Tika Lal Taploo (6 October 1930 – 14 September 1989) was an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

and politician from

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

Early life and education

Taploo was born in

Srinagar Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...

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, located within the In ...

family. He graduated from

Panjab University Panjab University (PU) is an Indian collegiate public state university located in Chandigarh. Funded through both State and Union governments, it is considered a state university. It traces its origins to the University of the Punjab in Lahor ...

and done his Masters in Arts and LLB from

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University is a Collegiate university, collegiate, Central university (India), central, and Research university, research university located in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Kh ...

. 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 List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

in Jammu and Kashmir and also an active member of the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

. 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. Prior to 2019, the State of Jammu and Kashmir had a bicameral legislature with a ...

, however he was never elected, reportedly due to the

gerrymandering Gerrymandering, ( , originally ) defined in the contexts of Representative democracy, representative electoral systems, is the political manipulation of Boundary delimitation, electoral district boundaries to advantage a Political party, pa ...

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 willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

by the JKLF 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 Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004. He is one of the co-founders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak San ...

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 B ...

. In September 2022, the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

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 Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai (born 24 November 1960), better known as B. R. Gavai, is an Indian jurist who is currently serving as the 52nd Chief Justice of India since 14 May 2025. He is a former judge of the Bombay High Court and he also current ...

and C. T. Ravikumar 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 1990 exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from Indian-administered Kashmir. It depicts ...

'' directed by

Vivek Agnihotri Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (born 10 November 1973) is an Indian director, producer, and writer who works in Hindi cinema. He is a member of the board of India's Central Board of Film Certification and a cultural representative of Indian Cinema at ...

, 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 eas ...

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; ISO: ''Dillī Nagara Nigama'') 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 a population of about 20 ...

renamed a school as 'Shaheed Tika Lal Taploo' in the

Rohini Rohini may refer to: People * Rohini (given name), including a list of persons and characters with the name * Rohini (actress) (born 1969), Indian actress, screenwriter, and director * Rohini (Buddha's disciple), female disciple * Rohini (goddes ...

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 Independent politicians from Jammu and Kashmir Kashmiri Pandits Persecution of Hindus Persecution by Muslims People from Srinagar district People murdered in Jammu and Kashmir Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Jammu and Kashmir Aligarh Muslim University alumni 20th-century Indian politicians Politicians assassinated in 1989 Asian politicians assassinated in the 1980s Indian politicians assassinated in the 20th century

Early life and education

Death

In popular culture

See also

References

External links