Adi Shankara & Kashmir-The Philosophical Osmosis

The period between 8^th and 12^th Century was a period of cultural renaissance in Kashmir.In a period spanning four hundred years Kashmir produced some of the greatest scholars, who were instrumental in shaping Indian thought and Philosophy. It was in this time that we see the resurgence of Agama and Tantra in Kashmir. The revelation of Siva Sutras could be termed as a milestone in the re-establishment of the Shaivate philosophy. K.C.Pandey[1] writes ”We shall, therefore not be wrong if we say that Vasugupta gave a systematic form to the philosophical ideas of the monistic Tantras in his Siva Sutras in the next decade after Shankaracharya’s visit to Kashmir towards the end of the second decade of the 9^th century A.D.” On the basis of this statement one could infer that Shankaracharya did visit Kashmir but then there are scholars who claim otherwise. Shankaracharya’s visit to Kashmir has always been a matter of debate and no conclusive evidence has ever been presented to prove to prove it.

In the context of the above I would like to go into various extant and oral sources to understand whether Shankaracharya visited Kashmir at all and if he did was he in any way influenced by the existing tantric lore of Kashmir.I shall also try and see how Shankaracharya’s writings (post his visit to Kashmir) reflected the impact of Shaivagamic and Shakta aspects of Kashmiri philosophical systems. I will also look at various historical and empirical evidences which seem to suggest that Shankaracharya did indeed visit Kashmir.

 

Sources for the History of Shankaracharya

 

Before we begin to analyze the various sources available to us for understanding Shankaracharya’s life and times we need to keep reminding ourselves that a historical biography in the modern sense did not exist in ancient India. Exasperating as it may be, we will essentially be dealing with hagiographical accounts of Shankaracharya’s life and philosophy. The extant legendary biographies of Shankaracharya date from the 14^th to the 18^th centuries, i.e. they are posterior to the Acharya by at least half a millennium to a millennium. Although they have certain broad similarities, they have numerous contradictions in detail, and they are full of miracles and exaggerations.

The sources for the historical reconstruction of Shankaracharya’s life and work can be primarily divided into three sections.

1.Traditional Biographic Literature

a).Lost Biographies

b).Biographical accounts or references in “Puranic or semi-Puranic Literature”.

c).Extant Biographies.

2.Monastic Traditions or Records

3.Miscellaneous Literary Sources.

 

All the above sources tell us a lot about the times in which Shankaracharya lived but a biography in the ordinary sense eludes us. In what may termed as philosophical despair, Prof Belvalkar[2] was thus led to declare that “It is the works of Shankara which constitute his best biography.” Notwithstanding the hagiographical or fictional nature of the above works especially the biographical and Puranic literature, we have no option but to dive deep into them to churn out history out of hagiography.

 

The Date and Times of Shankaracharya

The controversy surrounding the date of Shankaracharya has led to the appearance of more than forty articles and books on the subject. What is worth noting is that the traditional date or dates upheld by most of the Shankara monastries even today widely diverge from the critical scholarly opinions which are also not unanimous. While the traditional view maintains that Shankaracharya lived somewhere between 5^th to 2^nd century BC, most historians and modern Orientalists are of the opinion that the Acharya lived in 8^th or 9^th century AD. Most historians however seem to agree that Shankara lived from AD 788 to 820.

Shnakaracharya’s period is the period which followed the death of the great Harshavardhana of Kannauj in the north and Pulakesin II in the Deccan.The fall of Guptas and the Vakatakas led to the collapse of the great and stable empires.Thus this age witnessed a struggle for power which eventually led to the emergence of small feudal states.The emergence of small feudal states led to political anarchy and thus paving a way for growing disorder in traditional social systems.This can be easily testified by the following comment that Shankaracharya makes on Brahmasutram:”Idanim iva kalantare pyavyavasthitaprayan varnasramadharman pratijanita” ‘One might suppose that varnashramadharma was in disorder earlier also just as it is now’.

Philosophically it was however a golden era, characterized by the proliferation of different schools of thought.Almost all schools of philosophy had their close ties with one religious sect or another.There was however a dichotomy in the way the schools accepted the authority of the Vedas.While Mimamsakas and Nyaya-Vaisesika accepted the authority of Vedas the Buddhists and Jainas simply rejected them. It needs no mention that cultural changes in India before the advent of Islam were gradual and never radical or violent. Heterodoxy also seemed to prosper in this era. The popularity of Kapalikas,Pashupats,Tantarikas,Kalamukhas,Kaulas,Ajivikas and Pachrataras was also on the upswing. The relaxation of rigid social rules in the Tantric,Yogic and other ascetic communities were probably a source of their popularity. The writings of Bana, Bhavabhuti and the Bhratkatha-sloka-samagraha are eloquent testimony of these tendencies.In my opinion Shankaracharya lived in the transitional phase between the classical and post-classical era. This era represented a meeting point between the orthodoxy and heterodoxy, Brahmanical and Sramanic, Karma and Jnana.

 

Shankaracharya’s Philosophy

When I started reading about Shankaracharya’s philosophy it seemed it was all Maya.I could hardly get a hang of what Shankara exactly stood for. On one hand he did not loathe polytheism while on the other he did not approve of the ways of Buddhists and Jainas or the Sankhyas for that matter.I almost seemed to have reached a dead end until I read “The System of Shankara” by Will Durant.I will try and reproduce in my own words on what dawned on me after reading this article. It was as if Bhartrihari had just proved his theory of sphota to me.

Basing his approach on Badarayana’s Brahmasutras, Shankaracharya composed commentaries on Vedanta. Shankara laid emphasis not on logic but on insight. In Shankaracharya’s own words,” It is not logic that we need, it is insight, the faculty (akin to art) of grasping at once the essential out of the irrelevant, the eternal out of the temporal, the whole out of the part”.Immanuel Kant in his  ”Critique of Pure Reason” asks ,How is knowledge possible? Whatever we know or learn is never free form the boundaries of time, space and causation. Thus what we seem to know is not real but is our perception of the real. The world exists, but it is maya not in the sense of delusion, but as phenomenon, an appearance created partly by our own thought. Behind the veil of maya or the principle of change, to be reached not by knowledge and intellect but only by insight and intuition, is the one universal reality, Brahman. Only when we forget the limits of time, cause and space does our Atman become identical with Brahman or God. Brahman is the cause and effect, the timeless and secret essence of the world. The aim of the philosophy is to find that secret.

Finally Kashmir…..

That brings us to the moot question of whether Shankaracharya visited Kashmir or not. There is a strong oral tradition among Pandits of Kashmir that Shankaracharya did visit Kashmir.Call it folklore/belief/myth or whatever you like, I will begin with what I have heard as a part of my bedtime story.This is how it goes.

There is a place called Vichar Nag in Kashmir which Shankaracharya is believed to have visited.As the name would suggest it was a place for congregation of great minds or great thoughts. Shankaracharya in the course of the discussion suggests that the idol is but a representation of God and nothing more, while the Kashmiri scholars stick to their point of view that the idol of the deity is a manifestation of the deity.In the process of proving his point he slaps the idol of Shakti to show that it is bereft of any life but to his utter surprise blood starts oozing out of the forehead of the deity. It is then that Shankarachrya tears out a piece of cloth and ties it on to the forehead of the Shakti. It is believed that the process of wearing a taranga (a headgear that Pandit women wear) has started from this day.

Another belief that survives till this day is that Shankaracharya along with his disciples was camping on the outskirts of the Srinagar city.It is believed that their hosts provided them with all the ingredients for preparation of food. What they however forgot to give them was a device to light fire. When the lady of the house wakes up next morning she is surprised to see that uncooked food and unused wood is lying as it was given to the Shankaracharya. On enquiring from them as to why they did not cook she receives this answer that they had nothing to lit the fire. She exclaims “Oh learned ones, is that what kept you hungry?” and she throws a few drops of water on the wood and it catches fire. There are other variants of this story wherein it is believed that a virgin girl replaces the lady of the house. In my opinion the lady of the house seems more plausible and appropriate, taking into account various hymns that Shankaracharya wrote to the glory of the mother goddess. The use of Tatanka to describe the iconography of the mother goddess lends credence to the view that Shakti in Shankaracharya’s hymns was not a virgin but a Sumangali(a women whose husband was alive).

That takes us to a different set of observations, mostly empirical but nonetheless important. Wearing of Tatanka or the ear-rings is common to most feminine deities.In some images of Ardhnarishwara Shiva is seen to be wearing a Tatanka on the naree half thereby signifying the importance of the ornament. Tatanka is understood by some as the Mangalsutra which is the privilege of the Sumangalis(women who have their husbands alive).It is believed that they are the outward symbols of married women who are enjoined not to forsake their Tatanka-s by any means, as their doing so would amount to assuming their husbands are not alive.

Sumangalis wearing outward symbols of their marriage (like Mangala-sutra) is a pan-Indian phenomenon but women wearing Tatanka(as outward symbol of their marriage) survives till date, in its true form only among the Pandit women of Kashmir. One can conclusively say that wearing of Tatankas (or Dejhour as they are popularly called in Kashmir) was in vogue even in the times of Shankaracharya. This can be easily testified by the way Shankaracharya describes Goddess Sharda in “Sharda Bhujanga PraytAshtaka” Ref Sloka 8

bhavAmbhOjnetraAjasam-poojayamAnam,lasanmandahAsa prabhAvaktraciham;

calaccancalAcAru tATanka-karNam,bhaje SaradAmbAmajasram madAmbAm

I always pray to Sharadamaba, my mother, who is being worshipped by Lord Shiva,Vishnu and Brahma.She bears the mark of gentle beautiful smile on her face,her eyes beautified by the swinging of charming ear ornaments.

Everytime I read this Sloka the image of  married Kashmiri Pandit woman flashes infront of my eyes.The catch here is the swinging ear rings.The ear rings worn by Kashmiri Pandit women are longer and hence tend to swing unlike ear rings worn by Hindu women(which are far shorter) outside Kashmir.

We will now read this very important verse from Saundarya Lahiri which many believe was composed in Kashmir by Shankaracharya.Refer,Verse 28.

Sudham apy asvadya pratibhaya-jara-mrytu-harinum,Vipadyante visve vidhi-satamakhadya divisadah;

Karalam yat ksvelam kabalitavatah kala-kalana na sambohos tan-mulam tava janani tattanka-mahima

O Mother!all the denizens of the celestial regions, such as Vidhi, Satamakha and other, perish even after drinking nectar, which is known to confer immunity from the terrible old age and death.If the period of life of Sambhu, who has swallowed virulent poison, is beyond computation, it is all due to the peculiar virtue of Thy Tatankas(ear-ornaments).

Was Shankaracharya so enamoured by the aesthetic beauty of the taTanka and so mesmerized by its philosophy & power that he established the concept outside Kashmir or is it he who brought this ornament to Kashmir are questions to be pondered over. Is it a mere coincidence that the deity in Lalita Sahasranama (composed by Shankaracharya) also wears Tatanka much like the mother goddess of Bhavani Sahasranama (which is Kashmiri equivalent of the Lalita Sahasranama). Could he have been inspired by Bhavani Sahasranama to write Lalita Sahasranama?Could it be that Shankaracharya adorned non-Kashmiri Goddesses with a Kashmiri ear-ornament?  Incidentally during varahalakShmI vratam and other functions like sumangali prArthana (in Andhra Pradesh) - the sumangalis are presented with 'ear-leaf' even today. It is another question that they don’t know what to do of it.

Sharda…the connecting Link

I always harboured this desire to travel to Sringeri Sharda Peeth.In a way I was searching for my roots in a place as far as some remote corner of Karnataka.The travel through the scenic wild life sanctuary of Tungbhadra took me to the picturesque location where the temple of Sharda is located.My first observation upon reaching the temple was that the location of the temple bore striking similarity to the original abode of Sharda at Shardi.Both stood at the confluence of two rivers and both are almost on a mound or a hill.I bowed to the goddess, Shardambal as she is called there. Soon I started looking for the original sandalwood idol which Shankaracharya is believed to have brought from Kashmir and installed at Sringeri.I asked priests and guides about the idol and the Sri-chakra, the Sri-chakra Shankarachrya is believed (according to the Sringeri Math records) to have carved before installing the idol of Sharda on it.One more similarity I thought,even at the temple of Sharda at Shardi the goddess was installed on top of the Sri-chakra.What was however to surprise me more was the close resemblance of the ear-rings(taTanka) of the sandalwood idol with that of a Dej-hour.

Madhava’s Shankara Digvijaya[3] tells us that it was Mandana’s wife Ubhaya-Bharati who Shankaracharya requests to manifest in temples at Risyasringa(Sringeri) after he accepts her as an incarnation of Saraswati.The Shankara-Vijaya-Vilasa of Cidvilasamuni[4] states that Shankara met Mandana in Kashmir.G.C.Pande mentions that “It may,however be recalled that according to one tradition Suresvara was originally Mandana Misra who hailed from Kashmir”

The Guru-Vyasa-Kavya of Kasi Lakshmana Sastri totally omits the debate between Shankarachraya and Ubhaya Bharati.In fact it goes on to say that this debate takes place between Sharda and Shankaracharya.The goddess Sharda is pleased with Shanakaracharya and accepts his request to accompany him to the banks of Tungbhadara[5].

This observation by G.C.Pande is worth noting in the context of the debate that Shankaracharya is believed to have entered with Sharda or Bharati.“Perhaps Kashmir would be the most likely place since it would reconcile the confusion of debating in front of Sarada in Kashmir with that of debating with the wife of Mandana identified with Bharati” [6]. Needless to say, whether it was goddess Sharda or Ubhaya Bharati,there is no doubt that it is a Kashmiri feminine figure that adorns the seat at the temple of Sharda Peeth at Sringeri.

Shankaracharya’s accession to the Sarvajnapitha(throne of Omniscience) at the temple of Sharda has been a matter of some debate.There are differing sources some of whom claim that Shankaracharya ascended the Sarvajnapitha at Kanchi and not Kashmir.

Madhava’s Shankara Digvijaya tells us very clearly that Shankaracharya ascended the throne of Omniscience at the Temple of Sharda at Kashmir[7].He details how Shankaracharya defeats various scholars of different schools.

Jagad-guru-ratna-mala-stava, of Parama Sivendram, mentions Shankarachrya’s Sarvajina-pitha-rohana at Kanchi[8].

Govindanatha’s Shankaracharya-Carita mentions in its 9^th chapter,the accession of Shankaracharya to the Saravjinapitha [9].

The Shankara-Vijaya-Vilasa of Cidavilasamuni mentions that the Shankaracharya ascended the Sarvajinapitha at Kanch[10].

The Guru-Vamsa-Kavya of Kasi Lakshmana Sastri in its third canto mentions Shankaracharya ascending the Sarvajinapitha at Kashmir[11].

Nilakantha’s Sankarabhyudaya,in its sixth canto,talks of Shankara visiting Kashmir to the Sarvajinapitha. [12].

So clearly the biographers are divided over the question of Shankaracharya visiting Kashmir or ascending the Sarvajinapitha at Kashmir.Based on my understanding of the texts mentioned above it seems biographers who believe that Shankara established the Kanchi Mutt are the ones who claim that though Shankaracharya did ascend the Sarvajinapitha but it was Kanchi and not Kashmir where this honour was bestowed on him.

Shankaracharya and Kashmir-The philosophical osmosis

By the arrival of the 8^th century Buddhism was clearly a waning philosophy on the horizon of Kashmir.The local faith which had hitherto been greatly influenced by Buddhist thought and philosophy, was fast returning to its Tantric, Shaivite and Agamic roots. Such was the time when Shankaracharya is believed to have set foot on the pious land of Sharda.

In the pursuit of demystifying Shankaracharya reanimating the corpse of the dead king [13]. G.C.Pande makes the following observation” Presumably the legend arose from a misunderstanding. Kama-kala did not merely mean erotics, but had a technical significance in Tantra-sastra for which Kashmir was famous.This sense may be seen in Kama-kala-vilasa.Shankara could have acquired a knowledge of the strongly Advaiatic Tantra-sastras in Kashmir,which would fit in with the tradition that ascribes the Saundaraya-Lahiri and the Prapanchsara to him as also the fact of the currency of Srividya among his followers.A commentary of the Prapanchsara records that the work was compiled by Shankara in Kashmir” [14].

Prapanchsara Tantra is in a way an endorsement of Tantricism.The vivarna written by the Padampada records that it is a summary of the Prapanchagama,which was a vaster and older compendium of Tantra existing in Kashmir. The author of the sub-commentary Prayoga-kama-dipika states that the work was compiled by Shankaracharya while residing in Kashmir.He explains this by the fact that Shankaracharya pays obeisance to Goddess Sharda at the very beginning of the work.

In most of his commentaries Shankaracharya makes no mention of Siva and wherever he does it is mainly to criticize the dualistic theism of prevailing Saiva system at South India.However there is a marked shift in his stand which can be observed in the Daksinamurti-strota which finds close echoes to non-dual Saiva philosophy of Kashmir.It cannot be denied that the remarkable development of Kashmir Saivism dates from the time Shankaracharya is believed to have visited Kashmir[15].K.C.Pandey observes”If we compare the philosophical ideas of Shankara,as contained in his Daksina Murti Strota and explained by his pupil Survesvaracharya in his commentary on the above Strota,we find that Sankara’s conception of the ultimate reality is the same as that of the Pratyabhijna.In fact he uses all the important technical expressions in the same sense in which they are used in the Pratybhijna.”

In the course of his travel to Kashmir and Himalyas it is most likely that he came in contact with varieties of theistic monism which were prevalent there.While the basic philosophy of Shankaracharya might have stayed the same it is very much possible that his acquaintance with diverse modes of worship may have led to his acceptance of their theistic beliefs. This is reflected in the strotas devoted to the Devi in Saundaraya-lahiri.For once his devotional fervour overcomes his epistemological caution as he sings to the majesty and glory of the mother goddess.It clearly emanates as a text wherein the “freedom or dynamism” of the consciousness (as in Shakta Advaita) overtakes the “passive and actionless” attribute of consciousness (as in Shakara’s Advaita).This verse from Saundaraya-Lahiri,”Catuhsasthya tantraih saklam abhisandhaya bhuvanam”clearly establishes his inclination towards the Tantric practices of Kashmir.The epithet”sarvatantras-vatantara” in his virudavali indicates that the Tantras,the authority of which he accepts were sixty-four in number.The Tanttraraja which is a later Tantra in the Kaula system of Kashmir Saivism,according to some authorities is recognized by Shankaracharya as the 65^th Tantra in his Saundarya Lahiri verse 31 which runs as follows;[16]

Catuh-sastya tantraih saklam atisamdhaya bhuvanam

Sthitas tat-tat-siddhi-pravasa-para-tantraih pasupatih;

Punas tvan-nirbandhad akhila-purusarth’aika ghatana

Svatantram te tantram ksiti-talam avatitarad idam.

Pasupati(Siva) at first remained satisfied after ‘deluding’(atisandhaya) the world,by giving out the sixty-four tantaras,which expound practices conferring only one or another of the various psychic powers and the wordly fulfillments.Afterwards,on Thy special insistence,He revealed this Thy own Tantra to the world,independent of all the others and capable of conferring all the Purusarthas-Dharma,Artha,Kama and Moksha-on the votaries,by itself.

The unanimity with which both the traditions (Kanchi and Sringeri) admit to the fact that Sankaracharya set up the Sricakra-yantra for worship lends credence to the fact that Shankara had clearly imbibed the Shakta advaita which keeping his own intact.

Shankaracharya’s visit to Kashmir is corroborated by local legends as well as most of the biographies written on this great master. Although Kalhana makes no mention of his visit to Kashmir but then considering the nature of Rajatarangni as a chronicle it shouldn’t surprise us.Kalhana makes no mention of Abhinavagupt either so one can reconcile with Shankaracharya not finding a mention in Rajatarangni.Besides we have to bear in mind the fact that Shankarachrya’s visit did not invite any royal attention and thus could have gone un-noticed by chroniclers of kings.

All that we have discussed so far in this paper would seem incomplete without the mandatory reference to the temple of Shankaracharya in the centre of Srinagar city.This is to my mind is a living example of the impact of Shankara on Kashmir.The reference to the temple is by Kalhana in the verse 341 of 1^st Taranga of Rajatarangni wherein he mentions that Gopaditya (369-309 BC) consecrated the shrine of Jyesthesvara on the Gopa-hill(Gopadari). The hillock, according to Tarikh-i-Hassan[17], and (Waquiai Kashmir of Mulla Ahmed) was known originally as Anjana and later as Jeth Ludrak and the temple was built by King Sandhiman of the Gonanda dynasty of Kashmir (471-536 Laukek Era), corresponding to 2605-2540 B.C. He gave the name Jeshteshwara to the temple and the hillock came to be known as Sandhiman Parbat after the name of the King. This name Jeshteshwara for the temple prevailed till the arrival of Adi Shankaracharya, who is believed to have visited Kashmir and stayed at the temple complex. This is confirmed by Tarikh-i-Hassan[18]

 

---

[1] Page No.154.Abhnivagupta by K.C.Pandey published by Chaukhamba Amarbharti Prakashan,Varanasi,2002,Third Edition

[2] Page No.4,Life and Thought of Shankaracharya by G.C.Pande,published by MLBD,2004,2^nd Edition

[3] Verse 61-72,Madhava’s Shankara-Digvijiya by Madhava Vidyarana(Trs by Swami Tapasyananda) published by Ramakrishna Matha,2003.

[4] Page No.125, Life and Thought of Shankaracharya by G.C.Pande published by MLBD,2004,2^nd Edition

[5] Page No.28, Life and Thought of Shankaracharya by G.C.Pande published by MLBD,2004,2^nd Edition

[6] Page No.349, Life and Thought of Shankaracharya by G.C.Pande published by MLBD,2004,2^nd Edition

[7] Verse 54-92, Madhava’s Shankara-Digvijiya, by Madhava Vidyarana(Trs by Swami Tapasyananda) published by Ramakrishna Matha,2003.

[8] Page 21, Life and Thought of Shankaracharya by G.C.Pande published by MLBD,2004,2^nd Edition

[9] Page 22, Life and Thought of Shankaracharya by G.C.Pande published by MLBD,2004,2^nd Edition

[10] Page 23, Life and Thought of Shankaracharya by G.C.Pande published by MLBD,2004,2^nd Edition

[11] Page 27,page 341, Life and Thought of Shankaracharya by G.C.Pande published by MLBD,2004,2^nd Edition

[12] Page 29,page 345. Life and Thought of Shankaracharya by G.C.Pande published by MLBD,2004,2^nd Edition

[13] Verse 73-109, Madhava’s Shankara Digvijiya, by Madhava Vidyarana(Trs by Swami Tapasyananda) published by Ramakrishna Matha,2003.

[14] Page 348, Life and Thought of Shankaracharya by G.C.Pande published by MLBD,2004,2^nd Edition

[15] Page 151, Abhnivagupta by K.C.Pandey published by Chaukhamba Amarbharti Prakashan,Varanasi,2002,Third Edition

[16] Page 575,Abhinavagupta by K.C.P,K.C.Pandey makes erroneous reference to Anand Lahiri,pp 79-82 Saundaraya Lahiri translated by Tapasayaanada published by Rama Krishna Matha.

[17] Page 394-396,Vol-II Tarikh-i-Hassan.by Hassan Khuihami Published by Oriental Research Department,Srinagar,1954

[18] Page 80-82,Vol-I Tarikh-i-Hassan. by Hassan Khuihami Published by Oriental Research Department,Srinagar,1954

 

 

Only a Name

"Nund Rishi-caught in the names "

What is in a name.Well,everything, if you believe the Kashmiri “mainstream” politicians. The recently inaugurated Srinagar International Airport is caught in the name calling business.It might sound strange to most of us that a name should make so much a difference. But if we do believe Kashmiri Politicians, yes the elected ones, it is important, actually imperative to rechristen(oops Re-Islamize) it to Sheikh-ul-Alam International Airport.Sheikh-ul-Alam,the much named Saint of the 14th Century was a great saint, no questions about that. It he is he who sang to the glory of Shiva and called Lalleshwari(the Saivate Yogini and Poet) an Avatar(re-incarnation of God).The great man was critical of the clergy irrespective of their religion and thus was a greatly respected saint in his time and till this day lives in our memory as a poignant reminder of whatever sainthood means.

He was born in a family where they earned their livelihood by stealing.He shunned that path and took to the unknown.He lived the life on ascetic and a true vegetarian.For 11 years the great saint survived on milk and leaves that fell of the ground.Such was the piety associated with the saint.He was thus called Nund Rishi.

And then Politics took over.

The kings, who were obviously scared that this might mean end of the Wahhabi brand of Islam that they were spreading, appropriated him. He was called the Alambardar(Flag bearer) of Kashmir. It is very hard to know who first called the great man Sheikh-ul-Alam(The Ulema of the World).Whoever did it sowed the seeds of discontent and obviously Politics.The great saint was Islamized to ensure that what could not be accomplished by sword shall be accomplished by spirituality. The saint was Islamized.

The State Legislative Assembly and Council both passed resolutions to re-christen the Airport.The Minister was quoted as saying that this was done keeping in mind the sentiments of the people One wonders if the people of Kashmir also wish to change the name of Srinagar International Airport to The Sheikh-ul-Alam International Airport or do they think otherwise.I remember vividly how people had shouted ”Charar Bane Hane Hane,Mastgul Kate Bane” - Chrar,the shrine of Nund Rishi can be made all over again,but there isn’t another Mastgul,when Mast Gul(the dreaded terrorist) burned the revered saint’s shrine to escape from the security forces who surrounded the shrine.Do these very people, who almost rejoiced at the burning down of his shrine, want to name the Airport after him or is there more to it.Do these sick people , who then cheered Mast-Gul and denigrated Nund Rishi even care about the true saint?

The truth is that name Srinagar doesn’t go down well with the Islamized nature of the Valley.They cannot digest the fact that Srinagar(Laxmi’s Nagar) is the name of the land which is now cleaned of the Hindus who worship the mother-goddess.The truth is that they are already call the Hari Parvat( the hill of Sharika) the Kohi-Maran(the mound of the dead).The Truth is that they are uncomfortable about their Hindu Past, which no matter they do, is stuck to them-in their language, their rituals, their ways of life.

(The writer is the Co-Founder of Roots in Kashmir.He can be reached at rashneek@gmail.com)

J&K temples for sale-"The Statesman "

Statesman News ServiceJAMMU, Jan. 27:

After 18 years of plunder and damage to ancient Hindu temples in the state, the Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to investigate the illegal sale of properties of various Hindu temples in Kashmir. Militancy, which started in the state in the early 1990s, led to more than 350,000 Kashmiri Pandits fleeing Kashmir Valley. More than 600 of the temples were desecrated by militants. In the past few years, however, the Hindu temple trusts and a few individuals associated with the temples' functioning, in connivance with the land mafia and politicians, have allegedly been selling temple land and property.There are ways to dispose off such properties which include leasing them out or giving the power of attorney. But all this would come to a halt as the government has decided to ban the sale of temple properties in Kashmir. “We have taken note of the concern expressed by the legislators about the sale of property of Hindu shrines by their management and will probe the disposal of such properties,” state revenue minister Mr Aijaz Ahmad Khan said, adding that the government has issued instructions to the field staff of the revenue department not to issue any revenue extract for land belonging to temples, ashrams and trusts without orders from the competent authority. For the past few years, Kashmiri Pandits had been demanding that the government declare the sale and purchase of temple properties as illegal. Such Kashmiri Pandit organisations as the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti have written to the Prime Minister, citing contentious lease details of a few sold temple properties. The All Pandits Migrants Coordination Committee, over the years, gathered proof of temple lands being sold. Last year, it circulated a CD which showed evidence of the encroachment in Anantnag, home to the former chief minister, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. Hindus’ crematoriums and children's burial grounds at Sagam, Kokernag, are said to have been used for a public health centre and a forest checkpost. The land and properties of temples such as the Ramji Temple in Srinagar which is worth crores of rupees, is being sold or leased out, allegedly on management's instructions. “As such temple trusts have not had elections for the last 17 years, caretakers and outsiders have been controlling temple assets, worth crores of rupees, and are now selling or leasing them out,” said KPSS president Mr Sanjay Tickoo, adding that the government would check such moves. “But there is a strong and influential land mafia operating in Kashmir which wants to grab Kashmiri Pandits' temples properties,” said Mr Vinod Pandita, chairman, APMCC, adding that the properties of Baba Dharam Das temple in Barbarshah have been sold dishonestly.The Vaital Bharva shrine at Motiyar Rainawari Srinagar has been ransacked and its dharamshala, occupied by relatives of the local MLA. Even the Jammu and Kashmir Dharmarth Trust headed by Dr Karan Singh has been selling the land of Hindus at Pratepeshwar Temple, Kohnikon and Barbarshah. The Prayag Temple at Shadipora, Srinagar, too, testifies to plunder and encroachment, he alleged. The J&K government said it has received two cases of encroachment of temple lands and these would be probed.

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=2&theme=&usrsess=1&id=187621

An Eyewitness Account of the 1947 raid by Tribals from Pakistan-by T.N.Bhan

My name is Triloki Nath Bhan and I was 18 years old young boy living in Sehyar, test Srinagar when Pakistani Army along with Kabailies from North West Frontier Province, launched a series of surprise attacks across Jammu and Kashmir on October 24, 1947. As is well known the Pakistani invaders quickly overwhelmed the the forces of Maharaja Hari Singh. Most of the Muslim units of J& K Army comprising of Mirpuri deserted and joined the invaders after killing their Hindu and Sikh Officers. Muzzafarabd fell within a few hours of the attack and the invaders proceeded towards Baramula, Sopore and Srinagar. At the Uri bridge Brigadier Rajinder Singh lost his life putting up a valiant fight .He held the invaders for two days which gave time to the Maharajah to flee the valley. and the Indian Army to intervene.

The Pakistani invaders entered Baramula on October 26, 1947 and proceeded to indulge in Rape, murder, loot and arson, especially targeting Sikhs and Kashmiri Pandit community. By the morning of October 27th some raiders had reached the outskirts of Srinagar. Hari Singh's exit had totally broken the morale of the government and security establishment. Police stations were empty. anything could happen at any time. Sheikh Abdullah and his National Conference organized a voluntary force of young men known as Salamati Fauj in the city with specific direction to maintain communal harmony at all costs. This worked, Halka Committees became the police station. I remember I also joined this force to patrol the streets to ensure nobody disturbed the communal harmony. Most of the Hindu leadership had left the valley for Jammu. As the Kashmiri Pandits trickled in from the countryside we began to hear the tales of atrocities, plunder, rape and murder of innocent Hindus and Sikhs by the Pakistani invaders.

Although Kashmir's Pandits were leaderless as even our RSS leaders such as Bal Raj Madhok had left the city we the grassroot RSS Swyamsewaks began to organise ourselves to defend and protect Pandit honor. I belonged to Putli Dharamshalla Shakha. We decided to go out of Srinagar to visit other cities and villages and see for ourselves the condition of our Kashmiri Pandits brothers and sisters so that help could be arranged for the needy. I was accompanied by other Swyamsewaks such as Maharaj Krishan Mirza, Amar Nath Ganju, Manohar Nath Bhagati, Lakshmi Narain Kaul, Bhaska nath ganjoo, Durga Nath Dhar, Trilokinath Dhar, Prithvinath Dhar, Naranjan Kaul, Brijnath Moza and others. These volunteers hailed from Sehyar, Rehbaba Sahib and Rishipeer. We began our journey on 30th October 1947. Starting on foot in the early morning we first touched Shalteing about four miles down the road from Chhatabal Custom Post. Here we went inside the enclosed Chinar Grove and found two dead bodies of the Kabali-invaders who had been strafed by the Indian Air Force aircraft. Onward we reached Pooshbugg a village near Pattan where kabalies had executed 14 Kashmiri Pandits as they were performing fire veneration "Hawan". The fire was still smoldering. Luckily all fourteen had already been cremated by the Pandits of the neighboring villages who had escaped the onslaught of these savages. All Pandit houses were looted. We tried to enter the town of Pattan but we were not allowed to enter. We could only guess the gruesome condition of Pandits in the town.

After Pattan we continued our journey to Sangarhama-detour to Sopore.There is a thick willow grove on the right side of the main road. A Muslim boy told us that we should go and see what had happened there. Visiting the Grove was most horrendous and traumatizing experience as we saw pieces of Indian currency notes and human skeletons scattered in the area. The boy told us that Sikh adults had killed their women and children here to ensure they did not fall in the hands of these heartless and treacherous Paksitani's. Dazed we turned and left toward Sopore. We had walked about 200 yards we found a Kacha road to the left leading us to a Seer (Hindu Shrine). There we found a Mullah was teaching Quran to two Pandit women who were dressed in a Burka. As the Mullah saw us he took to his heels as we began chanting "Har Har Mahadev", the women retracted and threw their Burkas. The shrine in Seer was reduced to heap of rubble and two Muslim men were pulling out the nails from the burnt wooden planks. The worse was still to come. We saw couple of KP's men and women coming towards us all in tears, and crying. They told us that the local Muslims had invited two Pakistani Kabailies from Baramula and all our brethren had been asked to assemble in the ground near a mosque where a calf was slaughtered in their presence. Pieces of raw beef were forced down their throat and abuses were heaped. Their houses were looted-clean sweep, even the doors and window frames were pulled out. We spent the night with them, the bedding was the hay of rice. Of course we recited the bhajans the whole night. On the dawn of next day we began our journey towards Sopore. In this town not much damage was done. The leader of Kashmir pandits was Jat Kak Zutshi father of Jeevan Zutshi of California. Mr. Zutshi had worked with Muslim elders in the city to protect the KP's. Unfortunately Jat Kak had become a target of the Kabaleys and he hid under the hay in the house of a Muslim friend on the condition that he convert to Islam. Jat Kak Zutshi's family was my neighbor in Jamalatoo in Srinagar.

The next day we proceeded to Bomai Village which is a couple of miles from Sopore on way to Handwara. Here the first assassination of a Batta had taken place a few days before the Pakistani invasion. The Martyre was Pandit Sarwanand Kaul an honest and diligent Intelligence Officer in the State Government. He was kidnapped and butchered a couple of kilometers from his house. We comforted the family. Buomay Battas were safe. No damage , except they were terribly shaken and fearful. We had lunch with them and assured them that the whole of Indian nation was with them.

On Reaching Handwara we witnessed six kucha earthen mounds burying six Kashmir Pandits belonging to one family. It was a mass suicide committed the family. Then we witnessed the same thing as we had seen earlier in Seer. Houses had been looted, KP residents were helter skelter seeking shelter to save their lives. We stayed in Handwara for the night sleeping on the bran (kuchh). In the morning we started to dig the bodies but the Commander of the area prevented us and said that Army would do it. It was a very tense night for us as firing from both sides was still going on. Taking the kuchha route to Baramula via Langet we continued our journey.

At Langet we found two dead bodies who were cremated by us. Langet had special significance for me as it is close to Trihagram where my maternal uncle Mr. Zindalal Raina of Rainawari residing near Hari Singh High School was assassinated in 1931 when Sheikh Abdullah as a Muslim Communalist had aroused the Hindu-Muslim strife in the valley.

We reached Baramula in the evening and came across a young Kashmiri Pandit who was a lecturer of English in the Govt. College there. He offered us to stay overnight which we did. His house was also looted as mentioned earlier. He told us how his beautiful wife and other young KP ladies had been locked in a house and gang raped by the Muslim invaders. Next day he showed us the house from which these women had jumped to death from the fourth story. During the talk he told us that one respectable couple in the town was dragged through the streets. We saw every KP house was looted-clean sweep even the doors and windows were removed. Streets were deserted Batta houses were like skeletons and the inhabitants had either gone into hiding or were killed. Many had committed suicide by jumping into the Jhelum river. Crossing the bridge to the other side where market and Govt. offices were housed, we were shown a spot in the middle of the bridge from where young Hindu-Pandit, Sikh and Khatri ladies plunged to their death by drowning into the river. Those who did not have a chance to kill themselves were herded into Tehsil compound and gang raped. All Hindu shops were looted in totality. We finally went to the Christian School and found that even the Nuns were not spared. Many had been raped before being murdered.

Out of respect we went to the spot where Maqbool Sherwani was hanged for misdirecting the invaders. At that point the Army Commander advised us to retrun to Srinagar as Baramula was still not safe for Hindus and Sikhs. It was clear that 30,000 Hindus men and women ( Pandit, Sikh and Kahtri) had either lost their lives or were taken as sex slaves by the Pakistani invaders.

Returning to Srinagar was a traumatic experience as if living hell was waiting for us. All of us were arrested and imprisoned in the Halqa Committee, denied food and beaten mercilessly for several days. By the skin of our teeth we managed our freedom with the condition that we would be under surveillance and roll called twice a day. It was clear to us that one way or the other these National Conference Halqa Committee Goons were going to get rid of us. We tried our best to find a way to get out of Srinagar. My quest to find someone who could get us out led me to Mr. Kashi Nath Fotedar who was an important Officer in the Indian Army in Badami Bagh. He was of immense help to many older Kashmir's Pandits and children who he sent out in Army trucks. Another great Batta was Flt. Luit J. N. Dhar from Vicharnagh who was the only Kashmiri speaking Pilot at that time whom Nehru had deputed him to Srinagar. He too rendered great service to the community by flying out beleaguered KP's in Airforce planes. I need to introduce Pandit Kashi Nath Fotedar first as he is the industrious father of Hira Fotedar and is the father of my wife Dulari Bhan as well. Mr. J. N. Dhar is the maternal uncle of Hira and paternal uncle of Vijay Dhar of Union City California.

My escape from Srinagar was possible only on April 6, 1948. I along with Manohar Bagati, Lakshmi Narain Kaul and Amar Nath Ganjoo walked all the way to Ptahankot on foot for 22 days. I finally settled at Saharanpur UP where I lived for 54 years.

Now I would like to pay my homage to all the KP Martyrs in 1931, 1947 and 1990. My compliments to those who by didn't of their courage, resilience and focus rebuilt their lives from scratch without Government aid under very difficult circumstances. I wish to thank many old Kashmiri Pandits who offered all four of us help in Kanpur and helped us settle down. My companions Bagati, Kaul and Ganjoo sahib eventually returned to Srinagar where Mr. Amar Nath Ganjoo became an important RSS functionary. My thanks to Mr. B. K. Kaul ICS Iron and Steel Controller, Mr. H. N. Sapru Dy Director of Industries UP and S.n. Shivpuri , GM Cement Corporation. I am sure these great men have left us but I did want to recognise their help to many KP refugees in 1947.

Dear friends I am a proud Swayamsewak, and will be a Swyamsewak till my death.

Reagrds

Triloki Nath Bhan

Memphis Tennesee USA

The Lashkar Act I by Andrew Whitehead

(Courtesy:Outlook)

My mission as a historian of Kashmir started 10 years ago at the St Joseph's mission in Baramulla. There I met Sister Emilia, an Italian nun who had lived in Kashmir since 1933, and heard her first-hand account of one of the defining moments in South Asia's modern history. She was the last survivor at St Joseph's of the attack by armed Pathan tribesmen in October 1947."There were rumours that they were coming; we were thinking they won't do nothing to us," she told me. "The Monday after the feast of Christ the King they reached here. Then they started to shoot. We were working still. The hospital had patients. They were on the veranda of the hospital, going from one ward to another."Sister Emilia offered a window on to a deeply contested episode—a moment that was slipping out of living memory.

The invaders, who decades later were still disturbing her dreams, had been encouraged to enter Kashmir by elements in the Pakistan establishment to claim the Muslim-majority, Hindu-ruled princely state for Islam and Pakistan.I urgently sought out others who had lived through the attack. In England, Tom Dykes told me how he was awoken on that Monday morning by the sound of gunfire. He was five years old. He and some nuns sought refuge in a locked room at the convent hospital, but the attackers started to batter down the door. "The splinters started to fly, and I could see the wild faces through the cracks. At the back of the room there was another door, and it was not locked and I ran." His parents were among the six people killed in the attack; he and his two younger brothers survived.In Baramulla town, a man who in 1947 had pro-Pakistan sympathies recalled how the mood had turned against the invaders. "They provided me with a guard, one of the tribal men," he told me, his sense of outrage still undimmed. "After two days, they looted me also!"

An elderly Sikh woman recounted how her three female cousins, all then teenagers like her, had been abducted and never heard of since.A journalist colleague in the North West Frontier Province succeeded in tracking down a veteran of the tribal lashkar. "We were asked by the Pir of Manki Sharif to come and fight," said Khan Shah Afridi. "He told us we should not be afraid—it is a war between Muslims and infidels and we will get Kashmir freed. We shot whoever we saw in Baramulla. We forced Hindus to run for their lives."

These voices offered compelling testimony about how Kashmir first came to be in the grip of conflict. It was a human perspective to what so often is presented as a dispute about territory. And there was a remarkable conjunction of dates—the day on which the tribal fighters ransacked St Joseph's, October 27, 1947, was also the day that the first ever Indian troops landed in Kashmir.Scouring through the archives, further remarkable testimony came to light. A missionary priest had set down by hand in an old desk diary a vivid account of the attack on Baramulla. I was perhaps the first person apart from the author to have read it.

Old copies of the Hindustan Times and the Times of India revealed how Sheikh Abdullah and his supporters set up an armed militia to defend Srinagar—and in recent months, I have met Kashmiri men and women who served in that force.These rich historical sources help answer questions about how the invaders were organised, why they failed to capitalise on local disenchantment with the maharaja, and why they were unable, in spite of initial military superiority, to capture Srinagar. The events of those few days 60 years ago have moulded the region's political geography—it's a story too important to be left to the official chroniclers.

If the Kashmir dispute had ever been settled, then an account of how the conflict first flared up would be of academic value only.But it remains one of the world's most enduring geopolitical faultlines, compounded by the rise of Islamic radicalism and by the nuclear power status of both principal parties. Partisan history has been part of the problem.

The Kashmir issue has been snagged by an almost theological reiteration, from one perspective or another, of the events of 1947. It's as if, in Delhi and Islamabad (less so in Srinagar), there's a feeling that if we can argue that our side was right 60 years ago, then it vindicates our approach to Kashmir ever since.Yet it's difficult to see how any crisis can be settled unless it is first understood, or how it can be understood without a grasp of how it started. Once you begin to look at the complexities of the past, simple solutions no longer seem to make so much sense. And once those who care about Kashmir start to agree on a common narrative of the valley's modern history, then broader agreement may not be too far away.
(Andrew Whitehead's account of the origins of the Kashmir conflict, Mission in Kashmir, is published this month by Penguin India.)

Pandits denied entry into temple in POK-HINDU

Shrine of Sharda,once the greatest seat of learning in ancient India..now in ruins

A slew of so called CBM's and GoI's Healing Touch Policy, as always leaves Pandits out.When thousands from across the border have visited Char-e-Sharief and Hazratbal,not even one Pandit has been given permission to visit the sacred shrine of Sharda in POK.

Read on....

Srinagar, Oct. 3 (PTI): Notwithstanding denial of permission by authorities, a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits yesterday tried to undertake a journey to Sharda Peeth temple, one of their revered shrines, in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir from here.
The 11-member delegation, however, was not allowed to proceed beyond the drop gate of army headquarters of the Uri brigade, 20-kms from the Line-of Control.
The delegation also contacted the sub-divisional police officer for the permission but he denied, saying it was the prerogative of the army.
The Kashmiri Pandits, under the banner of Pir Panjal organisation, chanting slogans 'Sharda Mata ki Jai' left from Durga Nag temple here for Kaman post in border town of Uri.
"Ours is a peace mission. We have been the worst sufferer of the animosity between India and Pakistan and our journey is an attempt to restore peace in the subcontinent," president of the organisation Ramesh Hangloo told PTI before embarking on the 120-km journey.
The KP leaders had requested India and Pakistan to allow them to visit the temple in PoK, but were denied permission.
The delegation was hopeful that they would be allowed to visit the temple in Atamuqam tehsil in Muzaffarabad.
Asked if they were not allowed to cross the LoC, they said its shows that the two governments were not serious about Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) announced so far.
Sharda temple, in Neelam (Kishanganga) valley just beyond the LoC in Pok, is located in a small village called Shardi near the confluence of Kishanganga and Madhumati rivers. It is one of most revered shrine of Kashmiri Pandits, and they want to go to undertake repair work of the temple.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200710030341.htm

KPs in US International Religious Freedom Report 2007 by Neeraj Santoshi(in Indian Express)

The US Government has categorically raked up the issues of the displaced Kahmiri Hindus and the atrocities meted out to them in the insurgency ridden Jammu and Kashmir, in its recently released report and expressed concern over their plight.

The US State Department in its annual International Religious Freedom Report, released on September 14, has stated in its section on India that ``Terrorist groups perpetrated atrocities against civilians, including minority Hindu members of the Pandit (Hindu Brahmin) community, in the long-lasting insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir''. The report states that `` Kashmiri Hindus remained vulnerable to violence. Most lived in refugee camps outside of the valley awaiting safe return. ''

The International Religious Freedom Report 2007 was released by the US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labour. Emphasising that U.S. Embassy and the three U.S. Consulates continued to promote religious freedom through discussions with the country's senior leadership, as well as with state and local officials, the report further adds, ``Mission officers also monitored the plight of internally displaced Kashmiri Hindus, known as Pandits, who fled their home areas in the valley of Kashmir starting in 1989 due to attacks on them by terrorists seeking to drive out non-Muslim minorities'' .

During meetings with key leaders of all significant religious communities, U.S. senior officials discussed reports of ``harassment of minority groups, converts, and missionaries, as well as state-level legislation restricting conversion, the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, and the plight of displaced Kashmiri Pandits'', adds the report. Giving a detailed account of Displaced Kashmiri Hindus, the report says that approximately 4,778 Pandit families from Jammu and Kashmir still were living in 12 refugee camps in Jammu at the end of the reporting period, and 238 families were still in Delhi's 14 camps.

The reports also stresses that militants tried to disturb the inter-religious harmony across India by their violent activities. The reports points out that the, ``terrorists attempted to provoke interreligious conflict by detonating bombs in Hyderabad in May 2007, in Nanded (Central Maharashtra) in February 2007, in the Muslim majority town of Malegaon (North Maharashtra) in September 2006, and in commuter trains in Mumbai in July 2006''. The reports also maintains that in India ``The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the National Government generally respected this right in practice. However, some state and local governments limited this freedom in practice''.

Commenting on the references of displaced Kashmiri Hindus in the report, Dr Ajay Chrungoo, leader of the frontline Kashmiri Pandit organisation, Panun Kashmir told The Indian Express that report has vindicated the Hindu dimension of the Kashmir issue, with international bodies now increasingly realizing that the forced displacement of the Hindus from Kashmir valley is a very important issue, which needs to be addressed. ``The international recognition of our issues is the result of the struggle launched by the Pandit groups during last 17 years of exile. The significant part of the report is that it has categorically mentioned that terrorists are bent upon to disturb the religious harmony across the country. What happened first in valley, is now happening across India. Terror has become a pan-India phenomenon now with global linkages'', he asserted.

"Sleeping at Home" by Pramod Kumar and Rahul Pandita(in THE SUNDAY INDIAN)

The civil society and the media is doing its best to raise the decibel level on how a dreaded killer is roaming free.The voice somehow still doesnt seem to have reached the eternally "deaf and dumb" Indian State.One more Special report in THE SUNDAY INDIAN focussing on how criminals,terrorists have a free hand while the Home Minister finds India "too big".Here is a report by Pramod Kumar and Rahul Pandita.

Bitta Karate? The Home Ministry is clueless about this dreaded militant. But does it have a clue about anything else? Pramod Kumar and Rahul Pandita find out…
The phone rang late in the night. In two rings, Fatima picked it up. “Your son is free,” said a police officer on the other side. Next morning it was celebration time in Srinagar’s Guru Bazaar area. By afternoon, Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate was at home. He was garlanded, and kisses were planted on his forehead. He had been set free after sixteen years in prison.
876 kilometres away, a distraught man watched these images beamed on his television set. For years, Ramesh Tikku had waited for justice. Sixteen years ago, his brother Satish was waylaid by Dar outside his home in Srinagar and shot dead in cold blood. Satish was Dar’s first victim. In the next few months, he would kill many innocent people – most of them Kashmiri Pandits. Some of them were gruesomely murdered in front of children and women. In a television interview soon after his arrest, Dar – a martial arts expert, hence the name Karate – had confessed killing 20 people, though many believe that the number is almost twice.
While ordering him to be released on bail, the TADA judge had remarked: “The court is aware of the fact that the allegations levelled against the accused are of serious nature and carry a punishment of death sentence or life imprisonment but the fact is that the prosecution has shown total disinterest in arguing the case, which is in complete violation of Article 21 of the Constitution.”
Meanwhile, Satish Tikku’s father died remembering his son.
Cut to 2007. It was on July 6, 2007 that a young Kashmiri activist filed an application under the Right to Information Act (RTI) with the Ministry of Home Affairs, seeking information about Bitta Karate. Among other queries, the application sought answers to following questions:
What is the total number of cases registered against Dar?
Is the bail granted to Dar of any specified time frame or is it indefinite?
What action has been taken against the State Police for what the designated judge ND Wani called “total disinterest in arguing the case?”
Is it true that the designated officer/s (both public prosecutor and police officer) on behalf of the State was/were absent on the day of final hearing of arguments in the case? If so, please explain the reasons for absence of the designated officer/s in the court on the day of final hearing of arguments in the case?
In a letter, dated July 20, 2007, the Kashmir Division of the Home Ministry replied back. The six-line reply, a copy of which is available with TSI, said: “The information you have asked for is not available in the Kashmir Division of Ministry of Home Affairs.”
How is it possible that the Ministry of Home Affairs, which is responsible for the internal security of the country, has no information about the whereabouts of a dreaded militant? Did the ministry have no wherewithal to keep a tab on a former area commander of the JKLF? Or it just didn’t care? Looking at the recent series of events, it looks like a bit of both.
After the Hyderabad blasts, when the Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil was asked about whether his ministry had any prior information about the blasts, he replied, “We had some intelligence inputs, but then, you see, India is a big country.” While Patil struggles with the bigness of India, his junior minister, Sri Prakash Jaiswal parrots a readymade answer in front of media persons, after every terrorist act. In the security meeting after the Hyderabad blasts, as Jaiswal sat briefing the Prime Minister, his national security adviser, MK Narayanan expressed unhappiness about the lax attitude of the Home ministry. In response to that, Patil replied, “We have sent a strong-worded letter to the state governments.”
The Home Minister may have taken refuge in a few ‘strong-worded’ letters but it is a fact that India is bogged down by insurgency while the Home ministry has no clue about how to tackle it. In the security meeting, the issue of terrorists using the Samjahuta Express to smuggle explosives and fake currency also came up. Narayanan was also angry that the issue of terrorists using the Myanmar route to sneak into India – it was revealed by a suspect arrested after the Hyderabad blasts – has not been taken up with the Myanmar’s government. In Uttar Pradesh alone, an alert has been sounded for around 250 missing Pakistani citizens. To identify such people, living illegally in India, the ministry has released 47 crores to make I-cards for Indian citizens in 12 states and Union territories. The pilot project was supposed to be completed by July 2007 but the fact is that it is yet to take off.
For years now, security experts have been stressing upon the need for coordination between various intelligence agencies like the Intelligence Bureau and the Military Intelligence. But nothing concrete has been done so far. A senior army officer posted in Kashmir says that often various agencies don’t share information due to ego issues.
The Home Ministry claims that as compared to last year, civilian casualties in Assam have reduced by six percent while casualties among security personnel have come down by 37 percent. But, perhaps, the ministry has chosen to ignore the fact that in the last month alone, extremist group ULFA has conducted fifteen major operations in Assam, killing scores of Hindi-speaking people. It is a known fact that ULFA’s top leaders like Paresh Barua are based in Bangladesh where they run many businesses. But even after providing more than enough proofs to successive governments in Bangladesh, India has not been able to lay its hands on these leaders.
The number of naxalite-affected police stations in the country is increasing. Out of 12,476 police stations, 400 have come under the red shadow. This year till June, 209 people have died in 395 naxalite attacks. Prominent among them is the murder of JMM MP Sunil Mahato and a bid to blow up the vehicle carrying former Andhra CM, N Janardhan Reddy. MOS Home, Sri Prakash Jaiswal admits that till 2007, 1605 crores have been released for tackling naxalites in eight affected states. Says Mohammaed Salim of the CPI (M): “The naxal problem is a socio-economic problem but it is also true that the government has not done enough. Naxalites are now touching Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.”
Even an extradition treaty with Pakistan hangs in balance. The Home Ministry says it is Foreign ministry’s job. As a result, people like Dawood Ibrahim, Maulana Masood Azhar, and Abdul Karim Tunda are roaming free. And the Home Minister says that India is a big country.

THE PANDITS's OPEN WOUND-by Iftikhar Geelani(in PIONEER)

Bitta Karate, who murdered dozens of Kashmiri Pandits, walked out of court laughing this month when another attempt to convict him failed.It wasn't his victory, but the failure of the Indian state

One winter evening, late in 1989, a zooming Ambassador slowed down in the Chanakhan locality of Sopore town. A person wearing a Kashmiri gown (phern), apparently a Pandit, was thrown out and gun shots rentthe air. The bleeding person had not lost his senses. Holding hisbullet wounds he crawled to take shelter under a closed shop. Lawlessness had taken over the Kashmir Valley. Nobody would listen to anything but Azadi, to achieve which it was necessary to clear theValley of "informers" and leaders having the potential to "sell-out". The man who lay dying slowly of bullet wounds was crying for water inhis feeble voice. But the people of the neighbourhood, who were used to being hauled off by the security forces for harbouring anybody deemed a "militant" were in no mood to help. Instead of rushing to his rescue, they carried him by his arms and legs and tossed him into the Jhelum river which flowed nearby. That ended his misery.Till date, nobody has any answers for this strange behaviour -- a summary execution of sorts. The only explanation given was that thedead man used to live in a nearby village. He was a Kashmiri Pandit who had been kidnapped for providing information about militants tothe security agencies.

A contrast came a few months after this incident in a nearby SofiHamam locality, when militants raided the homes of Pandits in broad daylight. Almost all Pandit families had left for Jammu by then,barring a young boy. Ashok, who had stayed back for some unknown reasons. Militants believed he was helping the security forces bypinpointing targets. People literally gheraoed the whole locality and shoed the militants away. But, in the dead of night, they returned.This time, they cut off the roof of the house to drag out Ashok. After few days his dead body was found on the banks of river Jhelum.

The neighbours of the Pandits for centuries, the Muslims of KashmirValley were not particularly happy about the killings of Pandits. Onoccasions they remonstrated the militants. Even today, the full separatist spectrum consisting of hardliner Syed Ali Geelani tomoderate Yasin Malik recognise the Pandits as part of Kashmiri society. Their migration out of the Valley has disturbed Kashmiri society, they admit.

At the start of armed movement in 1989, strategists in both India and Pakistan disallowed any Kashmiri leader to take the centre-stage,which could have at least controlled the events. While India detainedleaders, militant groups at the behest of Pakistani agencies launcheda venomous campaign against them. They even resisted staunch pro-Pakistan Kashmiri leaders to ensure that the levers of control were with Islamabad and to avoid the re-emergence of a Sheikh Abdullah. Baring some honourable exceptions, this vacuum got to be filled by ruffians and street stalkers who had procured guns. They began to regard themselves as leaders and mujahids. They killed more civilians than they confronted the security forces.

Among such characters, Farooq Ahmed Dar, alias Bitta Karate, emergedas one of top leaders of the Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).The then Governor, Mr Jagmohan, later wrote in justification of the detention of traditional leaders and providing ascendancy to theelements in the JKLF: "I wanted to weaken the hold of the fanatics and fundamentalists, and also the pro-Pakistani groups by facilitating the ascendancy of those elements in the J&K Liberation Front who had thelatent disposition to be moderate and whom I could subsequently tackle to accept my idea of security real freedom for the Kashmiri masses, within the larger framework of the Indian Constitution.

"But, on Bitta Karate's emergence, Mr Jagmohan's policy went all wrong.Blamed by the Pandit community for a string of killings of itsmembers, Bitta Karate walked free on October 27, 2006, after 16 years of incarceration. An anti-terror court while granted him bail, arguedthat there was "no justification in continuation of his incarcerationwhen other co-accused facing the same allegations are enjoying fruitsof liberty".

Earlier, in 2001, Justice GD Sharma of the State HighCourt had ordered the transfer the cases against this notorious killerof the Pandits to Jammu.Farooq Ahmed Dar, against whom 23 FIRs -- mostly related to murder --had been lodged, was a martial arts practitioner. That gained him fameas "Bitta Karate". What earned him the wrath of Pandits was the "confessional statement" run by the official media soon after hisarrest, in which he accepted his role in the killings.

Even the separatists and the dominant JKLF faction-led Mohammad Yasin Maliknever espoused his cause, or even asked for his release for several years because of the negative image he had earned.Since then, there has been stiff opposition to his release, promptingthe Government to repeatedly slap the Public Safety Act (PSA) -- apreventive detention law that provides for detention without trial for a maximum of two years -- on him. Each time the term expired, it wasrenewed.Despite filing various cases against Karate for the killing of 30Pandits in 1990 and creating a fear psychosis, the State Government failed to file a chargesheet against him. His release may be treatedas a failure of our criminal justice system. The Pandit community,which is now thronging the streets seeking his re-arrest, failed toprovide a single witness against Karate in the court of law. There can be no excuse of lack of security, because the trial was going on in aspecial court in Jammu, where witnesses could have felt much safer.

The State Government, too, totally relied on the invocation of the Public Safety Act (PSA) rather than resorting to investigations andprocuring witnesses for convictions. For over two decades the rampant use of the PSA with ease quite dampened the investigation capabilitiesof the Jammu & Kashmir Police. It is used on all and sundry, from timber smugglers to terrorists, because the PSA is such a short-cut to the end of the troubles of the police force.

The policemen have become lazy, for no longer are demands of securing prosecution placed on them. It has not only completely shattered the investigating machinery of the State police, but the law also falls short of the fundamental requirements of justice. There is no such concept as equality before Law. The police could rest assured thatthere was no need to present an accused person before a magistrate, what to talk of looking for witnesses to examine.Bitta Karate eluded justice because the criminal justice system inJammu & Kashmir is quite dead. The State's failure to bring to justicea mass murderer and ethnic cleanser like him should not be viewed in narrow terms. It is high time the security agencies are reminded ofthe fundamental duty of their craft - to secure convictions.--

The writer is a noted expert on Kashmir issues