Holocaust Day protest at Jantar Mantar (19/1/2020)

THE WRATH OF GHAR DEVATĀ

And the Power of Myth
____________________________________
The year was 2003!

We were forced to sell our ancestral house in Sathu Bar Bar Shah for peanuts to the Muslim who had forcibly occupied it. Why? What made us so helpless? Let us start from the beginning.

The story begins in early Twentieth century.

Two young men, Madho Ram Fotedar, and his elder brother Thakur Das Fotedar, construct their own house at what was then the outskirts of Srinagar, in Sathu Bar Bar Shah, on a piece of barren land under the loving supervision of their elder sister who is a mother to both of them.

Time passes.

My grandfather, Kailash Nath, is born in this very house. He leads a life of penury but silent dignity in this loving home of his, which stands testimony to his travails. Bearing all his troubles with total surrender to his beloved Iśṭa, Amṛteśvar Bhairava, he dedicates most of his waking hours before and after work, to prayer and the Śaivist rituals with clockwork regularity. And he never forgets his Ghar Devatā, whose auspicious day, he always celebrates on the cold, wintry night of the month of Poh, dedicated to Him, the divine caretaker of a Kashmiri home.

More time passes.

Kailash Nath is a grandfather now. My father, my uncles, I and my brothers and sisters, his whole clan, live together in this very house. Each brick, each corner of the house, the smell of crumbling walls, are all a part of our extended bodies. My grandfather’s prayers have become long, now that he is retired. His day starts early as he enters the Ṭhokur Kuṭh at Brahma muhūrta and does not leave the company of the Bhairava until it is noon. The evenings too are spent in prayer and once in a while his spirituality overflows on to his grandsons.

I am one of them!

Silently, the Sanskāras fall like seeds on the fallow ground of the mind, unseen, unfelt, but ready to grow at some unknown future date. And then he passes away. I get married. My elder son is born there, in the same house!

Four generations by birth! Almost a century!

Meanwhile my dear uncle continues the traditions of the house. All the Śaivist rituals, all the Pūjās, all the traditions, are conducted with the same fervour.

Of course, he does not forget the Ghar Devatā!

Then 1990 happens! We all wonder as to where all our gods have gone. In utter dismay, we are all forced to abandon the house, a home to a total of five generations, four of which were born there. A mega-joint family is painfully broken up. Ultra-nuclear families take a forced, painful birth and are scattered all over the country. Some of them leave for foreign shores.

Why did the Ghar Devatā abandon us when we needed Him the most? Why was the Divine Mother silent? Why did Amṛteśvar Bhairava not come out of His deep meditations and show us the right path when we were at a loss to understand what we would do to survive?

Well, like the most of us, we too became unbelievers, at least the younger ones. Our gods were dead. The Darwinian world was a ruthless place were only the fittest survived.

So, we also started fighting our ruthless, lonely battles, for, we had either to survive or to simply die!

Now let us turn the clock back to the present time!

Stories from back home come filtering through. The initial buyer had sold it away to some other person. That person, a Muslim of course, had rented each of the rooms to Bihari labourers who kept on leaving rapidly for some unknown reason. After some time, it was rented out to the locals. They too left, and in quick succession, the house went from one Muslim family to another.

And now the house is abandoned!

Why?

In front of our house was a small school that was pompously called The Mahila Maha Vidyalaya. The ground floor had a row of shops that was rented out and one of the shops had a tailor master who was a friend of my grandfather. Both, whenever free, used to play chess together in the shop. They loved the game a lot and I too developed a fascination for this game as I joined them whenever I was free. This grand old man, the Muslim tailor master, is still alive and very much aware of the world around him.

And he has a story to tell regarding why our house has been abandoned.

It is the Ghar Devatā!

The story goes like this:

It was initially the Bihari labourers who had complained that they were seeing some ghost who would trouble them during the dark, cold nights of the harsh winters. Being unable to bear such horrific visions, they would leave. The local Muslims initially thought that it was some kind of superstition that Hindus usually suffer from; so, the house was subsequently rented out to Kashmiris, for, you see, the followers of the religion of peace, do not believe in the superstitions of Kafirs, wretched as we are!

But then, the problem started getting repeated. Particularly interesting was the story of the last occupant before the house was abandoned altogether in January this year. What actually happened?

The topmost floor of our house, the fourth one to be exact, called the Brāri Kānī in Koshur, where our Ghar Devatā used to have his food on the auspicious day, had been reconstructed just a year before we were forced to leave, and it had been given to me, my wife and our young son, Anshuman, to stay in. I had made a small library of my chosen books in the same room which I had grown so very fond of. The Ghar Devatā was requested to shift to an adjacent part of the Brāri Kānī, where he had His last meal in December, 1989, before we left for good.

So, the story goes, two members of the last Muslim family, were sleeping in the same room, on that fateful night early this year, the grand old tailor master swears, and when they got up in the morning, they found themselves lying in the verandah on the ground floor. Horrified, they could not explain as to how this could have happened after a fretful night of fearful nightmares. Being young, they were not aware of Kashmiri Hindu rituals and superstitions; so, they called the elder ones, and, in all seriousness the unusual occurrence was discussed in an assembly of the wise.

Our grand old tailor master was one of those elders!

After a lot of discussions, many agreements and disagreements later, the verdict was passed!

It was the Ghar Devatā of the Fotedar clan!

What clinched the judgment was the serious observation of the tailor master friend of my grandfather. He had seen his late friend celebrating this peculiar day in the dead of winter and heard many stories about this divine protector. The assembly reluctantly accepted what the tailor master had to say. He was the oldest and the wisest after all.

The house stands abandoned now!

What is my Ghar Devatā doing there, now that He is all alone?

We have not fed Him anything all these twenty-nine years.

Is He hungry?

Is He angry?

I do not know, but I seek His forgiveness.

After all He is a god and I am a mere mortal!

By -Dr. Sushil Fotedar

The miraculous saga of a captive( stories of forced exodus of kashmiri Hindus)

As Ramesh Marhatta, a Hindu village boy, originally from Uttrasu in Omanagari of South Kashmir unveiled to me the layer after layer of his horrendous tale of kidnapping, night-long torture and gunshots by armed terrorists way back in 1990, I shuddered to think of the brutality and savagery with which the terrorists will have done to death hundreds of our innocent community members when armed insurgency broke out in 1990 in Kashmir. Ramesh Marhatta, I imagined, is the rarest of the rare cases of a Kashmiri Pandit escaping definite death while in the captivity of the jihadist terrorists who were out for the genocide of the community. The pain and suffering inflicted on the kith and kin of the unfortunate slain Pandits under similar circumstances still resound under the blue dome of the sky waiting for the day of retribution.
The youthful Ramesh left his village and came to Srinagar to find a means of subsistence for himself and improve his life somewhat. After a number of unsuccessful attempts, he somehow managed to find an opening as a casual radio announcer in Radio Kashmir in 1985. He decided to work with perseverance in the hope that one day he might get regularized and thus manage his life.
He hired a room in Sonawar, a locality not far away from the Radio Kashmir where he worked to earn a living. The room on the first floor of the building belonged to a local Muslim gentleman who was good and sympathetic to him. As he continued walking up and down day after day to his workplace, he came to know a taxi driver he sometimes hired to ferry him to his workplace or residence in Sonawar. The taxi man, a Muslim, was known by the name of Nana. They often met and gradually developed friendly relations with each other.
It was early 1989. Ramesh and some more of his colleagues noticed that the local Muslims, who usually called themselves lucky guys if they found casual employment in Radio Kashmir, had begun to decline the offer. No Muslim was prepared to be recruited in Radio Kashmir. To him, it was somewhat puzzling.
On 26th of September 1990, Ramesh returned from work to his room and went to the kitchen to prepare a bite. It was 7.40 PM and the time for the news from Radio Kashmir. He switched on his transistor and sat down to hear the news. Suddenly, he heard a loud sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. A large group of men with masks over their face and Kalashnikovs in their hands barged into his room. He was taken aback and trembled at the sight. The masked men brandishing guns and pistols and numbering anything between 30 and 40 began hurling endless abuses on him without giving any reason for doing so. Ramesh’s heart sank as he saw death hovering over his head. One among the terrorist group began questioning him about his profession and the reason for his staying back in the valley. He replied that he had a family to support and was only a casual radio announcer, and he had no scope of earning a livelihood in an unknown place like Jammu with inclement weather.
As the interrogation proceeded, one from among the group numbering anything between 30 and 40, armed and masked men asked Ramesh to come out of the house with them. At this moment suddenly the owner of the house appeared in the room. He heard that the terrorists wanted Ramesh to come down. He picked up courage and told the terrorist that they could ask Ramesh any question here in the room and there should be no need of taking him out. While this altercation was going on, Ramesh found that one of the masked men was no other than Nana, the taxi driver who had befriended him. However, he gave no indication that he had recognized Nana as that would have cost him his life in no time.
Then in this melee, the terrorists blindfolded and handcuffed Ramesh. He was dragged down the stairs like a corpse. They kicked and heckled him as they dragged him to the other side of the road. They banged his head against an electric pole which sent a shock down his spine. He got unnerved and resigned to his fate.
Blindfolded and handcuffed Ramesh was dragged through some lanes and then dumped in a vehicle and brought to some destination. After alighting from the vehicle he was taken through a passage he thought was something like a slippery tunnel. As he was dragged on, he received many baton strokes from his captors as if he was a beast and not a human being. Once inside a house, his blindfold was removed and hands untied. Now began the dreadful night-long interrogation and torture of Ramesh. He was made to sit in a chair. One after the other group entered the room, subjected Ramesh to questioning, often repeating the same questions again and again. In between questioning, the terrorists would rub burning cigarette bits against his body and he cried in pain and agony. Each group adhered to the same pattern of questioning, hurling abuses and rubbing burning cigarettes against his body.
At about midnight a group of terrorists entered the room. It was led by a lady whom they addressed as Asiya Ji. The torture method which this group employed was to place a hot rod on his feet. The pain was unbearable and he lost power even to cry. The leader of this terrorist group introduced himself as Azam Inqilab. Till then he had not heard the name of either Asiya or Azam Inqilab. Ramesh vividly recollects that only a few of the group of 30 or 40 spoke chaste Urdu which made him think they were Pakistanis while the rest of them were Kashmiris. Those who spoke only Urdu spoke it with Punjabi accent. They beat, thrashed and kicked him as hard as they could and then told him to lie down. Now the group engaged itself in discussing how he was to be killed. One suggestion was to cut him into pieces under sawmill while the second proposal was to gun him down on the roadside near a drain. The plans of killing Ramesh were discussed in his presence and within his hearing. He was already half dead with pain, agony and torture, and they were planning how to deprive me of the remnant of life left with him.
As the discussion among the terrorists about how to put an end to Ramesh was going on, the sound of azaan – the call for the Morning Prayer – came to his ears. He imagined it could be about 4 AM the usual time for the morning azaan. While listening to the call for prayer, Ramesh realised it was the same voice he used to hear every dawn around the same time when he was in his room. It came from a loudspeaker fitted to a three-storey house.
Dawn was nearing. The terrorists collected some gunny bags and rope lengths. They again blindfolded Ramesh. After about thirty minutes of walk, the terrorists put him on a vehicle and moved away to execute him. After reaching some unknown destination, the car stopped and Ramesh was pulled out of the vehicle and pushed towards something like a nullah. Ramesh knew that he would be killed in a couple of minutes and thus begged for life saying he had done nothing to punish him with death. In this disorderly situation, Ramesh’s handcuff became loose and he removed the blindfold from his eyes. As he opened his eyes he caught the sight of some light atop the Shankaracharya temple on the sombre and serene hillock. As he looked around, he found about 15 terrorists surrounding him and some more sitting in a Contessa car parked at a little distance. All terrorists had aimed their guns at Ramesh. The dance of death began.
A young boy with a gun stood behind Ramesh. He fired four shots at him. Three of the four shots hit him in the right hip and abdomen area. With bullets embedded in his body, Ramesh in desperation took to his heels and ran away in a zigzag manner while the terrorists continued showering bullets on him. Fortunately, none of those bullets hit him, Ramesh ran towards a nearby army camp about 200 meters away and asked the guard on the gate to let him in to save his life. The guard suspecting that Ramesh was a terrorist, aimed his gun at him and asked him for hands up. The wounded Ramesh had no strength to lift his hands and fell down on the earth. The guard dragged him inside the gate. When Ramesh spoke to the teashop owner close to the gate of the camp, the vendor came to know that he was a Hindu who had been kidnapped by the terrorists and wanted a safe place. The guard immediately informed his superiors and instantly there was movement in the camp because the news had been flashed across last night that a Hindu radio announcer had been kidnapped in Sonawar area by the militants.
The army authorities reacted immediately and brought an ambulance and Ramesh was admitted in the Badami Bagh cantonment hospital. The army doctors operated on him. Three days later he regained his consciousness. The surgeons told him that the bullets were removed after 18 hours of surgery. The message went across that the kidnapped person had miraculously escaped death and was being treated in the hospital for the gunshots. The day Ramesh regained consciousness, Governor Girish Chander Saxena accompanied by the Director-General of Police visited Ramesh in the hospital, consoled him and praised him for his bravery and fortitude in going through such a deadly ordeal in captivity. The DGP asked him if he could bring to his mind the locality where he had been kept as a captive for the night. Ramesh had no clue but told the DGP that the sound of the azaan he had heard at 4 AM while in captivity of the terrorists was precisely the same which came out from a loudspeaker fitted atop the three-storey house of the locality in Sonawar where he lived. A few days later the DGP visited Ramesh again and told him that his guess was correct and the police had swooped on the hideout of the terrorists in the same locality wherefrom a large cache of arms and ammunition was recovered.
In the meanwhile, a terrorist organization called Hizbul Mujahideen issued a press statement in local newspapers that Ramesh had attacked the jihadis of their group and hence an attack on him was conducted. This was an example of the disinformation campaign of the militants with a twofold purpose. One was to shift the onus of attack on him and the second was to strike fear among the Hindus in the valley to take note of HuM watching their movements and activities. The question put to Ramesh by the terrorist, viz “Why did you stay back in the valley while others (Hindus) left”, is a clear proof of the fact that ethnic cleansing of the valley was a definite agenda of the jihadi terrorists in Kashmir way back in the early 1990s.
Ramesh Marhatta was awarded by the State government for his bravery and his services were regularized in the AIR. He and posted to Kathua.
I congratulated Ramesh Marhatta for his bravery and the good luck he had to escape the bullets of the terrorist. This real story reveals how brutal and savage the terrorist was to the hapless Kashmiri Hindus, hundreds of whom were gunned down in homes, on streets, in offices or workplaces, in buses and odd places. This is the pattern of genocide that was unleashed against the small religious minority in 1990. Ramesh Marhatta, like all of us, laments those thirty two-years from the date of the event, as no inquiry commission, no investigation and no FIR about these crimes have been ordered.
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com
By-K.N. Pandita

Source:-Daily Excelsior

The images of Saffron

The Gool Massacre of Kashmiri Pandits

My Father Mr. Ashok Kumar Raina S/o Shivji Raina, native from Sopore(Baramulla Distt) was a great educationist, superb human being and a very loving father. As a person, he was very simple, down to earth, honest, tolerant, brave and very caring, He was M.Sc Physics (Electronics Hons.) from Agra Unversity. At a very young age of 23yrs, he was appointed as a Physics lecturer in Jr.College. He was very happy, the way his career was shaping. Routine transfers and new academic approaches were keeping his life busy. He was a responsible family man and created a nice balance between his personal and professional life.

In 1988, militancy had sneaked in our beautiful Kashap Land “Kashir”. There was Islamic terror spreading at a very fast pace and their motive was to spread hate, horror and scare in minorities particularly Kashmiri Pandits. Militants wanted to establish Nizama Mustafa. They started harassing and killing Kashmiri Pandits and also targetting Army and Airforce officials. Our Pro India sentiment was always mocked and crushed. In 1989 -90 under the sinister plan of ethnic cleansing, lakhs of Kashmiri Pandits were driven out from there homeland Kashmir. I remember me and my sister was sleeping and my father came and told us to get ready as we are leaving Kashmir. We got few suitcases ready and with the help of some local friends my father arranged Minibus for our family (me, my sister, my grandparents, my mother and father) left for Udhampur. I was 11 yrs old and my sister was 14 yrs. On the way, we saw thousands of KPs in trucks, cars, buses heading towards Jammu. My father told us that we are moving out of Kashmir because it is not the safe place for our community now, once things normalise we will come back, right now it is better to stay away from Kashmir.

It was a mass exodus and it was very painful. This was the story of every Kashmiri Pandit. We became migrants in our own country. We took refuge in Udhampur. The life of hardship and struggle started but in my heart, I was sure that we will see a better life as I considered my parents as heroes and knew that they will make it better for us. Every day I used to see the pain and agony in my grandparents and my parent’s eyes. Our usual schools started and we started adapting to different culture and climate.

Finally a good news after a long time, in Aug 1991 my father got promoted to the post of principal Hr. Sec School. It was a great achievement and a sense of pride for all of us that at 42yrs, he was given such a huge responsibility. At this age, he already had 21yrs of lecturership experience and that itself was a big achievement. Being a young officer he was posted to Kargil(Ladakh), one of the toughest location in India. He served in Kargil from 1991 – 1994. We always used to wait for winters when my father used to come back home, those days used to be the best days. He used to bring a variety of dry fruits and the famous and best one was kubani ( apricot). We used to eat lot of them

Meanwhile, during this time we shifted from Udhampur to Jammu. In 1994 my father completed his serving tenure of 3 yrs in Kargil and he was transferred to Jammu.
Along with my father, 14 other people were transferred back to Jammu. Almost all of them were adjusted in Jammu ; except my father .

He was given the new appointment, he was transferred to Gool (Ramban). There is a norm in J&K Govt who so ever serves in Ladakh for 3 yrs is given an easy and posting of his choice option. My father has already served in Ladakh for 3 yrs and he was transferred to Gool which was also a very tough posting. My father personally met with then education minister and highlighted this issue, but he told my father you are a very young and dynamic officer and you have to go.
My father was denied the fundamental right of posting of choice by the Minister. By rules, he was not entitled to have back to back tough postings. The only fault of his was that he was young. A criminality happened there by flaunting the said norms. My Grandfather told him not to go but my father was very dedicated to his work and finally, he joined at Gool.
Gool was basically a hilly terrain and there were traces of militancy in and around that area. Gool as an area was influenced by Hizbul Mujaheedin Group. My father started his work and started spreading education in that area. There were young Kashmiri Pandit lectures working with him. I remember in some seasons ,all of them had to walk more than 30 km to reach Gool. I have seen bruises and burns on my father’s feet, he was a tough and strong man, he never bothered and moved on.

The darkest day of our lives was just around the corner. My father had come for summer holidays, it was 14th June 1997, the next day my father was leaving for Gool.
In the evening, I and he took my grandmother to an optician and then we went to Shiv Mandir in Jammu. I had chat with my father on loads of topics and we came back home. Ravinderji and Sushilji came to our place to discuss with my father, the travel schedule for tomorrow, as all 3 of them were going back to Gool.

Next Day morning on 15 June 1997 my father left for Gool, it was very early in the morning I was fast asleep. I told my mother why didn’t you wake me up as I wanted to say Goodbye to him. I never knew that I will never be able to say Goodbye to my father. Next day morning me, my mother and my grandmother were sleeping .At around 4 am , bell rang and my mom opened the door .There were few police officers who told us that the bus my father was travelling in was attacked by militants and several people are injured. Me and my mother rushed to my uncle and my uncle went with them. At around 7 am it was across all the newspapers that 3 Kps were killed by militants in Gool. I lost my senses and the day was a long walk of sorrow and grief. Our family was devasted and shattered. In the evening the dead body came, thousands of people were outside our house. we saw him for the last time, I kissed his forehead and finally said goodbye. My sister was holding me and crying. Everyone was crying and my mind had stopped working. I remember even after taking 11 bullets his face looked calm, his body felt soft. At around 10:30 pm all the 3 martyrs were laid to rest in the flames of celestial bliss, OM Shanti. It was the death of humanity.

According to some eyewitness
The bus in which they were travelling was stopped by men in army uniform, 7 Kms from Gool. All Hindus were asked to step down. By then it was clear that they were not security forces but Islamic terrorists. There was some resistance from Muslim passengers, seeing this, terrorist said they are not going to harm them, their commander only wants to talk to them, they even swear by their Prophet and Holy book. 6 Hindus ( 4 KP’s and 2 Jammuites) were taken out of which 2 people escaped one by jumping off the cliff and other by running up a hill. The remaining 4 were made to walk 30 metres near the nullah and 3 Kashmiri Pandits were fired upon by terrorists and martyred and the 4th ( Jammunite ) was allowed to go. The Message was clear. KP’s are the target.

– Shri. Ashok Kumar Raina – Principal
– Shri. Ravindra Kabu – Lecturer
– Shri. Sushil Pandita – Sr.Teacher

So it was a planned targeted killing. He was killed because he was a Kashmiri Pandit. He was killed because he was doing his duty with utmost sincerity and honesty. He was killed because he was the symbol of Kashmir Pandit growth. This heinous crime was executed by Billu Gujjar of Hizbul Mujahideen and Amanullah Gujjar Group. A couple of months later he was killed by Security Forces.

It took me longtime time to understand that my mentor, my hero, my inspiration, my father, was not there with me anymore. I am sure he is watching me from the skies and keeps on blessing us ..Luv you and miss you always ..

By- Vikas Raina

Indrahaar Pass Trek-A detailed travelogue

I have a strange, alluring fascination for the Mountains. Since, I was born in the Kashmir valley, being surrounded by the Mountains gives me a feeling of Nostalgia and the much cherished memories of good old times once again get refreshed. I find excuses to be near them.

When the topic of Trekking to Himalayas popped up between Sunil Raina and me, I was more than willing to organise the Trek. After much deliberation, we decided to undertake the Indrahaar Trek.

Since, we had planned this Trek much in advance, we took the services of An Adventure company-Adventure Nation for this 4 day 3 night Trek. Sunil Raina, Ajay Chauhan and Parvesh Ranga were my trek mates.

We were supposed to report at Shiv Shakti Guesthouse, Dharamkot, Macleondgang by 10 am on 8th Oct 2019.

Ajay and Parvesh-The experienced Trekkers, had reached the Guesthouse early morning. By the time, I and Sunil joined them by around 10 in the morning, They were almost ready.

Since this was an arduous and long Trek, Hence A guide was allotted to us. He was a young lad named Rohit and was supposed to accompany us till the Indrahaar pass. Packed meals were given to us before we left for our first halt- Mana.

There was another young – Students –group, aged 18-19 years, hailing from Kerala . They were six in number, 5 boys and one Girl. They had opted for the Laka Glacier trek. That meant, they too had to follow the same route as ours till Laka Got-The high altitude meadow. This meadow acts like a base camp for both the Laka Glacier as well as the Indrahaar pass.

We left the Guesthouse by around 11 am. All the four of us were carrying Haversacks on our backs as well as foldable walking/Trekking Sticks . Sunil’s Haversack was the lightest and might have weighed around 10 kg. The heaviest bags were those of Ajay and mine. Both weighed above 15kgs.

En route, At Dharamkot market , we had some snacks in a local restaurant . From this place onwards, the actual trek began. We soon reached the BhagsuNag falls. We clicked some pictures there. From this point onwards, the actual ascend started.

Rohit was leading us through the narrow footpath that would lead us to our next destination-Mana. Almost, all the route from Dharamkot till Indrahaar pass is stony. We rested briefly at some unnamed stretches. There was not much communication amongst us, as we were gasping because of the steep climb and the load we were carrying on our Backs.

Every half an hour, we would sip in some water to compensate the water loss due to excessive sweating.

After around 2 hours, we reached a small meadow, that housed few Gaddis-the local shepherds. The whole group , including the four of us and the 6 young students rested at this place for around half an hour. They too had a Guide with them and his name was Sansaar.

At this very small Meadow, we had our packed meals that consisted of some sandwiches , refreshment drinks and a Choclate.

After the small meal,Sunil accosted some of the students out of curiosity!

‘Hi ! how are you? Where do you hail from?’ asked Sunil to one guy from that group.

‘ I am Vishnu. We are all from IIT Dhanbad and our native place is Kerala’, the young boy politely replied. He introduced his group to us as Jefferson, Chandra and the Girl as livia.

Soon,We again resumed our trek.

Occasionally, I would ask Rohit, ‘How far we have to go?’, He would point out his finger to a distant cliff and with a smile, reply, ‘ we have to reach that point Sir.’

It used to be an ambiguous reply, but I would nod my head as if I have understood.

Finally, we reached a cliff after an hour or so. The views from that cliff were stupendous. We put down our heavy haversacks from our shoulders and took some photos with different poses. we had some biscuits too. After spending some 20 minutes at this point, we again resumed our journey.

However, it was a 10-15 minutes descend .

we finally reached Mana- A beautiful hamlet with few Gaddi houses.A small ground/meadow was going to be the place for our first night halt. We had to stay at this place in tents .

Sunil and I stayed in one tent while Ajay and parvesh in another tent. This place is very scenic and the mighty Dauladhars stand tall and gives an impression of an amphitheater.

I took many pictures at this place, whereas, Ajay and parvesh took some videos too.

Goddess Mana-The Shakti incarnate, is the deity of this small hamlet. The temple dedicated to this Goddess was hardly 200 mts from our camp. I and Sunil decided to pay our Obeisance to her.

The temple is situated at the edge of the cliff. From that point, we could see the abrupt twinkling lights somewhere down in the plains.

It was the Dusshera Night .
Those sparkling lights in the distant Horizon were the fireworks associated with The annual celebration of burning Ravana and his Bother.

Soon it was dark.

We switched on our Head-torches and quickly ambled towards our camp . There is no electricity access at this place and Hence ,The camp staff had made an early dinner for us. I , sunil and parvesh had Rice, Daal(lentils) and Mattar-paneer for our dinner while as Ajay had Chicken.

The camp Organisers gave a couple of Blankets to each of us . we soon retired to our tents for the night as nothing much could be done outside. We used our headlights inside the tent for light.

By 9 Pm, all of us must have slept.

The app showed that we had travelled 10.12 kms with 15,526 steps on 8th Oct. The altimeter showed an altitude of 2400 mts.

Next day, Early Morning , Ajay greeted me loudly from outside my tent.
Good morning sandeep ji ! Are you coming out of your tent or not!’
I zipped up the Tent zipper , peeped through the tent, and greeted back, ‘ Good morning Ajay ji! I am just coming out.’

A cool breeze greeted me outside . I could see some clouds too.

In the morning, we were served a Breakfast of puri-aalo.

Since,We had to leave by 8 in the morning hence, We packed our Haversacks quickly and were ready to go for our next destination-Laka Got.

Rohit was again leading us. After some 45 minutes, we halted at a shop en route and each of us had a cup of tea. For Another 1 hour, we gently ascended and finally reached Truind-A beautiful small meadow situated at an altitude of around 2900mts MSL. It offers a majestic view of both the plains as well as the Dauladhar.

We rested there for half an hour and had some light snacks at this point .We also took some photographs and videos .

Just after crossing Truind, the footpaths became more narrow, tortuous and rocky. The clouds had started to besiege the Mountains and soon it started to Drizzle. We stopped at a small temple known as Tiranga mata . we pulled up the rain coat from the Haversacks , wore it quickly, to prevent us from getting wet and resumed our journey.

The student group was not prepared for this sudden change of weather .

Soon, We left them far behind, as we were unaffected by the rains. The rain however, had put breaks on our speed as the path had become wet and slippery.

We passed through a small café by the name- ‘snowline’ . However, we did not stop there. A small pond just adjacent to this café served as a point of another photo -shoot for us. We clicked some more photos at this point. From snowline café, the elevation of the slope was more or less the same. However, the terrain had become more rocky and at some points more slushy.

Another 45 minutes or so, we reached our next destination –Laka Got. This meadow was going to be our halt station for next 2 nights. By the time, we reached Laka, the rain had stopped.
I looked at my watch. It was 5 P.M.

Some tea was served to us on our arrival. However, that did not help me much as I was feeling some side-effects of High altitude. I had a mild Headache and my nose was running. I have experienced these symptoms earlier too; whenever I am at places , that have an altitude of 10000 feet or more. Parvesh too was feeling the same symptoms. Sunil and Ajay too had some symptoms associated with High altitude.

Meanwhile, Rohit and his associates erected tents for us .

The surface at the campsite was uneven. Ajay-who is an Professor of Geography – explained the reason for the uneven surface. He told me that the places where there is a thermo frost, these small uneven patches are formed and it is a natural Phenomenon.

The camp site too looked like a high altitude pass. A deep valley-hardly 15 mts away from our camps-was resounding with chilling winds. Nevertheless, we did click some more pictures at that point too. Strangely, the place, where our tents were erected was bereft of the Chilling winds !

By 6.30 P.M, we were already in our respective tents. Sunil was my tent-mate at Laka too. Since, It was very cold outside, hence ,The Dinner was served to us in our tents .

The dinner consisted of Semi-Cooked rice and Daal. When I asked Rohit, why was the Rice semi-cooked, he replied that the Gas cylinder has been totally exhausted, and they didn’t have a spare one. Hence, they had to make the dinner by burning some twigs and wooden logs!

The Dinner was awful! But there was no alternative and hence we had to eat it.

After Dinner, we again came out of our tents. I asked Ajay casually, ‘what do you think! How will be the weather tomorrow?’
‘if the weather will be clear, then only we will go to Indrahaar, Otherwise, we will explore the places near to our campsite’ He opined.

By 7.30 Pm, I was again in my camp. I was tired because of the long hike. Sunil too was much exhausted and had muscle spasms. It didn’t look as if he was ready for the arduous trek, that we had to undertake the next day.

‘let us go back to Mcleondgang tomorrow’, He pleaded, supinely lying inside his sleeping Bag.

‘if the weather will be hostile, we won’t go to Indrahaar. And if it will be Sunny, and you don’t feel better till morning, you stay put at this camp, while we will go to the pass’, I tried to comfort him.

Soon , we both fell asleep. I woke up in the night as I was feeling nauseatic, However, I did not vomit . I had a sip of water and again pretended to be sleeping. The uneven surface was hurting my back; but still I was able to catch some intermittent sleep.

The app showed that we had walked 21,011 steps and covered a distance of 13.43 kms.The Altmeter was showing a height of 3200 mts aboveMSL.

Next day, 10th Oct,We woke up at 6 in the morning. A bright Sunshine greeted us all.
I asked Sunil, ‘How are you feeling today? Will you come with us?’
‘Oh yes! That is for what I have come here.’ He answered cheerfully.

At around 7.30 am, we had our awful Breakfast of puri-Aalu(again).

It was told to us that from Laka to Indrahaar pass, we would be given an extra Guide apart from Rohit. But that did not happen. Instead, Rohit was attached to the student group, while as their Guide-Sansaar -was given to us.

Anyways,We started at around 8.20 am towards the Indrahaar pass.

After around 45 minutes or so, we reached at Laka Glacier. A small stream flows downwards from beneath the Long Glacier. We filled our water bottles and clicked some photos.
From this Glacier, The ascend started.

‘where is the pass?’, I asked Sansaar. He pointed his finger at the top of the Mountain,
‘ There sir. We have to reach at that top’, he Replied.

It looked like a steep vertical ascend.

We plodded on the rough stony trek. Even at this point, we were feeling some effects of the rough terrain as well as the side effects of High Altitute . I was gasping ,so were my trek mates. From the glacier, it took some more time, before we reached a point known as ‘Lahesh caves’. It is a natural cave and definitely a place to visit. We all halted there briefly. The warmth of the Bright sun was soothing.

Two Gaddi Dogs had followed us throughout the trek from Laka. Whenever, we stopped for a light snacks break, we would give them something to eat too. These Gaddi dogs are extremely friendly and it seemed, they really like the company of men. The dog was Black in color and we named him ‘Kaalu’. The Bitch was named ‘Rani’. She was our constant companion up till the pass and back. It looked as if, they had come to the pass earlier too as they knew the way up to the pass and even led us at some blind curves.

From lahesh caves till the top of the Pass; at many stretches some stairs/steps have been made by the local Gaddis-The shepherds. Building Stairs/steps at this rough terrain and at such an altitude is nothing less than a wonder!

Some Trekkers and Hikers have done a yoeman’s job by placing cairn guidance all along the route; right from Laka Got/ Illaka up to the Indrahaar pass. At many points, They have painted a red arrow mark on the Boulders too, to clearly define the route. These cairn guidance and arrows are of a great help to the new trekkers. And a boon to solo Trekkers.

The path further up was becoming more steeper as well as stony. After 3600 mts above MSL, I again felt nauseated and the intensity of my Headache increased with the increased Altitude. At around 3800 mts above MSL, the snow patches seemed more prominent to the landscape with many white snowy patches. we were now walking on the fresh slippery snow.

At around 4000mts above MSL, Sunil revolted. He wanted to go back . Ajay too wanted to go Back . He was apprehensive and doubted whether we will be able to climb down safely, as we had no ropes and ice-Axes with us. Even though, I and parvesh too were suffering from the high altitude sickness, still we insisted that we should climb up to the summit, Because we had come so far and were so near to it.

Sunil and Ajay had to give in, even though Halfheartedly.

The snow from 4100mts and above was anywhere between 10 cm to one feet.
From 4200mts up to the pass, it is almost a vertical height. There was less trekking and more intermittent Rock climbing involved . We were slowly and cautiously climbing up.

All the drinking water was exhausted. However, We had filled fresh snow in our bottles and sipped it whenever we felt thirsty.

At around 1.45 Pm, we reached the top of the pass.

A sort-of-open-shrine dedicated to lord Indra is made at the top of the Pass by the Gaddis. Many tridents are installed at this small shrine. The local Shepherds-The Gaddis revere this place and this pass is used by them to cross over to Chamba. The height of this pass is around 4300 mts above MSL. Some most beautiful vistas can be seem from this pass.
We clicked some photos and made some quick videos. Sunil even recited the IndrakshiStrotam at the Holy site. We stayed there for hardly 20 minutes. It had started to snow again and we knew, it would be dangerous to stay there.

We started our descend.

It was not easy to Descend. The trial had become very slippery. Sansaar was clearing the path so that we had a safe descend. With some difficulty, we climbed down the initial dangerous descend of 200 mts. After that, even though, it was slippery, but not as dangerous.

The sleet followed us during our first hour of descend. All of us, except parvesh had a fall on this slippery path. The Health condition was getting better as we descended. During the descend, Parvesh was the most active and would run downwards, wait there for us ,and shoot videos.

It was anticipated by Sansaar, that we will reach Laka Got by 6 PM-When still there will be some sunlight. But that did not happen. After laka Glacier, It turned dark but that didn’t affect us in any ways. We were prepared and all of us were carrying Head torches with us. The stretch from the laka glacier onward was covered by us by switching on our Head torches. By 7 or 7.30 Pm, we reached our camp at laka Got. Warm water followed by warm tea was served to us immediately.

By 8.00 Pm, Dinner consisting of dal, aalu, Rice and chappati was served to us.

By 8.30 PM, We all were in our sleeping Bags.
The app showed that we had walked 20,876 steps and covered a distance of 13.35 kms.

Next day, 11th Oct, we woke up at around 6 a.m. After having our Breakfast of Aalu-Paranthas, we started our descend. It was again a bright sunny day and we were feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. The descend to the Truind was rather very fast. We stopped at this place for some time and took a different route to descend(not Bhagsu falls).

The Downward , well defined trek was broader and many Indian and international tourists were trekking up towards Truind.

We reached back to the Shiv-Shakti Guest House by 3 Pm. The bath with the warm water at the Guest house was so refreshing.
At around 4.15 pm, we had a proper tasty lunch after 3 days.

I along with sunil left that palce at 4.45 pm for our respective homes. Ajay and Parvesh had booked a ticket for the Bus to Chandigarh and were supposed to leave by 8 pm.

The app showed that we had walked 29,437 steps and covered a distance of 20.08 Kms.

We are very thankful to Sansaar-our guide. He behaved very politely as well as responsibly throughout the trek. Without him, we could not have made it to the pass as a team.

However, We feel cheated by Adventure Nation, as we did not get , what we were told. They did not even follow , what they had given us in writing.

Anyways,

This trek no doubt, challenges the physical and mental strength. It makes one realize the strength and weaknesses of both Body and mind. And how the willpower pervades both of them. It Highlights the hidden strength within and promotes team spirit and camaraderie.

This is not an easy Trek. I would rather rate it between moderate to difficult. The whole trek is no doubt beautiful, and if time and body permits, the seekers of adventure and trekking must undertake this journey.

I promise, They won’t regret it.

Ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri pandits(newspaper clippings)

(From the Twitter handle of Rahul Pandita and Dr.Rajesh Bhat)

Facts on Article 370 and accession of Kashmir

Article 370 / autonomy was not in exchange of Accession.

In certain situations as a student of history, it is important to understand the sequence of events and decisions. If the sequence is lost, the essence of history is lost.Some people do it unknowingly others do it deliberately to further their agenda.

The history of Jammu Kashmir & Ladakh goes back to more than 5000 years of Sanatan Dharam, Kashmir Shaivism, Bhuddism and Islam. The aboriginal Kashmiri Hindus and Buddhists have been going through simmering #Genocide, induced displacement and migration since the religious fundamentalists have adopted violent ways of killing and converting people from other faiths. The language used in Kashmir till 1300’s was Sanskrit with Devnagri and Shaarda Script. It was changed to Persian because of the invading rulers. After the beginning of Dogra rule the official language was changed to Urdu.

Before Anglo Sikh war Raja Gulab Singh was heading Jammu region for Lahore Government. In this war, the Lahore government was defeated by britishers and was supposed to pay an indemnity of one and half crore to britishers. Since Lahore government was not in a position to pay full amount and britishers were not in a position to go for another war with Dogra ruler, an amount of 750000 Nanakshahis was paid by Raja Gulab Singh, where after britishers ceded the region of Jammu and Kashmir to Gulab Singh. Some people are hell bent to suggest Kashmir was sold to Maharaja where as fact of the matter is – The State of Jammu and Kashmir was ceded to Maharaja Gulab Singh by virtue of Treaty of Lahore in 1846.

Maharaja Hari Singh did not wish to join either pakistan or India, although he ultimately acceded with India; it was to protect his subjects and the state from invasion led by pakistan in violation of the Standstill Agreement signed between state of J&K and pakistan before 15thAugust 1947. As a consequence of his wish he probably wanted to have some kind of autonomy to govern his state Jammu and Kashmir. Article 370 in some ways could have been a consequence of Maharaja’s wishes, but the governance after accession was rapidly moving out of his hands to National Conference. In 1932 Muslim Conference was established which was later renamed as National Conference and was led by Sheikh Abdullah. In 1953 Jawahar Lal Nehru realised his mistake of supporting and promoting Sheikh Abdullah and ultimately he detained Sheikh Abdullah for 11years.

Partition of British India happened on the basis of religion – two nation theory. As an extension of this concept, founders of pakistan desired to have as many pakistans within the geographical boundary of Indian Dominion, which for obvious reasons was not allowed by Sardar Patel / India. Every thing that pakistan has been trying since 15thAugust 1947, has been in pursuance of their desire to illegally annex Kashmir. As a consequence pakistan has always considered India / J&K as its enemy no.1.

Pakistan in violation of standstill agreement with J&K -a land locked state- stopped its trade routes, which were till then historically used for movement of essential commodities like fuel, wheat, cloth ammunition etc. to the state, it also blocked posts and telegraph links to J&K.
Over and above, pakistan attacked and killed thousands of kashmiri hindus, muslims, sikhs and christians to annex J&K .

Article 370 was a mechanism of allowing a separatist state by not allowing many fundamental rights to millions of people – Kashmiri Hindus, Dalits, Refugees from pakistan,Valmikis, Gorkhas, women who married outside the state of J&K and was also damaging India from within.

In a Secular Democratic Republic of India the constitution of India is very liberal towards minorities and hence there was no need to actually have a separate constitution for a state adjoining pakistan. But J&K was allowed to have a separate constitution which did not allow unconditional free flow of laws for the subjects of J&K, even though they were applicable for the remaining states of India. Over and above, the article 35A was inducted via presidential order without approval of Indian Parliament, which allowed government of J&K to define citizens of the state – effectively we had citizens of India who were not citizens of J&K and the constitution of J&K was biased against citizens of India.

In the mean time punjabes from west pakistan which dominated the military establishment of pakistan started discriminatory tactics with the people of east pakistan mostly bengali, who were culturally different. East pakistan revolted against west pakistan which culminated in formation of Bangladesh as a separate country after 1971 IndoPak war even though both parts of pakistan had been established on the policy of same religion.

After defeat in the war of 1971, former military head of pakistan Zia ul haq in 80s devised a strategy known as operation TOPAC.Basic objective of this strategy was to annex Kashmir with pakistan and to destabilise India. Even today this is the foundational strategy used in one or the other form. Due to lack of political will the parties heading J&K and Indian government till now were knowingly or unknowingly allowing pakistan to make deeper inroads in Kashmiri and Indian civil society. The effects of this prolonged self imposed servitude shown by then governments of J&K and India has now necessitated an unprecedented Government lock down in Jammu and Kashmir, even though unofficial continuous lock downs have lasted at least 13 days in past which were called as hartal or Civil Curfew; effectively making the paradise of Kashmir a living hell for common masses living across the province.

The fact that whole J&K including PoJ&K, Ladakh and Gilgit Baltistan acceded with India. The territory which is in control of countries other than India is the disputed territory not the area within the current geographical boundaries of India.

The misconception created by vested interests to suggest a freedom movement by the some people gets defeated by the fact that genocide and massacre of Hindus and Sikhs was being perpetrated in the name of religious fundamentalism as driven by pakistan agenda to annex J&K.

By:Ravin
Reference:My frozen turbulences in Kashmir- Sh.Jagmohan

A History of Kashmir-Sh.PNK Bamzai

PARMESHWARI AGITATION –1967

The HIGH & LOW OF KP AGITATION 1967

Parmeshwari Agitation of 1967 is 52 years old. During these 52 years much water has flown down the Jehlum, Changes in all spheres have taken place beyond imaginations. The men and women who took part or have an appreciable impression of the month long agitation and are alive are over 70 years old ——- leading a well earned retired life , looking after their grand children or nursing their old age health problems. 50 years is a very long period to remember vividly all that happened during the agitation. So it is natural they may have nearly forgotten or at best might be having some faded impressions.This write up is to revive the memories of that agitation among the elders and for the youngsters of the community to draw their own conclusions.

This writer was a college student during the agitation. I was born in a family where Politics and Journalism had already taken birth since 1939. A large family consisting of more than 30 members would sit together after the Dinner to discuss every thing under the Sun.This was the order of the day. Most of the time our immediate neighbours would also join the discussions .Such discussions had helped us to be rational thinkers.This writer shared what ever observed or seen during the day and get corrected after interaction with the family members. The month of JULY brings me back the month long memory of the agitation , hence this write up.

Many intellectuals & authors have written about this agitation . Almost all of them have blamed the majority community for having engineered and helped the handing over of Parmeshwari to her Muslim paramour . But we have turned blind eye how our own people helped her to be handed over to her paramour. The main purpose of this write up is to put the record STRAIGHT. Sitting in the glass houses and throwing stones at others is not the solution. While we have the liberty of putting the blame at the door of others , we should first clean our own house. Let the future generations and research scholars have both the views in front of them and make their own conclusions. I would request the readers to go through the write up and express their opinions freely with out any reservations. This writer will welcome both the brickbats and bouquets.

I have deliberately avoided the names in the write up. Most of them are dead and by naming them this writer does not want that their descendants should be visited by the sins of their elders . I have kept the month long happenings to the briefest lest reader looses the plot while going through it.

PARMESHWARI AGITATION —-1967

The Spring of 1967 had given way to the Summer. The days become large , sky clear and the temperature rising with humidity. The people of the valley were enjoying the last month of Summer —- August , and every thing looked hunky dory.Little did the people know that a volcano was brewing in the centre of Lal Chowk. The epicentre of the volcano was the ground floor of LALLA RUKH HOTEL, which was the retail centre of groceries of the Govt. Co -operative department ( a very poor cousin of present day Mall) along side the old city bus stand very near to the Tyndale Biscoe School. The store had many sales people ( both girls & men ) .
Among the Sales Staff, one of the sales girl was PARMESHWARI ( the daughter of a widow residing in Bagh Jogi Lanker , Rainawari ) , and the other other was GHULAM RASOOL KANT( resident of Wazapora , Ali kadal ).Working in the same place and under one roof they started liking each other. Incidentally , the Manager of the Co operative outlet was a burly mustached Kashmiri Pandit , resident of Bagh Jogi Lanker ,Rainawari(the writer does not want to name him ) living just 500 meters from the residence of Parmeshwari . The romance between the two was happening before his eyes but ,kept silent for reasons best known to him. It is a mere presumption now that had he spoken to her widow mother the situation could have been saved. The romance having reached a point of no return , the two decided to go for marriage. Parmeshwari eloped and started living with Gh. Rasool Kanth.

The widow mother lodged a missing report about her daughter. The widow also approached some KP Leaders who became active and got in touch with the police. Their contention was that the girl is minor and has been abducted, the girl should be restored to her mother. But the Birth record and the Municipality record showed that she is “MAJOR”. The news was leaked to the muslim controlled vernacular press who lapped it up and prominently published it. At the same time the news spread like wild fire among the KP community. The murmurs started getting louder and louder. Sensing the grave situation the State authorities instructed the DIG Police, Kashmir to get hold of the girl and hand her over to the mother. The DIG Police Kashmir range happened to be a tall handsome Kashmiri Pandit IPS officer who thought that he was the only honest and efficient police officer who knew the rules and regulations at the tip of his tongue ( the writer does not want to name the officer). Going through the birth records , he declared that the girl is major and can decide about her future. In fact a meeting between Mother and daughter ——- who by now had changed her name to PARVEEN AKHTAR, in presence of KP activists in the police station was arranged. She tersely told her mother that she knew about the whole affair because Gh. Rasool would come to our home quite often. The mild tremors started assuming the shape of earth quake high on the Richter scale. Two types of “PROTESTS” started . One was the day protest held on the streets and the other was the evening protest where fiery speeches were delivered on the lawns of the SHEETAL NATH —— Head quarters of the All India Kashmiri Pandit sabha. This writer would deal separately lest it causes confusion.

DAY PROTESTS

The news spread like wild fire not only in J&k but in all the principal cities of India where ever there was a sizable population of the community. Since Electronic media had not come up of the age ,the print media both local and National lapped it and splashed the news on their front pages.In the meantime “ACTION COMMITTEE ” was constituted by the community. The members of the Action committee were the much known faces of the community. The Action Committee had its HQ in Sheetal Nath premises where from programmes and press releases were being issued. The community had become quite restive and was hell bent upon for a show down with the state government.The community took to the streets in unprecedented large numbers spearheaded by the women and girls.The Kashmir watchers who had witnessed protests on the streets at different times were shocked to see the huge numbers of the community women and girls taking to the streets. Known for being mostly the home makers and keeping inside their homes , It shocked everybody including the majority community. Wearing their traditional dress the SAREES , tightened around their waistline, they raised the slogans against the government by raising their arms in fists, they faced and stood rock like in facing the tear gas shells and lathis of the state police. They never ran for shelter and showering of shells and lathis added to their zeal by making their protests more and more vociferous. With lowered jaws and shocked expectations the majority community would throng the places in huge numbers where the protest was going to be held. By and large they conceded that they never had expected such strong and unprecedented resentment.
This writer was witness to one protest held at BAJAJ TOWERS in front of Broca Press .The tall handsome KP DIG came in a jeep thinking that he will himself manage the protesters. Hardly had he stepped down from his jeep than he was attacked by the women protesters who encircled him like attacking bees , pulling at his starch pressed uniform and tearing it. His security staff could not reach him while he was being pushed and pulled. It was the timely intervention of Late Sh. T N Dhar, the then President of Valley JAN SANGH who threw himself around the DIG and pushed him inside his jeep. But for his intervention the handsome tall DIG would have been stripped naked.

Watching another such protest in the Regal Chowk , Late Shamim Ahmed Shamim , the sarcastic and sadistic pleasure loving , M.P. & Journalist wrote in his newspaper “AINA” .” He has watched many protests held at different times , by male protesters , who would run for the nearest shelter after being lathi charged and being showered by the tear gas shells. My shocking surprise came when I watched the protest of Kashmiri Pandit women. They faced the tear gas shells standing rock like and occasionally throwing these back to the police. salute to their bravery and firm conviction”.

Jammu division was also affected by the protests . Jammu city which had a sizable population of Kashmiris also took to the streets in order to show their solidarity with the brethren and sisters of Kashmir. The local people though did not take active part but gave moral support . Says Sh. Bushan Parimoo, Journalist & environmentalist , who was one of those who spearheaded the protest, the young men and women had formed a group who would perform underground activities in which girls became the “INFORMATION CARRIERS” hood winking the police.

Same type of protests were being carried out in the principal cities of the country where the community had a sizable presence. Funds were being collected in addition to medicines and other things. They were contacting the local media and giving them the exact details .
Back in the valley the protests were getting more and more intensified — the whole credit should go to the women and girls. This writer was witness to the huge number of women and girls coming all the way from Rainawari footing the distance to reach the specific places of protests.

By now the state government realised that they had under estimated the situation and they had been caught with their pants down. The unnerved administration did not know how to control the situation . In order to break the agitation they resorted to the mass arrests of the community. Night knocking of the doors by the police became the order of the day. The central Jail got filled with hundreds of arrested people.The busy body Principal of the Women’s College — a close friend of Mr. Sadiq tried to help the Government by closing the gates of the college so that the girls don’t come out for the protest. To compound the difficulties of the government differences between Sadiq and Mir Qasim ( President State Congress) surfaced. Central Government was also a mute spectator. They were caught in a situation of between the deep sea and the devil. They did not want to antagonise the majority population while having sympathy with the minority. The vote bank policy plays a vital role in a democratic set up. According to well informed sources Sadiq had offered to resign but was persuaded not to.

EVENING PROTEST

After the day long protest the people would Que to Shital Nath, the head quarters of the “ACTION COMMITTEE” where from the “FARMANS” were issued for the next day. The people would come in large numbers and make themselves where ever they could find space in the uneven lawn. An improvised platform had been made where the honorable members of the action committee would sit. The people would jostle for the front rows where from they could see the faces of the speakers.Fiery and tsunami like speeches were delivered . The speakers while delivering the speeches violently shook their bodies —— infact one of the senior action committee member used to wear turban —— he had to make efforts to keep it on the head lest it falls down. The crowd would lustily cheer and greet them with the slogan “PANJA NARA PANDVAN DA CHATTA NARA JAI HIND”.Most of the senior members of the action committee had JAN SANGH/ RSS leanings.As the days wore on the stage was slowly “CAPTURED” by young men who were mostly unemployed or had some personal grudge for the authorities for not considering them for the professional institutions. Slowly the agenda of “RETURN OF PARMESHWARI” went down the priority list or was “PUT ON THE BACK BURNER”. They would attack the government for not providing them jobs.The speakers who would start with Kashmiri shifted to Hindi/urdu and finally to English. They would use such words which were not found in Oxford dictionary. Says , Bushan Parimoo who was a prominent member of the Jammu agitation, was invited by the Action committee to speak from the dias.But the “Young Brigade” did not give them time even after waiting for 3 days. This made Dr. Karan Singh , who was a central cabinet minister , to tell the Jammu people that ” THE KPS DO NOT WANT “KUDI” ( GIRL) they want NAUKRI The senior leaders were watching this with mute silence and helplessly. The speeches became more personal , with individuals having their own agendas.

At this stage the writer wants to bring to the notice of the readers a view from an “old Kashmiri hand”. The person was none other than Pt. PREM NATH BAZAZ—— an experienced Kashmiri Pandit , having been a top community leader , journalist, political analyst and a reputed author. He was in Srinagar during the agitation period. He would quietly sit in the office of his old disciple, the veteran Journalist Sh. N L WATTAL, who by now had become the Chief Editor of the prestigious newspaper ” The Daily KHIDMAT” , dipping himself in newspapers /books/magazines. Said Sh Wattal —— quote” As the agitation was gathering momentum day after day, I also got emotionally involved. Bazaz Sahab never commented on it. When the agitation was at peak , he broke his silence. ” Nand Lal I can see that you too have been overtaken by the agitation. I nodded “Yes”. To which Bazaz replied :- Quote
” THERE NEVER HAS BEEN A MASSIVE AGITATION FROM OUR COMMUNITY LIKE THIS , NOR THERE WILL BE IN FUTURE. BUT ALL THIS MASSIVE ENERGY WILL END IN A SMOKE. THE LEADERS LACK VISION , THEY ARE INCAPABLE, THEY HAVE THEIR OWN AGENDAS, VESTED INTERESTS. THE “DISCIPLE” PROTESTED BUT THE “GURU” STUCK TO HIS WORDS. Little did the disciple know that the “GURU” was an old hand and had known these leaders much earlier. What happened to the agitation is now history. The “GURU” proved to be MICHEL de NOSTREDAME of Kashmir.

While the agitation was at peak , Jan Sangh wanted to cash in on it. They dispatched their senior leader Balraj Madhok to add fuel to the fire.While delivering his characteristic fiery speech he told the Muslims to go to Pakistan.This was the opportunity for which the State Government was waiting. The State government instigated the majority community with the local urdu media controlled mostly by Muslims to express their strong protest against the speech of Balraj Madhok. After setting the valley on fire Madhok left for Delhi next day leaving the KP community at the mercy of the God. The situation changed totally over night. The next morning dawned with the majority community observing total Bandh, huge processions, killings, physical assaults on the minority community, looting of their shops and burning of their houses.Says, Sh. P N PANDITA, ( Retd , Chief Conservator of Forests) , their family lived in a house in Karan Nagar. When the family members returned after the day work , they found the house in flames and the goons cheering. All they could salvage was the clothes they were wearing and the “LIFE”. The police had been instructed to look “other Way” while all this was taking place. The State Government was bent upon “TEACHING A LESSON’ to the minority community.They planted some of our community men as “SPIES” in the central Jail who would report to the state authorities. This continued for several days. The entire city was put under curfew.As if this was not enough , the state Government released the criminals from their barracks and asked them to attack the KP arrested people and beat them black and blue. All this was being carried out to please the majority community.The death toll of KP Community during this period of arson and looting rose to nearly 12.

MEDIA — A DIVIDED HOUSE.

The print media became a divided house. The local urdu press controlled mostly by the majority community publishing news palatable to the majority community. The National Press whose correspondents were mostly from the minority community maintained a balance by blaming the state government for their ineffective role in controlling the goons who went on rampage. Says Sh. J N Dhar, the then Special Correspondent AIR ( Now the Chief Editor of “KOSHUR SAMACHAR”) the state government complained against his reporting to his superiors but his superiors stood by him saying “there is no doubt about the balanced and unbiased reporting of Sh. JN Dhar”.

BURIAL OF THE DAY & EVENING PROTESTS

With the imposition of the curfew the day long protests came to a grinding halt. In the same way the “the fire spitting young hot heads disappeared from the Sheetal Nath dais taking refuge in their homes. While all this was happening some of the senior leaders of the action committee were busy establishing links with the state authorities. During the day they would spit fire and during the night they would sit with the state authorities to discuss their own “personal agendas”.This “CHANNEL TWO ” ( a word coined after 1990) diplomacy between the Scoundrels and scalawags ( the so called Netas) , the community brokers , was confirmed by the then Home Secretary ( Speaker turned IAS bureaucrat ) , during his post retirement days which he would spend at the office of the Daily “KHIDMAT” ( he would write centre page articles for the paper occasionally).

AWAKENING OF CENTRAL GOVERNMENT

The agitation had become a National News. The so called Secular parties like Congress, Leftists, in order to settle scores with Jan Sangh party jumped into the fray by advising the minority community of Kashmiri Pandits to maintain the age old fabric of brotherhood and secular values , carefully avoiding any comment on the majority community , solely because of vote bank policy. When enough water had flown down the Jehlum , Delhi woke up. They despatched the then Home Minister of GOI , Sh. Y B Chavan, to the valley. The State Government was represented by their Home Minister.

CREMATION OF AGITATION
Mr Chavan held parleys with different groups. While appealing for the end of agitation , he asked the “Action Committee” to submit memorandum. Dissensions had already started in the “Action Committee”. Fierce differences appeared on what should be included in the memorandum. The Netas who had established links with the state authorities were eager to present the memorandum to end the agitation because of their own personal agendas. A sort of agreement was reached between the Netas and the young hot heads . Ultimately the young hot heads had their way . They prepared the list of demands keeping their own demands such as employment, more seats in the professional colleges etc and the last demand was for the return of Parmeshwari. The Netas though not satisfied with the draft were in a hurry to call off the agitation for their own interests. The agitation was formally called off. Mud slinging started between the leaders blaming each other for the termination of the agitation for their own interests. The scoundrels and scalawags of the community in a shameless way trying to wriggle out of the mess they had created placed the blame at the door of the State Home Minister. Though this writer has never been a fan of that Minister belonging to our community , he never used the platform of the community to rise to such position.

CREMATION OF THE AGITATION

The month long agitation was put on the pyre and lit by the shameless, graceless, disgusting “leaders” of the community.
The supreme sacrifice of our women and girls who left their homes and hearths without caring for their siblings, walking long distances from their homes in the hot weather of Summer to reach the places of protests ended in a smoke.They bore the maximum brunt of the police LATHIS, Tear Gas shells,water canons.This writer has no hesitation in saluting their guts, determination and bravery. I would call them “JHANSI RANIS OF SRINAGAR”. The people who got killed, the people whose houses were set on fire, who were physically assaulted, those who were attacked by the hardened criminals inside the premises of the central jail. All this went up in a smoke within minutes.

GAJENDARGADKAR COMMISSION

The Government of India constituted a Single man commission headed by the Retired Chief Justice of India , Sh. Gajendargadkar to look into the grievances of the community based on the memorandum submitted by the “Action Committee”. How much seriously the community took this commission that only 3 affidavits were submitted before the commission. Commendable is the performance of one Smt. VEENA Dhar , who argued the case before the commission extempore without any papers. Said Late Sh. R K DULLOO, Retd District and Sessions Judge , that the community did not present their case properly.The so called “NETAS” were busy distributing loaves and fishes among themselves, they had no time for this waste ful exercise.

THE LAST LAUGH FOR THE MONTH LONG AGITATION WAS THE GAJENDARGADKAR COMMISSION.

Before I conclude , writer would ask some questions and request the readers to reply these :-

Q No 1 DID ANY MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY ASK THE TALL HANDSOME THE THEN KP DIG POLICE OFFICER WHY HE DID NOT HAND OVER PARMESHWARI TO HER MOTHER , DESPITE BEING TOLD BY THE AUTHORITIES. THIS GENTLEMAN LIVED IN DELHI , ATTENDED ALL THE MEETINGS/SEMINARS BY THE KP ORGANISATIONS. IN THE POST MIGRANT PERIOD?

Q. No :- 2. DID ANY MEMBER ASK THE BURLY MOUSTACHED KP MANAGER OF THE Govt. Co Opertive Store , WHY HE DID NOT INFORM THE MOTHER OF PARMESHWARI, WHO WAS LIVING JUST 500 Meters from his house?

Q. No :- 3. WHAT HAPPENED TO LAKHS OF RUPEES AND MEDICINES THAT WERE COLLECTED FROM VARIOUS PARTS BY KP ORGANISATIONS AND IN SOME CASES AIRLIFTED TO SRINAGAR. HAS ANY BODY ASKED THIS QUESTION ? NO, NONE. NOT A SINGLE PENNY WAS PAID TO THE DESCENDANTS WHO LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES?

By-Mr. V.K. Wattal

The legend of Kapeteswara

The valley of the Arpath or Harsapatha, which opens to the east of Anantnag, is also known as Kuthar. The name is in all probability connected with that of the ancient Tirtha of KAPATESVARA, situated on the Southern side of the valley close to the village of Kother. The name of the latter is undoubtedly a derivative of Kapateshwara as the analogy of Jyether<Jyeshthesvara, Triphar<Tripuresvara, etc. clearly shows.

The place of pilgrimage is the sacred spring of PAPASUNDA(Sin removing), situated a short distance above Kother near Acchabal. In it Lord Shiva is believed to have shown himself in the disguise(Kapata) of pieces of wood floating on the water. The legend is related at length in the Nilmata, and the author of the Haracaritacintamani devotes to it a separate canto which has now become the Official Mahatmaya of the Tirtha.

According to Nilmata; Once many sages stood in great penance on the sacred bank of Drsadvati in Kurukshetra to have a sight of Rudra-the lord of the Gods. Impressed by their Devotion, Shiva told them in a Dream to go soon to Kasmira where there is a spacious and immaculate abode of the Naga. He told them that there he would be visible in Disguise. Having heard him in a dream they all reached the abode of the Naga. They could not see even a little water, for the water was all covered with pieces of wood. Moving the wooden logs with their hands, the best sages obtained Rudrahood with their bodies by merely taking bath.

However, one vasistha Brahman, named Graparasar neither took the bath nor touched the wooden logs. He went on prolonged fasting and made his body decay. Rudra then spoke to him in a dream and advised him to obtain Rudrahood quickly by taking bath and touching the wooden logs. Gauraparasara persisted, ‘that you can be visible after the attainment of Rudrahood is a fact, ‘O father of the world! But my mind is not satisfied without the sight of the lord of the Gods. You have said that you would be visible in disguise in the abode( of the Naga).

The Brahman refuses to leave and continues fasting, Sankara replies: I have already provided them, my manifestation in the form of the wooden log. Merely by seeing me, they attained Rudrahood, O twice-Born! Now, due to your penance which is greater, I give you the desired boon. Ask for what you desire and Obtain Rudrahood.

The Brahman demands that Mahesvara should manifest in the form of a wooden log, to all the human beings, as it did to the sages. Mahesvara agrees and remarks, ‘O best among the twice-born, all those people who will see(the god) standing in the form of wood, (will see the gods) not always but only occasionally. With a desire to do favor to them, my gana-the Nandi in the form of wooden log shall always be visible to the human beings. And having seen (him) they would attain Rudrahood with their bodies. As I shall appear before men, so I shall obtain the name, Kapatesvara.

Alberuni too had heard of the Kapateshvara tirtha and its legend. He writes ‘ a pond called Kudaishashr(Kapatesvar) to the left of the source of the vitasta, in the middle of the month of Vaisakha, Mahadeva appears annually.’

AB-L-FAZL, Ain-I Akb, ii, p.358, mentions “in the village of Kotihar, a deep spring surrounded by stone temples. When its water decreases, an image of Mahadeva in Sandalwood appears.”

The sacred spring rises in a large circular tank which is enclosed by an ancient stone-wall and steps leading into the water. According to Kalhana’s account this enclosure was constructed, about a century before his own time, at the expense of the well-known king Bhoja of Malava.The latter is said to have taken a vow always to wash his face in the water of the Papasundana spring.

(From Rajatarangini)