Noted Historian's Views on "Martand"
13-C, Kailash Apartments,
Lala Lajpat Rai Road,
New Delhi - 110048
January 27, 1986
Dear Dr. Moza,
I apologise for the delay in acknowledging your
letter of 25th Ult. due to my indifferent health.
I am of the view that the "Martand" of Srinagar which has the
distinction of being the oldest running paper in Kashmir, needs to be
revitalized and built into a.healthy.organ of the Valley as a whole and of the
Kashmiri Pandit society in particular. It has to be a vigorous journal
capable of voicing the aspirations, of our community which thanks to the hard
and intelligent work of our younger generation is making itself felt in all
spheres of activity both in India and abroad. Personally, I feel, the
present is the golden age of the Kashmiri Pandits notwithstanding the tremendous
difficulties they have to face.
I have a personal knowledge of the founding of the journal in 1932-33 when I
was a member of the Yuvak Sabha led by Pandit Killam and Pandit Kashyap Bandhu.
I distinctly recollect the day when Bandhuji left for Lahore to purchase a Litho
flat-bed press which was installed at Shitalnath and its trial run arranged with
the help of the proprietors of the Vish Nath Press. The late Pandit Gwash
Lal Kaul took over as its first editor.
Right from the beginning, the Martand faced financial difficulties which were
met with from the proceeds of the mochhipholu or monthly contribution of rice by
every Kashmiri Pandit family. These wqre hard days for the journal but
thanks to the determination of the community as a whole the "Martand"
weathered the stonn.
Numerous were the occasions when Martand voiced the grievances of the
community and it would fill a volume to enumerate them. But when
subsequently the paper became involved in petty internal bickerings of the so
-called leaders it lost grace. But now is the time when it needs to be set
on firm foundations. Who will do it and how, is a million-dollar question
?
I am happy you have set the ball rolling and I am sure the lead will result
in the Martand achieving the preeminent position among its contemporaries.
Wishing you success in this laudable enterprise.
Yours sincerely,
Sd/-
P. N. K. Bamzai
Dr. B. K. Moza,
Editor "The Vitasta",
211, Park Street,
Calcutta - 700017.
[Reproduced from the Vitasta Annual 1985 - Martand Number.]
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