Suvir Koul’s & Natasha Koul’s Write-ups in the quarterly of IIC New Delhi

By Prof. M.L. Koul

November 2011

In the latest issue of the  quarterly published under the aegis of the India International Centre, New Delhi have appeared two write-ups, ‘one Home, two lives’ and ‘Loving & Losing Kashmir’, one by Suvir Koul and the other by Natasha Koul. Suvir Koul is a Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania and Natasha Koul is also an academic and writes  fiction. Curiously, both of them happen to be the progeny of Kashmiri Pandits who have been treacherously expelled and exiled from their homes and hearths in Kashmir by the genocidal killers laced with deadly weapons, guns and grenades, supplied to them by Pakistan.

The substance of the two write-ups establishes the dubious credentials of the two worthies as intellectual and psychological dupes to the barrage of lies, half-truths, falsehoods, fibs and fables that have been profusely fabricated, churned out and orchestrated by the terrorist-cum-secessionist machine tasked to paint India in the darkest and gristliest colours. It is a sheer ‘smear campaign’ meticulous in its pursuit of the sinister design of disfiguring the democratic visage of India and its republican state and projecting it as brutal and tyrannical. The terrorist-cum-secessionist machine is financed and manned by the notorious ISI of Pakistan which is seen as the hub of terrorism and religious discord all over the world. The dominant design and motive of the dis-information campaign is to segregate and wean away Kashmir from the constitutional sovereignty of India and establish it as a Muslim state governed by the Islamic law and precedent. The cruel expulsion of microscopic minority of Hindus through torture, murder and inhuman brutalisation was strategically executed with this end in eye-scape.

The ISI fabricated and funded propaganda machine, the two worthies are urged to know, is equally geared to the much publicised project of reviving the Muslim caliphate lying in the dust-bin of history with Kashmir as its integral part and constituent. The war unleashed by Pakistan with active complicity and participation of genocidal killers in Kashmir is manifestly religious in hue and content. Its destination is ascendancy, supremacy and hegemony of Islam and nightmare for atheists, polytheists, infidels and all types of non-Muslims. It is a Muslim crusade the flanks of which have continuously been replenished and ramparted by the highly motivated terrorist herds from Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Somalia, Libya et al. The details percolating from the war-theatre in Kashmir provide a clinching evidence to the fact that the militarised Islam has not been chasing political goals alone in Kashmir, but has its sights riveted to the religious objectives too.

It is regrettable that the two worthies, one settled in America and the other in London, appear to have fallen in the dragnet of the same Jihadi machine that as a first step of achievement has wiped out the ancient tribe of Kashmiri Pandits from the soil of Kashmir alongwith its cultural and civilisational land-marks having a Hindu flavour. We as a patriotic community condemn the utterances of the two worthies as treasonous as they fabricate and churn out the same vile formulations and malicious condemnations that are the warp and woof of the ‘Seminar circuit’ piloted by a Pakistani spy, Dr. G.N. Fai and his mercenary cohorts.

We as an externed community heartily appreciate and admire the personal ambitions of the two worthies for having crossed the high seas for greener pastures, but their successes, if any, in distant America and London do not in any manner leverage them to have gut-hatred for the country of their genesis where their essential roots and cultural foundations lie. What makes them to be in close chaoots with the sworn enemies of India who spare no efforts to break it and fragment it for a second partition? We do not mind if they put on the high-brow airs of liberals and neo-liberals, but that never invests them with an intrinsic right to grossly abuse the democratic space available to them in their land of nativity by denouncing the very idea of India, its sovereignty over its territories and its militaries and para-militaries engaged in defending its historical borders. How is it that they in their solomonic wisdom pontificate that India is a geography, not a nation-state and hence any irate insurgent with a gun in hand can hive off its sacrosanct territories?

Moreso, it is mind-boggling that the two worthies, seem to be audacious enough in upholding, supporting and disseminating the terrible views of the terrorists and secessionists operational in Kashmir who have been waging a Jihadi war against the Indian state for horrendous destinations. It is also quite strange that their views, statements and formulations are mostly founded on myths and yarns that are disseminated from multifarious rumour-sites that have mushroomed in Kashmir. What they have churned out is false and malicious propaganda that has no factual basis.

As is revealed by the contents of the two write-ups it becomes apparent that the worthies have meekly chosen to tread upon the dirt-track of disgraceful capitulation to the genocidal killers in Kashmir and their cohorts wherever they be with a view to earning temporary reprieve for whatever tangible or intangible assets they have in Kashmir. If our experience in Kashmir can be their guide, they cannot save their assets of any form, name, fame, land and house for the very name-tag that they are burdened with qualifies them for loot, murder, grab, desecration and effacement superlatively.

It is intriguing that the two worthies maintained absolute silence, dipped themselves in ‘dyan-mudra’ or shut themselves up in a canary island when the genocidal killers perpetrated medieval barbarities and cruel savageries on hapless Kashmiri Pandits and their women-folk. Have they ever thought it apt and obligatory to fathom out the names of Sarla Bhat, Girija Tiku, Babli Raina, Rupawati Bhat, Prana Ganjoo et al from the gory book of savagery that the genocidal killers in Kashmir have written? Sarla Bhat was kidnapped, raped for days on end, tortured and put to bullets and thrown on the road-side. Girija was cut into two equal halves on a wood-chopping machine and given a burial. Babli was raped in presence of her children and whole family and thrown into the river Vitasta. Rupawati, an old lady, was tortured to death. Prana Ganjoo was raped and tortured and hurled into the river Vitasta.

I am not writing it to invoke anybody’s pity, much less of the two worthies, NRIs, who are in the business of high-pitched advocacy of human rights of those who are the worst violators of human rights of Kashmiri Pandits, the natives of Kashmir.

Suvir Koul on his grand-parents

In his outrageous write-up Suvir Koul has made a frequent mention of his grand-parents, but has not revealed their names. Prof. Jaya Lal Koul, the author of the classic on Lalla Ded, is his paternal grand-father and Prof. Shyam Lal Dhar, soft, suave and learned, is his maternal grand father.

Prof. Koul was a literary luminary of Kashmir who has made tremendous contributions to the Kashmiri literature. ‘Studies in Kashmiri’ is his magnum opus. His translation of the Kashmiri opera ‘Bombur Yambarzal’ written by Pt. D.N. Nadim and Mr. Noor Mohammad Roshan was unique. He was the first secretary of the State Academy of Culture, Arts and Languages when it was set up under the provisions of the state constitution. As a brilliant professor of English he had taught nearly two generations in Kashmir and was held in high esteem.

To up-date Suvir Koul’s knowledge about his paternal grand-father I feel constrained to write that when the Professor died of cancer outside his home state, no condolences were offered and no obituaries were written. Why? He was a Kashmiri Pandit.

About Prof. S.L. Dhar, Sudha Koul, the authoress of the Tiger Ladies, writes that he had to give up his teaching assignment in a college when Muslim students in his class shouted that they would like to have Muslims as their teachers. The Professor of old genre, as an epitome of culture and learning was shocked for he had no communal considerations while teaching his learners. This type of stark communalism had its old roots in Kashmir. Those who overlook it or brush it under the carpet are the proverbial ostriches. In fact, the present political problem in Kashmir has its first origins in devastating Muslim Communalism.

Suvir Koul on 1953 developments

Sheikh Abdullah was a charismatic leader who lent his absolute support to the accession of the state to the dominion of India. But, he had his personal ambitions too which could not be fully accommodated within the democratic imperatives of the State of India. He was seen trangressing the delineated powers that were vested in him as the Prime Minister of the state and those beings the cold war days he was deposed. Political power was not handed over to a Hindu. It was the Sheikh’s deputy, a Muslim who rose to the helm after having been duly elected by the representative assembly constituted on the basis of adult-franchise. Sheikh Abdullah as is well-known was deft in real-life politics. He forged an accord with Mrs. Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India and took over the reins of government in 1975. He voluntarily became a part of the same constitutional frame-work that he himself had pioneered. The changes and modifications that the successive representative assemblies had brought about in the constitutional provision of the detestable Article 370 were completely endorsed by the Sheikh as the Chief Minister of the State.

Sheikh Abdullah had his own inherent failings which clouded his vision as an impeccable secularist. He delivered a life-time shock to Kashmiri Pandits when he in his autobiography dubbed and denounced them as ‘agents and spies’ of India.

Suvir Koul is absolutely wrong to say that Sheikh Abdullah had tried to furrow an alternate track of politics for changing the status-quo of the state. Sheikh was conscious of the disastrous perils that were involved in it for all the ethnic groups in the state. He was on terra firma of historical realities. He could not opt for Pakistan where he was existentially in danger of getting exterminated. He had certainly exhibited an inclination for independence, but Pakistan would not allow it.

Suvir Koul on accession of the state to the Union of India

The worthy Indian-American claims to have changed his world-view on J&K’s accession to the Union of India after having gone through the tomes of history germane to the subject. Could he be asked about the titles that he has studied which have brought about sea-changes in his views on accession? The first principle of research is to reference his averments that he is audacious to make. There are numerous works that have been craftily sponsored by Pak foreign office only to distort the facts about accession. There is a lot of trash that has been churned out by the supporters of terrorists and secessionists in Kashmir. Koul seems to have fallen a prey to such distorted and unhistorical materials. It is his bounden duty as an Indian, if he feels that, he is one, to look for the relevant-materials available in genuine works on Kashmir history. And he will come to learn that Maharaja Hari Singh’s accession to India is full, final, irrevocable and flawless.

The worthy professor appears to be heavily prejudiced when he holds India responsible for non-conduct of plebiscite in Kashmir. It was actually Pakistan that deliberately sabotaged the plebiscite process by not vacating the territories that the tribal raiders from Pakistan had aggressed and forcibly occupied. It was a pre-condition for the conduct of plebiscite in Kashmir. To dispel his gross ignorance and deep-seated bias the learned worthy should rummage the American libraries for the said-resolution of the Security Council.

Suvir on Pro-Pakistan elements dis-allowed to fight-elections

Suvir Koul is an Indian by birth, but is obsessed with pro-Pakistan elements who he believes are debarred from fighting elections in Kashmir. Firstly there is no directive, order or ordinance by the state government or by the Election Commission of India that has debarred pro-Pakistan elements in the state from joining the electoral fray. Secondly, the pro-Pakistan elements are so weak in numbers and political prowess that they always shy away from elections lest they should get exposed as paper tigers. Ali Shah Gilani, a foreign settler in Kashmir and a rabid Muslim bigot, has been a member of the Legislative Assembly umpteen times. In Mir Qasim’s time Jamaate-Islami, a notorious pro-Pakistan outfit, had not fewer than eight members in the Legislative Assembly of the State.

Suvir Koul on his visit to Ganpatyar Temple, Srinagar

Prejudice and malice against the militaries and para-militaries of our country gets explicitly reflected when the worthy writes about his visit to the Ganpatyar Temple in Srinagar. The fact is that the forces were deployed for the safe-guard and protection of the temple when the Muslim terrorists subjected it to a missile attack from across the river. They have saved the temple from desecration and destruction, otherwise it would have met the same fate of 550 temples that have been desecrated, vandalised, demolished and laid waste by the rabid vandals and ‘lawless lizzards’ that have been prowling about the land of Kashmir since 1989. The para-militaries have a right to worship in their own mode and method and the gods that they invoke are not different from our religious lore and learning. The worthy is ignorant of the fact that Kashmir had tremendous impact of Vaishnavism which has impulsed our art, archeology and sculpture. His deliberate usage of ‘Hundutav’ is not only repulsive, but condemnable too.

Suvir Koul on militarisation

It is sheer saddening that Suvir Koul has joined chorus with the treacherous detractors of India who do not spare a moment from maligning our national armies. The real ire and grudge against our armies as tom-tommed by the Jihadi machine is because it has been frustrated and nearly defeated in its malicious designs of severing Kashmir from India. Sovereign countries have a right to defend their borders against aggression from their enemies. India was aggressed by Pakistan four times so far. Then, we have security threats looming large from China. Pakistan has unleashed a proxy-war in Kashmir and there has been infiltration going on incessantly for the last twenty years. It is the constitutional duty of the national government to defend the country from the external enemies.

Have Suvir Koul and men of his ilk guts and gumption to question the deployment of American forces to Iraq and Afghanistan ? If they dare do so, they will be deported next day lock, stock and barrel.

Suvir Koul on the rape of a Gujjar girl

The worthy has highlighted the case of a Gujjar girl who as per him was raped by para-military soldiers. It is a story, a fib and a yarn that has been dinned into his ears by the Jihadis or their committed supporters. I would like the worthy to divulge the name and address of the girl and the exact place where she was raped. His contention will hold ground only after he produces clinching and unassailable evidence. In absence of it he can be projected as a credulous person who readily believes in what he is told. The professor should know Kashmir has been a land of story-tellers. That is how we produced a voluminous work like ‘Kathasaritsagar’. When hapless Kashmiri Pandits were put to bullets in broad-day light, fabulous stories were yarned to malign them as ‘mukhbirs, spies and agents’ of India and everybody believed them uncritically.

Muslim stories to Suvir Koul appear more painful than Kashmiri Pandit Stories

Let the worthy be told that the Muslims have no stories to relate except that they have been a part of the insurgency that was inspired, conceived and executed by ISI of Pakistan. They were made to believe that Muslim Jihad had the blessings of Allah and hence was sure to succeed. The Jihadis trained in camps across the borders and laced with sophisticated guns were intellectually poor and had no estimations of the strength of the country they were pitted against. In religious frenzy the Muslims donated their sons to Muslim Jihad who crossed the borders to Pakistan for arms training. When pushed back into the Indian territory for loot, murder, sabotage and destruction, the militaries and para-militaries eliminated a good number of them. The insurgency has made them rich, nay fabulously rich and that is how they have purchased those properties of Pandits, which they could not grab. Pakistani moneys, hawala moneys, moneys sent as remittances from West and Middle-East and Indian moneys, loot of the state exchequer & absolute sway over the State and Central finances they say, have made them affluent and prosperous beyond the conceivable limits.

And, Mr Professor, the story of the Kashmiri Pandits is sad and painful. They have been subjected to a genocide, Jewish-style. They were targeted as individuals or as a group with an express intent of total annihilation and extermination. The methods chosen for annihilation have been hanging, burning alive, strangulation by steel wires, dragging to death, drawing of blood in hospitals, branding with red-hot iron-bars, slaughter, gouging of eyes, breaking of limbs and impaling. Their houses have been mercilessly looted, ravaged and put to arson. Nearly, twenty thousand houses have been destroyed and their materials looted. Five hundred and fifty temples have been desecrated, ravaged and destroyed. All Kashmiri Pandit habitations whether in the capital city of Srinagar or in distant villages and hamlets have been decimated. They are refugees in their own country. They are on cross–roads.

Now, the worthy should decide as to whose story is more painful and agonising.

Suvive Koul on self-determination

The worthy should know that the nation-states do not grant the right of self-determination to their federating constituents. The colonies that were held under the thraldom for exploitation and loot of resources by the imperialist powers clamoured for right of self-determination. This is how it gained currency with the people in the colonies that struggled for freedom and prosperity. India is not a clonial power. She has not subjugated people of other countries and is given to looting their resources.

Kashmir is a constituent part of the Indian union. It has made strides in the segments of health, education, agriculture, horticulture, trade and transport through the Indian moneys. Poverty is minimal in Kashmir. The present-day quality of life that Kashmiris have gained stands in stark contrast to what it was in pre-1947 era. People then  lived in penury, wore scantily and were on teh brink of starvation and ate.

The people of Jammu and Ladakh have catalogues of grievances against the Kashmiri rulers of Sunni brand. Their grouse is that they have been put to extreme discrimination and denial of funds and finances allocated to the state by the Central government. And they clamour against their colonisation by the state under the siege of Muslims.

-(To be continued)

Source: Kashmir Sentinel