most of them. Many have died prematurely, others are languishing...Common and uncommon diseases, new syndromes and unique and bizarre constellation of signs and symptoms, have all surfaced giving rise to a wide array of psychological syndromes and mental and physical diseases..." says Dr Choudhary.
The study says they (Kashmiri migrants) have been housed in tents or one-room tenements, living an "animal existence" on petty doles, bereft of basic amenities of life. Others are on the move in search of shelter and livelihood and living a nomadic existence. Health, both mental and physical, has been the greatest casualty.
The All India Census cunducted early this year, which put the total population of the country at around one billion, also did not give the exact number of the Kashmiri migrtants left as most of then have migrated and settled in various parts of the country âfrom Jammu in the North to Chennai in the South, Calcutta in the East to Maharashtra in the West.
"Kashmiri Pandits have scattered all over the country for survival, making it almost impossible to get their official count," a senior official of the Census Department told UNI.
A delegation of Kashmiri Pandit leaders met Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani and urged him to order a special census of the Pandits.
The Pandit leaders feared that their language, culture and tradition and also their number was fast disapearing and it was just a matter of time (few years) when they would be lost for ever.
A survey conducted at various Kashmiri Pandit Settlement Centres revealed that 14 years of exile had given rise to dispersal, diaspora and dissipation. The moral fabric of the migrants is tearing apart. The family structure has broken down. The economic, social and administrative support has collapsed. The memories of terror, persecution and violence in the Kashmir Valley are superimposed upon a feeling of being dispossessed and uprooted.
The trauma of forced exodus and the exposure to an alien and hostile environment are further compounded by the problems of acclimatisation, lack of basic amenities like drinking water, drainage and sewerage, absence of proper lavatory facilities, poor housing, over-crowding, extremes of climate, lack of healthcare, joblessness, idleness, depression, disease and death.
According to the survey, the multitude of these problems conspire with the compromised nutritional standards of the displaced population and snap the tenuous reserves of body and mind exploding in myriad manifestations of disease. Medical facilities are almost non-existent and the cost of investigations and treatment prohibitive. The results are devastating in terms of morbidity and mortality.
A study conducted among 2345 inmates of a camp at âMuthiâ on the outskirts of Jammu revealed that they live in 498 one-room tenements of 10 Ft by 10 Ft in size. As many as 41 families having more than seven members each, stayed in one room tenement each.
More than 40 families (in the camps) have lost one or more members to terrorist violence in the Valley and houses of 36 families and comercial establishments of 10 families have been burnt down by terrorists. There were 61 unemployed youth in the camp and two doctorates, 40 Post Graduates and 53 Graduates. There were two camp inmates of more than 40 years of age and 98 inmates between 30 and 40 years while the rest were either very old or very young.
The inmates suffer from physical and mental stress syndromes, environmental and nutritional syndromes. The stress syndromes include cardio-vascular stress, psycho-trauma, endocrine stress, musculo-skeletal stress, stress-belly (ulcers etc) and cranial stress (tension headaches and migraines).
A comparison between 400 females with menopausal symptoms after migration and an equal number who developed menopause before exile, showed that 25 women in the age group 35-40 years developed menopause after exile compared to nine before migration. In the age group 41 to 45 years, 34 developed menopause after exile as against 26 before exile.
More than 36 per cent women become infertile by the time they reach 40 years of age after migration.
An amazing 79 per cent migrants suffer from depression while 76 per cent suffer from anxiety disorders, phobias and panic attacks, eight per cent from post-trauma disorders, 11 per cent from dissociative disorders and hysterical neurosis, 20 per cent from sleep disorders and eight per cent from delusional disorders and psychosis.
Dr Chaudhary says that between 1991 and 1993, immediately after the migration, out of 11,150 patients, 96 per cent suffered from skin disease, 91 per cent from psychiatric disorders, 61 per cent from nutrition syndromes, 38 per cent from allergic syndromes, 21 per cent from ulcer dyspepsia, 11 per cent from hypertension and 12 per cent from stress diabetes.
Between 2001 and 2003, out of 5004 patients, 18 per cent suffered from skin disorders, 44 per cent from psychiatric disorders, 62 per cent from nutrition syndromes, 15 per cent from allergic syndromes, 31 per cent fron ulcer dyspepsia, 18 per cent from hypertension and 15 per cent from stress diabetes. The incidence of tuberculosis, renal stones, renal failure and asthma had also increased markedly.
Nearly 36 per cent women had developed ovarian failure which was a new trend witnessed.
In 1990, 1056 people died because of heat-related diseases while 409 died in 1991, 397 in 1992, 178 in 1993 and 148 between 1997 and 2003.
Dr P K Hak, a Professor at the Srinagar Medical College, says in the study "while the incidence of the ailments the exiled community suffered traditionally has increased, a host of new diseases and syndromes, previously unknown or rare, is also afflicting them."
"Malaria has caused great morbidity among migrants because the community lacked the immunity acquired by people living in endemic areas. Overcrowding has caused a greater number of pneumonia and tuberculosis cases. Skin diseases afflict almost all. Most patients suffer from renal colics, renal stones and renal infections. Angina pectoris has got precipitated. Hypertension is common even among the youth...Stress diabetes is a new syndrome. A large number of displaced Kashmiri diabetics have no other visible factors except stress," says Dr Hak.
Noted Neurologist Dr Sushil Razdan says that dozens of patients have died because of heat stroke. The incidence of neuro-cystocircosis has also increased. Older people, very young and women are the worst sufferers.
A survey conducted at migrant camps in Delhi revealed that families lived in separate enclosures in a single hall partioned by cloth and cardboard. At the community centers at Hauz Rani and Bapu Dham, two of the camps where the migrants stayed, enclosures were made with the help of cloth and cardboard for each family. In Delhi, fifteen camps were sponsored by Delhi Administration in community halls.
In Jammu where most of the Pandits stayed after migration, eighteen camps were set up at Muthi, Purkhoo, Mishriwala and Nagrota on the outskirts of Jammu. A large number of migrant families were housed in Government quarters at various places in the city these people were not given camp facilities which includes Government assistance and subsidies. (UNI)