THE GREAT SOCIAL REFORMER AND FREEDOM FIGHTER: KASHYAP BANDHU
DR. SHIBEN KRISHEN RAINA
Kashmir has rightly been called 'Reshvaa’r' i.e., the
abode/orchard of Rishis, saints, and scholars. The beautiful land has been one
of the prominent hubs of learning and exponent of great traditions of religion,
philosophy, literature, and composite culture since ancient times. From time to
time, this land of sages, hermitages, Sufis, and spiritual giants has given a
lot many luminaries and meaningful celebrities to the world. Among such
personalities Kashyap Bandhu, the great Kashmiri reformist and freedom fighter
stands out as a veteran Kashmiri social worker whose insight and hard work gave
Kashmiri society, more especially Kashmiri Pandit society, a new vision to rise
for a better chance. The contribution of this enlightened thinker, selfless
social worker, and poet-turned social activist gave a meaningful and purposeful
direction to the Kashmiri Pandit/Brahman society and will be remembered for
years to come. The contribution of Kashyap Bandhu for his liberal vision,
progressive ideology, and concern for the society, is such a valuable chapter
of Kashmiri ethos and identity, that it is not only a source of inspiration for
the new generation but also a matter of pride for the old folks.
The real name of Kashyap Bandhu was Tarachand Bath. He was born
on March 24, 1899, to Thakur Bath in Geeru (Nurpora) village of Kashmir. This
was the time when the last phase of the rule of Maharajah Pratap Singh was
going on in Kashmir.
How was Tarachand called Kashyap Bandhu, is as historical as it
is important to know? Tarachand's early life was spent in extreme poverty. In
1919, he passed the matriculation examination and started looking for a job
amidst the great economic variations prevailing in the state. In the meantime,
he also started composing and reciting poems under the name 'Bulbul'. He began
to express his feelings of agony, sorrow, and anger, and yearning for social
change in poetry. In the meantime, after tiresome efforts, he got a small job
in the revenue department which he did not like. He left Kashmir and went to
Lahore and made Lahore his place of work. In those days Lahore was the main
center of Arya Samaj, Brahma Samaj and other political and religious activities.
Tarachand was greatly influenced by the ideology of Arya Samaj, and he joined
Virjanand Ashram located in Lahore. From day one, he took a vow not to eat meat
and remained a vegetarian for the rest of his life. In those days Vishwabandhu
ji used to be the chief/principal of Virjanand Ashram. He was very much impressed
by Tarachand's genius: compassion, dedication, hard work, feelings of humanness,
piety, and love. He named Tarachand 'Bulbul' as 'Kashyap Bandhu' and inspired
him to serve Kashmiri society in Kashmir, instead. Arjun Dev Maj boor, the
famous scholar, and poet of Kashmiri was very close to Kashyap Bandhu ji. In
one of his articles, Mr. Maj boor has given a vivid account regarding the inordinate
personality and work of Kashyap Bandhu. He writes: “Kashyap Bandhu started a
tremendous process of social reform against the evil customs prevailing in the
Kashmiri society. The Kashyap Bandhu raised hia voice against various social
evils by writing articles in 'Martand' and 'Kesari' newspapers. He wrote
against the ban on widow marriage, wastage of money on social customs and
rituals, especially observed on the occasions of marriage and other social or
religious festivities. Kashmiri folks
still remember the Kashmiri song (Vanvun) written in favor of social reform in
those days. A few lines:-
“Traavi zooz, pooch neri vodnaniye
Chu Mubarak Doti Mahreniye...
(Leave the hackneyed dress
And be smarter,
Wear Sari
You Dhoti(Sari) bride
Blessed you be!)
This reformist movement of Kashyap Bandhu was well-received by
the then public. Widows got married. Kashmiri Pandit girls came out of the four
walls of the house to go to schools and colleges, the tendency to waste on
social customs and customs was got stopped etc. The slogan of 'Social Reform'
started reverberating from house to house and thus the Kashmiri society moved
towards a better transformation.
The political career of Kashyap Bandhu is no less laudable. Inborn
traits like the quality of leadership, self-esteem, self-confidence, etc. were filled in his personality and
strong character and mirrored from his very childhood. It won’t be inappropriate
to quote here the incident narrated by Kashyap Bandhu to Shri Arjundev Majboor
in which the domineering personality of the teenager Kashyap comes on the
surface. The event goes like this: “Punjabi students would also study in
Government High School, Srinagar in those days. In the classroom, they would
sit on the front seats and those seats would remain vacant until those Punjabi
students entered the classroom. Although Kashmiri students would come to the
classroom much before time yet they would not be allowed to sit in those seats.
This discrimination stirred the tender heart of Tarachand, and he gathered the
students against this injustice and started a movement. The matter reached the
Maharajah through the headmaster, education officer, etc. So much so that
Tarachand made himself lie down in front of the Maharajah's car. Seeing the
seriousness and gravity of the movement, the department finally accepted the
demand of the students and the movement ended. This was Tarachand's first
political victory, and he continued to struggle for the oppressed and weaker
section of the society.
It has been said in the past that during his stay in Lahore, the
Kashyap Bandhu was actively associated with the social and political activities
there. It was during his stay in Lahore that he was pained to see the plight of
the Kashmiri laborers living there. To give the workers their rights and
inspire them to live with dignity, Kashyap Bandhu formed a 'Labour Board', of
which he became the secretary. To make this board more effective, he kept
taking suggestions from the famous thinker and poet Dr. Iqbal. News about this
board started appearing in Lahore and other newspapers of the country and a huge
session of the board was organized in Ludhiana in which Motilal Nehru gave a
very fiery speech about the plight of Kashmiris. The slogan 'Kashmir for
Kashmiris' was raised for the first time from this platform. During his stay in
Lahore, the Kashyap Bandhu joined Bharat Singh's revolutionary party and
was imprisoned,too, in connection with the John Saunder’s murder case. During his stay In Lahore, the Kashyap Bandhu
joined the field of journalism and worked in the editorial boards of 'Akhbare-Aam',
'Bahare Kashmir', 'Akhbar-Kashmiri' etc.
With the passage of time, the versatile personality of Kashyap Bandhu
took a new turn. Arjundev Majboor writes in his article: “The third decade of
the twentieth century holds a special significance in the political history of
Kashmir. The foundation of Muslim Congress was laid in Kashmir on one hand and
on the other Kashmiri Pandits took the lead to fight against the discrimination
in government jobs and other social setups. The Kashyap Bandhu was monitoring
the situation in Kashmir from Lahore. Kashmiri Pandit leaders like Premnath Bazaz,
Shivnarayan Fotedar, Jialal Kilam, etc. requested Kashyap Bandhu to come from
Lahore to Srinagar. Before coming to Kashmir, Kashyap Bandhu got married in a
very simple function (according to Arya Samaj tradition) in Lahore to Bimla,
daughter of Advocate Vishnudutt. On the return to Srinagar, 'Yuvak Sabha' was
formed and Kashmiri-Pandit youth started taking an active part in the
activities of the Sabha. Sheetalnath, Srinagar became the center of the activities
of these activities. This place was earlier called Jogibag because the Jogis, hermits, seers, etc., coming from outside
Kashmir used to stay there. The 'Chhadi Mubarak', which heads Amarnath-yatra,
also used to start from this place earlier. On February 1st, 1931, a newspaper
titled 'Martad' was published which was the mouthpiece of Yuvak Sabha and Kashyap
Bandhu had the distinction of being its first editor. This newspaper became
very popular all-over northern India. From 1931 to 1969, this newspaper
continued to be published regularly. Due to the continuous and dedicated efforts
of Kashyap Bandhu, this newspaper set a record in the history of journalism of
Kashmir. The Kashmiri writers who continued to appear in 'Martand' under the
editorship of Kashyap Bandhu, were lot many. Prominent among them were:
Premnath Pardesi, Master Zinda Kaul, Dinanath Nadim, Majoor Kashmiri, Arjundev
Majboor, Shyamlal Wali, Teeth Kashmiri, Prof. Nandlal Kaul Talib, Dinanath
Almast Kashmiri etc.
Kashyap Bandhu raised his voice against atrocities on his
community people and went to jail several times. As already mentioned, he was
arrested in Lahore in connection with the Saunders murder case and later
released. Similarly, in connection with the Roti agitation, he was sent to jail
in 1933-34 and later released. In 1932, the Kashyap Bandhu met Sheikh Saheb,
who was then the President of the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference. The
purpose of this meeting was to create a joint platform of Hindus and Muslims so
that a vigorous movement could be launched to find a solution to all the
problems and the process for the formation of a responsible government could be
started. In August 1938, the 'National Demand' (Quami Demand) came into force.
When Kashyap Bandhu said on the stage of Yuva Sabha that Maharaja Harisingh
would take a day to collect his army, while it would take me an hour only to
collect my army. He was arrested the very next day. In the words of Arjundev
Majboor: "National Demand" immediately took the form of a vigorous
Tehreek/Movement. I saw with my own eyes the procession going from Mujahid
Manzil to Amira Kadal. People from all walks of life participated in this march
and all raised slogans like: ‘Zimadarana hukumat zindabad—',’ Sarfaroshi ki Tamanna
ab hamare dil mei hai, dekhna hai ki zor
kitna baazoo-e katil mei hai?’ etc. Sheikh
Sahib, Maulana Masoodi, Mirza Afzal Baig, Bakshi Ghulam Mohamad, Kashyap Bandhu,
Jialal Kilam, Premnath Bazaz, Shambhunath Peshin and Sardar Buddha Singh were
detained.
In 1946, the slogan 'Quit Kashmir' was raised and this slogan
became the cause for a tremendous Tehreek. Kashyap Bandhu along with others gave
fiery speeches were arrested and placed under house arrest in Kathua jail. In
1947, due to pressure and intervention from Gandhiji and other national
leaders, apart from Sheikh Saheb and Bandhuji, other leaders were released. From
time-to-time Kashyap Bandhu was imprisoned for eight years from 1931 to 1961.
Along with Sheikh Saheb, he remained under house arrest in the jails of
Bhaderwah, Reasi, and Udhampur.
In 1947, when Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah became the Chief Minister
of the state, the Kashyap Bandhu was made the Director General of 'State
Reforms'. On August 9, 1953, Bandhu Ji,too, was arrested along with Sheikh
Sahab. Later Bakshi Sahab wanted him to join his group, but he turned down his offer.
In 1964, he was made Projector Officer of Sonwari Block in Sadiq Saheb's
government. In 1974, when Sheikh Saheb came to power again and asked Kashyap Bandhu
to join hands, Bandhu ji said that he was too old now to accept the offer but
promised to support him and his government.
Kashyap Bandhu spent the last days of his life in his home (Geeru)
where he would often study books or write something. It is famous about him
that whoever wrote him a letter, he would definitely reply back. He would now
very rarely go to Srinagar. His friends and common people used to come to his
house to meet him. Sheikh Sahib, his Begum, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Ghulam Mohammad
Shah, Mirza Afzal Baig etc. visited his house several times to meet him. The Kashyap
Bandhu would meet them with utmost warmth and profundity.
When great men are about to say goodbye to this world, then
nature also senses the pain of their would-be absence. On December 18, 1985, while
Kashyap Bandhu was busy with his writing and reading work, a person came and
informed that the cows are not eating grass today, God knows what had happened
to them? Kashyap Bandhu quickly reacted: ‘They will not eat grass today.’
Probably he meant to say that today their master is going to leave for the last
journey. And really on this very day around Eight o'clock in the evening, the
soul of Kashyap Bandhu merged with the super Divine.
The Kashyap Bandhu were the forerunners of the common culture of
Kashmir, a supporter of progressive ideas and such a leader of the Kashmiri
Pandit-community, who's every incident of life is a history in itself, a
document.
