Returning Home Together: Kashmir Heritage Tour | June 6–14

Happy Makar Sankranti!

For Kashmiri Pandits, Makar Sankranti is known as Shishur Sankrant, marking the sun’s entry into Capricorn, signifying the end of winter’s harshest phase and welcoming a change in season. It is a cultural and spiritual observance centered on community, renewal, and prayers, reflecting the essence of Makar Sankranti celebrated across India, while preserving our own unique Kashmiri traditions.

On this auspicious occasion of renewal and new beginnings, we invite you to join a deeply meaningful journey back to our homeland, the Kashmir Heritage Tour, June 6–14 2026, co-organized by KOA along with other like-minded community organizations committed to preserving our history, dignity, and collective memory.

This year marks 36 years since the genocide and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits. For many of us, that rupture froze time, memories, relationships, rituals, and a way of life left behind overnight. Some among us have not returned since 1990. Others made a vow never to go back, out of pain, grief, or protest. Those feelings are real and deeply respected.

And yet, as years have passed, one truth has become increasingly clear: by not going back, we are slowly losing our ties to our motherland,  and in that absence, we lose even more.

This journey is not about nostalgia alone, nor is it about visiting as tourists. It is about returning as a community to pay tribute to our ancestors, to walk the land that carries our history, and to create new memories with our children;  memories rooted in truth, dignity, and belonging and to raise awareness about the enduring issues faced by the Kashmiri Pandit community.

Many in our community have shared concerns:

• “I don’t want to go back as a visitor.”

  Then let us explore staying with host families, reconnecting as extended family rather than guests, as well as utilizing available community assets, including temple accommodations, details of which will be shared soon.

• “I don’t want my spending to indirectly support systems or forces that have perpetuated violence or enabled the circumstances behind our exodus.”

  Then let us shop consciously and make intentional choices aligned with our values.

  
  

As part of building this experience together, we are also calling upon the community to participate in two important collective efforts:

• Community Hosting: If you still own a home in Kashmir and would like to extend it to fellow community members during the tour, or if you know of any family willing to host, we invite you to share those details through the survey form HERE.

• Inventory of properties: It will be great to create an inventory of properties that were sold under distress, as well as properties that are still owned but encroached upon. If this applies to you or your family, we request that you submit the relevant details via the survey form HERE. This is an important step towards documentation, awareness, and long-term advocacy.

This effort is about creating a Kashmir experience on our own terms, not as tourists, but as the rightful aborigines of that land, reclaiming space, memory, and narrative. Most importantly, this cannot be done alone anymore. If we are to preserve our connection to Kashmir, culturally, spiritually, and historically, we must do it together. Only by joining hands can we transform our Kashmir visit into renewal, and remembrance into resilience.

To learn more about the tour, please visit:https://www.kpheritagetour.org/

If you are interested in joining or helping shape this collective experience, we encourage you to pre-register here:https://www.kpheritagetour.org/register

Let us return,  not in fear or silence,  but with purpose, community, and hope!

Warm regards,

Uphaar Kotru

KOA President