A poet, a freedom activist, a killing: 34 years on, Kashmiri Pandit family awaits justice

In 1990, Kashmiri Pandit poet, journalist, and freedom activist Sarwanand Koul, also known as "Premi," along with his 27-year-old son Virender, were abducted and killed in a somber incident that left his family displaced. The couple, along with Rajinder Koul (Premi's son), his wife, daughter, widowed daughter-in-law, and three grandchildren, had to leave their multi-storeyed home in Kokernag, Anantnag.

They were escorted by a police force as they moved to a single room at the Jammu MLA Hostel. Rajinder, now 70, has been pursuing a long legal battle for justice for his father and brother's deaths. Recently, Sarwanand's older son Rajinder received some relief as the State Investigation Agency (SIA) conducted searches at nine locations in Jammu and Kashmir, marking the beginning of fresh investigations into the two killings.

Rajinder Koul expressed his disappointment at the lack of action by various governments, including the Centre and J&K, who made promises of land, compensation, and a CBI inquiry but failed to deliver. The family has yet to visit their ancestral home, abandoned all those years ago.