The Chronicles of Kashmir: Biography of a Leader Amarnatj Vaishnavi

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An insight into many untold facts describing the position of Kashmiri Pandits since the pre-independence era, the subsequent developments that shaped the socio-cultural and political environment in J&K, the sowing of the seeds of terrorism much before they showed up and the factors that led to the world's largest mass exodus of people in their own country, this biography chronicles historic events witnessed and led by Pandit Amaranth Vaishnavi dating back to 1947 up to the year 2012.

Amaranth Vaishnavi was a social activist at the grass root and was at the helm of various historic events pertaining to Kashmiri pandits that shaped history and influenced the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. His negotiations with the government led to the rehabilitation of displaced Kashmiri pandits who lost their homes during their mass exodus from Kashmir in 1990

A man who was so influential was never tempted to accumulate wealth or use power to help himself or his close family members. He lived a down to earth life in one of the Kashmiri refugee colonies in Jammu.

He was honoured with the title, "Father of the Kashmiri pandit community"

Balkrishan sanyasi is a Kashmiri poet and a writer. He has published two poetry collections in Kashmiri language and was nominated thrice for Sahitya academy award. He has recently published a collection of essays about the ancient heritage of Kashmir.

He has written more than 100 papers on language, literature and social issues and presented in various literary forums. His poems have been translated into many Indian regional and foreign languages.

He is a member of the expert committee with the ministry of information and broadcasting and the ministry of culture.

Born in 1943 in Srinagar J&K, he completed his Masters in Political Science from Kashmir University and joined Accountant Generals office. Teaching being his passion, he taught Political Science to post graduate students.

He has a keen eye on the changing political scenario that confronts nation states which is reflected in his writings. He has been writing since his college days.

This book has been in the making for the last six years. The thought of penning down the biography of a personality of Pandit Amarnath Vaishnavi's stature was a great challenge because he was an octogenarian who had left imprints on the history of Kashmir for six decades. It required me to have direct meetings and telephonic interactions with people whom he had worked with to gather their first-hand accounts of him. Extensive research over six years, including a literature review and reading his personal diaries, has led me to write the story of Pandit Amarnath Vaishnavi's life, which was intertwined with events of historical importance. While describing his activism, this biography presents a version of the story of Kashmir as seen through the eyes of a social activist who was a major force behind some of the historic events pertaining to Kashmiri Hindus. The book narrates the events from 1947 up to the year 2012, one major event being the mass exodus of minority communities, mostly Hindus, from Kashmir. The details presented in this book have been mostly drawn from the life experiences of Pandit Amarnath Vaishnavi, which were documented by him in his personal diary and narrated by him to the author during his personal discussions with him and the historic facts researched by the author. The book describes the status of Kashmiri Hindus dating back to the pre-independence era, the subsequent events that shaped the socio-cultural and political environment in J&K, the sowing of the seeds of terrorism, which were sown far earlier than they showed up and the events that led to one of the world's largest mass exodus of people in their own country followed by the events and struggles after their exodus. The book is an insight into the brutal majoritarian domination in Kashmir with covert elements helping the anti-socials and anti-nationals and therein the role of a patriot of purpose, social worker of humane instinct and human being of commitment, Late Pandit Amarnath Vaishnavi.

I had a personal motivation for writing this book as Amarnath ji was my father's younger brother, and in the Kashmiri joint family system, we all live together as a large family. I spent time with him discussing matters of serious nature. His trust in me increased as I grew older, and our emotional bond was immense. He has been the spirit of my emotional making. Lala ji, as we fondly called him, stood by me and my siblings like a father. As a writer, I could not have silently spent a lifetime without penning down the story of my beloved uncle and father figure, an extraordinary person.

Amarnath Vaishnavi was soft and affectionate yet bold and a harbinger of change who tried to make a positive impact on the lives of Kashmiri Pandits from time to time. He assumed a major role in various historic movements, such as the Praja Parishad movement of 1949 & the Kashmiri Pandit agitation of 1967. He worked at the grassroots level and voluntarily visited people's homes in the villages and towns of Kashmir to know their problems. He dared to initiate the practice of hoisting the national flag in Handwara on Independence Day for the first time in the history of Kashmir in the 1950s, which was a courageous initiative by a person belonging to the vulnerable minority community. He led delegations to several prime ministers and presidents of India to apprise them of the ground realities of Kashmir from time to time. The impact of such initiatives resulted in the setting up of three commissions, namely the Gajendra Gadkar Commission, Dayal Commission and Kohli Commission by the government, to safeguard the rights of minorities and initiate an enquiry into the atrocities of 1967. Being an RSS pracharak, he was jailed during the emergency in 1975. In January 1990, after the killings of the minority community by terrorists, he once again led a delegation to meet then Prime Minister Mr. VP Singh and persuaded him to invite Mr. Jagmohan to become the governor and impose Governor's rule in Kashmir. He personally met Mr. Jagmohan and put forward his request to which he agreed, and finally, Mr. Jagmohan was called to take charge as the governor.

Pandit Amarnath Vaishnavi's lifelong struggle and consistent endeavour for socio-political reforms deserve to be recorded in the history of the region. His life was intertwined with major socio-political events in Jammu & Kashmir as he himself was a major force behind some of the landmark events that left an indelible mark on the destiny of people, particularly the minority community of Kashmiri Pandits.

The biography of Pandit Amarnath Vaishnavi, "Chronicles of Kashmir", penned down by Balkrishan Sanyasi and edited by Rohini Vaishnavi takes us through the historic events and their interpretation dating back to the accession of Jammu & Kashmir with India. This time period coincides with the active lifetime of Shri Amarnath Vaishnavi who was a social worker and a reformer at grassroot level and one of the founders of the Nationalist Movement in Jammu & Kashmir.

Vaishnavi ji's passion for enabling Kashmiri Pandits to lead a dignified life was immense. This book portrays the character of a person so selfless and altruistic, and yet someone who dared to follow his passion and lead life on his terms and conditions. He was an inspiration for three generations of youth and this book is an attempt to perpetuate goodness in the world.

My best wishes to the Author for bringing out the biography of Pandit Amarnath Vaishnavi!

It is a great pleasure and privilege to write an introduction for this volume on the life and works of Pandit Amarnath Vaishnavi. I was not fortunate enough to meet Amarnath ji in person; it is only through several writings about him that I know of his innumerable contributions to society in general and to Kashmiri Pandits in particular. Though many articles and reports have been written about Pt Vaishnavi ji (fondly addressed to as Lala ji), it is for the first time that a detailed volume has been compiled on his early life, his career journey as a social and political activist, his becoming a respectable leader of the Kashmiri masses, who developed full faith and trust in him. Pandit Vaishnavi was a man with clear thoughts and vision. He was a selfless and courageous person who brought hope in the eyes of whosoever seemed to have met him. Indeed, he has left a legacy which is now being documented in this book. Every chapter of the book is a story never told before, as the book is a result of the first-hand experiences of Pandit Vaishnavi, which is important because he spent six decades as a social activist who influenced various decisions of the government and led mass movements. I am sure the book will inspire many young minds to follow his path and realize what it takes to be a good leader and a hero, which he was for the KP community. Reading about the life of such personalities as Pt Vaishnavi ji also teaches the qualities one needs to imbibe and cultivate as a leader and worker to uplift society and build minds for the future.

We witnessed his selfless service for the Kashmiri Pandits, living in camps in the Jammu area after their exodus from the valley in 1990. One thing that struck me most was his passion for seeing through that every child of the migrant family got a good education so they could carve out a bright future for themselves. Today we realise that his commitment and drive in this direction helped many of our children to live a life of dignity. This ecosystem that he built and encouraged has turned out to be a catalyst for the upliftment of our community which had encountered significant loss due to the forced exodus.

The author of this book, Shri Balkrishan Sanyasi, is a political scientist and has vast experience to fathom the developments in the socio-political ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir as also in the country. Ms. Rohini Vaishnavi, who runs the RV Learning Foundation, is, of course, aware of the personal and public life of Amarnath ji. Both of them are very competent and knowledgeable in illustrating the achievements of Pandit Vaishnavi during his entire life and also from different perspectives.