V K WATTAL
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.
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 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 epicenter 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 ti 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 cashin 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.
MUD SLINGING
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.
HAVE WE LEARNT ANY LESSONS ?
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