Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 21: The Kashmiri Pandit community in general, and the Kashmiri Pandit Conference (KPC) in particular, expressed its deep anguish, resentment, and concern over the shocking decision of naming the auditorium of Government College for Women, M. A. Road Srinagar, as “Lalla Arifa Auditorium” instead of its true and rightful name, “Lalleshwari / Lal Ded Auditorium.”
KPC president Kundan Kashmiri has demand the urgent correction and immediate change of name at the earliest, restoring the auditorium’s rightful identity in honor of Kashmir’s greatest daughter, Lalleshwari (Lal Ded / Laali Shri).
Kashmiri stated that Lalleshwari, fondly known as Lal Ded is not merely a poetess but the mother of Kashmiri Shaivite philosophy and the soul of Kashmir’s cultural and spiritual heritage. She was a great Brahman woman, a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva, and a fearless philosopher of the Shaiva cult. Her divine Vakhs carved the foundation of Kashmiri literature and continue to guide humanity with wisdom, courage, and truth.
Renaming her as Lalla Arifa is not only a gross historical distortion but also an insult to the Kashmiri Pandit as well as entire Hindu community and an act of cultural appropriation. It amounts to cultural genocide, deliberately designed to erase the footprints of Hindus and Kashmiri Pandits from their own land.
He stated, this act is not an isolated incident it is a continuation of the Abdullah-era policies under which hundreds of Hindu-named places and landmarks were systematically renamed with Muslim names. The present move to rename Lalleshwari a revered Shaivite saint and the pride of Kashmiri Pandits is part of the same design to humiliate our community, erode our heritage, and rewrite the history of Kashmir to suit communal and political interests which will not be allowed at any cost.
He further said that it is all the more shocking that when India’s classical musical heritage is being celebrated from August 23 to 25, 2025, in this very auditorium, such a distorted name is being projected on the stage. How can India’s cultural treasures be honored under a banner that itself insults and erases the identity of one of its greatest saints?
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