Arvind Shah
The Chronicles of Kashmir
Biography of Amarnath Vaishnavi
( Book Review)
Author Balkrishen Sanyasi
Published by RV Learning Foundation
The Chronicles of Kashmir is a research-based book and makes a good read for those who are interested in understanding the historical perspective of Kashmir, the sowing of the seeds of terrorism, factors leading to the forced exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and their fight for survival pre and post their exodus from Kashmir. It is also the story of making of a social volunteer into a leader of passion to lead the community through difficult times. The book highlights organizational capabilities and leadership of Amarnath Vaishnavi which enabled him to represent the Pandit community for over seven decades.
Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in Prime Minister’s office writes, In his introduction of the book, ” Amarnath Vaishavi’s lifelong struggle and consistent endeavour for socio-political reforms deserves to be recorded in the history of region. His life was intertwined with major socio-political events in Jammu and Kashmir as he himself was a major force behind some of the landmark events that left an indelible mark on the destiny of people, particularly the minority community of Kashmiri Pundits”
Pandit Vaishnavi led many initiatives from time-to-time, decades prior to the mass exodus of Pandits from Kashmir to seek timely intervention by the respective governments for the problems that were cropping up in Kashmir. The author has quoted the personal conversations of Pandit Vaishnavi with politicians, bureaucrats and other people at the helm such as Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Farooq Abdullah and others , to highlight the gravity of the situation in Kashmir. The book reveals how the callous approach of the authorities resulted in systematic upsurge of anti-social and anti-national elements which resulted in large scale selective killings, specifically of the Kashmiri Pandit Community in the year 1990 which resulted in their mass exodus.
Amarnath Vaishnavi was no doubt worried about Kashmir, but his thoughts always perceived Kashmir as part of the bigger picture. Author has extended the scope of the book beyond a biography and has quoted references from various sources on record, the personal dairy of Pandit Vaishnavi and the discussions which he often had with him, to write in this book, the political developments and historic events before and after India’s independence, the ways of the government led by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, at the time of the integration of Jammu & Kashmir with the union of India under the instrument of accession, as was done by all the erstwhile states. The author has meticulously explained the unscrupulous political flick added to Jammu & Kashmir by then government that made the political situation of Kashmir easily exploitative for social unrest which subsequently led to the onset of terrorism in Kashmir. The book elaborates various socio-political movements such as Praja Parishad movement and Kashmiri Pandit agitation of 1967,in which Pandit Vaishnavi played a major role, and speaks about the systematic discrimination of Kashmiri Pandits from mainstream development over many decades. Accounts of these movements have been quoted straight from personal diaries of Amarnath Vaishnavi and hence serve as a first-hand account of the two historic movements.
The book reveals, how, in Amarnath Vaishnavi, we find a visionary with deep national perspective. When he spoke in the second-round table conference, presided over by then Prime minister of India Shri Manmohan Singh, in Srinagar on March 27, 2007, he spelt the phenomenon and the process whereby then Government headed by Farooq Abdullah as the Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir helped and contributed to the collapse of the constitutional guarantees of the people of Kashmir, particularly the unleashing of torturous deaths on the Kashmiri Pandits. The same has also been described in the book. He directly spoke to Farooq Abdulla, who was present in the conference and Dr. Abdullah’s response was nothing more than a disappointment.
The book is written in ten chapters, the very first chapter, “Kashmir – The Land of His Birth” reflects the glory of a habitation on this piece of earth having emerged from a lake by the penance and meditation of Kashyap Reshi and the concerns that this land shall not lose its identity to adversity of the tyranny of some historical periods, and manipulative socio-political trickery to lose its character of mutual respect for fellow humans. The sainthood of the land as it is known ” Resh Vaar” not be lost to manipulations and ill definitions.
The book also documents all the major happenings pertaining to Jammu & Kashmir and the devastation of minuscule population of Kashmiri pandits 1990 onwards and how they struggled for their rights. Many organizations with humane nationalistic perspective helped Kashmiri Pandit community in despair. Amarnath Vaishnavi was the connecting thread between the people and the organizations. Padma Shree Dr. Sudhir Sopori writes about Amarnath Vaishnavi in the introduction of the book, ” Amarnath Vaishnavi was a selfless and a courageous person who brought hope”
This book is also important because it is not just the story of Pandit Vaishnavi but it documents the contribution of many unsung heroes of Kashmir in making the society a better place to live. Additionally, the book reveals the names of his associates and their contribution which makes it evident that Pandit Vaishnavi worked as a team to carry forward his mission.
I conclude by putting on record that it has taken 6 years for the author, Balkrishn Sanyasi to research into the life and the social work of Amarnath Vaishnavi to write “The Chronicles of Kashmir”.
(The author is poet translator)
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