Rubon Saproo
Honoured with the title ‘father of community’, Pt. Amarnath Vaishnavi is remembered as one of the flamboyant leaders of the Kashmiri Pandits who devoted his entire life for the welfare of his community. His inner qualities of faithfulness, honesty resolution, submissive nature, patriotic feelings and courage gave him the strength to lead his community. He stood like a rock to defend interests of his people in any kind of circumstances. He was always seen at the fore in pleading the cause of community at every platform. Rather he channelled his whole life into community work particularly during the migration period. His activities and deep involvement in community affairs has gained him recognition as a towering personality among Kashmiri Pandits by local and Central Governments. He was a well-known figure and respected by people from all walks of life.
The mass exodus of KPs from valley in 1989 set a challenge for the leadership of the community but Pt. Amarnath Vaishnavi took this challenge as a worship and left no stone unturned in mitigating pain and sufferings of his members. There were multiple and complex problems during initial years of migration but Vaishnavi with great heart and patience solved many of them. He and his team set an office at Geeta Bhawan Jammu to address issues of migrant pandits. His contribution in registration process, providing shelter, food and monetary help to displaced community and overall admissions for children in schools and colleges in Jammu will be remembered forever. His tireless efforts in motivating BJP and Shiv Sena leadership for reserving seats in professional colleges and universities for the displaced students was a remarkable and praiseworthy work of the father of community. He knows very well that his community suffered a long enough due to migration and with the result he tried his level best in solving problems of displaced community without missing any moment.
Pt. Amarnath Vaishnavi was born in August, 1925 to Sarwanand Vaishnavi in the Mastgarh locality of Jammu city. He spent his childhood days at Sheshyar Habbakadal before family shifted to new residence at Chattabal in Srinagar. After passing matriculation examination, he went for diploma course in fine arts. He worked as a teacher for brief period in D A V school Rainawari and Hamdania high school Nawakadal. He went to Pathankot where he got an opportunity to work as an art and physical teacher in private high school. But, soon he resigned from the job following his appointment as a government teacher in high school Bandipora. He was transferred to Ladakh region in early 70’s by the State Government over some issue. However, pressure tactics of the Government could not affect his social activism and he continued to work for the betterment of the community with spirit and zeal. He was also head of the All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference. With head covered by traditional Kashmiri headgear and tilak on his forehead, Vaishnaviji present quite simple and attractive look. His kind, polite and sympathetic attitude were principles of his life. Besides, he was also a spiritual person.
Apart from being a Government employee and social worker, Vaishnaviji was also a staunch RSS pracharak. He along with Tika Lal Taploo and many other community stalwarts spread the ideology of RSS in Valley. He took part in various agitations and movements in the state and was jailed on many occasions. He was a part of Praja Parishad movement launched by Pt. Pream Nath Dogara and a frontrunner of the Parmeshori agitation. As a young boy, he was first time cane charged by the police during the Durga Nag agitation when he actively took part in the protest march. He also played a key role in safeguarding Pandits and Sikhs during tribal invasion in 1947. During the communal riots in parts of south Kashmir in 1986, he raised a strong voice against such aggression motivated to create fear among minority KPs. He immediately led a delegation to Government of India and met with the then president Giani Zail Singh. He brought concerns and apprehensions of the community in his notice. He was a great supporter of total integration of Jammu and Kashmir with the union of India.
The hardships faced by the community after exodus deeply pained him but he did not lose courage. He pleaded cause of the community at various platforms in order to draw attention of the globe towards the plight of KPs. He reached at the doorsteps of then Prime Minister VP Singh and urged him to save the Pandit community from terrorists. He also met repeatedly with the top leadership of the BJP including AB Vajpayee, LK Advani, MM Joshi and Kedar Nath Sawhney and sought their help in solving burning issues of the migrants. Further, he held series of meetings with RSS and Shiv Sena leadership in and outside the Jammu with the aim to seek their cooperation for well being of his community. Later, when AB Vajpayee became a Prime Minister of the country, he met him and sought his attention towards addressing genuine issues of migrant Pandits. In fact, he has done a commendable job for the community. His revolutionary ideology and nationalistic outlook made him a mass leader and voice of pandits. Wherever he went, he was greeted warmly by every section of the society. He was lovingly called by other names like ‘ Lala Ji’ and ‘ Bub.’ On July 01, 2012, he breathed his last at the age of 87. The whole community and the nation grieved on his death.
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