Tika Lal Taploo (1930 – 14 September 1989) was an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

and politician from

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

Early life and education

Taploo was born in

Srinagar Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...

in a

Kashmiri Pandit The Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are a group of Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community of India. They belong to the Pancha Gauda Brahmin group from the Kashmir Valley, a mountainous region ...

family. He graduated from

Panjab University Panjab University (PU) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public state university located in Chandigarh, Punjab. Funded through both Punjab, India, State and Government of India, Union governments, it is considered a state university (Indi ...

and done his Masters in Arts and LLB from

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

. In later life, he practised as an advocate in

Jammu and Kashmir High Court The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh is the common high court for union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. It was established as the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir on 26 March 1928 by the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. The s ...

and engaged in political activity. He was the vice-president of

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

in Jammu and Kashmir and also an active member of the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family" ...

. He stood for several elections to the

Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly also known as the Jammu and Kashmir Vidhan Sabha is the legislature of Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir was dissolved by the Governor on 21 N ...

, however he was never elected, reportedly due to the

gerrymandering In representative democracies, gerrymandering (, originally ) is the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the intent to create undue advantage for a party, group, or socioeconomic class within the constituency. The m ...

of his electoral constituency. He had a large following as a social and political activist.

Death

On 13 September 1989, Taploo was

assassinated Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

by the

JKLF The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) is a militant separatist organization active in both the Indian-administered and Pakistani-administered territories of Kashmir. It was founded by Amanullah Khan, with Maqbool Bhat also credited as a ...

militants at his home in Srinagar. His funeral was held on 14 September 1989, attended by many senior leaders including BJP leader

Lal Krishna Advani Lal Krishna Advani (born 8 November 1927) is an Indian politician who served as the 7th Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004. Advani is one of the co-founders and a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is a longtime memb ...

and

Kidar Nath Sahani Kidar Nath Sahani (24 October 1926 – 3 October 2012) was a governor of the Indian states of Sikkim (2001–02) and Goa (2002–04). He was a pracharak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and a leader of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Bha ...

. In September 2022, the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...

declined to consider a petition requesting an investigation into the murder of Tika Lal Taploo in the Kashmir valley in 1989. The bench of Justices

Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai Justice Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai (born on 24 November 1960)is a judge of Supreme Court of India. He is former judge of the Bombay High Court. He is the chancellor of Maharashtra National Law University, Nagpur. He is set to become the 52nd c ...

and

C. T. Ravikumar Chudalayil Thevan Ravikumar (born 6 January 1960) (Malayalam: ചുടലയിൽ തേവൻ രവികുമാർ) is a judge of the Supreme Court of India. He is former judge of the Kerala High Court. Career Ravikumar enrolled as an a ...

declined to hear the matter, stating that they had not entertained a similar case recently. The petition was submitted by Ashutosh Taploo, the son of Tika Lal Taploo.

In popular culture

Tika Lal Taploo's story is featured in the 2022 Hindi film ''

The Kashmir Files ''The Kashmir Files'' is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language drama film written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri. The film presents a fictional storyline centred around the 1990s exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from Indian-administered Kashmir. It depicts ...

'' directed by

Vivek Agnihotri Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (born 10 November 1973) is an Indian film director, film producer, screenwriter and author who works in Hindi cinema. , he is a member of the board of India's Central Board of Film Certification and a cultural represen ...

, which revisits the killings of Kashmiri Pandits in 1989. In March 2022, a

North Delhi North Delhi is an administrative district of the National Capital Territory of Delhi in India. Alipur is the administrative headquarters of this district. North Delhi is bounded by the Yamuna River and the district of Central Delhi on the east ...

municipal school was renamed after Taploo. Amid raging debate across the country after the movie ''The Kashmir Files'' screening, BJP-led

Delhi Municipal Corporation Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is the municipal corporation that governs most of Delhi, India. The MCD is among the largest municipal bodies in the world providing civic services to an estimated population of more than 11 million citiz ...

renamed a school as 'Shaheed Tika Lal Taploo' in the Rohini area in sector 7-B.

References

External links

On This Day In 1989 One Of The Biggest Leaders Of Kashmiri Pandits, Tika Lal Taploo Was Killed By MilitantsHow killing of this Kashmiri Hindu leader led to exodus of Pandits from ValleyBJP pays rich tributes to Tika Lal Taploo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taploo, Tika Lal 1930 births 1989 deaths 1989 murders in Asia 20th-century Indian lawyers Kashmiri Hindus Kashmiri Pandits Persecution of Hindus Persecution by Muslims People from Jammu and Kashmir People murdered in Jammu and Kashmir Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Jammu and Kashmir Aligarh Muslim University alumni

Early life and education

Death

In popular culture

See also

References

External links