Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 27: Glowing tributes were paid to Pt. Prem Nath Bhat on his 24th martyrdom day at a function here today organized by Pt Prem Nath Bhat Memorial Trust.
BJP National Spokesperson Nirmala Sitaraman was the chief guest on the occasion while the function was presided over by Dr K L Choudhary.
Moti Kaul president All India Kashmiri Samaj (AIKS) was the community speaker on the occasion while the welcome address was made by Yash Bhasin founder trustee and vote of thanks was proposed by chairman of the Trust Dr A N Pandita.
Hira Lal Bhat managed the stage on the occasion.
Paying tributes to Prem Nath Bhat, Nirmala Sitaraman said he served the society with a motive and difference. He was spending his private earnings on the people who had suffered in the Valley, she added.
Praising the Kashmiri Pandits she said she could understand the pain and agony this community has undergoing during last 23 years of exile. The community faced all the odds during these years with great grace and they were still facing it with the hope—, she added.
She assured full support to the community till it returns to its homes and hearths.
Nirmala Sitaraman, while assuring full solidarity with displaced Pandits cause said it will not be acceptable that the community will lead a refugees’ life in their own country. She highlighted the KPs contribution to the Indian aesthetics and culture.
Maintaining that BJP is committed to the cause of the community she said Kashmir is such a place which can mellow down people and transform them.
Referring to Adi Guru Shankarachariya, she said he was so attracted to Kashmir that a Sawarsat Brahmin from Valley became his Guru with whose blessings the Shankarachariya wrote a beautiful verse Sunderiya Lehri.
She said Kashmir manifests for Sharda and Vaakhdevi and the only place in India where women were treated equal from ages together and where there was no untouchability.
She said that the women of Kashmir were also spiritually enlightened and elevated. The Adi Guru was so impressed by it that he adorned a Kashmiri woman with a Tarang (head gear) as honour.
She also quoted Laleshwari and her contribution to spiritualism who in her verses strongly condemned the vandalism of temples by Sikandar Butshikan.
She said Kalhan Pandit the great historian of the country was from Kashmir who has written 5000 years of history of Kashmir and showed the rest of country the way in this regard.
She said the land of Kashmir gives rich sense of thought, history and scholarship. The Sharda Peeth the Centre of knowledge in J&K is one among 51 Shakti Peeths of the country, she added.
Among Panch Brahmins of Northern India the leading Brahmin was also from Kashmir, she said, adding victimization of Kashmiri Brahmins is heart rendering.
She said that threat still looms large in Kashmir as after US troops withdrawal from Afghanistan the arms and ammunition left behind by them may fall into hands of non state actors who can foment trouble in Kashmir. She said the Government should act cautiously and not allow access to these non State actors in Kashmir.
She said one of the oldest Sun temples in Kashmir built by great King Laltaditya was destroyed and it is in ruins at present. If world cries about Bamiyan why not Sun temple of Kashmir she asked and stressed on protection of Hindu shrines in Valley.
While highlighting the plight of the community Moti Kaul ridiculed the State Government’s return formula saying that in real sense it (Government) was not interested in the same. Mere statements on return was not enough and the community has rejected return to transit accommodations, he added.
He said the Government in last 23 years has failed to bring any blue print before the community on return. “Don’t we deserve blue print that on what conditions and in which manner the Government wants our return”, he added.
He expressed concern over the state of shrines in Valley and alleged that the Distress Sale Act was not being implemented in letter and spirit.
Kaul said the community is not going to accept the gimmicks on return and maintained that the Parliamentary Sub Committee has given positive report on migrants.
On the occasion the next kin of two families of Nari Marg massacre were given Sheed Samman by the Trust. They included Ramesh Kumar Pandita, son of Triloki Nath Pandita and Mohan Lal Bhat, son of Radha Krishan Bhat whose families were killed by militants during the attack.
Dr R L Bhat spokesman of the Trust read the citations of the two families.
In his address Dr K L Choudhry said that Shrines Bill can be pillar and a biggest Confidence Building Measure (CBM) on return. He added that Kashmir has hundreds of Hindu religious teeraths and many of them are in abject neglect and shambles.
He said the return of the community is a litmus test for Government.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
