A homage on the Martyrdom Day 23rd June 1953

The Sacrifice Supreme

Prof. Chaman Lal Sapru

July 2010

He was ‘Shyama’ (Divine Mother’s) ‘Prasad’ born). So he remembered three times the Mother, before he left this mortal frame. First he remembered the mother who gave him birth and next he remembered the Mother India (Bharat Mata) for whose sake he sacrificed his life and lastly he remembered the Divine Mother Shyama, who embraced him and took him to his heavenly abode.

I was a college student at the time Dr. S.P. Mookerjee died in mysterious circumstances in Srinagar. When the news of his death was broadcasted on the radio, hundreds of Kashmiri youth, mainly RSS, workers, assembled in Srinagar and protested against the mysterious death of the great patriot leader of the country. It was by chance I happened to meet one Kashmiri Pandit constable on night duty outside the room of Sri Maharaja Hari Singh Govt. Hospital, Srinagar, where Dr. Mookerjee was brought from the special jail (a bungalow near famous Nishat garden, converted into a sub jail). The constable told me that Dr. Sahib was quite hale and hearty but seemed to be tired and in early hours of the fatefully-day he felt uneasy and called me, I helped him in taking water and during the restless moments he uttered only thrice MA, MA, MA (Mother, Mother, Mother) and later fell down and became unconscious. We attendants rushed to the nearby emergency room and informed medical attendants about the condition of Dr. Sahib who after examining him whispered among themselves. We could understand that Dr. Sahib was dead. Here I may add that a Hindu nurse attending Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee mentioned later that a wrong injection was given to him which proved fatal.

Dr. Mookerjee was a staunch believer in a united and powerful India. He was shocked to see his motherland divided on two-nation theory and how could he allow the designs of the Imperialists to see Kashmir, the crown of our ancient lands being snatched away through the agents of Imperialists. I had the privilege of hearing the arguments of his counsel. Barrister U.M. Trivedi, in the J&K High Court presided over by Justice Jia Lal Kilam, The crux of the argument of  Shri U.M. Trivedi was that the Constitution of India defines the legal territory of the country and J&K State is an integral part of India. Any citizen of the country can move freely from any corner of India to any part of this ancient country. So why restrictions to the entry to the State and why a permit system.

I heard prominent lawyers commenting during the two days argument on the detention of Dr. S.P. Mookerjee under habeas-corpus that Doctor Sahib will be free and Hon’ble court will issue the order for his unconditional release. But nature had something else in store and Dr. Mookerjee was to be released by the Almighty from his physical bonds next day.

Dr. Mookerjee’s bungalow, turned into a small jail on the banks of Dal Lake, commanded an awe-inspiring look. In front of the Bungalow across the Dal Lake were visible two famous shrines named Sharika Chakreshwari on the Hari Parbat and oldest Shiva Temple on the famous Shankaracharya hill.

Dr. Sahib would gaze for hours of these two ancient Siddha Peethas of Srinagar and pray to Lord Shiva and Divine Mother. He prayed for a strong and united India.

His dete-ntion at Srinagar provided invisible strength and inspiration to us who were fighting for treatment at par of our state of Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of the country with rest of the states.

The history will record in golden letters the supreme sacrifice made by him for the country on the Kashmir issue after Guru Teg Bahadur Maharaj who laid his precious life to save the Kashmiri Pandits from being tortured by tyrant Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.

After Dr. Mookerjee’s martyrdom the agitation to have Ek Pradhan, Ek Vidhan and Ek Nishan gained momentum in the State, particularly in the Jammu region, under the able leadership of Pandit Prem Nath Dogra and in our Valley we too protested time and again under the dynamic leadership of Pandit Makhan Lal Aima “Harkara” and made the presence of nationalists forces felt in the Valley too. We, the hard core of youngmen, alongwith Shri Aima were arrested. But the fire kindled by the martyrdom of Dr. Mookerjee could not be suppressed by undemocratic State Government. Finally Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was exposed and leaders like Rafi Ahmad Kidwal and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, who were humiliated by Sheikh, compelled Prime Minister  Nehru to put Sheikh behind the bars. But the Central Government did not take adequate measures to curb the anti-nationalist and separatists activities in the Valley. Jamiat-i-Islami started a planned programme of educating the young ones by starting pro-Pakistani private schools and after two decades the educated youth of the Jamiat-run schools received armed training across the border. The think tank of Iran and the Gulf as well as Saudi money poured in which strengthened the militancy and the Central Government offices in J&K as well as Kashmiri speaking (patriotic) Hindus became the soft targets and millions of them are today refugees in their own land.

It is high time to order an inquiry into the circumstances which led to the mysterious death of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee and make public the finding of Kohli Commission and other inquiry commissions appointed to go into the grievances of the minority (Hindu) community of J&K State, which is at present the worst suffer even after 62 years of Independence.

The Kashmiri Hindus in particular worship Dr. Mookerjee and Guru Teg Bahadur more so in this hour of turmoil.

Mohan Raina – designer of the State Emblem

By Mohan Kishen Tiku

November 2010

Mohan Raina was born in Srinagar in the year 1928 in the house of Pandit Shiv Raina. Shiv had a good reputation as a drawing-teacher. His son Mohan Raina learned A.B.C. of art and drawing from his father. He worked hard. After matriculation he got a job in the State Education Department in the text-book section. His work was greatly admired.

After some time, he was able to get a job of an Art-officer in the State Information Department. J.N. Zutshi, the then first Director General of the Department was greatly impressed by Raina’s art work concerning day to day publicity work of the department.

The Jammu and Kashmir Constituent Assembly met in the winter capital of the state-Jammu in the year 1952. During one of its sittings, the Assembly felt the need of the new state emblem. This work was assigned to a select committee, which was to examine the question of designing the Emblem.

As desired by the then Prime Minister of the state Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, this work was allotted to the State Information Department. The department under the guidance of J.N. Zutshi, assigned this work to Mohan Raina. After sometime, the department submitted some designs to the committee. The committee duly considered various designs. The committee kept in view that a design would not represent any particular political party, religion, interest or class. It should be a people’s Emblem.

In this connection, the Jammu and Kashmir Constituent Assembly resolved that :

“…The Emblem of the State of Jammu and Kashmir shall be a shield-like figure with three equidistant horizontal strips and a full bloomed lotus on its top with two ploughs facing each other around its edges. The whole figure shall be surrounded by two years of corns with the inscription “Jammu and Kashmir” at its bottom”.

The designed Emblem done by Mohan Raina was submitted to the then leader of the House Sheikh Abdullah. He was happy to select the said design.

He moved the resolution in the Assembly, “The Goddess of Learning (Saraswati) as according to mythology has her abode in the lotus”.

‘This reminds us”, he added “Of the glorious past of Kashmir when the country was known as the abode of learning and extends a hope for the future when Kashmir will regain its glory”. The strips three in number represent the cultural regions of the state-Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. The ploughs and the two ears of corns represent the majority of the state population. The lotus in the centre stands for purity and knowledge. “Jammu and Kashmir” below the emblem is a legend.

Recognition of the work-done by Raina, the state government sanctioned special four increments in advance and he was elevated to the post of the Exhibition Officer in the Information Department. The state government also arranged his visit to the Illinois University (USA) for further training for the subject he was doing for the department.

After brief illness, Raina passed away in Srinagar before 1987.

*(The writer is a journalist and is based at Mohinder Nagar, Jammu.)

Kashmir Sentinel Editorial and Staff mourns the death of Sh. J.N. Raina, Sh. Raina contributed regularly to Kashmir Sentinel right from its inception. As a tribute to this professional journalist of unsullied integrity, we are publishing an article written by Sh. Sham Kaul (eminent journalist) in memory  as a tribute to Lt. Sh. J.N. Raina.    –Editor

By Shyam Kaul

November 2011

All his life, manor part of which he spent as a professional journalist of unsullied integrity, J.N. Raina studiously preserved the ethical standards of his vocation. He was never once proved wrong in his life, nor so in his death which came to him on the intervening night of October 22-23, In Pune, where he lived with his family since 1990.

Hours before he passed away, JN had made a telephone call to a journalist colleague in Jammu, Ashok Pehelwan, and had told him in an ailing voice to give his last ‘Namaskar’ to all friends here, and convey to them his ‘final adieu’. He keep his word by departing only a few hours later.

For well over three decades, JN served as the chief of Srinagar bureau of leading national news agency, UNI, before moving over to Mumbai office of the agency in the wake of the eruption of militant violence in Kashmir.

The two of us, pestered by threatening phone calls and other intimidatory ways, were the last non-Muslim journalists to leave Srinagar when our fellow city journalists advised and insisted that we should do so for the sake of our security and safety.

Before that, the Governor, Mr. Jagmohan, had suggested that we should shift to Tourist Reception Centre complex, a safer place, and operate from there. But it was not feasible, simply because we would not be able to do justice to our work, closeted all the time in a room.

During his prolonged posting in Srinagar, his office near Central Telegraph office, was JN’s temple where he spent all his time, wholly dedicated to his work, sometimes late into nights. The outcome of the toil of his pen was there for the readers to see and relish the quality, accuracy, authenticity and excellence of his despatches, day after day.

JN was a man of few words, a soft-spoken person, and normally talked only when talked to. He rarely mingled with his tribe in their occasional gala get-together and merry bases. Interestingly, however JN had a subtle sense of humour and could sometimes entertain others with his quips and cracks, when he opened up. One recalls a professional tour of a group of media persons to Bihar and West Bengal several years ago. As we went around visiting places, it was a revelation to us to see JN enlivening the ambience with his pithy comments and observations. While going round the zoo in Kolkata, we saw a tiger, fully stretched, sleeping peacefully in his cage. Pointing to the animal, JN quipped, “He should have been working for a news agency to know the price he would have to pay for sleeping so deeply and unmindfully during the rush hours of the broad day.”

Despite his comparative aloofness and distance from his fellow journalists, JN was highly respected by everyone in the profession. It was not uncommon for his colleagues to often seek last minutes confirmation from his the credibility of some sensitive new reports and stories, which, at one time in early days of militancy, were a plenty in Jammu and Kashmir. JN would never fail to respond and oblige. In fact we would often say, “Ask Raina Saheb, if the story is factual and if he has done it.”

A gentleman journalist in the manner and nature of veterans like R.K. Kak and Mohammed Sayeed Malik, who are held in high esteem by the fraternity, JN was a fine gentleman too, bearing malice towards none, and never doing any working to anyone. Those who came close to him were struck by his simplicity, decency and humility, and, of course, his dedication to work and his professional calibre.

By virtue of his standing in the professional as chief of bureau of a national news agency, JN did have a latent clout, but being essentially a self effacing person, he never threw about his weight, and never sought or asked for any favours and concessions from the establishment. His primary concern was his work and duty and he did proud to the agency and people he worked for, earning their acclaim and appreciation, as also of the entire media community of this state.

Honesty and humility were quintessentially the cardinal attributes that thoroughly permeated JN’s persona. As a man, a media person, an associate, a friend, a conscientious professional, a social being, and a householder, honesty and humility stood out in all his actions, workings and dealings. And it has been said, “An honest man is the noblest work of God.”

PANDIT JIA LAL WARIKOO son of Pt. Tika Lal Warikoo lived near CMS Girls School, Fatehkadal, Srinagar. He did his B.Sc. from Punjab University and B.T. from Banaras Hindu University in 1937. Late Sh. D.N. Raina, a renowned teacher and Headmaster of National High School was his classmate. Sh. Jia Lal Warikoo after being appointed as teacher served at Bagh Dilawar Khan school at Namchibal, Srinagar as a Science teacher. In 1931 Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was his Science teacher at the same school.

JL Warikoo was transferred and posted to Askardu as Headmaster of Lower High School in September 1946. He moved alongwith his wife Prabha (23 years) and children-Uma (12 years), Khema (5 years), Ashok (2 years) to Askardu. Son Joti was born to him in October 1946. Only his daughter Krishna stayed back at Srinagar with her maternal grand-parents. Valuable inputs for this story have been provided by Sh M.L. Tiku.

A view of Skardu Town from the Fort.

There were many Kashmiri Pandits in Askardu. These included among others families of Dr. Khazanchi, Dr. Kashi Nath Tiku, Master Maheshwar Nath Raina, besides SHO Pt. Amar Nath Muthu, Pt. Nand Lal Bambroo, overseer etc.

The Warikoos took up residence near the school. It was away from the main town. The nearest neighbour of Warikoos was the family of Pt. Niranjan Nath Nadir, a Girdawar in the State Revenue Department.

Headmaster Jia Lal Warikoo had appointed a peon on ad-hoc basis against the leave vacancy of a peon. On arrival of the peon on leave this arrangement was discontinued.

A day before on Amavasi day the Headmaster had come to know that 300 Pak raiders had entered Askardu area. Next day neither the students nor local teachers attended the school. On the following morning when all the members of Warikoo family were asleep in the house there was a knock at the door. Jia Lal Warikoo smelt something fishy. Much against his wishes he went to respond to the call. The ad-hoc peon whose services had been terminated was the caller. Without putting any question the peon hit the Headmaster on the head with an axe, who fell down on the floor in a pool of blood. His wife Prabha rushed out. Holding her husband in her lap she cried and wept bitterly. There was nobody either to protect or offer medical aid to the Headmaster.

The peon had a few persons accompanying him. After killing the Headmaster in cold blood they ransacked the house, looting all the valuables. The other members of the family were given thrashing and asked not to speak.

After sometime few Kashmiri Pandit neighbours came out and found Pt. Jia Lal dead. Without putting shroud or performing any religious rites Pt. Jia Lal Warikoo was buried in a grave just near the school under the cover of darkness. At the time of his death he was just 28. The family moved to the Fort Camp along with other Kashmiri Pandits. Mrs. Jia Lal Warikoo and her son Joti died in Fort camp in June 1948 and January 1948 respectively for want of medical aid. Pt. Jia Lal Warikoo’s martyrdom also finds mention in Pt. Sridhar Kaul’s celebrated work ‘Ladakh Through The Ages’.

SKARDU-STORY

Pt. Amar Nath Muthoo: A Tribute to Grandfather

By Kuldeep Raina

PT. AMAR NATH MUTHOO, affectionately called by family members as ‘Lala’ lived at Bulbul Lankar (Ali Kadal) in downtown Srinagar. He was born to Pt. Damodar Muthoo and Smt. Vishmal.

Amar Nath had one brother-Pt. Shankar Nath and three sisters, married in Budgami, Taploo and Rangroo families. He was married to Kamla alias Kakni, daughter of Pt. Amarchand Tikoo of Peth Kanihama.

Amar Nath was serving as SHO Kulgam in July, 1947 when he was promoted and transferred to Askardu as SHO with the rank of Sub-Inspector. His two close relations-brother Shankar Nath and wife’s brother Sh. Gopi Nath Tiku too served in State Police. The former remained constable only while the latter retired as SHO.

Pt. Amar Nath was a man of great taste and lived in style. He loved Bacchus and quite often held Sufiana mehfils at his place. His aristorcratic style of living and the authority he wielded earned for him the sobriquet of ‘Hakim Sab’. My grandfather (Nana) enjoyed close friendship with Pt. Dina Nath alias ‘Dina Patel’ and Kh. Saifuddin, who later retired as DIG. Sometime before grandfather had served at Muzaffarabad also. There was a group clash. He had slapped one of the trouble makers who was quite sick. Though the latter died a natural death, yet a case was slapped against Pt. Amar Nath. An enquiry was ordered, DIG Kashmir was to visit Muzaffarabad in this connection. ‘Dina Patel’ was Traffic Inspector in Muzaffarabad. Amar Nath asked for help from his friend ‘Dina Patel’. The day DIG left for Muzaffarabad Patel manoeuvred to stop traffic at Domel bridge. DIG could not come for enquiry. Meanwhile, Amar Nath was able to convince the aggrieved family that victim had died a natural death. The matter was subsequently closed.

Amar Nath had six daughters but no son. He reared his children like boys, keeping male names for them. His brother’s wife had died young, leaving behind a son and daughter. It was on Lala’s insistence that the son Kashi Nath was sent to college. He subsequently joined Army, retiring as Major.

Pt. Amarnath Muthoo in early years of his service at Anantnag

How my grandfather was killed has remained a mystery to the family. Shortly before his death he wrote identical letters to his brother and Sh. Gopi Nath Tiku. In these he had written, ‘I am under siege. It is difficult to survive. If I live I will manage to reach home whatever difficult the terrain might be’. He had also impressed upon his brother that his daughters should be made to eat food in the Thali (plate) in which he used to take his food. Amarnath’s eldest daughter in 1947 was 12 years old, while the youngest was only 6 months. Amar Nath had also written, ‘my wife likes Kahwa. She should not have to worry about Sugar. Keep it in plenty for her’. Through the letters the family came to know that things were bad in Askardu but at the same time Lala was safe.

Amar Nath as SHO Askardu had the responsibility to take care of treasury at the Fort. It is said Pakistanis were looking for namesake of my grandfather who was probably treasury officer. As per one version grandfather was dragged, nails were thrust into his body and he was mercilessly killed. Another version claims that Amar Nath was abducted and held captive. It is said that he later subsequently started his business in Askardu. Amar Nath was just 34 in 1948.

My grandmother Kakni could never come out of shock. Going to Pirs and Faqirs became a daily routine. She would sit often at the window of brerkani (attic) and mutter to herself ‘ya yim nata nim’ (Either come or take me also). One day when Labroo family in the neighbourhood had called Nandbab to their home Kakni also went there. The occasion was safe return of Pt. Sham Lal Labroo who too was held captive in Muzaffarabad. When Kakni bowed before Nandbab he gave her two-rupee note. It was unusual and was interpreted as hint to her not to come again. 6 months later she died.

Soon after grandfather’s martyrdom Kothi Bagh Police Station had received a wireless message from Col. PN Kak about his death. It was through Pt. Amar Nath Taploo (sister’s husband) the family learnt about the killing. Grandfather’s close friend Kh. Saifuddin helped the family sort out Insurance claim within no time.  Amar Nath’s six daughters were brought up under the affectionate care of Sh. Shankar Nath and Sh. Gopi Nath Tiku.

*(The author is Gen. Secretary Panun Kashmir)

‘HAIL, YE INDOMITABLE HEROES, HAIL !’

By Shyam Kaul (Safapuri)

In mid-eighties, when young Sushil Aima, a 12th class student, sought admission to the National Defence Academy, he did not inform his parents or any other member of the family. He feared that with the exclusive artistic background of the Aima family, nobody would approve of it. But after he was selected in 1985, Sushil reluctantly went to his father and gave him the news, fearing that the answer would be a firm ‘No’. But that did not happen. His father, Makhanlal Aima, an insurance officer, did not get angry, but he did appear visibly surprised.

‘Papa’, Sushil told him, “joining the army has been my dream and today my dream has come true. I assure you I will not disappoint you. I will make a good soldier”.

Major Sushil came from a gifted family of Srinagar. His uncle, late Mohanlal Aima, was among the moving spirits of the post-1947 revival of Kashmiri music. He lifted the Kashmiri “chhakri” from its plebeian moorings and gave it popularity and respectability among the high-born Kashmiris. Through the medium of newly established radio station in Srinagar, he was instrumental in bringing out the “sufiana” music from the “diwankhanas” of the elite and taking it to the homes of common people.

Omkar Aima, another uncle of Sushil, was a stage personality before he moved on to Bombay films, starting with the lead role in first-ever Kashmiri feature film, ‘Mainzraat’.

Satish Kaul, a cousin of Sushil, carved a place for himself, both in Hindi and Punjabi films. Another cousin, Alok Aima, has made a name in Hindi and English theatre in Dubai.

Sushil was commissioned in the army in 1988, as the years rolled by, he grew into a fine soldier, and, when the moment of ultimate challenge came, he touched the pinnacle of valour, which any soldier anywhere in the world would be proud of. In his brief career he earned the praise of his superiors for his bravery, initiative and leadership qualities, especially, during his stint in Doda district in Jammu and Kashmir, one of the worst militancy-affected areas.

In 1997, Sushil was given the rank of a Major. In 1999, when he was 32, with a promising future ahead of him, he was martyred in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir, defending his motherland. He fought valiantly till his last breath against the Pakistani intruders, and joined the select ranks of the martyrs of the great Indian army. In his death, in the prime of his youth, Major Aima covered himself with glory, and brought honour to his family, his people and his country. For a country, no glory can be greater and nobler than that brought by its soldier sons who lay down their lives while defending the honour of their motherland. Sushil Aima immortalised himself as one such soldier son of India.

The first day of August ’99 was hot and humid. Makhanlal Aima and his family were home at Palam Vihar (Haryana), trying to ward off the oppression of the sultry weather. But they were also eagerly awaiting the arrival of Sushil, who was to join the family to celebrate his fifth wedding anniversary, the next day, August 2.

But Major Sushil did not arrive. He never did. Instead came a stupefying shock, a message from the army, that he was no more. He had been killed in an encounter with Pakistan-backed mercenary terrorists in Poonch, where he was posted, on the eve of his wedding anniversary.

Late at night, when Major Sushil was resting after having made preparations for his departure for Delhi next morning, news was brought to him that a large group of foreign mercenaries had assembled on a nearby hill. It was learnt that the group had plans to attack a village in the vicinity, largely inhabited by members of one particular community.

A hurried conference was held. It was decided to go into action, surround the terrorists, and then launch a full-blooded attack, to be led by Maj Sushil. The young officer and his jawans soon made contact with the enemy and a fierce encounter followed. It lasted for seven hours, and ended up with a hand-to-hand fight, with heavy losses among the intruders. Two terrorists fell to the bullets of Major Shushil, but in the later stage of the encounter, he was fatally wounded when a bullet hit him in his left temple. Holding the revolver in his left hand, he also shot dead the third terrorist who had fired the fatal shot at him. Then he provided cover to a colleague, who had been grievously injured in a grenade blast, and helped him crawl to safety. It was then that Major Sushil’s end came.

When the body of the deceased hero was brought to his home at Palam Vihar, hundreds of people had gathered there to be with the bereaved family in its hour of grief. They stood there, men and women, in silent sorrow. Not many had seen or known the young army officer, but here was India, paying its homage, to a martyred son of India.

Makhanlal Aima, holding in his arms his nine-month old grandson, Sidharth, was a picture of restraint and dignity. His friends, crowded round him with words of sympathy and consolation. In a choked voice he told them, “it is an irreparable loss to all of us, and a perpetual agony for the two small kids and their young mother. But I also think of scores of other parents and relatives, who, like us, have been receiving the dead bodies of their soldier sons from the battlefront. I don’t consider it as mere death. It is martyrdom. A moment of pride and honour for all of us.”

Later when Major Sushil’s body was taken for its last rites, Palam Vihar was transofmred into a sea of people. Thousands of them lined the road, among them school children too, whose schools had been closed for the day. Businessmen closed their establishments and shops to join the funeral procession. From ministers of Haryana, led by Revenue Minister, Kailash Sharma, to the local sarpanch, Ranjit Singh, there was hardly a civil or army dignitary, who was not there to bid farewell to Major Sushil Aima. His officers and colleagues in the army were there in full strength.

It was a spontaneous gush of sorrow. It overwhelmed the Aima family. Omkar Aima could contain himself no more. With tears trickling down his cheeks he thought of the dark days, a decade ago, when the eruption of terrorism in Kashmir, had driven out the entire Pandit community from the Valley. At that time no fleeing Pandit knew where he would find safe refuge. Everyone of them wondered whether he would be owned anywhere and whether he would belong anywhere.

Walking alongside the cortege of his nephew, Omkar felt Major Aima was the son of India and the exiled Pandit community belonged to the whole of India, and every nook and corner of the country was its home.

Held by his grandfather in his arms, little Sidharth was made to light the pyre of his father, who had been described as the “bravest of brave” by a senior officer of his, Maj Gen A Mukherji. Who knows what dreams Major Aima had dreamed for his little son and four-year daughter, Ridhi. But one can be sure that he died with the confidence that a grateful nation, he left behind, would give them a happy childhood and a secure future.

A few days later a special function was held at Rohtak where Haryana Chief Minister, OP Chautala, handed over a cheque of Rs 10 lakhs to Archana Aima, widow of Maj Sushil. The hearts of Omkar and Makhanlal Aima, who were present, brimmed with gratitude for the people of Haryana, Maj Sushil’s adopted state. But a gnawing feeling rankled deep down in their hearts. Sushil was born and brought up in Kashmir, and he was martyred on the soil of Kashmir. And yet, the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah, did not have a word of sympathy or condolence to convey to the bereaved Aima family.

Sushil has gone to eternal sleep, as did many brave soldier sons of this country during the summer of 1999, after shedding the last drop of their blood for the honour and integrity of their motherland.

On Fame’s eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And Glory guards, with solemn ground,
The bivouac of the dead

He Died a Lion’s Death

JAMMU:  He had just finished distributing Shivratri Prasaad of walnuts amongst his collegues. Suraj Bhan a member of the Special Operation Group (SOG) had returned to join his duties on 17th February after celebrating Shivratri, with his family at Udhampur. He was still in a ‘festive mood’, when at 11:30 AM the same day, he received orders to join the security contingent for a combing operation in Ganderbal.

The contingent comprising of around 40 security personnel drawn from CRPF, Army and SOG rushed to Kharbagh Sumbal area of Ganderbal. They reached the assigned place at 2:30 PM. Kharbagh village was wearing deserted look-a clear signal of an impending trouble. Villagers had fleed the village, expecting a security operation, as large number of dreaded terrorists had sneaked into the village.

Initial search operations revealed nothing. However, inspector PV Singh and Suraj Bhan where not sure ofthese initial conclusions. They suspected the near by house to be a hideout and forced their way into house. Both got killed as they were climbing the third story, in the indiscriminate firing resorted to by the holed up terrorists hiding behind the haystack on the third storey of the house. In the counter offensive by security forces the house caught fire. However, most of the holed up terrorists are reported to have escaped. As per sources the escaped terrorists included those who had participated in the Wandhama massacre of Kashmiri Pandits last year.

During the heavy exchange of fire, two constables of CRPF 28 Bn and 3 Army personnel also got killed in addition to Suraj Bhan and PV Singh of SOG, Srinagar. As per reports, when two of the holed up terrorists tried to escape and succeeded to reach the willow plantation beat near the embankment of river Jhelum, Naik Narain Das of 15 Assam Regiment chased them and killed both of them. In the retaliatory firing Narain Das also got martyred. Heart rending scenes were witnessed  in the Shamshan Ghat at Devika Udhampur where the funeral of Suraj Bhan took place. The wooden coffin carrying the dead body was also consigned to flames on the funeral pyre by his family members who thought that the box had become a part of the mortal remains of Late Suraj.

Inspector Ravinder Bhat under whom Suraj worked was taken aback when one of the brothers of Suraj asked him immediately after the funeral rites.’ Inspector tell us honestly. Which type of death Suraj died-a Cowards or a martyrs’. In an emotion choked voice he told his family members that for the answer they needed only to see his file. ‘Even while he has not yet completed his two years probation his name is being considered for a police medal for his services.’

Constable Suraj Bhan had to his credit four major security operations. At Kamarwari sometime back Suraj had participated with distinction in a daredevil operation in which five foreign mercenaries and two local terrorists were killed. In other operation deputy supreme commander of Harkatul Mujahideen Saif-ullah Chikhat code named ‘Hafat’ was killed by constable Suraj earlier. In another daredevil operation Suraj Bhan had arrested the deputy supreme commander of Hizbul Mujahideen Ali Mohd Dar. Police sources also revealed that in a major security operation Suraj alongwith other constable of SOG had killed two Lashkar-i-Toiba terrorists at Bemina which also resulted in capture of lot of arms and ammunition. Both these martyred police personnel from SOG Srinagar, have a distinguished family background. Dy SP Anantnag Mr KT Singh is the brother of inspector Param Vir Singh who got martyred alongwith Suraj Bhan at Kharbagh Sumbal. While mortal remains of PV Singh were yet to be consigned to flames who had died at Kharbagh , KT Singh was busy leading another operation at Wuter Hall the very next day. During this search operation a fierce exchange of fire took place in which 3 terrorist of Hizbul Mujahideen were killed. Late Suraj Bhan also belongs to a family of police personnel. His father Jamna Das Bhan is a retired fire-services officer. His elder brother Himmet Bhan is employed with the Railway Crime Police and his younger brother Vijay Bhan has just joined police services.

The father of Suraj Bhan Sh Jamna Das is a tall and tough persons. ‘I know he has died a lion’s death and it is a matter of pride for me inspite of the blow which his death has inflected on us’. Suraj Bhan was just 22. He had joined the police services and volunteered for Special Operations Group. His family  did not know that he was working with SOG. And that is the only remorse his father had. ‘I never thought that he was involved in such operations. I wish I could have given him a salute when he was alive’.

By Dr. Premi Romani

Sham Lal Aima was a well-known short story writer, a poet of good merit and a good social worker of his time. His name, like many others—Vishwanath Dhar Mah. Jummuvi, Dina Nath Dilgir, Tara Chand Saliq, Zanardan Teng Sagar, Sham Lal Wali Tirath Kashmiri, Dina Nath Shahid, Nand Lal Kaul Begarz, Ganga Dhar Dehati, Jia Lal Bhan Barq Kashmiri etc. remain buried  in the debris of time.

He was born in 1899. The family originally lived at Drabiyar, but shifted before 1947 to Rangteng, Ali Kadal. The family atmosphere was well disposed to the pursuit of literature. Eminent litterateurs of the time and others who dabbled in literature would often meet at his house and deliberate on literary themes. Quite early in his life he developed taste for Urdu and Persian literature and passed many examinations in these.

Sham Lal Aima served in the State Education Department. He was a gifted teacher, knew the basics of scouting and took great interest in teaching his students. He served for many years in the Model School, Srinagar. In the company of such luminaries-Prem Nath Bazaz, Prem Nath Pardesi, Dina Nath Warikoo ‘Shahid’, Ghulam Hyder Chisti, he designed and prepared books for school children. For this work he was applauded by Khwaja Ghulam Saydeen, a great educationist. Sham Lal Aima called students a great treasure and worked hard for them. He evolved and implemented new techniques to make teaching effective. His playway methods created eagerness and curiosity among the learners.  During one of his visits to the Valley, Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru was highly pleased with Aima when he watched his performance in the programme and classroom. His consensual approach endeared him to others, he was looked as a good friend and a guide.

Dr. Brij Premi, son of Pt. Sham Lal Aima writes in this book Zauq-e-Nazar in ‘Zauk-e-Nazar’, says that Sham Lal and Pt. Nand Lal Kaul Talib, a famous Urdu poet were classmates. It was Pt. Nand Lal Talib who encouraged and helped him to compose poetry.

Some excerpts from Aima’s poetry.

Drowned in grief and sorrow how I am

Exchange a glance, lonely I feel

Pangs of sorrow, how these pierce,

My sorrows increase, lonely I feel,

Part the ways, your choice has been,

That warmth of love, it has gone,

Come to me, see how sad I am.

Crying hoarse I have been cruel you are,

Everything drowned in sorrow I ache,

Why so? No mercy you can show?

This is, what one calls, the feelings are frozen.

Pt. Sham Lal was a gifted writer. He wrote short stories and essays. He enjoyed participation in literary meets.

This is what he writes:

The lustful eyes of the bank clerk could not resist the appealing charms of beautiful Lalita who was contented with the poverty she was destined for. She had learnt to live amidst pang of poverty. She never murmured or complained to anyone. She had a belief that the rich protect the poor. She had a faith that the rich are pure in heart with no evil designs on the poor. The devil had entered into the clerk’s ambition of being a tormentor, he sent his own wife away only to fulfill his dirty intentions…but….”

Though his short stories appeared mostly in The Martand, he also wrote essays for Vitasta, Ranbir and Rattan (Jammu), Bahar Kashmir and Phool (Lahore). When his short story ‘Gurbat’ appeared in the Daily Martand, it was highly appreciated. The story revolves round a beautiful young woman, who on account of poverty is pushed to do menial job at the house of a bank employee. The latter looks at her with lustful eyes but she disregards his advances. She accepts the poverty as the reality of life and counters all the challenges boldly. The dialogues while conveying pathos look realistic and crisp. They leave behind a profound effect, the woman though engulfed by the situation comes out of the trap laid for her. She does not feel disillusioned. Instead she displays bravery.

Aima wrote many short stories, which include Navratra, Bhagwan Rama. The theme of his stories mostly centered around religious discourses and community festivals. Triumphs and sorrows of life, its dejections and sweetness, and other subjects connected with life were the might of his pen. His strength in  art as a short story writer lay in his flow of sequences in stories, plot and sub-plot construction, flow of thought and brevity accompanied by crisp descriptions. He did not resort to jargon. His stories depict social realism, where the characters emerge as live and full of life. Pt. Pitamber Nath Dhar Fani, a poet himself comments: “Sham Lal Aima contributed richly and regularly to the Martand. In editions of “Nura” and “Shivratri” Sham Lal’s compositions reveal him to be a gifted writer. Aima Sahib was a great short story writer…”

“Nura Se Khatab” reflects healthy prose. Certain excellence in prose writing was achieved by him. In this people are called upon to be dutiful and not to  deviate from wrong paths. In his other compositions Aima praises Lord Rama who came to fight evil and injustice. About Navratra, he writes that it elevates, ennobles and reminds us of our duties. On Janam Ashtami, he used to organise programmes and advocated that the people should not deviate from the path of duty. His themes were always impregnated with thought. Prof. Sarwari says, “Aima’s compositions reflect his inner feelings. In Nura Se Khatab-he runs close to the style of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan…” Aima had written an account of his travels in Gilgat but the manuscript was lost somewhere. Sham Lal Aima was a sensitive individual, who responded to human suffering with urgency.

His contributions to social work was appreciated by members of his biradari. Pt. Dina Nath Warikoo while paying him a moving tribute in his obituary in Martand (1-7-1949) recalled these great qualities. Sham Lal Aima died of a paralytic stroke and lived for just 44 years. Had he lived longer, he would have attained great heights in the field of Urdu literature.

*The author was born at Rang Teng Ali Kadal Srinagar. Dr Romani started his literary career in 1968. He has authored a number of books on different aspects of Urdu and Kashmiri language and Literature. He received inspiration in the field of literature from his illustrious father Late Dr. Brij Premi-a noted Urdu Scholar, Critic & Researcher.

Dr. Romani has received a number of literary awards for his contribution to Urdu literature. He is associated with many literary organisations and has written features and serials for Radio & Doordarshan.

By Prof. Ravi M. Bakaya

I have known Dr. Ram Mohan Dattatreya for a long time.

We were childhood friends in Model Town, Lahore, where his father Pt. Pearay Mohan Dattatreya was assistant editor of the nationalist daily THE TRIBUNE.

Mohan, or Mohan Bhai, as he is popularly known among close family members and friends, comes from an illustrious family. His grandfather Allama Pt. Brij Mohan Dattatreya ‘Kaifi’ was a distinguished scholar of Urdu and Persian and knew many other languages.

He studied English at the St. Stephen’s College in Delhi.

He also knew Arabic, Sanskrit and Hindi and, besides being a noted scholar, was one of the four great poet ustads of Delhi of his time-Saeel, Bekhud, Sahir and Kaifi. He was often invited by universities all over India as a guest lecturer. He visited Europe in 1915-16 and met leading writers and scholars there. He also served as Assistant Foreign Secretary of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. He was a leading light of the Anjuman-e-Taraqqie- Urdu.

Ram Mohan’s father, Pt. Pearay Mohan Dattatreya, was born in 1895. He graduated from Government College, Lahore in 1915, winning first prizes in economics and philosophy. He also collaborated with a prominent Urdu journalist of those days , L. Bishan Sahai Azad in writing a large volume in Urdu called ‘A History of the Great War’. In 1917 he got his law degree and started practising in Lahore and was soon called to the High Court Bar. A nationalist and a patriot to the core, he closely followed events that led to and followed the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and wrote a book entitled AN IMAGINARY REBELLION AND HOW IT WAS SUPPRESSED – AN ACCOUNT OF THE PUNJAB DISORDERS AND THE WORKING OF MARTIAL LAW. This large volume, with an Introduction by Lala Lajpat Rai, was published in 1920. The book was promptly banned by then British Government of India and all copies were confiscated.

Soon after the publication of his celebrated book he joined THE TRIBUNE in November 1920, and by sheer dint of ability rose to become second in command of its distinguished editor, Mr. Kali Nath Roy.

Pt. Pearay Mohan could never brook any insult to people of his profession. In those days, when public interest litigation (PIL) was unknown, he was responsible for bringing several test cases against the Railway authorities to establish the illegal character of the once too common practice of reserving special accommodation for Anglo-Indians on railways, and compelling them to give up this practice. He also successfully fought a case against the Secretary of State for India, challenging his own wrongful detention by the Senior Superintendent of Police of Lahore, when he went as THE TRIBUNE’S representative to report on the arrival of the Simon Commission.

My father Pt. Autar Lal Bakaya was a friend of Pt. Pearay Mohan and as he was keen to learn journalism, worked with him in THE TRIBUNE for some time in an honorary capacity.

My father later served as the honorary editor of the organ of the Kashmiri Pandits’ Association, BAHAR-E-KASHMIR, which was published in those days from Lahore. Pt. Pearay Mohan died early at the age of 41. At the time of his premature death he was Senior Vice-President of the Punjab Journalists’ Association and was connected with the Lahore Congress Committee and was contemplating to seek election to the Provincial Assembly on the Congress ticket.

In Model Town, a very picturesque suburb of Lahore, where we then lived, Mohan and I were very close friends from our school days and often cycled to each other’s house to play in the evenings. Once, while playing gully-danda near our house, Mohan hit the gully and it got lost in a heap of garbage. While looking for it I chanced to cut the main artery of my right foot on a piece of broken glass and my foot began to bleed profusely.

Without losing his nerve, Mohan put me on the back of his bicycle and took me to the nearest doctor, who stitched up my foot and stopped the bleeding. Thus, what could have led to a major tragedy, was avoided due to his presence of mind and his sound knowledge of science.

Sometime after his father’s death Mohan shifted to Lyallpur (now Faislabad in Pakistan) where his uncle Prof. S.M. Dattatreya was teaching in a college.

Our own family shifted to Bombay in 1944 after my father died in September 1943 in London, where he was then working in the BBC Hindustani Section with Balraj Sahni and others.

Mohan had to support his mother and his younger brother who was still studying. After graduation in science, he also came to Bombay and joined the ground engineers’ course of Air India, which was a private company owned by the Tatas in those days. During the Partition he flew several sorties to the Indo-Pak frontier at Amritsar to search for his uncle, whose whereabouts were not known. In Bombay, as a trainee, Mohan shared accommodation with two or three other bachelor friends in Dadar. Once, my mother and others in the family went to see Kaifi Saheb and Mohan when we learnt that Kaifi Saheb was with him, heart-broken because his only surviving son had disappeared during the Partition turmoil and could not be found. Fortunately, the same day, while we were visiting them, a telegram arrived saying that Mohan’s uncle, a teacher of philosophy, had been found and was in Dehra Dun, where he had started teaching in a college.

Kaifi Saheb’s joy knew no bounds as he had almost given up all hope, and he said it was we who had brought him the good luck that day.

Mohan soon qualified as a ground engineer and got employed with Air India. He was doing very well at his job and when I was to go to Russia in 1953 for treatment of tuberculosis, from which I had suffered for many years, Mohan stood financial guarantee for me. I returned next year, completely cured and having learnt some Russian, which gave me my future profession. Russian was not taught anywhere in India then except in Delhi University which had opened part-time certificate and diploma courses during the Second World War, when Russia became an ally of Britain and the US in the war against Hitler. It was almost thought to be a ‘subversive language’ and those few Indians who had picked up some knowledge of it were suspected of being disloyal to Britain. I taught Russian in an honorary capacity under the Indo-Soviet Cultural Society for five years and English to staff members of the Soviet Trade Representation and ‘Sovexportfilm’ to earn a living.

When in 1960 IIT Bombay advertised the post of a lecturer in Russian, I was selected, and taught there for seven and a half years before moving to the Institute of Russian Studies in Delhi (which later, as the Centre of Russian Studies, School of Foreign Languages, became part of the Jawaharlal University).

On my return from Russia in 1954, I learnt that Mohan had got engaged to a non-Kashmiri girl. But he gave us all a great surprise. His family responsibilities were now over, his younger brother Hari had completed his education and now joined the Army. Mohan told his friends and family members that he had always wanted to be a doctor but could not study medicine because of his family responsibilities.

So he now wanted to leave Air India and join a medical college.

Most people thought it was a crazy idea; his fiancée broke off the engagement. No one could understand why he should give up a very good and promising job when he was past thirty, and spend another five or six years studying medicine. Moreover, it was impossible to get admission in a medical college in India due to the prevailing domicile and age regulations.

But Mohan had made up his mind. He started probing his airline contacts and finally was able to get admission to a medical college in Holland.

Mohan not only completed his medical course and qualified as a surgeon but also did so well that he began to be invited to India as a guest lecturer. He married a Dutch fellow student, Riet Statema, a paediatrician . They had three sons-Hari, Robi and Anil. Unfortunately, last year they lost their youngest son Anil, who died of cancer at the young age of 37. Hari and Robi are both married and have two daughters each. Mohan and Riet are now retired. For many years they have been coming to India and they never miss coming to meet us when they visit Delhi.

Their last visit to us was in February this year, when they were crushed with the sorrow of having lost their beloved young son.

Although he has now lived in Holland for several decades, Mohan never lost his love for and interest in the land of his birth. Several years ago he told me about a book on Jallianwala Bagh written by his father. An old tattered copy of the book was later found in the house of his younger brother Lt. Col. Hari Mohan Dattatreya, with nearly 200 pages missing. Mohan wanted to get at least a few copies made of the complete book for close family members. The missing matter was retrieved after long and sustained efforts of several people from some microfilms ordered at considerable cost from the National Library in Calcutta and a copy of the book in possession of the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Library in Delhi, whose scholarly acting Director, the late Dr. Hari Dev Sharma, said that the book was of great historical value as an excellent contemporary eyewitness account and efforts must be made to publish it rather than trying to get only a few photocopies of the original. The Dattatreyas in Holland had a family conference and agreed to bear the cost of publication.

Eminent historian Prof. Bipan Chandra, agreed to write an Introduction to the new edition, which was being published almost eighty years after the banned edition published in Lahore in 1920.

The original edition had many valuable photographs, which had unfortunately to be dropped because of the faded quality of most of them. In view of the small type used in the original edition, which put a strain on the eyes of the reader, it was decided to recompose the entire book in bolder easy to read types. There was nothing about the author in the original edition.

Mr. B.K. Raina, a close relative of Dr.Ram Mohan Dattatreya, contacted Mr. Hari Jaisingh, then editor of THE TRIBUNE, now published from Chandigarh, who very kindly agreed to find the detailed obituary article published by the paper in Lahore on 25th December 1936, buried in old microfilms, and sent us a photocopy. True to his character, Pt. Pearay Mohan said almost nothing about himself.

Apart from the obituary article, we got other details about his life and work from his son, Dr. Ram Mohan Dattatreya. We also got a photograph of Pt. Pearay Mohan from the family album of his son and it was published for the first time in his book. The new edition was published in two volumes running into 1065 pages. The book was released at the India International Centre by former Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral in the presence of a packed hall including Dr. Ram Mohan Dattatreya, his wife Riet and son and daughter-in-law Robi and Malisanda and many other members and friends of the family and many distinguished citizens. Prof. Bipan Chandra introduced the new edition of the book (The Punjab “Rebellion” of 1919 and How It Was Suppressed) in a very illuminating lecture. As editor of the new edition, it fell to my honour to introduce Dr. Ram Mohan Dattatreya, his family members and the Chief guest Shri Inder Kumar Gujral, whom I had known since the days of the students’ movement in Lahore.

The new edition of Pt. Pearay Mohan Dattatreya’s celebrated book received good reviews in the press and is a precious account, now made available in many libraries to research workers and other readers.

Dr. Ram Mohan Dattatreya and his wife Dr. Riet Statema- Dattatreya are now leading a retired life. Besides coming to India almost every year, they have travelled to many countries of the world. Some years ago they specially travelled to Amritsar, to meet my sister Vimla and her husband Satya Pal Dang, well known communist leaders and social and political workers.

Satya Pal was in Lyallpur a student of Mohan’s uncle Prof. S.M . Dattatreya. Mohan and Riet saw the Jallianwala Memorial which must have rekindled memories of times long gone by and the events described so graphically by Mohan’s father.

They also saw the Golden Temple and travelled to the Wagah border, so close to Lahore, where we all once lived and studied and with which city so many of our fond memories are linked. I remember once Mohan had asked if I could request someone visiting Lahore to bring from there a photograph of the beautiful house in Model Town that his father had built. I asked a journalist friend who travels to Pakistan often. On return he told me that Model Town is now in the very centre of Lahore and there are multi-storeyed buildings there. The house where Mohan grew up perhaps no longer exists.

Holland provides one of the best social services in the world and retired people are well looked after. But there is one aspect of Dutch life which causes some astonishment in many other countries. No one can work after the age of sixty-five. Doctors cannot even have private practice after they cross this age.

The only people who perhaps can pursue their professions are those in independent creative professions-artists, writers and so on.

Like me, Ram Mohan Dattatreya is also an octogenarian now. Let us hope Ram Mohan and Riet will have a peaceful life, which they richly deserve, and will be able to come to India many times in the future.

About the author:

Dr. Ravi Mohan Bakaya is one of the pioneers of Russian language teaching in India. He worked actively in the Friends of the Soviet Union (FSU) organisation and its successor the Indo-Soviet Cultural Society (ISCUS), where he was closely connected with the FSU monthly THE INDO-SOVIET JOURNAL and the ISCUS quarterly AMITY as their executive editor. He started teaching Russian in an honorary capacity in ISCUS in 1954 and joined the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in 1960. He taught at the IIT Bombay for over seven years and brought out the first Russian textbook published in India written by him and a Russian colleague V.I. Balin, who headed the Hindi Department in Leningrad and taught Russian at the IIT in 1961-1964.

Ravi Bakaya joined the Institute of Russian Studies (now Centre of Russian Studies, JNU) as Reader in 1967. He did his Ph.D. in Philology from Moscow University in 1973.

In 1977-78 he collaborated with four authors, two of them Soviet, to write another textbook for Russian for philologists under a UGC programme. The book was published in Moscow. Dr. Bakaya retired as Professor from the JNU in 1985. He has many academic papers and translations to his credit.

Since his retirement Prof. Bakaya has been writing on subjects connected with the former Soviet Union, the Communist movement in India and has also edited several books. He is past 83 now. Presently he is editing the reminiscences of his sister Vimla Dang and the poems and songs of his mother Kamla Bakaya (in Hindi).

By Moti Lal Kemmu

Whenever Kashmiris migrated to other parts of the country for longer times or permanent settlement they were known as Kashmiris because of their language and customs. While speaking Hindi in Hindi-Urdu belt they could be recognized by their accent as well. A Kashmiri can easily adopt and learn languages and customs of other parts of India, particularly northern India. Most of migrated Kashmiris built Mohallas in Delhi, Lucknow, Benaras and other cities as well.

In some cities some of the lanes or by-lanes are named after Kashmiris of the locality who made their name famous by their chosen profession. Kashmiris are proud of their motherland and also feel proud in being called Kashmiri anywhere in the world.

But the famous poet-playwright of last century who is known as Kashmiri inspite of his Takhalus as ‘Hashar’ is Aga Mahmood, better known as Agha Hashar Kashmiri.

Kashmir is famous all around the world for its Shawls. Even during the reign of Kanishka Shawl merchants used to participate in the trade melas at Sialkote and sell shawls. They were known as ‘Dausika’ for selling Dussas of Pashmina.

Parents of Agha Hashar had migrated to Benaras in connection with shawl business. Aga Hashar was son of Aga Mahmad Ghani Shah who had migrated to Benaras and was married there in the year 1868 A.D. ‘Hashar’ was born and brought up at Banaras in Nariyal Bazar Mohalla Govind Kalan. His date of birth is 3rd April, 1879. He passed away at Lahore on 28th April, 1945. Most of the education was given to him at home and was taught Arabic, Persian and Urdu, mainly religious as his father was opposed to English and European style of education. However, on the insistance of his friends and customers Aga Hashar was admitted in Jai Narayan Mission High School. He could not get through in the tests and therefore he read at home.

At the initial stage Mahmood Hashar helped his father in business but gave it up shortly. Those days Parsi Theatre Companies were presenting shows of their plays at different cities in the country. Hashar developed taste for acting and writing plays for the companies during the days of his education. He had talent for writing poetry. Those days Parsi Theatre was real patron of poets who could write both poetry and plays. The atmosphere at home was not conducive for this activity and therefore, Agha Mahmood Hashar left for Bombay to try his luck in the field of playwrighting. At Banaras he had written a play in seven days entitled ‘Aaftab-e-Mohabbat‘ which was not liked by the the master of the Alfred Company but was purchased for Rs 60/- by one Abdul Karim Khan owner of the Urdu paper Aksser-e-Banaras who published the same. In Bombay he met the proprietor of Alfred Co. Shri Kowas Ji Palan Ji Khataow and recited his poems to him. He liked the talent of recitation and presentation of poems by Hashar and he was appointed on Rs 15 per month for writing plays for the company. Thus started his relation with the company and he got proper atmosphere to write plays. He wrote Murid-e-Shak, his first play for the company. The play was an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Winter Tale. It was successfully produced and presented by the Company and His wages were enhanced to Rs 40/- per month.

Thus started the career of a professional Playwright. His plays could be divided into four phases as per his stay in Bombay, Calcutta and other cities. We could enumerate his plays written from 1899 to 1901 for Alfred Company as under: 1. Mureed-i-Shak (1899). Hashar called it translation but some others consider it an adaptation of Shakespear’s Winter Tale. The company presented it more than 50 times.

2. Nare Aasteen (1899-1900) 3. Asser–e-Hiras (1901). The play was based on B.R. Sheridan’s play “Pizarro” 4. Meethi Churi or Durangi Duniya (1901) 5. Dame-Husun/Thandi Aagh (1901).

All the above plays became popular and Agha Hashar began to gain popularity.

Now other companies had also viewed the progress of Agha Hashar and recognised his talent. Within a period of half decade Hashar had experienced writing shorter songs, crisp situations, witty, sharp and pointed dialogues full of idoms and poetic virtues. Scenes were well-planned with dramatic atmosphere, romantic situations and conventional settings.

During the second phase of playwrighting from 1902 to 1910, Hashar wrote the following plays which were presented by different companies besides Alfred Company:- 1. Shahide Nan., for Alfred Company. Its some scenes were presented by some other companies of the time and later Hashar re-wrote the play after 2 years.

2. Saide Hawas, written in 1905-06 was based on Shakespeare’s “King John”.

Hashar exploited Shakespear’s dramatic acumen imaginatively. It was produced by Parsi Theatrical Company in 1906.

3. Safaid Khoon. Based on the plot of Shakespear’s famous tragedy “King Lear”, this play was written in the year 1907 for 7 months for Bombay Natak Mandali for monthly salary of Rs 250/- 4. Khwabe Hasti. Though written in 1908 the play derives main thematic inspiration from Shakespear’s Macbeth particularly ‘Dream Scene’. It was produced by New Alfred Theatrical Company.

5. Khoobsurat Bala. This 4 act play was written in 1909. This play is also considered to be influenced and adapted from Macbeth. Vice and virtue being the main theme it was a very popular play.

By now Hashar was so popular through his plays that he achieved country-wide reputation and some called him Indian Shakespeare. There were about a hundred playwrights from Hindi-Urdu belt, Gujarat, Hyderabad, Bombay, Delhi and even Lahore and Calcutta who were writing for different Parsi Theatrical Companies and must have influenced each other as is evident from similarity of titles of some other plays. But those who were contemporaries of Hashar and may have influenced him or got influenced in one way or other were Munshi Mahmood Ali Miyan ‘Benarasi’, Pt.

Narayan Prasad ‘Betab’, Mir Ghulam Abbas, Qazi Sayaad Hussain ‘Nashtar’, Shaad Abdul Lateef, and Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Naja. During his third phase of playwrighting Hashar wrote some of the significant plays and also moved to Calcutta from Bombay where he found atmosphere more congenial for his writing-ability.

1. Silver King (1910) based on the play of Henry Arthur Jones of the same title. It was known under another title of Naik Parveen.

2. Pehla Pyar (1911), a social play on Indian society was his original play.

3. Van Devi (1913) This was written in pure Hindi.

4. Bharat Ramani (1914) was again an imaginative and original play. It focussed on Love and social problems. Hashar had acted as a Tantrik in the play.

5. Yahudi Ki Larki (1915). This play was perhaps based on W.T.

Mancrift’s play ‘Jews’. A film of the same title was made in later years which was very popular.

6. Sher Ki Gharaz was another imaginative play. Conflict of Thought Content, philosophy and atmosphere was the theme.

7. In 1920 Hashar wrote one of his famous plays ‘Bilwa-Mangal’ on Sur Dass. It was a very popular play of the last century.

8. Madhur Murli in Hindi was another imaginative play by Hashar related with Lord Krishna and the music of his Flute.

9. Bhagirath Ganga, based on Puranic story. It was later published from Lahore and was titled Bhagirathi alias Ghanga Avtaran.

During the fourth and last phase of his playwrighting Hashar was in Calcutta from 1920 to 1932 and wrote about dozen plays of significance, most of them in Hindi and experimenting and improvising his styles.

1. Rustum Soharab, (1920) based on Firdausi’s Shahnama.

2. Hindustan (1921) in three parts, based on Indian History and Ramayan story.

3. Aurat Ka Pyar (1921). A film was also made on the plot of the play which shows the popularity of this play.

4. Mashriki Hoor, very popular play from Hashar written in 1922. A social play.

5. Aankh Ka Nasha written in 1923-24. Anti-prostitution and social evils.

6. Sita Vanvas in 1927-28, based on Ramayana. By now Hashar had started his own Drama company which was later sold to Nawab of Charkhari.

7. Bhisham Partighya written in 1928 and was based on Mahabharata story.

8. Bharati Bala written in 1929.

Exposure of social evils was the main theme.

9. Dharmi Balak Gharib Ki Duniya was written in 1929.

10. Dil Ki Pyas written in 1930-32 is perhaps the last play penned by Hashar.

Some of the plays written by Hashar are not available as he used to sell his plays to the Companies or was paid Munshi of some companies. During his last days he moved to Lahore where he formed his own film company. The films made on Hashar’s plays or plots of the plays are, Yahudi Ki Larki, Bhisham Pratighya, Shirin Farhad, Aurat Ka Pyar, Chandi Dass, Kismat Ka Shikar and Dil Ki Aag.

Though Hashar was not highly educated, yet he had studied European and oriental classics particularly, Shakespeare and Sheridan, Firdausi, Ramyana and Mahabharata.

Whatever and whichever scene from European plays he liked, he would either directly translate it or translate and adapt the same in his own style and language befitting Indian atmosphere. The style of rendering dialogues in Parsi style was known as ‘Blood and Thunder’ style because of the poetic rendering of dialogues, which were written stylishly. For about one century Parsi Theatre had survived in the country when theatre halls were constructed in the cities and towns and touring companies were presenting shows. Aga Hashar Kashmiri’s plays were seen with keenness, and were highly appreciated. He is the first Muslim playwright who has been awarded Gold Medal by Benaras Hindu University in recognition of his contribution to playwriting and Indian Theatre.

Later on Indian cinema broke the backbone of this theatre movement and Parsi Theatre Halls were turned into cinema houses and people were attracted to see films.

Almost all the famed actors, directors, musicians, scenic designers and writers connected with Parsi Theatre joined cinema world and films on Parsi drama scripts were made into films. For more than half a century the Indian cinema was influenced by the conventions of Parsi theatre.

In our state a man of literature is known as ADEEB. Only poets, short story writers and critics come into this category but playwright is not termed as “Adeeb”. That is why Agha Hashar Kashmiri has been neglected and no chair in any University has been created on his name. Writing drama is perhaps considered inferior literature Alas!

*The author is a noted Play-Wright. He has played pioneering role in reviving Kashmir’s Folk-Theatre, Baand Pather. His book ‘Bhandnatyam’ is considered to be a classic on Kashmir’s Folk-Theatre.

By Madan Mohan Puri

I had turned 17 when Independence came in 1947, bringing in its wake an avalanche of miserable refugees, a hefty mass of which streamed into Ferozepur, the town of my birth which almost submerged too in unprecedented flood waters that year. Coping with such overwhelming inundation were the Deputy Commissioner, Gian Singh Kahlon and his SSP, A.K. Kaul. Marauders from across the border were unleashed in Kashmir in October.

Scions of the town’s gentry and some talented enthusiasts decided upon a fund-raising variety show in December to contribute to the efforts needed at the hour. Participation in the show brought me in contact with brothers Raj and his brother Brij.

Thus started a friship with Raj Kaul that matured and deepened over the years to become for me, the measure to gauge intellectual propensity, values of academic honesty and integrity, and the urge to subscribe to the very sublime in academia – transparently, without the corrupting veneer of hypocrisy or pretence.

Raj went to Magdalen College, Oxford to return as Lecturer in English at the Panjab University College, Hoshiarpur, in 1953.

Deeply in love with the English language, Raj showed extraordinary sensitivity to its syntax and diction, to subtle nuances of words and idiom in usage. He would hesitate to use ‘obstinate’ where ‘stubborn’ seemed more appropriate; similarly, he would urge the subtle distinction in some of the commonly interchangeably or carelessly used words: ‘gaudy’/ ‘flashy’, ‘sturdy’/‘strong’, ‘stupid’/‘silly’, ‘stress’/‘emphasise’, and so on.

He once took considerable pains to write to me the distinction between ‘duffer’ and ‘dunce’. Perhaps, his work on Dr Johnson had honed this trait in him, for he instinctively inclined to the view ‘let dictionary’ (alone) dictate’, and advised so.

His passion to use the right word and correct syntax was a byword among his students who loved him not only for his erudition in the subject and under-statements, but the pain he took in correcting their speech and written work. I have seen the essays corrected by him that some of his students of 1962-64 have carefully preserved till date. He was, indeed, a model teacher – kind, generous and concerned.

A tall intellectual, modest and self-effacing about his mastery of English to a fault, who himself observed – he was published in Oxford’s renowned Essays in Criticism in 1963 and later – and set high, yet attainable, standards in academics, Raj Kaul was widely respected for his stature, a sympathetic but uncompromising teacher, unbiased selector, and a model of probity and rectitude.

Panjab University had him on its selection committees and indicated that he was entitled to to-and-fro air travel, which he declined and chose to come by bus from Jaipur, for, he said, that was the mode he could afford and ordinarily used!

“My family was based in Ludhiana. In 1955 I did not join Government College, Ludhiana, but Panjabi University College, Hoshiarpur, for MA in English. Because an English lady Miss AG Stock, was working in the English Department of Punjab University based there. Luckily for me, Raj Kaul had also just about joined the Department after his Honours Degree at Oxford,” recalls Prof S.S. Hans, a Sikh historian.

“Raj Kaul firmly believed that you should attempt writing if you really want to understand literature. The creative effort would make you appreciate the difficulties involved in writing.

One evening, during a literary function of the department, Raj Kaul asked me if I wrote. I said that was going to start. He said, “do it from today!” He turned a student into a writer – to my good and ill luck.

Most of us do not know how to read English poetry. Most of us do not even know how to read Punjabi poetry. In his classes on practical criticism, Prof Kaul showed us the way an Englishman reads poetry. An Englishman reads a poem at least twice. His first reading is to feel the drift of what the poet is saying. His second reading confirms or disconfirms his initial hunch. He may attempt it the third time for the sheer enjoyment of it, along with a realisation of the technical subtleties. You have to earn the enjoyment of English poetry.

Paradoxically, I learnt my art of history writing in Raj Kaul’s classes of practical criticism. With years a realisation has grown in me that Raj Kaul taught me how to x-ray historical evidence.

Raj Kaul was a lifelong friend and teacher. I attended his marriage party – a feat by a student to attend the marriage of his teacher.

Prof Yashdeep Bains, another student, who teaches English literature in an American University, recalls:

“I was fortunate to encounter at Punjab University College, Hoshiarpur. Dr R.K. Kaul and Miss Stock. Both had studied at Oxford. Prof Kaul was a brilliant Kashmiri who went to Oxford after receiving his education at Government College, Lahore. His tutorials with CS Lewis at Magdalene College transformed him from a typical Indian slave of notes to an indepent thinker.

“Looking back at the number of individuals who have received their doctorate in British and American universities, Raj Kaul was the exception to the rule. Most of them revert to the Indian method of circulating notes year after year. Kaul imported the teaching method he had benefited from at Oxford.”

“To Mr Kaul, I owe a tremendous debt. He asked us to discuss and write our reactions to our readings, instead of para-phrasing the opinions of others; to cultivate our own sensibilities and sharpen our response to the complexities and subtleties of the language.”

*R.K. Kaul was MA (Oxford) Ph.D (London), Visiting Fellow, Yale University (1983), professor of English, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, and Emeritus Fellow. He has edited Pope’s “Rape of the Lock”. He died last month in Jaipur.

By Dr. Brij Premi

The people of Kashmir are known for their sharp in tellect, scholarship, artistic imagination and creative potential from times immemorial. They have shown their worth in the varied fields of philosophy, art and literature. Our contribution to Sanskrit, Persian, Dogri, Urdu, Hindi and English languages proves our grip not only on the medium but also the depth on the philosophical, poetical, theological, historical and other subjects alike. During the 20th century Urdu became a powerful medium of expression, after it became the court language in 1889 but in the absence of a local paper (which started from early thirties) it was difficult to express oneself. It was at this juncture in early twenties, before the publication of any paper from Kashmir, that some dailies and weeklies provided opportunity to the young talented writers of Kashmir to express themselves. One such weekly journal was Akhbar-i-Aam of Lahore, edited by Pandit Gopi Nath Gurtu. It started reserving some columns for the publication of News and Views about Kashmir. This gave philip to the young budding writers of the Valley. Prem Nath Sadhu Raunaq, a man with a promising pen, began sending his poems to this weekly. The publication of his poems encouraged him to put his zeal and zest in his writings. It was Raunaq, who in later years assumed the pen name of “Pardesi” and dominated the field of Urdu short story in Kashmir.

Raunaq came from a middle class family. His grand father, Pandit Sahaj Koul was a high-up in the Dogra hierarchy. He had as such accumulated lot of wealth and estate, but this wealth did not last long. Soon it slipped away from his hands. Consequently his son, Pandit Mahadev Koul had to seek an ordinary employment in the state department of Dredge and Floods. This being a temporary service, Pandit Mahadev Koul soon found himself out of job and finally breathed his last at an early age. Raunaq was in his teens then. He had barely passed matriculation and took his college education for a short span of time. In order to provide livelihood for his family he had to bid farewell to education. In the beginning, he took employment as an agent with a lawyer, then he shifted to a railway agency for sometime. It was some years later that he succeeded in securing employment in the state customs and excise department as Sub-Inspector, where he served most of his life. In this service, Raunaq was posted to remote corners of the state, which provided him an opportunity to visit many places and study the masses from close quarters. These tours helped him to understand the suffering of the people under the Dogra autocracy. This ultimately changed the entire course of his thinking and motivated him to portray the real life of the people.

Prem Nath Raunaq started his writing career by composing poems and writing stories for children. His earlier poems were published in “Vitasta”, Hamdard, Ranbir and Akhbar-i-Aam of Lahore during the early thirties. But he felt soon that his real field was not poetry. He, therefore, tried his pen in prose. For a long time he retained his pen name Raunaq but abandoned it in later years when he wrote short stories and “Adbi-i-Latif”. He wrote a lot from 1932-1938 but all these writings contained romantic characters divorced from the hard and naked realities of day to day life. Not only the scheme of plots but the characters and the dialogues also, were alien. It was the same time, when Munshi Prem Chand, Sajjad Hyder Yeldaram, Sudhershan, Majnu Gorkhpuri and Niaz Fatehpuri had created a stir in the work of Urdu fiction. Prem Chand though an idealist had smoothened the ground for realism though he himself continued to be an idealist for a long time. Barring Prem Chand all other writers were writing with romantic flavour. The translation of Tagore and his style also had created a stir in the contemporary fiction. Pardesi flourished in this atmosphere. He was fascinated in the beginning by Tagore in his poetic prose and subsequently by Prem Chand. This finds an echo in the earlier Adabi-i-Latifs and short stories. Dekate Geet, Pujari, Milnay Kay Din, Do Ankhay, Birhan Kay Geet, Phool, Sazish, Nabeena Gakiayar, Ban Malla, Aprinay Chand Say, etc. are some of such writings to quote. This form of writing is exclusively reflected in Adab-i-Lateef technique and is predominantly influenced by Tagore.

The style and the content is rich with his emotional touches decorated with a deep sense of aesthetics. Writing about this form, in one of his letters in response to my querries Sh. P.N. Bazaz, a reknowned author and journalist, recalls those days:-

“He showed me a number of short stories almost all of which were unpublished. They were one and all romantic in character with nothing in them corresponding to real life, the actors were invariably non-Kashmiris and their field of activity was outside Kashmir.”

Pardesi’s such writings are not all waste. One can very well visualize, Pardesi in making. He language is simple, his style is chaste and his imagery is fertile. One may not find ruthlessness of life in these themes but one enjoys the intensity of emotions expressed in a wonderful style. These prose pieces, though strictly not short stories, have definitely the fragrance of the stories. These are stories without a definite plot scheme but with thoughtfulness and something sublime in them. Surprisingly, Pardesi has not included such writings, some of them marvellous compositions, in any one of his collections.

Paradesi’s creative genius found full expression in the columns of ‘Vitasta’ edited by Sh. P.N. Bazaz and ‘Martand’ of Sanatan Dharma Yuvak Sabha. These papers, especially “Martand’ which came into existence in 1935, very soon dominated the field of journalism in Kashmir during its early years. Its special numbers earned a great name in the whole of Northern India. During these years of making, Pardesi like Prem Chand and Saadat Hassan Manto, wrote under many fictitious names. Some of the names were Raunaq, Prem Nath Sadhu, Sadhu Kashmiri, Babu, Ullama Illat and Balak Ram Bari. He took an anti-government stance and wrote some columns of ‘Vitasta’ and ‘Hamdard’ permanently. Since he was a government servant, he never wanted to be exposed but all the same he acted like Prem Chand and contributed his bit to the freedom struggle of Kashmir. In one of his letters addressed to me, Sh. P.N. Bazaz writes:-

“Pardesi was anxious that his production of a political nature should not be divulged to the authorities or political leaders. He had complete confidence in me and I never let any one know the identity of the author of any article, play or short story even though I incurred displeasure of the authorities and top leaders by their publication”.

These writings earned him and the papers a great name. It is in the stories written during this time that one is amazed to find the fertility of his creative genius. He wrote inexhaustibly and wove stories of different shades. This entire period is influenced by the earlier writings of Prem Chand, whom he considered his Guru. Most of these writings bloom with colour, romance and thrill, no doubt that these writings at the same time speak of immaturity and deficiency in craft of story weaving. Besides writing for ‘Martand’ and other journals outside the state, he virtually edited the special and Sunday editions of ‘Hamdard’. His range of writing, besides stories and Adab-i-Lateef, was spread to the literary discussions, book reviews and articles on social reform. This included caricatures and comments on contemporary politics and state administration. All this was, however, being done earlier and the progressive movement in Urdu literature had not taken its birth till then and the struggle for freedom and secular character had not taken shape in Kashmir. It is on this account that one feels immaturity of content in this period in Pardesi’s writings. The entire field is dominated by romantic background and one feels that it has no relevance to the life and sufferings of the common masses. These writings simply amaze and do not infuse any revolutionary fervour. The entire process is unearthly and speaks of the stories of the unknown worlds.

The first collection of his short stories ‘Sham-e-Saher’ reveals such themes ‘Rajo Ki Dolli’, ‘Parcel’, Man Ka Piyar’, Jaikara’ ‘Santosh’, Sulakhun Kay Peechay’, ‘Sacha Dost’ etc. are some of the stories which need mention in this context.

Pardesi had seen many ups and downs in his life. The untimely death of his father had put him to penury and he was compelled to take-up employment. This poverty and want gave him an insight in understanding the problems of poor people. The Dogra autocracy had made the life of the people meaningless under the strain of exploitation. The blood stained hands of feudal system had tightened its grip on the administrative set-up, resulting in exploitation, nepotism, illiteracy, unemployment and economic disparity amongst the people. In 1938, National Conference emerged under the leadership of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. The freedom struggle received inspiration from the national movement and achieved new dimension. Maharaja Hari Singh’s government in the beginning had shown some democratic aptitude but he was soon overshelved by his unwise advisers. The result was the democratic rights were denied. Masses were burdened under heavy taxation, higher cost of living, illiteracy and backwardness.

Pardesi  during this period had toured the entire state in the capacity of Sub-Inspector of Customs and Excise and had obtained first hand knowledge of the people. He had also widened his knowledge and vision after studying the progressive literature and classics of different languages. He learnt a good deal about Gorky, Chekov and Maupassant also. Pardesi felt for the first time that all his writings were waste.  He had heard the whisper of the changing tide and it was at this time he felt that he had not been honest in his writings. He confessed his shortcomings as under :-

“I cannot be proud of what I wrote from 1932-1938. I could not visualise what my duties would be as a writer of short stories, the duties towards my beloved country-the same country whose 400 million masses remained enslaved for 4 centuries and whose roots had been hollowed in poverty and exploitation”. (Behte Chirag).

But the thinking of Pardesi had been undergoing a change for many years. Before the beginning of the freedom struggle in Kashmir he was swayed by the realism of Prem Chand. In 1933, ‘Angarey’ was published. This was a new voice with new ideas—A voice choked with emotions and anger. Pardesi makes a frank confession of his being incompetent and far from honest in the following words:-

“Then Angarey, the first book of progressive writers was published. I felt that whatever I had written was sheer waste. There was nothing except romance in it. I enlarged my study and read the Indian and European authors, whose every word revealed anger, grief and revolution against the old social order, which had worn out by now. This was a new voice, which had echoed in India after Russian revolution and which had awakened the people”. (A letter to Siddiqa Begum, a well-known progressive writer)

Soon the progressive movement started in India, which gave a new dimension to the Urdu fiction. The period of purposelessness, sick romanticism, formalism and mere imaginative art was over. In sharp contradiction to this attitude problems of common man, purposefulness of values, economic disparity, hypocrisy and exploitation of haves over have-nots found the main theme in the stories of Pardesi and he began to be called ‘Prem Chand’ of Kashmir by his readers. Pardesi by his extensive and keen observation translated the true spirit of his time in to his literature.

The second collection of Pardesi’s short stories was ‘Duniya Hamari’, which appeared in forties. It has an introduction by Rajinder Singh Bedi. This collection seems to be different from his earlier works and is devoid of cheap sentimentalism and romanticism. The content of these stories is rich thematically and the treatment is conspicuously different. These stories reveal his social consciousness. The understanding of human behaviour is vivid. The style is different, simple and lucid. Pardesi does not seem to waste words, nor does he use the ladder of similies and metaphors. He weaves his stories in very simple words and leaves the conclusion to the reader. In his style and treatment of the subject, he seems closer to Saadat Hassan Mantoo. He maintains unity of impression and grip over the story by his brevity. He is neither a social reformer nor a political orater. His ‘Kargar’, ‘Osool Ki Dunniya’, ‘Vapsi’, etc. are some of the great examples of this period.

Pardesi was a great lover of his land. He was conscious that his contemporaries living out side the state had always considered Kashmir as a playground of cheap pleasure. Prominent among such writers was Krishen Chander and Aziz Ahmed who in the name of painting Kashmir had always distorted the real picture of this land. It is for this reason chiefly that we find very seldom the description of ‘heaven on earth’ – the water falls, the rivulets, the springs, mountains and meadows. Instead he portrayed the ‘horrible’ pictures of Kashmir. He portrayed the life of starving and toiling masses-the underprivileged, the artisans and craftsmen, the exploited ‘Hatos’, the peasants, the boatmen and the ordinary poor people, with their small dreams and aspirations, who were destined to live the life of misery and perish in the wilderness. His stories woven with complete confidence and dexterity, with honesty and truth spoke of the struggle for freedom from the shackles of Dogra autocracy. In order to continue his struggle, he lashed out at the system under the pen name of ‘Balak Ram Bari’. His third collection ‘Bahtey Chirag’ was compiled after his death. This collection is the true representative of Kashmiri character and bursts out with the feelings of revolt-revolt against naked exploitation, conservatism and like his Guru, Prem Chand awakens us from deep slumber of ignorance, backwardness, and religious fanaticism, ‘Kutbah’, ‘Kagaz Ki Jhandiya’, ‘Tawari’ ‘Khoon Aur Kikay’, ;Jahan Sarhad Militi Hai’, ‘Junjuna’, ‘Bahtey Chirag’, ‘Karigar’ ‘Dhool’, ‘Uglay Saal’, ‘Devta Kahan Hain’, Salesman’ etc. are some of the stories worth mentioning.

Pardesi was a master craftsman of storytelling and story weaving. He maintains the element of interest from the beginning till end. His technique is neither abstract nor symbolic. He maintains unity of impression with compactness of situations, characterization and mental behaviour. In his later years, he, however made certain experiments with regard to his technique. In fact, Urdu short story in India underwent a strange process of evolution and Pardesi could not escape this influence. The use of similies and metaphars is vivid when compared to his stories written earlier. The language is better.

Pardesi was a great traditional short story writer. He synthesized plot, scheme, purposefulness and interest into one entity. He is not a propagandist but a genuine writer and hence he does not possess journalistic attitude. He is aware of the psychological factors too and paints it in broad social spectrum. It is for this reason that we find simple and complex characters in his art. He was a great writer. Had he lived a full life, he would have given more realistic pieces of art with full responsibility and artistic insight.

These lines were written as Forward to Prof. Hari Ram Gupta’s biography on Mohan Lal from Allahabad on July 13, 1940. –Editor

By Jawaharlal Nehru

Many years ago – it is so long that I have forgot ten where and when it was, in England or in India – I came across two battered volumes, heavy with age, as I was indulging in the pleasant pastime of browsing in a bookshop. They had been published in the early forties of the nineteenth century in England and the title attracted me.

They were the Memoirs and Journal of Mohan Lal Kashmerian.

The title was attractive and even more so the picture of a remarkably handsome young man which was given as a frontis piece. Who was this very attractive young Indian, I wondered, hailing from my old homeland of Kashmir, who had ventured so far, and, what is more, written about his travels in the English language, so long ago? I had never heard of him. I was filled with excitement, as of a new discovery, and concluding my bargain with the keeper of the bookshop, hastened away with these volumes.

I read them and my interest and excitement grew. Here was a person full of the spirit of adventure, to whom adventure came in full measure before he was out of his boyhood. He did not shrink from it, but welcomed it, and wrote about it, so that others might share it a little with him. Danger and difficulty were his constant companions, and disasters sometimes overwhelmed his party. But he never seems to have lost his resourcefulness and his quick mind and soft tongue were equal to any occasion. He had an amazing aptitude for the ways and intrigues of diplomacy, and it is astonishing how he could win over even hardened opponents to his side.

The British power profited by Mohan Lal’s ability fully. Often, as Mohan Lal admits sorrowfully, he gave definite pledges on behalf of the British authority, which were not subsequently kept.

In a free India a man like Mohan Lal would have risen to the topmost rungs of the political ladder.

Under early British rule, whatever he might be or whatever he might do, he could not rise higher than the position of a Mir Munshi or at most a Deputy Collector.

After his first exciting fifteen years or so, his life seems to have become dull and empty.

There was apparently no place or activity suitable for him in India, and he must have lived largely in the past when he was the honoured guest of the rulers of Asia and Europe, or when he was a central figure in a stirring drama of life and death. Probably this very prominence that came to him early in life became an obstacle in later years. His superior British officers were jealous of his ability and of his contact with sovereigns and others, who were beyond their reach. Mohan Lal’s later years are pathetic and depressing.

Accustoming himself to an expensive standard of living, he was continually in debt and sending appeals to the British authorities for help or compensation for the moneys spent by him during the Kabul campaigns. These appeals were rejected.

When I first read Mohan Lal’s Journal and Memoirs, I was eager to know more about him. I managed to obtain his life of Dost Mohammed, but this did not help me much. I enquired from Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, who is a repository of all manner of curious information and knowledge. Sir Tej Bahadur knew of Mohan Lal and his family but he could not enlighten me much. I was delighted to learn, therefore, from Dr SK Datta that one of his students had undertaken to write a life of Mohan Lal. Shri Hari Ram Gupta has evidently taken great pains over this work and he has done something that was worth doing.

This book, enables us to know something about a fascinating person.

It gives us intimate and revealing glimpses of the early days of British rule in north India, of the Punjab under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, of the British campaigns through Sind and in Afghanistan, of the disasters in Kabul, and of the prevailing conditions in Central Asia in the thirties of the nineteenth century. These glimpses are not flattering to the British.

For a student of history and of economic and social conditions this book has importance. There is one thing, however, that I miss in it. There is very little about Mohan Lal as a man or about his personal life. That he was an adventurer, there is no doubt, but he was something much more, and even his adventures have a high quality – welcoming risk and danger, and facing death often enough, he was yet a lover of pleasure and the soft ways of life – a politician and scholar, with something of the poet and the artist in him, which peeps out continually from his Memoirs and Travels. In the middle of a narrative of political happenings and economic data, he begins to admire the charm of nature, or to describe the beauty of the women he saw in the market-place or drawing water from a village well. I should like to know more about this unusual and attractive and much married man. I should like to know what happened to his daughter who was sent to England for her education.

Perhaps now that attention is being directed to Mohan Lal by this book, more information will be forthcoming from various sources.

Pt. Mohan Lal was a brilliant Diplomat

Mohan Lal was a typical Kashmiri Pandit. From the race he derived good looks, natural grace of expression and virile courtliness. To his own family he was indebted for sensitive pride and capacity to put up with the rough and tumble of political conflicts. He inherited from his parents a shrewd instinct for getting and keeping, a distinct gift of courtiership, and great enthusiasm for things of the mind.

He was tall and very handsome with classically regular features. “In appearance Mohan Lal is agreeable with pleasing manners, his features are marked and countenance intelligent”. His slim and manly figure, his majestic turban, his fine dress, his well-trimmed moustaches, sharp-pointed nose and large, prominent eyes, all inspired an emotion of their own, and gave an added interest to his conversation.

His laugh was melodious.

He possessed a sweet disposition and scattered sunshine and good cheer by giving a kind word and throwing a pleasant smile to every one. Few of those living in his company ever found it possible to resist his fascinating and merry charm. It was not so much that he was extraordinarily witty in society; but he created an easy atmosphere, in the midst of which every companion thought and talked with ease and spontaneity. He was a fine talker.

His demeanour, his humility, his impulsiveness, his effective delivery, and his magnetic personality, made him a delightful companion. He could therefore dominate both men and women. A. Burton, the Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana, says : “When I first came here I cultivated his acquaintance from a desire to hear from him an account of those stirring events in which he had borne a part and likewise from a feeling that a man who had been so well-received in England and other parts of Europe by the very first people, Kings and Queens not excepted, should not be ignored by the British society of this country as I found Mohan Lal was and thus be driven back in his heathen and ignorant associates to the inevitable deterioration of the enlightened ideas he had acquired in his European tour”.

“I like Mohan Lal. I find him a very agreeable, well-informed, companionable man, plenty to say, and by no means unobservant.

He got into bad hands, as was natural, for the best English society seems not to have been open to him. I have been told he drank at military messes and made himself disagreeable to the army officers in that way. Then his associating with Nubee Buksh and Mr. Hodges was of course against him; but he has had no fair chance on his return from Europe; from dining with princes he found himself shut out except from the converse of men like Hodges, a discharged clerk of this office who drank his champagne and encouraged him to drink it likewise.” Another remarkable trait in his character was intuition, subtlety and divination which enabled him to understand and appreciate those who came into contact with him. He was cool and courageous. He was never so happy and so resourceful as when confronted with most serious problems. His fierce and restless energy was a great asset.

When required, he could work for long hours with enthusiasm and even with relish.

He was an adept in the art of pleasing.

His personality always attracted, never repelled.

There was a heartiness in his expression, in the smile, in the handshake and in the cordiality with which he greeted people.

Capable of both thought and action, and equally at home in matters of daily routine, he was at his best in the midst of miseries and misfortunes. In the time of political crisis alone he could display his great talents to the full. Then he found a continuous interest in political work and a constant compulsion to use his full weight in the game. He could then force co-operation with men of different classes and temperament.

At such times he showed that he was endowed with mental powers of the first order, and that his readiness and resources were extraordinary.

He was at his best when he was required to persuade people, not ordinary persons, but leaders of men. Then he could bring everyone to the point at which he could be used not by deception but by suggestion.

In a word he was a born diplomat and the real field of his work was politics.

He had a passion for beauty and for beautiful things. He was at home with literary men in the library, with sportsmen in the field, and with poets in moonlit gardens.

He was familiar with the best that the Persian poets had sung, and the loveliest that the artists had created in form and colour.

He loved with the charm of roses and lilies, singing birds and green boughs. He enjoyed life, and believed that this world was really a place worth living in. He was never too tired for more festivities, more songs, more wine and more women.

“Wherever he went he managed to take a new wife unto himself, usually marrying in the highest circles”.

When forced to lead a life of retirement at the young age of thirty-four, he found himself freed of all obstructions, usually imposed by public life. Consequently, passion now found itself untrammeled. Formerly, he was carried away by the love of glory, and snow, he was swept away by the love of wine and women. He could not devote himself to a pursuit, whether politics or pleasure, half-heartedly; it possessed him entirely. He did everything with a gusto, every nerve and every fibre. He was a man of literary taste, and had a library of his own. This escaped destruction at the hands of the mutineers in Delhi, and was donated by him at his death to the Municipality of Ludhiana. He was a writer of no mean merit. His Journals, Travels and Life of the Amir Dost Mohammad Khan of Kabul clearly show that he possessed deftness and exterity in writing his personal experiences. All these works suggest considerable possibilities. He is said to have kept a detailed diary for the last forty-five years of his life. If it comes to light he will undoubtedly rank as the greatest Indian diarist of modern times.

His numerous letters in manuscript display an easy style of English in spite of his eccentric phraseology. He had a command of language and a felicitous touch in sketching an incident or a character.

In reading these letters we feel that his aim was truth rather than effect. His observations on persons and places are interesting and illuminating. He was free and frank while giving counsels to his superiors on events and tendencies which affected the grave issues of peace and war and the lives of thousands of men and women.

Exhilaration of spirit, buoyancy of mind, vigour of body, keenness for achievement, will to power and the awareness of great faculties – these were the elements of his success.

All that remains of Mohan Lal’s activities in this world are his three books mentioned above. At Ludhiana he built a religious place for the Shias known as Agha Hasan Jan’s Imambara. Close by it there ran a road bearing his name. His grave in Lal Bagh, Delhi, was in ruins in 1939 and has now disappeared.

Mohan Lal’s life does not challenge the attention of the world, but modestly solicits it.

(Source: Punjab, Central Asia and the First Afghan War)

Dr. Prem Nath Kachroo, the legendary Professor and a foremost researcher was a renowned Botanist of National and international fame.

His name evokes respect and reverence, he was a teacher with a difference. Besides being a hard task-master guide, a considerate friend and a perfect
 human being; he was a stunning combination of all the positive and good qualities of life all rolled in one.

As an illustrious scientist, Dr. Kachroo had luminosity of contributions in the field of Biosystematics, Cytogentics, Ecology, Morphology and research studies related to the geographical distribution of plants belonging to the northwest and eastern Himalayan regions.

Being a staunch ‘devotee’ of science, he in fact ‘breathed and lived’ science. Undeniably, Prof. PN Kachroo represented the zenith of excellence in the world of science.

Shockingly, it was with stunning disbelief that the news of his unexpected and sad demise on 14th of August 2007 at New Delhi was received by his innumerable scientist colleagues, students and friends. Dr. Kachroo was a familiar name on account of his landmark research contributions.

They are of immense value in the understanding of biodiversity richness, assessment of evolutionary development relationships and adoption of conservative management measures. He had also earned name and fame for his trailblazing attainments regarding the understanding of morphological and evolutionary tendencies in the Indian Bryophytes (mosses and Liverworts). Bryophytes are a class of lower non-vascular plants, the collection and analytical classification of which is a painstaking and strenuous exercise.

This kind of energetic and efforts requiring research demands an appreciable amount of insightful knowledge, endurance and expertise, which amazingly Dr. Kachroo possessed in great amounts.

Having a modest and humble origin, Kachroo was born on 16th of October, 1924 in a middle class Kashmiri Pandit family at Alikadal, the down town area of Srinagar city. His father late Sh. Anand Ram Kachroo endowed with a religious and spiritual disposition had a knowledgeable grip on English besides the classical languages of Urdu, Sanskrit and Persian. His inspirational guidance had a telling effect in shaping young Kachroo’s earlylife.

The premature death of his father Sh. Anand Ram in the year 1942, when Kachroo was only a teenager of eighteen years deprived him of the much needed direction and protection. Hamstrung with this irreparable loss, it was left to the shattering care of his mother Smt. Daya Devi Kachroo to bring-up, educate and successfully guide her young children through all the storms and tempests of life. After completing his early education upto Intermediate examination at Srinagar, young Kachroo went all the way to Lahore to study further.

He enrolled himself in the DAV College, Lahore, where he studied Botany and Zoology apart from other subjects. Due to his passion for learning and love for the Botany subject, Kachroo went with whole hog efforts and hard labour. His hard work bore fruits and he qualified B.Sc. Hons with flying colours in the year 1946, securing first position from the then Punjab University, Lahore. In the same year, Kachroo tied the nuptial knot with Ms. Prem Lata Khoda of Mallapora, Habbakadal Srinagar. Smt. Prem Lata proved to be a constant companion to him in all the roughs and toughs of life. The unflinching interest for Botany made Kachroo to go in for specialised studies. He joined Formen Christian College, for M.Sc. Hons in the year 1947, where he chose cytomorphology as his specialised field. His extensive and high quality research at the M.Sc. level under the able guidance of Prof Prem Nath Mehra was recognised as a pioneering work. He worked in the chromosome morphology in Lilium and Fritillaria species of the Himalayan ranges. It earned him first position in the M.Sc. examination in 1948.

Later on, he joined as senior Research scholar under the guidance of Prof. P.N. Mehra, who by then had come to occupy the coveted position of the Head of the University Department of Botany, which was then housed in Khalsa College Amritsar. The topic of his Ph.D research was chromosome morphology and sporting germination in the Indian Hepaticae, with special reference to Rebouliaccea.

He was awarded the Ph.D degree in the year 1955. His work was widely appreciated and acclaimed as a remarkable research contribution. It later on formed the basis of Prof. Mehra’s address at the International Botanical Congress held at Moscow (Russia). Soon after, Dr. Kachroo left Amritsar in 1950 to join the honoured and exalted profession of a teacher in the post-graduate department of Botany at the Univerxsity of Gauhati, Assam.

At Gauhati, the nearness of the surrounding foliage, particulary that of Bryophytic and Pteridophitic flora made Dr Kachroo to undertake the massive resarch in this specific field.

His splendid research accomplishments mostly individually and a few jointly with Prof. B.K.

Nayar inthe field of of Taxonomy, floristics, morphology and phytogeography of the ferns of Assam occupies a place of pride in the research world.

They were hailed as exceptional works in terms of valuable original insights. Notwitstanding it, his interest and fascination for Bryology did not wana. His subsequent immaculately researched studies in Bryology particularly his works on Hepaticae are even now regarded as most comprehensive.

His almost insatiable hunger for scientific research made Dr. Kachroo to leave his job at Gauhati University in 1955.

He then joined Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) as a Botanist with headquarters at Burdwan, West Bengal. Here his research work was mainly centered on the ecology of the mainland water bodies of DVC specific areas. He concentrated his work on the study of aquatic vegetation in relation to the breeding of Anopheles mosquito larve in the area extending from Kolkatta to Hazaribagh. It also involved in the adoption of measures for checking the growth of water weeds at the DVC site.

In 1956, Dr. Kachroo left for America to avail the Smith Mundit Fullbright Fellowship to study the phytogeography of Alaska at the University of Michigan. However, due to certain developments, his work shifted to Taxonomic aspect of the family Lejuneacea (Hepaticea), which he undertook jointly with the fellow researcher Rindolf. M. Schuster, His tiresome research study paid-off handsomely as Dr. Kachroo succeeded in detecting several new genera and groups. He returned back to India in 1959 to join as Editor of the Research publications in the prestigious Indian Council of Agriculture Researcher, New Delhi. During his stay here, he authored valuable books on scientific editing and ferm gardening besides publishing census of Indian Hepatica.

However, the lure of his homeland Kashmir proved irresistible and he returned to his native land. He joined as Professor and head, department of Botany, J&K University, Srinagar in 1967.

During his impacting service of 23 years at the Kashmir University, the department of Botany hummed with academic and research-oriented activities.

His uplifting watchful gaze and inspiration presence gave a new resbnance to the Botany department. The successful completion of record number of thirty four Ph.D and more than fifteen M.Phils is a knowing confirmation of his able guidance and scientific genius. The department of Botany achieved phenomenal increase in the Botanical research in the J&K State with emphasis centered on floristics., cytogenetics, ecology, morphology and phytogeography of the flora of the state. Dr. Kachroo also undertook practical and objective measures to ensure advancement and growth of the studies connected with plant physiology, plant morphology and plant taxonomy. It proved a milestone in the furtherance of the research connected with the dispersal, distribution and diversity of the flora extending right from the alpine region to Kashmir Valley and plains of Jammu division. His subsequent interest developed for ethonobotanical properties of the wild flora later on stimulated the studies related to various sociocultural aspects of Kashmiris.

His vast knowledge, extensive experience and meaningful guidance combined with the assistance of his highly devoted and sincere research workers made the phytogegraphic documentation of several regional floras possible. These studies gave on organised shape to the concept of approximating affinities between Kashmir and Central Asian floras. Apart from it, it also provided insightful knowledge not only about the origin of Kashmir flora but also about the connecting distributional lines of various taxa. The revealing research work undertaken under the guidance of Dr. Kachroo on the disturbing ecological trends of the Dal Lake, Srinagar marked another spectacular contribution of the department of Botany, Kashmir University. Though originally a cytologist and evolutionary Botany, Prof. Kachroo utilised a multidimensional strategy for comprehending the principles of the biodiversity of the J&K State. His research studies on the cytological peculiarities in ferms, Irises Potentillas and alpine flora are regarded as Prof. Kachroo’s distinguished contribution, Also, the Botanical garden of Kashmir University with its’ serenity, quietness and pastoral ambience, nurtured during his headship is a speaking example of his practical guidance.

Despite his retirement from active service on 31/10/1984, Prof. Kachroo continued to work in the Botany department in his capacity as Director of Centre for Plant Taxonomy, which he established and nurtured.

Besides being Head, department of Botany and Pharmacy, Kashmir University, he also served as Dean, Faculty of Science, Associate Director (Kashmiri language), National Science Talent Search scheme and Project officer, Survey of medicinal plants unit. In addition, Prof, Kachroo was also Emeritus Fellow, UGC and Emeritus Scientist, Department of Environment and Forests Govt. of India. He also served as officiating Vice-chancellor of Kashmir University during the years 1978- 79, 1981-82 and 1983-84. He also functioned as founder Project officer, Survey of medicinal plants, Unani medicines, Member syndicate Jammu University, Member Advisory Board of RRL, Jammu and Member of the Selection Committees of Indian Agriculture Scientist Recruitment Board.

The immensely rich compendium of about a dozen Books, more than two hundred research publications, eighteen monographs and eleven major research projects are regarded as remarkable legacies left behind by Dr. P. Kachroo.

The outpouring of the welledup emotions and feelings on the sad demise of Prof. Kachroo on August 11, 2007 at New Delhi was intense and spontaneous, cutting across caste, creed and regional lines. In a condolence meeting held by the Department of Botany and Heads of Science Departments of Kashmir University on 14/8/2007, rich tributes were paid to the departed soul.

The Vice-Chancellor of Kashmir University Prof. Abdul Wahid and other faculty members remembered Dr. Kachroo as “an ideal teacher, wonderful researcher and a perfect human being”.

Recalling his 23 years of dedicated service to Kashmir University, they paid sincere homage in the following words.

“His zeal and zest for knowledge made him to occupy yhr highest academic pedestal in Kashmir University. His multi-disciplinary approach made him an all round Botanist of national and international fame.” “His contribution to the development of Botany Department and corporate life of Kashmir University are the beacon lights for us to follow,” remarked Prof.

AK Munshi Head of the Deptt. of Botany, Kashmir University.

On a similar sorrowful note, Prof. Azar Azar A. acknowledged Prof. Kachroo, as “an accomplished Botanist, who kept burning the lamp of scholarship kindled by him”.

Dr. Shashikant, former Head of Botany Deptt. Jammu University, who was also one of the first research scholars of Dr.

Kachroo in 1967 at Srinagar paid sincere homage in the following words. “Apart from being a foremost Botanist of India, Dr.

Kachroo was a writer par excellence besides being a noble human being, who knew no boundaries.” Speaking in the same vein, Dr. Shashikant continued”, Dr. Kachroo’s association with the stalwarts in Botany both at the national and international levels was well recognised”.

Dr. R.N. Gohil, former Head of the Botany Department, Jammu University and a former colleague at Srinagar spoke with reverence, “Dr. Kachroo was a practical person, a doer, who always remained on the toes for research”.

“He was a renowned scientist, was everwilling to explore the inaccessible and isolated areas for the study of area specific flora,” fondly remembered Dr. Gohil.

Dr. V.K. Anand, Dean Life Sciences Jammu University remarked, “my association with Dr.

Kachroo dates back to 1971, when I joined Kashmir University as a M.Sc. student. A man of few words, he had all the affirming qualities of head and heart”.

“Prof. Kachroo led a life full of activity and research. Neither the advancing age nor time would stale his passion for research”, voiced Dr. A.K. Wakhloo, Head Department of Botany Jammu University.

Dr. Bimal Misri Principal Scientist and Head, Regional Research Centre, Indian Grassland and Folder Research Institute.

CSK Himachal Pradesh KV Campus), Palampur, paid his heartfelt tribute in the capacity of a former student, “A glorious era of Kashmir Botany has come to an end with the demise of Dr.

Kachroo. Besides being a teacher, he was a keen researcher, excellent editor, simple man, strict vegetarian and a man of fine things of life. “Continuing his sincere tributes, Dr. Misri summed-up, “Dr. Kachroo never restricted himself to a particular subject of Botany. His innumerable reserach papers on Bryphytes, Pteridophytes, Grasses, Forest and Aqautic ecosystems, Cytogenetics, Plant Anatomy and Taxonomy firmly establish. Dr. Kachroo as a genius and master of Botany, who was wedded to research.” A visibly shocked Dr. B.L Saproo, a student of yore and subsequently Dr. Kachroo’s Colleague at Srinagar also expressed his glowing tributes in the following words, “Prof. Kachroo was a Botanist par excellence, he believed in simple living and high thinking, love for all, hate for none, a true conservationist, who used even blank portions of letters for jotting research notes”.

Speaking about the full flowering of Prof. Kachroo’s genius, Dr Ashwani Wangnoo, Professor Deptt. of Limnology, Barkat Ullah University Bhopal also expressed his sincere tributes, “Prof. Kachroo was a Professor of national fame, even his advanced age and failing health did not lessen his urge for scientific did not a lessen his urge for scientific pursuits. Inspite of his failing health, he came to Bhopal at my behest far Ph.D viva only last year i.e. 2007.” Dr. Kachroo was a co-guide of Dr. Shiban K.Dhar, Senior Scientist and Dy. Director Central Silk Board Jammu. “Dr.

Kachroo was a perfect Scientific Icon, an all-round achiever, who lived to strive, search and find,” remarked fondly Dr. S.K. Dhar.

Dr. Virjee Koul, Lecturer at GGM Science College Jammu summed up his tributes in the following words, “Despite being a scientist of international fame, Prof. Kachroo led a simple life and was accessible to everyone.

Till his last breath, he contributed relentlessly in the field of Botany, a subject he loved.” A student of yesteryears and presently a lecturer at GGM Science College (evening) Jammu, Dr. Ranjana Koul recalled, “Prof. Kachroo was a metaphor for all that is good. Inspite of being a reputed scientist, he remained a student and a scholar, who was always absorbed and immersed in research”. Dr. R.K. Ogra, senior scientist, Himalayan Bioresources Institute, Palampur, Dr. Ravinder Raina, Senior Scientist, Dr Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni Solan. Dr. Kirti Koul, Head of Botany Deptt.

Jivaji University Gwalior and Dr. Upender Dhar, Director, GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Ecology and Dev., Almora the former students of Prof. Kachroo were also shocked at his sad demise.

My respectful memories of Professor Kachroo date back to my student days, when he used to teach us Economic Botany.

These fond recollections which stir emotional and sincere memories are now a part of my memory treasure.

Dr. Kachroo’s lone son Sh. Perry Kachroo married to Mrs. Renuka and having two sons is settled in USA. The eldest daughter of Prof. Kachroo, Mrs. Priyadashani is married to Dr. MJ Zarabi, who is a Managing Director of Software Computers, India, Mohali Chandigarh. She is blessed with two daughters, Manat Zarabi Dr. Mansha Zarabi. Another son of Prof. Kachroo namely Pimmy Kachroo had at sudden and premature death decades pack when he was a student of Agriculture Engineering at Ludhiana. His demise shocked Prof. Kachroo, who carried the burden of the painful trauma throughout his life. Unquestionably, Dr. P.N. Kachroo, the renowned Botanist was truly an icon of not only of the J&K. State but also the entire nation. He was a multi-layered personality, who as a scientist lived his life to the full and for whom life was entirely a scientific sojourn.

PHOTO ESSAY

By M.K. Dhar

I first saw Mr Jagan Nath Patwari when he was in thirties. A young, charming, active and graceful personality. He was the person who conducted me to my class in the school, National School, Karan Nagar, Srinagar. It was somewhere in 1949 when I was admitted to class 7 section B. Principal, Sh S.L. Raina (Langar) asked Mr Patwari to carry me to the class. My father accompanied me. It was my first exposure to the regular school environment. Mr Patwari introduced me and my father to the teacher, who was teaching Hindi. They made me sit in the first row of the class. The classroom was provided with jute mat and a desk type ‘chowki’. The smile, with which Mr Patwari made me sit in the class is still fresh on the screen of my memory. He patted me and gave me an affectionate hug. I felt secure and assured of a frily environment in the school. Thereafter, I would see Mr Patwari everyday. I forced his presence in all the activities of the school – be it academic, curricular, cocurricular or extracurricular.

He was an excellent teacher of History and Geography, now known as Social studies. He was quite innovative in his methodology. Map work and model making was one of the chief tools through which he used to explain various topics in the subject. His blackboard writing was quite attractive. He would make lessons quite interesting We would enjoy his teaching of the subject.

I passed out in 1953 from the school and joined Gandhi Memorial College for F.Sc. and Amar Singh College for B.Sc. and the other Teacher’s college (now college of Education) for B.Ed. So from April 1953 till September 1962 I remained away from National School. But even during this period I got several occasions to see and interact with him. It was always enjoyable to see him and interact with him. As a teacher he had left an indelible impression on us. No doubt,  he believed in strict discipline yet his approach to students was always fatherly and frily.

There was a warmth in his dealings with everyone. It was because of this warmth that students did not fear him but loved him and found an affectionate fri and guide in him. He did not only give knowledge and information to his students but also helped them in their emotional and moral development. He had deep sense of understanding of students’ psyche, flexibility in approach and a positive sense of humour. There are hundreds of students who must have been inspired by him during his life time as a teacher.

My second rapport with him started from 1962, when I joined National School as a staff member. I was then 22+ years of age and I was to work with all those who had been my teachers. It was quite difficult to deal with them as my colleagues. However, it was Mr Patwari, alongwith a few other youthful teachers, who were then in forties, who made  stay in the school comfortable. Their warmth and encouragement made my day to day working as  teacher quite easy and interesting. Mr Patwari was in the forefront to l full support and guidance to me in shaping me into a teacher. I found him to be respectful to his elder colleagues, frily to his same age colleagues and fatherly, full of affection to young colleagues. It was his this attitude that had earned him an unparalleled respect among his peers. He had a straight forward attitude. Instead of pinpointing the drawbacks in his co-workers, he would highlight their good points and help them in removing their difficulties. He believed in encouraging others and helping them in their deficiencies. Naturally, his colleagues had developed lot of faith and confidence in him. He was gifted with power of inspiring others. He treated all his colleagues as members of his exted family. These qualities of head and heart and his dedication to hardwork, his sincerity towards his work, his honesty and integrity earned him lot of respect.

He was a well known teacher in the student community and their parents. I had seen parents coming with various problems to him and he would satisfy one and all. Every one would leave his room with a smiling face.

It was not only academic field where he contributed his maximum but all other fields – co-curricular and extracurricular activities, found his impact. He was an excellent teacher, a pragmatic housemaster, an efficient leader as headmaster, a meticulous treasurer of the Managing Committee, and above all soul of National School.

Even after his retirement he was always there to help and guide us. He would participate in all the important decisions and functions of school. He always felt the prosperity and progress of the school as his personal triumph.

When I last met him, some two years back, I found him mentally quite agile and active though physically he had grown weak. In his correspondence with me he would always talk about how we could contribute to the betterment of the school and the student community.

May his soul rest in peace!

(*The author remained Principal National School, Srinagar)

KS Correspondent

In the passing away of Dr. MS Jalali Kashmir has lost an out standing Veterinarian and an ace cricketer. He was probably the first Kashmiri veterinarian.

Dr. Jalali had passed his Bachelor’s degree in Veterinary Science from Lahore. He was one of the best players of his college cricket team. J&K was not on the Ranji map in his times, otherwise he would have played for J&K State on account of his cricketing ability. Even at the age 65 he used to have net practice with Rainawari youngsters in Jogilankar ground, which was near his residence. He had retained his cricketing reflexes even in advanced age.

As a student in Lahore, Dr Jalali was exposed to the revolutionary ideas of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. When Bhagat Singh and his colleagues were hanged, Netaji Subash Bose led 2-lakh strong funeral procession.

Dr. Jalali would recall with pride how he had participated in that procession.

As a veterinarian he served for long tenures in the frontier regions of J&K State. At many places he was the only medical personnel available. He performed this job with distinction.

His wife had contracted Tuberculoris early in life. She died quite young, leaving behind no children. Dr. Jalali turned quite lonely.

After retirement for a while he sought employment in Zaroo gun factory, to pass off time. He used to take long evening walks to Hari Parbhat area, where he was accompanied by his contemporaries -  Dr. J.N. Kachru and Dr. R.K. Kachru.

Dr. Jalali was an ardent patriot and leaned towards Nehruvian Socialism. To him JP movement was an ‘imperialist conspiracy’, meant to destabilise India. He was so disgusted with Indian media over its support to JP movement, that he stopped reading widely circulated English dailies and switched on to lesser known ‘Patriot’. In mid- 1970s he would be seen arguing hotly with the supporters of JP Rainawari.

He was in often a lonely voice to support Indira Gandhi.

Dr. Jalai had a distinguished lineage. He was son of Pt. Kailash Koul of Mohalla, Bagdaji, Rainawari. Dr. Jalali had two brothers – late Vishnath and late Niranjan Nath. The former was a close associated of Pt. Shiv Narain Fotedhar, the well-known Pandit leader, Vishnath retired as Marshal J&K Assembly. Pt.

Niranjan Nath was an avowed leftist and a prominent trade unionist in Jammu region.

Pt. Kailash Koul’s brother, Pt. Tota Koul was head clerk in PWD JKENG 00333/26/AL/TC/94 JK No: 1213/18 Regd. JK-219/2005 Printer Publisher B.N. Kaul for and on behalf of Panun Kashmir Foundation.

He had four sons. His eldest son Pt. Radhey Nath Koul was associated with revolutionary movement. Later, he shifted to Sitapur (UP) and was a leading civil contractor there. Other sons of Pt. Kailash Koul were – Sh. T.N. Koul, former Foreign Secretary, Sh. PN Koul, a former Colonel in Indian Army and Secretary Tibetan Affairs and Lt. Gen (retd) Hriday Koul, former Chief of Army Staff. Dr. Jalali’s nephew Sh. Dwarika Nath Dhar is author of many books on Kashmir. In his youth he played excellent Hockey and was associated with the left movement in Kashmir.

By M.K. Dhar

I first saw Mr Jagan Nath Patwari when he was in thirties. A young, charming, active and graceful personality. He was the person who conducted me to my class in the school, National School, Karan Nagar, Srinagar. It was somewhere in 1949 when I was admitted to class 7 section B. Principal, Sh S.L. Raina (Langar) asked Mr Patwari to carry me to the class. My father accompanied me. It was my first exposure to the regular school environment. Mr Patwari introduced me and my father to the teacher, who was teaching Hindi. They made me sit in the first row of the class. The classroom was provided with jute mat and a desk type ‘chowki’. The smile, with which Mr Patwari made me sit in the class is still fresh on the screen of my memory. He patted me and gave me an affectionate hug. I felt secure and assured of a frily environment in the school. Thereafter, I would see Mr Patwari everyday. I forced his presence in all the activities of the school – be it academic, curricular, cocurricular or extracurricular.

He was an excellent teacher of History and Geography, now known as Social studies. He was quite innovative in his methodology. Map work and model making was one of the chief tools through which he used to explain various topics in the subject. His blackboard writing was quite attractive. He would make lessons quite interesting We would enjoy his teaching of the subject.

I passed out in 1953 from the school and joined Gandhi Memorial College for F.Sc. and Amar Singh College for B.Sc. and the other Teacher’s college (now college of Education) for B.Ed. So from April 1953 till September 1962 I remained away from National School. But even during this period I got several occasions to see and interact with him. It was always enjoyable to see him and interact with him. As a teacher he had left an indelible impression on us. No doubt,  he believed in strict discipline yet his approach to students was always fatherly and frily.

There was a warmth in his dealings with everyone. It was because of this warmth that students did not fear him but loved him and found an affectionate fri and guide in him. He did not only give knowledge and information to his students but also helped them in their emotional and moral development. He had deep sense of understanding of students’ psyche, flexibility in approach and a positive sense of humour. There are hundreds of students who must have been inspired by him during his life time as a teacher.

My second rapport with him started from 1962, when I joined National School as a staff member. I was then 22+ years of age and I was to work with all those who had been my teachers. It was quite difficult to deal with them as my colleagues. However, it was Mr Patwari, alongwith a few other youthful teachers, who were then in forties, who made  stay in the school comfortable. Their warmth and encouragement made my day to day working as  teacher quite easy and interesting. Mr Patwari was in the forefront to l full support and guidance to me in shaping me into a teacher. I found him to be respectful to his elder colleagues, frily to his same age colleagues and fatherly, full of affection to young colleagues. It was his this attitude that had earned him an unparalleled respect among his peers. He had a straight forward attitude. Instead of pinpointing the drawbacks in his co-workers, he would highlight their good points and help them in removing their difficulties. He believed in encouraging others and helping them in their deficiencies. Naturally, his colleagues had developed lot of faith and confidence in him. He was gifted with power of inspiring others. He treated all his colleagues as members of his exted family. These qualities of head and heart and his dedication to hardwork, his sincerity towards his work, his honesty and integrity earned him lot of respect.

He was a well known teacher in the student community and their parents. I had seen parents coming with various problems to him and he would satisfy one and all. Every one would leave his room with a smiling face.

It was not only academic field where he contributed his maximum but all other fields – co-curricular and extracurricular activities, found his impact. He was an excellent teacher, a pragmatic housemaster, an efficient leader as headmaster, a meticulous treasurer of the Managing Committee, and above all soul of National School.

Even after his retirement he was always there to help and guide us. He would participate in all the important decisions and functions of school. He always felt the prosperity and progress of the school as his personal triumph.

When I last met him, some two years back, I found him mentally quite agile and active though physically he had grown weak. In his correspondence with me he would always talk about how we could contribute to the betterment of the school and the student community.

May his soul rest in peace!

(*The author remained Principal National School, Srinagar)

By Dr. Ramesh Kumar

Dr. Saligram Kaul, the noted physician passed away on Feb ruary 17, 2005 at New Delhi after a brief illness. He had a distinguished career both as an able physician as well as an administrator. He served as Principal Govt. Medical College, Srinagar and Director Health Services, J&K before his retirement in 1973. As an academician he had few parallels. He never sought to promote his career by seeking favours. Imbued with sense of high idealism, Dr. Kaul never compromised on principles. He was a gentle colossus.

Ancestry: Saligram Kaul was born to Pandit Aftab Kaul Nizamat and Mrs. Devaki Kaul in 1913. The family lived in BreKujan quarter of Habbakadal. Incidentally, Pt. J.L. Nehru’s ancestor Raj Kaul ‘Naru’ also lived in the same mohalla before moving out to plains to seek fame and fortune’.

Col. Kaul’s ancestor Pt. Nidhan Kaul had two sons-Ram Kaul and Sukh Kaul. The former was a well-connected administrator during Pathan rule (1759- 1819). He got constructed a mosque in the adjoining Gadud Bagh Mohalla. The mosque came to be called ‘Bata Mashid’- a mosque constructed by a Pandit (Bata). Ram Kaul earned the sobriquet of ‘Nizamat’ for his administrative capabilities. He died at the of 95.

Ram Kaul had three sons- Chandra Kaul, Nath Kaul and Krishan Kaul. Chandra Kaul did not leave behind any descent and died at the age of 80. Krishan Kaul died quite young. Aftab Kaul was born to Nath Kaul. Aftab Kaul had three sons-Janki Nath, Jagar Nath and Saligram. Dr. Saligram Kaul had meticulously prepared his family pedigree a few years before his death.

Pt Aftab Kaul: Pt. Aftab Kaul Nizamat was born in 1886 and was educated in the CMS High School. Though always a topper in his school, he did not pursue his studies beyond matriculation. His father had died young. Pt. Aftab Kaul served as a subordinate official in the Audit Department of the Kashmir government.

Nizamat family’s compound used to be the common playground for boys of locality. It was called ‘Kola Angun’ (compound of Kauls). Pt. Aftab Kaul used to play with young boys here.

Since his childhood Aftab Kaul was restless and wanted to bring the much desired social change in the society. He alongwith Pt. Hargopal Kaul Khasta and Prof. Srikanth Toshkhani have been among pioneers in bringing social change in Kashmiri Pandit society in early twentieth century.

Dr. Annie Besant, the great Irish Theosophist had entered politics and was elected the first woman president of the Indian National Congress in 1917. Same year, she alongwith Dr. Margaret cousins launched the Indian Women’s Association in Chennai to ameliorate the condition of Indian women. She took keen interest in the developments in the Valley. Dr. Besant advised the local theosophists to do something for the uplift of the local women.

Dr Saligram Kaul recalls, “Dr. Annie Besant was my father’s guru. On five or six occasions 1 had the privilege to meet Dr. Besant and stay with her.

Whenever, the great theosophist visited Kashmir, my father would arrange all-religion joint prayer meetings. Father was able to get Musa Patigaroo and Hamza Shah from among the majority community to join these composite prayer meetings. Mr. Patigaroo displayed great dignity.

My father was instinctually drawn to reform of the society, Pt. Janardan Teng, some Pt. Munshi and three younger people worked with him in this eavour.

They would conduct meetings for social upliftment near Drabiyar temple. Since there was no daughter in the family, welfare of women held special attraction for him. He established Women’s Welfare Trust at Brekujan. Father had inborn instinct for philanthropy and helped the poor and needy people”.

Miss Mayo was sent by the Britishers to denigrate Indians. Her book on India carried a chapter on Kashmir. This drew strong protests in Kashmir in which the people made bonfire of the book. Pt. Aftab Kaul Nizamat launched his public career on this issue.

He represented the local theosophist chapter. He was a devoted theosophist for thirty five years and became the Secretary (1925) and the Vice-President (1948) of the Kashmir Lodge. Pt. Aftab Kaul worked closely with leading theosophists – Dr Venkatchalam and Dr. Jonarajan, who was later associated with Salar Jung Museum.

Women’s Welfare Trust: After the agitation on Miss Mayo issue was over, Pt. Aftab Kaul involved himself in Women’s Welfare Work. In September 1926 an organisation known as Women’s Welfare Trust was launched with an objective to “advance the Welfare of the Kashmiri women by imparting to them knowledge, by stimulating home industry among them and by promoting their physical health and wellbeing.

The founding members of the Trust were: Mrs. Margaret Cousins, Mrs. L.D. Van Gheel Gildemeester, Sri Kanth Toshkhani, Shridhar Kaul Dullo, and Aftab Kaul Nizamat. The Trust embarked upon an ambitious programme for advancement of education among women. The membership of the Trust was strictly confined to those who professed to be theosophists.

The rule was made to exclude people who did not consider all religions equal and thus avoid the taint of communalism. Soon after its initial success the trust also launched a school for Muslim girls in 1929.

Dr. Saligram Koul recalls, “I was reading in 9th class in 1926. Father was keen to conduct the ritual ceremony of Shradh of his father. After taking the fasting meals, he raised the issue of starting a school with Shiv Bayo. Till then there was only one school for girls, Nani’s school at Chinkral Mohalla. Kashmiris were reluctant to s female students to schools where teachers were invariably males. My father felt that parents might relent out of reverence for Guruji if Shiv Bayo was involved in it. Shiv Bayo’s school, which subsequently became Vasanta School, initially started at Gadud Bagh just opposite to where Narus lived. Later it was shifted to Dewan’s house at Kharyar. Donations were raised from public for running the school”.

Pt. Aftab Kaul would provide books and soap to school to serve the needy students. He also launched a campaign among poor students for undertaking bath regularly and maintaining personal hygiene. There was just one Anglo-Indian school at Nowakadal. Shaiv Bayo’s school ran very well. It started as a Primary school with just five girl students on its roll and one teacher to instruct them. Within four years, the number of schools managed by the Trust rose to ten (six primary, three middle and one high) and the number of students was 575.

In 1929 the Trust was emboldened to start the first Muslim school for girls. A moulvi was drafted to start this school, which was named after Maitriya. The latter was a great Buddhist scholar. Maitreya School was near Hamza Shah’s house. Still the response from Muslim girls was not encouraging.

Pt. Aftab Kaul before going to office, would take a potter’s daughter and one Sajjida to school. Mrs. Sajjida Zameer Ahmed, subsequently became Director School Education. Her concern for female education and secular views have few parallels in Kashmir’s contemporary history. Another school was opened in a rented accommodation near Rugh Nath Razdan’s house.

Badiyar School later was renamed as Kashypa School. Since education among girls was a taboo, Vasa boya was appointed in Kashypa School. Students, who passed out from these schools, later rejoined as teachers.

Ghulam Ahmed Ashai, Inspector of Schools, had authoritarian streaks and harboured extremely parochial views. He had susped PN Bazaz and Sheikh Abdullah in two different cases. At the instance of Jagar Nath Bazaz, the younger brother of Prem Nath Bazaz, Pt.

Aftab Kaul allowed the latter to join the Trust. He joined the staff of the Women’s Welfare Trust in August 1930 as Supervisor of the schools. Bazaz’s elder brother Dina Nath Bazaz was posted as teacher at Hanjura.

Through him two great intellectuals of Hanjura-Dina Nath Hanjura and Damodar Bhat Hanjura joined the Women Welfare’s Trust. The Hanjura brothers developed intimacy with Pt. Aftab Kaul and his son, Saligram. Dr. Saligram Kaul would often turn nostalgic while recalling his association with Pt. Damodar Bhat, who was a leading authority on revenue law in Kashmir.

In 1930, an adult school with three young women, Sidha Lakshmi, Posha Kujji and Radha Mal, was opened in a room of Nizamat’s own house. Leading role in the Trust work was taken by Prof. Toshakhani and Aftab Kaul Nizamat. Prem Nath Bazaz pays a moving tribute to Aftab Kaul Nizamat for his work, “Aftab Kaul Nizamat was the heart and soul of the Women’s Welfare Trust. It was the passion of his life to labour, night and day, for the progress of the institution…A patriot par excellence, he was a visionary who felt happy to dream about the bright future of a free Kashmir in which woman would find an honoured and a glorious place… Such was his ardent desire to see Kashmiri women restored to a position of dignity that every minute of his waking life, when off his official duties, he would sp in doing the Trust Work. Indifferent to praise or censure, to encomium or slander, to applause or abuse, which all were his lot in lesser or greater measure, he laboured incessantly for the cause till the very day of his death on 30th May, 1953.1came in close contact with him and had the pleasure to watch him work for years. I can say that among the builders of modern Kashmir who are not much known but who are entitled to the gratitude of posterity, Aftab Koul Nizamat is surely one. If ever we decide to construct a temple of fame for the illustrious sons and daughters who lived and died for the welfare of humanity and freedom of the Kashmiris, this noble soul should have a niche reserved for him in it”.

Mrs. Devaki Koul, wife of Pt. Aftab Koul Nizamat, was secretary of the Women’s League. This organisation, which too was affiliated to the Trust, used to hold debates and discussions on social evils and other important issues to raise political awareness among Kashmiri women. Mrs. Devki Kaul also took a leading part in regeneration of the community in 1931-34 and organised demonstrations in support of social reform. Pt. Aftab Koul Nizamat enjoyed the company of outstanding people. His fris included Nand Lal Mandloo, Pt.

Tota Koul Jalali, Vasa Kaul Shair, Shankar Lal Kaul and Kashyap Bandhu. Nand Lal was a poet of repute, who was rated as good as Mehjoor. He played in a play ‘Harishchander’ alongwith Akalal. Kashyap Bandhu was an Arya Samaji Pracharak in Lahore. He had left Revenue Department service to become a Pracharak. He stayed with Nizamat family, whenever he visited Jammu during winters.

Dr. Saligram Koul and his maternal uncle, Pt. Maheshwar Nath Kaul enjoyed Bandhu ji’s hospitality in 1926-27 at his Ganesh Gali residence in Lahore.

Dr. Saligram Kaul: Dr. Saligram Kaul’s initial schooling, upto 7th standard took place at Babapora School.

Later, he joined State High School. His baptism in politics was through an organization called ‘Fraternity’. Dharam Sabha, whose existence in Kashmir dates back to 1896, was spearheading a social reform movement. The moving spirit behind this was Pt. Hargopal Kaul Khasta. Spread of education among women and re-marriage of widows was the main aga of this movement. The conservative elements headed by Amar Nath Kak opposed widow remarriage. The conflict between two groups ed in open schism in 1930. Younger elements, who yearned for change, walked out to form ‘Fraternity’ to forcefully articulate the demand for widow re-marriage. The word’ ‘Fraternity’ was borrowed from the famous slogan of the French Revolution –  ‘Equality, Fraternity and Liberty’. To become a member of ‘Fraternity’ one had to leave smoking, become a vegetarian and wear Khadi dress.

Among the prominent persons who were directly or indirectly associated with the ‘Fraternity’ were Damodhar Bhat, Dina Nath Hanjura, Mohan Krishen Tikku, Dr. Col.

Saligram Kaul, ShambuNath Gurtu, Dina Nath Bazaz, PN Bazaz, T.N. Kaul, Dwarka Nath Kachru, Dina Nath Parimu, poet Dina Nath Dilgir, Radhey Nath Kaul and the musician Ved Lal Dhar (Vakil). Damodar Bhat’s rented house at Malyar (Ganpatyar) served as ‘Fraternity’, office.

About the launching of ‘Fraternity’, Col. Kaul Says, “We formed Fraternity group with eleven people in the beginning.

It was a group of modernist, forward- looking young people. No political organisation was allowed during those times. I would join meetings of Fraternity’ at Malayar in Damkak’s rented house”. With the developments following the 1931 Muslim agitation, the ‘Fraternity’ was soon pushed to the forefront in an eavour to def the interests of the Pandits in general and renamed itself as Sanatan Dharm Young Men’s Association.

13th July Violence: On 12th July, 1931 Dr. Saligram Koul had gone to visit Hanjurah brothers at Hanjurah. He and the Hanjurah brothers returned to Srinagar on 13th July, the Monday. As tension built up, they went to meet Amar Nath Pyala, the Pandit leader. Mobs had attacked Bohri Kadal, Mahraj Ganj and Vicharnag Pandits and Punjabi traders. Dr. Kaul while describing the role of fraternity says, “we as ‘Fraternity’ members were silent. My father asked us to get active. On the same day we went to visit Maharaj Ganj and saw tea and turmeric bags strewn all over in Maharaj Ganj Chowk. It looked as if the road had been dyed.

Then we visited Vicharnag. Pt. Janki Nath Chandpora had a big house. It housed our trust also. 8-10 families from Vicharnag were brought here.

The clothes of refugees had been torn. They had suffered big losses and remained here for pretty long. Father expressed concern and desired a strong organisation to address the challenges in the wake of communal violence. Raja Harikishen Kaul, the Prime Minister did not allow registration of any association.

So Sanatan Dharam Yuvak Sabha was started”. At the instance of Pt. Janardhan Teng, Yuvak Sabha papers were collected from Zana Kak.

The informal headquarters of the new group was also at Malyar. Its members were mostly the members of the ‘Fraternity’ group. Pt. Kashyap Bandhu came to Kashmir in summer and expressed desire to att SD Yuvak Sabha meetings.

Pt. Aftab Kaul was against allowing entry to Kashyap Bandhu in SD Yuvak Sabha. He feared that he would try to ‘grab’ it. Young men told him,” your are an Arya Samajist. Our organisaiton is a Sanatan Dharam affiliate. How can we allow you entry in our organisation”. Kashyap Bandhu insisted that he was with them and applied Tilak on his forehead.

Bandhu Ji was allowed to attend the meetings but was kept away from the core group.

In 1932 Kashmiri Pandits launched the Roti (Bread) agitation to protest against the recommations of Glancy Commission. The young school boys of ter age organised themselves into The Bal Sabha with a view to furthering the agitation at a time when the Roti agitation was losing steam. Col. Koul was President of Bal Sabha, by virtue of his being a member of Fraternity’. He was a student of Fsc. in SP College.

Gandhi had given a call for boycotting foreign goods and wearing Khadar Caps. Kashmiri Pandit students, with few exceptions like BK Madan, were not attending the college and were involved in picketing. Principal Macdermott was informed that Saligram Kaul was involved in picketing at Sathu. Kaul was rusticated. In Roti agitation Saligram Kaul, Amar Nath Pyala and Moti Lal Dhar (Later Vice-Chancellor, BHU) were key figures, who ran the underground movement.

Saligram Kaul had been advised to remain underground. Dr Saligram Kaul recalls, “I was introduced in Rainawari by somebody as ‘Miyon toth Boya’ (My dear brother). I lectured the audience on the need to intensify the agitation. Pt. Nilakanth Hak had returned after doing LLB.

We thrashed him as a government toady. I was to be arrested soon after the speech. I went underground. At night I would go to Amar Nath Pyala’s house. He was the Dictator of the agitation. To evade the police, we kept on shifting litho. My class fellow and fri Moti Lal Dhar would arrange Litho. A police official from Murran lived in his neighbourhood. My father knew about my activities. During night, in our Tahkhana (Wardrobe) posters would be cyclostyled. In the morning these would be circulated to different places.

As President of the Organisation, I would decide the places for courting arrest. Som Nath Dhar was my General Secretary. Amar Nath Pyala had undertaken the responsibility for coordination.” As per Dr. Kaul, Pt. Shanker Lal Kaul and Tota Koul Jalali were key figures involved in drafting the 128-page Roti representation.

Saligram Kaul’s father never imposed his views on his son and allowed him full liberty. Saligram Kaul’s marriage was probably the first love marriage among Pandits. He was only 11 and recalls, “My wife was just 9 years then. She was reading in Vasanta School. We fell in love. My relations did not want me to marry a commoner but my father stood by me”.

Pt. Aftab Kaul was vegetarian but allowed his son to take meat. He, however, told his son that if he desired to take up Medicine as a career, then he would have to think whether politics and Medicine can go together.

Dr Kaul was in the hardline group, which did not Dr. (Col.) Saligram Kaul was a Social Visionary allow JL Killam to open negotiations with the government. He did not have high opinion about JL Killam as a politician and considered him as a clever person.

The rank and file of the movement and the ‘hardline’ group had apprehensions that the government would not abide by the agreement reached. The government was only willing to give verbal assurances on revising Glancy recommations. In Col. Kaul’s opinion Roti agitation led to great political awakening among Kashmiri Pandits. At the  of the agitation, Dr Saligram Kaul was reinstated.

Principal McDermott, an Irishman appreciated his role. He tauntingly told TN Kaul (later Foreign Secretary), “I admire those students who joined agitation for a cause. I detest those people who sneaked quietly to gain my goodwill.” Radhey Nath Kaul and his brother TN Kaul used to att college regularly during the agitation. Soon after the agitation ed, Dr Saligram Kaul left for Lahore to pursue career in Medicine.

That unfolds the second chapter of his life as a doctor.

Former Principal, National School, Srinagar, Kashmir

By MK Dhar

Pandit Janki Nath Kachroo, former Principal-National School, Karan Nagar, Srinagar, Kashmir, left for heavenly abode in September 2006. Shri Kachroo was a person with vast experience who had mastered the art of teaching. On one hand he was an expert in teaching of English language and on the other hand he was excellent in teaching of Mathematics and Science. He was among the pioneers of school B’casts programmes from Radio Kashmir in the Valley. A J&K State awardee for best teacher he had carved out a special niche for himself in the educational field of the Valley.

I knew him as a teacher, as a colleague and as a principal. In all the three capacities he had his own specific characteristics. He was an excellent teacher, an amiable colleague and a strict administrator.

When I joined the school as a student in Class-VII, he used to teach the 9th and 10^th classes. He was known for his methodic and innovative teaching in Science and English language especially.

When I reached 10th Class, he was assigned the teaching of English to our class, besides he was our form teacher. As a class teacher he believed in involving students in various activities. We were given specific responsibilities in order to develop our specific capacities. Today, when I look on those days I am convinced that Shri Kachroo tried to develop in us critical attitude, scientific temper and a sense of responsibility.

While teaching English language he would use structural approach to bring home to us certain grammatical structures and forms. During those days translation method was in use and structural approach had not developed much. However due to his personal reasons he had to proceed on long leave and was away from the Valley. This put an end to our interaction with him as a student and the teacher. But during that short period I could realize that he believed “in drawing out what is already in a student”. His method of teaching was scientific, innovative and that he followed the maxim” from known to unknown”.

I joined the school again in 1962 as a teacher. This time Sh Kachroo was my senior colleague. He at once took me into his arms and assured me of his guidance and cooperation. This provided me with an opportunity to work with him closely. I found that has academic activities were focused on promoting and introducing innovations. He believed in proper planning and always advised me to make proper plans before going to teach in the classes. He believed in free and frank interaction with the students. Although he bore a stern face yet he was friendly to them.

In 1969 he was promoted to the post of headmaster. This was the beginning of modernization for the School. English medium sections were added. KG classes were started. The academic atmosphere of the school was given a new and fresh direction.

In 1972 he became principal on the retirement of Sh DN Raina, the then Principal. Under the agile leadership of Sh JN Kachroo, the school started a number of projects in order to improve the academic environment of the school. An institutional plan was framed which defined in concrete terms the goals that the school had to achieve in the coming decade.

From here onwards the students of school got sufficient opportunities in exhibit their talent in co-curricular and extracurricular fields. Debate, Symposia, musical programmes, games, races, literacy competitions became integral part of the school curriculum.

Sh Kachroo had a vision and as the leader he tried to fulfil that vision. In this he was able to carry the staff with him. He got full support from the members of the staff in implementing all the new and innovative measures.

From 1982 to 1986 the school passed through a difficult and trying period. The school building was gutted in a devastating fire in October 1982. Thereafter started a period of tough struggle against odds. His able handling of the situation and negotiations with various agencies enabled the management to acquire the building and consequent reconstruction. The school got a new lease of life.

In 1986, Sh Kachroo retired from the services of the school. The management made a special mention in appreciation of his dedicated and commendable services of the school :

“It gives the members of the managing committee of National School, Srinagar, immense pleasure to place on its record the appreciation for the dedicated, commendable and meritorious services rendered to the school by Sh JN Kachroo throughout his devoted and dedicated service of 40 years. His contribution to the school especially during the trying period from October 1982 deserves a special mention. His guidance and leadership as Principal of the school gave the institution a place of pride in the educational map of the state”.

Sh Kachroo was associated with a number of educational activities of the Valley. He was a resource person in teaching of English and participated in a number of workshops conducted by the Extension Services Department of College of Education, Srinagar.

He was an excellent broadcaster and was associated with school B’cast programmes of Radio Kashmir. He was secretary, Kashmir Aided Educational Association for a number of years.

He was a scholarly person who believed that to be successful in life one has to be a human being. He had a keen sense of observation and analysis. He always advised us to do things creatively and differently in order to achieve excellence.

May God grant peace to his departed soul!

*(The author was formerly Principal, National School, Srinagar).

Jia Lal Koul Nazir was born at Zainakadal in 1897. His father Pt. Rishi Kaul was a petty landowner in Sebdan, a village close to Srinagar. The Jagir was too small to take care of the family consisting of seven members.

The mantle of supplementing meagre family income fell on Jia Lal Koul, who was the eldest among four sons and a daughter.

He had sharp intellect, and excellent communicating skills.

He became popular among students and would get many offers to coach his juniors as well as peers. Income generated from tuitions helped Jia Lal to take care of his education as well as that of his siblings.

Jia Lal was a precocious student, brilliant at studies, a well-disciplined student and good at extra-curricular activities. He had strong instincts to master languages and loved to read literature even when he was in his teens. Writing prose and composing poetry was a passion with him. His name de plume was ‘Nazir’.

His personality and amiable nature endeared him to teachers in school as well as in College.

After passing his graduation from S.P. College, Srinagar in 1916 Jia Lal went to NWFP to serve as a senior teacher in a private school at Hotimardan.

Impressed by his teaching and administrative capabilities Jia Lal was deputed by the school management to Lahore to take degree in B.T. from Punjab University.

He served Hotimardan school for 4-5 years and had also a stint as its Headmaster. Family compulsions forced Jia Lal to bid adieu to a satisfying and wellpaid job. At Srinagar he was appointed as TGT by the State Education Department. Soon his commitment to teaching profession and reputation as a conscientious teacher spread far and wide. This brought him to the notice of his superiors- Headmaster, Inspector and Director. He would be assigned higher responsibilities and roles in the department than his rank would otherwise warrant.

In late 1920s Jia Lal was posted to Kishtwar as Head Master of local Government Middle School. He introduced in his school the novel concept of Basic Educationist as propounded by Dr. ZakirHussain, then an eminent education and later President of India. Under this scheme he made arrangements to teach the famous weaving craft of the place-Kishtwar wollen blankets to senior outgoing students. At the same time the local artisans were taught how to read and write, providing trade-skills to the educated and literary gains to the otherwise illiterate artisans.

This drew the ire of the short-sighted higher-ups in the department. The Director served him a stern warning, claiming that ‘teaching hours’ were wasted.

Renowned Educationist KG Saidain was appointed Director of Education by J&K Government in 1937. He implemented the Basic Education Scheme in the state. To this end a Teachers Training school was set up in Srinagar. For running this novel educational institute special staff was required. Hundreds of senior trained teachers, Headmasters and Inspectors were called for interview. Jia Lal Koul Nazir too had been called. When the Chairman of Selection Board, the Director of Education asked him to submit testimonials to justify his claim for the post. The members of the Board were a little amused when Pt. Jia Lal produced warning issued by the then Director of Education for introduction of Dr. Zakir Hussain’s scheme. On perusal of the warning Mr. KG Saidain was taken aback and subjected him to a volley of questions to test his competence. Jia Lal Nazir was chosen for the post of Supervisor of Teaching-cum-Superintendent Jia Lal’s good work at this Institute contributed a lot to the development of education in the state. In the Institute Jia Lal Kaul Nazir enjoyed extraordinary relationship with his pupils, teachers, fellow-teachers and superiors. He attained superannuation in 1954.

Nazir Sahib, the popular name by which he was called could write fluently, be it Urdu or English.

His services were often solicited for drafting rules, regulations, courses, model lessons, texts, dissertations, minutes, memoranda, reports etc. He would often serve as a member or secretary of various committees/ commissioned constituted from time to time in his career.

His reports bore the stamp of excellence and were marked for accuracy, brevity and eloquence.

Pt. Jia Lal also authored Text- Books on History and Social Studies for schools. Well-known acquaintances and strangers alike often thronged his Ali Kadal residence, even at odd times, to seek his guidance in personal and professional matters. He never disappointed any.

Pt. Jia Lal Nazir was a man of great integrity. He politely declined the offer of then Minister of Education, Sadiq Sahib to serve as in Advisor to the Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Nawakadal after retirement.

However, he accepted the assignment, a teaching one, at a private Teachers Training College in Srinagar. He continued to take class for one hour daily in the afternoon here till his demise in June 1970. He is survived by three sons and two daughters.

Pt. Jia Lal abhorred ritualism and laid more stress on good conduct in life. To those who did not know him as a teacher he is remembered for his erudite weekly broadcast over Radio Kashmir ‘Hamara Miras’ in Urdu.

This endeavour which reflected sound scholarship was started by him in 1948. He delved into varied dimensions of culture of Kashmir-scenic splendour, people, arts and crafts, cuisine, culture, music, history, spiritualism, religions traditions.

This series which ran into more than hundred talks received wide acclaim from literary circles in the state and outside.

(Sentinel Research Bureau)