At the time, Raina’s maternal grandfather was threatened to be killed: He was in the hit list of terrorists, local Kashmiri Muslims saved his life.
Standup comedian Samay Raina recently shared his family’s experiences during the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in the 1990s. He told that his maternal grandfather had received death threats, but local Kashmiri Muslims had saved his life. Samay Raina, in an interview given to ‘Dostcast’ YouTube channel, talked in detail about militancy in Kashmir and the impact of migration of Kashmiri Pandits. He told that his family was also forced to leave Kashmir overnight. According to him, his maternal grandfather Somnath Kaul, who was a well-known doctor in the village, was included in the hit list and a letter was issued to kill him. It was clearly written in a letter – “Go away from here, otherwise we will kill you tomorrow.” The family was very scared after this incident. However, time also revealed that his maternal grandfather was highly respected in the area. He used to treat many people free of cost, hence people respected him a lot. Therefore, the Kashmiri Muslims there helped his maternal grandfather to get out safely. He stopped the terrorists and said that they cannot do this to them. But the terrorists asked Samay’s family to leave Kashmir immediately. Overnight everyone put their belongings in a van and left home. Referring to the impact it had on his childhood, he said that this incident had a deep impact on his identity and mental state. He said that his generation still feels afraid to go to Kashmir. Raina also told that when her mother went to Kashmir after many years, she became emotional and cried after seeing the changed circumstances there.
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