Promod Puri

Swami Agnivesh: A progressive Hindu Crusader

Not all Hindus belong to the BJP, nor does BJP represent Hinduism in its spiritual sense.

It is with these thoughts I remember saffron-clad Swami Agnivesh, who fought for social justice on his Hindu turf instead under the Hindutva ideology of the BJP.

Swami Agnivesh, 81, who died September 11, 2020, in Delhi, was a multi-crusader social activist best known for his work against bonded labor.

He also campaigned against female foeticide. A man with a world vision of one humanity argued that people should be allowed total freedom of movement across borders by eliminating passports and immigration laws.

Swami Agnivesh was a leader of Arya Samaj, a prominent sect of Hinduism. But in 2008, he was expelled from the organization for his radical and progressive views and activities.

His most critical and controversial views were:

1. The Puri Jagannath temple in Orissa should also be opened to non-Hindus; the temple priests vigorously opposed the remarks as “purely anti-Hindu in nature,” and they burnt his effigy.

2. In May 2011, hundreds of Hindu priests protested against Agnivesh’s claim that the oval-shaped ice lingam representing Lord Shiva in Amarnath cave in Kashmir is just a piece of ice.

Swami Agnivesh’s dislike for the governing BJP and the rest of its “Parivar” or clan members for their anti-Dalit and anti-minority agenda got him physically attacked. As an “agent of Pakistan,” he was called to “go back.”

For the BJP and its ideological guideline of Hindutva, Swami Agnivesh could be a rebel, but for many, he represented the democratic and progressive sentiments and values of Hinduism.

Promod Puri is the editor of progressivehindudialogue.com and promodpuri.blogspot.com.

Article 370 and The Kashmir Problem | By Promod Puri

Some action is better than no action. But this action was a big one, shaking the very status of the state of Jammu and Kashmir under India’s control.

The dillydallying over the Kashmir problem for over 70 years got some kick from the government of India with the announcement two years ago when Article 370 was removed from the Constitution.

This very article gave special status within the union of India. This special status meant significant autonomy to J and K, which no other state in India has.

Besides the abrogation of Article 370, the Indian government also bifurcated the state into two central-controlled Union Territories.

One is the Jammu-Kashmir region, and the other is Ladakh.

Was Article 370 ever helped the people of the state in terms of socio-economic conditions?

Or did it ever give some autonomy to Jammu and Ladakh regions within the state?

Did Article 370 help in resolving the Kashmir problem. The one answer to all these questions is NO.

Not because anything was wrong with the article, rather I support it. Even to the extent that this kind of provision should be granted to every state in India.

Autonomy is the key that can guarantee the unity of India by respecting its linguistic and cultural diversities.

The special status under Article 370, instead of honouring its intents, was underhandedly and even unethically exploited by the Kashmiri leadership, more precisely by the Valley politicians.

And over the years the Kashmir Problem has become a full-fledged industry controlled by the few families of the Valley and terrorists within the state and across from Pakistan.

Will all the removal of Article 370 solve the perennial Kashmir Problem? The answer is no.

Because Jammu and Kashmir are two separate identities. Keeping them together without giving regional autonomy to the Jammu region will keep the frustrations of this region alive.

Jammu could be the clue to the Kashmir tangle if it gets a fair share of the power within the state.

And then there is the “Azad Kashmir” factor also, which is still legally part of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir.

( Promod Puri resides in Vancouver, Canada, originally from Jammu. He is a journalist, writer and author of Hinduism beyond rituals, customs and traditions. Websites: promodpuri.com and progressivehindudialogue.com)

Immersing the ashes of a Hindu Refugee from Kotli in river Chenab | By Promod Puri

He Could Never Go Back To his Birthtown But Mother Nature Carried His Wishes

He could never go back to his place of birth, the home of his childhood and youth years in the racial-mixed company of his friends: Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs.

Mr. Kundan Lal Bakshi always wished and prayed to visit, at least once, the warm and friendly town of Kotli in Azad Kashmir- the Pakistan-administered part of the divided state of Jammu and Kashmir.

He wanted to roam the streets of his birth-town, speak his mother tongue ( Mirpuri) freely, and get the nostalgic feel of the neighbourhood where he grew up.

The family moved to Jammu, and so did Mr. Bakshi during the horrific and deadly communal riots of 1947.

The Line of Control (LoC) bars the region’s citizens from crossing the other side from where they got uprooted just in a matter of days and hours.

The Line of Control (LoC) is a military control line between the Indian and Pakistani controlled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir—a line which does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary, but serves as the de facto border.

A simple folk with jolly good nature, Mr. Bakshi spent the rest of his life in the city that gave shelter and a new beginning to most refugees from the region that was once part of the State of Jammu and Kashmir.

The religious divide of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 gave rise to two nations, but it crushed humanity in genocidal and brutal waves.

What people on both sides of the divide got? A never-ending hostility. Caught in this hostility between the two neighboring nations was Mr. Bakshi, who died recently in Jammu.

He lived a long life till the age of 103 years. Perhaps he waited for the opportunity that one day he would see the place of his childhood again. But it never happened.

The family immersed his body’s ashes as per Hindu customs in the flow of mighty river Chenab in Akhnoor, a small border town near Jammu.

It was Mr. Bakshi’s sentimental wish that let mother nature carry his ashes through the waters of Chenab entering Pakistan, the land of his birth and home of his ancestors for generations.

(Promod Puri is a journalist, writer, and author of Hinduism Beyond Rituals, Customs, And Traditions. Originally from Jammu, now resides in Vancouver, Canada.)

Apples, Oranges and the “Kashmir Problem”

/ By Promod Puri /

Apples and oranges don’t mix. They grow in separate regions and in separate climates. They have separate shapes and separate tastes.

Jammu grows oranges, sweet and juicy. Kashmir grows apples, luscious and crispy. Put them together in a box. And market it as product of Kashmir. That is simply deceptive labelling. It should be marked as product of Jammu And Kashmir.

And that is the same subtle difference when Kashmir and Jammu are packaged together linguistically, socially and politically. And the entity is stamped as Kashmir.

The packaging is done and marketed by Kashmiri political traders.

As such the Kashmir issue in its present outlook does not justify to represent its true complexity.

The simple but mostly ignored reason is that the colloquial “Kashmir Problem” is not representative of all the diverse regions of the state, as well as those held by Pakistan. The occasional violence erupts only in the valley not in other parts of the state. We seldom hear about political protests and fury in Jammu or Ladakh regions, or even for that matter in Pakistan-controlled “Azad Kashmir”.

The entire Kashmir leadership is controlled by Kashmiri-speaking politicians and activists. There is no representation from the other regions.

Now a Union Territory, Jammu and Kashmir is extensively diverse: linguistically, culturally, religiously and geographically.

Ignorance of this reality generates the impression that everybody in the state is Kashmiri-speaking. The same applies to “Azad Kashmir”. Nobody there speaks Kashmiri, nor do they identify culturally with the Valley.

Unless a correction in the “Kashmir problem” is made to recognize the diverse realities of the state of the region, only then it can be discussed among all the concerned parties. In its present avatar, the Kashmir Issue itself is unrealistic, undemocratic and monopolized.

(Promod Puri belongs to Jammu, now resides in Canada. Websites: promodpuri.com, Progressivehindudialogue.com)