On Some Behind The Scenes Parleys

Udai Kaul

I was in Delhi when the Parameshwari Agitation was at its peak.  I was taken aback when my father chided me on telephone from Srinagar "O, you are in Delhi watching how we are getting beaten up and killed".  Father was in Government service, never involved even in mild protests much less in agitation against the Government.  His words stirred me enough to make me take a flight to Srinagar.  On reaching home in Karan Nagar, Srinagar from the airport, I was taken aback to see a never-before-seen or even heard of procession of such huge dimensions of Kashmiri Pandits which was following the hearse of a Pandit killed, to the Shumshan (Burning Ghat).  The atmosphere struck me as a sort of thunderbolt, so to say.  In the course of the next 2 or 3 days I found almost all my Pandit friends, relations and elders deeply involved.  Amongst those I met and conversed with were Pt.  Gopi Kishan, Sri J L K Kalali, Dr. S N Peshin, Sri J N Bhat, Sri Harjilal, some stalwarts of the Yuvak Sabha and a few erstwhile Senior Advocate colleagues of the Srinagar Bar.

Mr. I K Gujral who was later to become the Prime Minister of India was deputed by Mr. S B Chavan, the Home Minister of Govt. of India to mediate with the Kashmiri Pandits.  For some reasons I need not go in, I was deputed along with some senior Advocates to meet Mr. Gujral at the Srinagar Cheshmashahi Guest House.  We were able to strike a very sympathetic and an understanding chord with Mr. Gujral.  Our stand was very simple and straight - that Parmeshwari hadn't out of her freewill chosen to convert herself and marry a Muslim, that she should return to her mother's family (her father was dead), and after some time she be allowed to declare in an open Court her will freely which should be accepted by all, and that meantime all the Pandits arrested during the agitation should be released from the jails.

Mr. Gujral prima facie accepted these demands as very reasonable and desired to have a couple of days to get in touch with the Governments both at the State and Centre levels and work out the modalities.  We had 3 meetings with Mr. Gujral and from our last meeting with him we returned satisfied.

But subsequently we found that the high handedness of the police increasing, thanks, what we came to know later, the black sheep amongst us including a Pandit Minister, who felt that Pandits had no 'backbone' and would succumb under police repression and, simultaneously, giving some crumbs by way of employment would see the end of the agitation.  We discovered that Mr. Gujral meantime unobtrusively had slipped away to Delhi and found ourselves betrayed, stabbed in the back, so to say, as we could not get Parameshwari back and let her express her free will in an open Court as was agreed between Mr.. Gujral and ourselves.

'This internecine and very harmful in-fighting phenomenon amongst us and the absence of a cohesive strong leadership was to bring me again face to face 7 years later in 1974.  As usual I was in Srinagar on my annual trip in early April 1974.  Some friends took me to Shitalnath to show me how two duly sealed locks, one over the other, were put on the Shitalnath office building.  At the Deputy Commissioner's office (then popularly called GOVERNARY) the legal battle was on between two strong factions of the Pandits, each faction claiming right to the Shitalnath premises, and top lawyers were engaged by both the factions.

Ironically the leaders of the two factions whom I knew closely were very well meaning and essentially generous and of accommodative nature and I felt strongly that we had a good chance of getting them together and be under one banner.  But I hadn't reckoned the type of problems that one had to face.  It wasn't enough that the heads of the two factions were well meaning and had no personal ambitions, and would be prepared to bury the hatchet.  They were hamstrung by their organisers and workers who had tremendous ego problems and were in for a fight and a showdown.

Having decided to do what I could to bring the warring factions together, almost 2 months of hectic parleys followed with almost all who mattered.  But this was not a case of two factions only.  There were groups within groups, wheels within wheels, so to say, all essentially smeared with ego-centric problems.

The dispute on the face can simply be stated - One faction lead by that very learned and well intentioned doyen late Shri J L K Jalali was a de jure elected Committee of the Sanatan Dharam Yuvak Sabha.  The other faction lead by our redoubtable, selfless, and accommodative Shri J N Bhat (who was later to become justice Bhat), Amarnath Vaishnavi and Late Amarnath Ganju wanted a change of leadership and felt that they had the majority with them to press for the change.  The voting pattern was rather complicated.  Apart from individual members, Sansthas of Chakreshwar, Pokhribal, Ganpatyar, Batyar, Baramulla, Anantnag and of other districts had a say as well in electing the Yuvak Sabha Committee at Shitalnath.

But taking stock of the overall situation after meeting cross section of our people, their representatives, and various Sansthas, I felt that out of sheer expediency, Sri J N Bhat and his team who were not only very vocal and assertive, but commanded the majority support should take over the reins at Shitalnath.  But de jure, Sri J L K Jalali and his team who were duly elected had to run their full term.  Dislodging them was all that the fight was about.

A way out had to be found, and a way out was found.  After considerable efforts and very many meetings, a "secret" formula was worked out about which I may talk now.

It was decided that two public meetings would be called in Shitalnath and that too within a gap of one month.  In the first meeting everyone which meant essentially Bhat Sahib and his group would openly accept the leadership (read Presidentship) of Jalali Sahib and in the 2nd public meeting which would follow within a month of the first meeting, Jalali Sahib would "willingly" step down and under a particular article of the constitution nominate Sri J N Bhat as his successor President.

I had the pleasure to host a meeting of the leaders and functionaries of both the groups of Jalali Sahib and Bhat Sahib and other stalwarts of the community at my place where the "secret" formula was endorsed by everyone.

But surprisingly some serious impediments problems again came up.  The very next day gentlemen came to my residence in the morning time when I had already left my place.  After a day long frantic search I was located late in the evening when Bhat Sahib himself met me and told me that his friends were not prepared to accept in open the leadership of Jalali Sahib and at best they would abstain from the open meeting called to endorse the Presidentship of Jalali Sahib, and in the light of the opposition of his "friends", some other way out should be found.

The embarrassing and the prickly situation can better be understood then described.  I took the uncompromising stand that whatever was finally decided the previous day at my place had to be stuck to.

Another set of parleys and meetings to and fro followed and at long last all went as was decided and planned - two public meetings were held in Shitalnath where in the first meeting Jalali Sahib was accepted in open as a leader and President of the Yuvak Sabha, and in the 2nd meeting which followed within a month of the first meeting, Jalali Sahib stepped down and Bhat Sahib was ushered in as the new President.

The revival of the Yuvak Sabha and the follow up action were comparatively smooth.  The cases from the Deputy Commissioner's office were withdrawn, locks in Shitalnath premises opened and the publication of the Daily Martand commenced after a successful massive drive to collect funds for resuming the publication of the Martand.

26th June 1974 is a red letter day in my inconsequential life.  That day the community leaders, the stalwarts, representatives of our various Santhas of Srinagar, of districts, and a fairly large number of our community members gathered in Shitalnath to give me a unique honour by way of presenting me an Address formally which acknowledged and felicitated me for what little I was able to do to unify the community.  At that juncture I felt then, as I do now, simply overwhelmed by that gesture and indebtedness was beyond measure simply because I will never be able to repay that debt of kindness and indulgence shown to me in an open meeting at Shitalnath.

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