Neha Raina Case: A Stark Reminder of Kashmir’s Minority Rights Crisis: Girdhari Lal Raina

क्षमा करें, यह समाचार आपके अनुरोध की भाषा में उपलब्ध नहीं है। कृपया यहाँ देखें।

Jammu, 31 July 2025

The anguished appeal of Neha Raina’s tormented parents from Loswani, Pulwama is a piercing cry that resonates with every conscience not yet numbed by indifference. Their pain is not just parental—it is emblematic of the deep-rooted crisis facing the microscopic minority that chose to remain in Kashmir while their entire community faced the trauma of displacement.

This was stated in a Press Statement by Girdhari Lal Raina, Former MLC and spokespersons, J&K BJP.

Their desperation is evident as they attempt to locate fault within themselves—an instinctive but misplaced reaction of victims who have been cornered by a system that offers little hope. They are not at fault. Their only ‘mistake’, if any, was the belief that they could coexist with dignity in a region that once claimed the legacy of “Kashmiriyat”—a legacy now increasingly brutalised and repeatedly questioned. This was stated by Former MLC Girdhari Lal Raina in a press statement.

He asserted that the case of Neha Raina is not an isolated incident. It is part of a disturbing pattern of what can only be described as covert religious conversions—manipulated through emotional exploitation, social pressure, and psychological coercion. While the term “free will” is paraded to sanitise such cases, the reality behind these conversions demands deeper introspection. In an environment shaped by decades of conflict, intimidation, and asymmetrical power dynamics, how “free” is that will?

This is no longer just a family’s personal tragedy. It is a test case for the moral fabric of Kashmiri society and a mirror to those who continue to claim that pluralism and tolerance remain intact in the Valley, GL Raina observed. If the idea of Kashmiriyat is to retain any credibility, it must be validated not just in times of death—when the majority assists with Hindu cremations—but in life, when it truly matters.

A society’s commitment to diversity is measured not by ceremonies but by the safety, dignity, and autonomy it guarantees to its minorities during their lifetime. This is a universal principle, enshrined in global human rights frameworks: the protection and promotion of minorities is not a favour—it is a duty, he stressed. This duty is as much Kashmir’s as it is any other society’s.

There is now credible evidence of an organised, well-funded network engaged in religious conversions across the country, including international financing. It is imperative that institutions of law, media, and civil society examine these patterns with seriousness and transparency. The need for a legal, social, and administrative response is urgent.

Neha Raina’s case must serve as a turning point. Will Kashmiri society rise above silence and complicity and help reunite an innocent, gullible  daughter with her helpless family, Ex-MLC asked? Or will it choose the path taken by societies that failed their minorities—tragically, and irreversibly?

This is not just about one girl. It is about the future of co-existence, of justice, and of the very idea of India in Kashmir, Raina pleaded.