RAJMA -CHAWAL : THE UNFORGETTABLE FOOD PLATE FROM JAMMU

                                            

Rajmah Chawal: The Unforgettable Food Plate From Jammu

There are dishes you eat, and there are dishes that eat into your memory. Rajmah Chawal in Jammu belongs to the second kind. It does not arrive quietly. It arrives steaming, in a steel plate , the white basmati rice still breathing, the red Rajma gravy thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and not let go.

It is Not Just Lunch. It is a Ritual.

The magic begins long before the first bite, in the high valleys of Marwah and Bhaderwah. These are not ordinary beans. Bhaderwahi and Marwah Rajma are high in demand across North India for reasons you understand only when you see them raw and then cooked. Small, blood-red or mixed light red   like tiny rubies, they carry within them the cold air of the mountains, the mineral of the hill soil, and a protein density that has made the kidney bean the king of pulses.

A good Rajma shopkeeper in Jammu will tell you, without pride, that his Rajma is from Bhaderwah or Marwah. That is his certificate. These beans do not need soda or too much pressure to become tender. Soaked overnight in cold water, they swell slowly, patiently. Next morning they are cooked on a low wood fire, or on a slow simmering gas for hours, until they are soft but not broken, each bean holding its shape, each bean melting on the tongue. The gravy is not watery. It is thick, almost buttery, dark red in colour, its aroma built from a simple trinity of onions, tomatoes and ginger, but dominated by the earthy perfume of the bean itself. No cream, no cashew, no pretence. The thickness comes from the bean starch itself, from mashing a few beans into the gravy and letting time do the rest.

Then comes the rice. Not any rice. Only Basmati, ideally grown in R.S. Pura, long-grained and  aged. Cooked so that each grain stands separate, white as fresh snow, fluffy, not sticky. The rice is the throne. The Rajma is the King who sits upon it.

In Jammu, Basmati rice is not just a grain but a matter of pride, grown in the fertile RS Pura, Bishnah and Suchetgarh belt irrigated by the Chenab. The most popular and trusted local brands among Jammu households are Sarveshwar, Mahajan Special, Asha Zamindara, and many more known for their authentic aroma and purity. While Sarweshwar is Jammu's only listed company with organic and export-quality packing, Mahajan Special and Zamindara are famous for the traditional 370 variety, with  unmatched aroma perfect for Rajma Chawal, while Asha is widely preferred for its long-grain (1121 Steam) variety ideal for Biryani and Pulao. Along with these, many more RS Pura-based mills like Baba Naga, Supreme, Guru Nanak, Neekz Special and PureMart SPL also supply GI-tagged Jammu Basmati that is loved across India.

                

Once the plate is filled with steaming Basmati rice,then comes the final act, the act that makes a Jammu Rajma Chawal shop different from any Rajma chawal in Delhi or Chandigarh. The shop owner usually with thin polythene glove on one hand, takes a large steel ladle, scoops that thick, blood-red gravy with at least twenty beans in it, and pours it generously over the mountain of white rice in the steel plate. The red bleeds into the white. The steam rises.

                                    

He does not stop there.

With a small spoon, he adds a spoon of desi ghee. Pure cow ghee, melted. It hits the hot gravy and sizzles, not loudly, but with a quiet hiss. The aroma changes instantly. The earthy, spicy smell of rajma now gets a nutty, rich top note. That one spoon of ghee is what converts a protein meal into a feast. It is what makes children lick their fingers and grown men forget their office files.

On the side, he places two things, without which the plate is incomplete.

First, the Anardana onion chutney. Anardana is dried pomegranate seeds, pounded with fresh red onions, green chillies, mint and rock salt. It is tangy, slightly smoky, crunchy and sharp. It cuts through the richness of the ghee and the heaviness of the rajma like a hill breeze. Every good Peerah or Baggar Wala shop in Jammu has its own secret ratio of anardana to onion.  But all of them know that without this chutney, Rajma Chawal is a body without a soul.

The finest anardana, or dried wild pomegranate seeds, in the Jammu region is cultivated not on the plains but in the high-altitude forests. The most prized variety comes from the Doda–Bhadarwah valley, celebrated as Bhadarwahi Anardana for its intense sour flavour and deep crimson colour. Excellent quality is also found in Kishtwar, Ramban, Rajouri and Poonch, where wild Daruni trees flourish naturally between 3,000 and 5,000 feet.

In Dogra and Kashmiri cuisine, its uses are extensive. It is ground to add a tangy flavour to Rajma, Chole, chutneys and anardana keema, used as a souring agent in place of tamarind, and valued in Ayurvedic medicine for improving digestion.

In this Rajma Chawal plate you have sliced onions soaked in vinegar, a small piece of fried paneer , and a green chilli slit from the middle. That chilli is not for decoration. You take a bite of rice, a bean, a touch of chutney, and then a tiny bite of the raw chilli. The heat lifts the whole combination.

This is why you see queues at 1 p.m. outside Sharma Ji Baggar Wale in Channi Himmat or Near Press Club ,at Khajuria Dhaba near Akhnoor Road,at Raghunath Bazaar , ar Banwari Lal Ji's Gumat shop ,  at the nameless cart near Hari Singh Park or at many food carts on Gandhi nagar Road or at Pahalwan's shop. Office workers, college students, drivers, lawyers, grandmothers, all stand together, plates in hand, eating standing, heads bent, spoons moving fast. No one talks much. The food does not allow conversation in the first five minutes.

Rajma chawal is the great equaliser. It is vegetarian, high in protein, complete food, rich in iron and fibre, but it does not advertise itself as healthy. It advertises itself as satisfying.  It makes you feel warm even on a cold January afternoon when the fog from the Tawi refuses to lift.

There is a deeper story too. In Dogra homes, Rajma chawal is Sunday lunch. Mothers soak Rajma on Saturday night. Every Dogra family keeps a stock of  Basmati and Anardana. Children wait for that first pressure cooker whistle. It is the taste of home for every Jammuite who has moved to Delhi, Mumbai or abroad. In the high mountains of Marwah and Bhaderwah, where the bean is born, families still grow it in small terraced fields, harvesting by hand, drying on rooftops. Their hard work is what gives Jammu its most famous plate.

Some call Biryani the King. Some call butter chicken the emperor. In Jammu, we smile and disagree. The King of pulses sits quietly on a bed of white rice, with a spoon of ghee melting on its crown . And when you eat it with that sharp anardana onion chutney, you know why an entire city stops every afternoon for this red, thick, fragrant gravy.

It is not just food. It is Jammu on a plate.

( Avtar Mota )

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.

                                                                             

WE ARE ALL ARJUNAS, AND THERE IS NO CHARIOTEER

Albert Camus reportedly wrote to his friend and the renowned French poet René Char: “We are all Arjunas, and there is no charioteer.” Read in the context of Camus's philosophy of the Absurd, this statement offers a striking point of contact between his understanding of the human predicament and the existential crisis embodied by Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita.

On the battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna is paralysed by doubt. Torn between his moral conscience and his duty as a warrior, he cannot reconcile the demands of action with the anguish of fighting his own kinsmen, teachers and friends. His charioteer, Sri Krishna, becomes his spiritual guide, explaining the nature of duty, action, the Self and liberation. Through their dialogue, Arjuna gradually acquires the understanding necessary to confront his predicament and resume his course of action. His crisis thus becomes a profound inquiry into the meaning of human existence, moral responsibility and the possibility of overcoming inner conflict through spiritual knowledge.

Camus's reported statement transforms this ancient predicament into a modern existential image. We are all Arjunas, but Sri Krishna is absent. Humanity stands on its own battlefield, confronting suffering, injustice, mortality and the burden of choice without any assured divine intervention to explain the ultimate meaning of its struggle. The image captures the central tension of the Absurd: humans seek meaning, coherence, and justice, yet the universe remains silent in the face of their questions.

The philosophical affinity between the two lies in their recognition of the human predicament, not in the solutions they offer. The Bhagavad Gita presents Arjuna's anguish as a crisis that can be addressed through spiritual knowledge and an understanding of duty within a larger vision of existence. Camus, by contrast, examines what happens when the individual cannot appeal to a transcendent order for a final explanation. The absurd emerges from the confrontation between humanity's longing for intelligibility and the world's refusal to provide a conclusive answer.

For Camus, however, the absence of divine assurance does not make life meaningless or action futile. It demands lucidity, courage and responsibility. Human beings must confront their circumstances without surrendering to despair, resist injustice without expecting cosmic compensation, and affirm solidarity with others who share their vulnerability. His response to the Absurd is therefore not passive resignation, but a conscious refusal to abandon life and human dignity.

If the statement reflects Camus's own thinking, it suggests a remarkable sensitivity to the philosophical depth of the Bhagavad Gita. It would indicate his recognition that Arjuna's predicament transcends its immediate setting on an ancient Indian battlefield and speaks to a universal crisis of human existence. Yet Camus does not simply reproduce the Gita's wisdom. Where Sri Krishna offers Arjuna spiritual guidance, Camus confronts the individual with the challenge of living without such assurance.

The contrast is illuminating. Arjuna receives counsel that enables him to understand his duty; Camus's individual must confront uncertainty without the promise of a final metaphysical resolution. Both, however, bring us to the same fundamental question: how should a human being act when doubt overwhelms certainty and the meaning of existence becomes difficult to comprehend? The answers differ profoundly, but the affinity between the questions reveals the enduring philosophical significance of the comparison.

( Avtar Mota )

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
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TILAKACHARYA: THE BUDDHIST COUNSELLOR OF SULTAN ZAIN UL ABDIN

                                           

           ( AI created Image of Tilakacharya and Sultan Zain ul Abdin)

Tilakacharya : The Buddhist Counsellor in the Court of Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin

The figure of Tilakacharya occupies a singular, albeit briefly documented, position in the annals of the Kashmir Sultanate. He is referred to in early sources as a Bauddha Acharya or a Parmukh who was elevated to the rank of prominent counsellor under Sultan Ghiyas-ud-Din Zain-ul-Abidin, who ruled Kashmir from 1420 to 1470 and is remembered by his subjects as Budshah, the Great King.

To understand why Buddhist Parmukhs were sought by some  Muslim rulers, one must look to Central Asia. The title Parmukh comes from Sanskrit Pramukha, meaning chief, and denoted the hereditary heads of the great Nava Vihara monastery at Balkh, many of whom were originally from Kashmir. They were rare polyglot scholars, versed in Sanskrit, Bactrian, Tibetan, Persian and Arabic. The invading Arabs in Central Asia were expressly directed not to kill them for their learning. Upon the Arab occupation of Balkh in 725 AD, the Umayyad Governor Asad ibn Abd Allah al-Qasri, under Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, spared them as being too learned to be put to the sword.

Embracing Islam as  Mawali, they entered the Abbasid court and rose to be the architects of the Empire as the Barmakids: Khalid ibn Barmak as IVizier to Caliphs Al-Saffah and al-Mansur and confidant in the founding of circular Baghdad; his son Yahya ibn Khalid as tutor and grand vizier to al-Mahdi and Harun al-Rashid; and Yahya's illustrious sons Fadl and Jafar as generals, governors and foster-brothers to Harun. Caliph Harun al-Rashid valued their scholarship immensely, for their command of languages enabled them to translate Indian works on medicine, astronomy, mathematics and statecraft from Kashmir and India into Arabic.

To comprehend the appointment of a Buddhist to high office in a fifteenth-century Muslim Sultanate, it is essential to recall the religious demography of Kashmir. Buddhism, which had flourished under Kanishka, Lalitaditya and the Karkota and Utpala dynasties, had entered almost total decline by the fourteenth century. The advent of the Shah Mir dynasty, the activities of Rishis and Sufi missionaries, and the iconoclastic policies of Sultan Sikandar Butshikan (1389-1413), father of Zain-ul-Abidin, had resulted in the conversion or exodus of the Buddhist population towards Ladakh, Tibet and Baltistan. By the early fifteenth century, Buddhists constituted an almost negligible remnant in the Valley proper.

It is against this backdrop that Zain-ul-Abidin's decision assumes historical significance. Upon ascending the throne for the second time in 1420, the Sultan initiated a systematic reversal of his father's orthodoxy. Jonaraja and his pupil Srivara, authors of the Dvitiya and  Tritiya Rajatarangini, note that he ordered the recall of Kashmiri Pandits who had fled to save their lives and honour, the restitution of their  Agraharas and libraries, the reconstruction of some temples destroyed earlier, and the abolition of  Jizya . He prohibited the slaughter of cows and personally participated in festivals such as Nagayatra, Ganachakra and pilgrimages to Sharada and Amarnath.

The administrative corollary of this tolerance was a cosmopolitan Shura or council. While retaining the Islamic nomenclature of offices : Wazir, Diwan-i-Kul, Mir Bakhshi, Qazi-ul-Quzat , the Sultan deliberately inducted non-Muslim intellectuals. The most powerful was Shriya Bhatta, a Hindu physician who cured the Sultan of a serious illness and was appointed Minister of Justice and Chief Physician with supervisory powers over all departments. In the same spirit, he appointed Tilakacharya.

Persian chronicles, notably  Baharistan-i-Shahi and later translations of the Rajatarangini,  render his name as Tilak Achar. He is described not as a military commander or revenue officer, but as a Sahib-i-mashwara and Danishmand, a learned counsellor. His function appears to have been threefold.

First, as representative of the residual Buddhist community and as a symbol of ecumenism. His presence alongside a Shaiva Pandit, a Buddhist Acharya, and Muslim Ulemas such as Mulla Ahmad, Qazi Syed Ali Shirazi and Sayyid Shams-ud-Din Andrabi projected the ideal of  Sulh-i-Kul.

Second, as advisor on Tibet and Ladakh. Zain-ul-Abidin maintained close diplomatic and commercial ties with Tibet, knew Tibetan, and facilitated the trade of shawl wool and saffron. A Buddhist scholar conversant with Tibetan language and monastic networks would have been invaluable for frontier diplomacy.

Third, as polyglot and contributor to the intellectual renaissance. The Sultan commissioned the translation of Sanskrit works such as Kalhana's Rajatarangini, the Mahabharata, Brihatkatha and the Puranas into Persian, and ordered Persian and Arabic works to be rendered into Sanskrit. The court attracted Jonaraja, Srivara, Yodha Bhatta and Avatara Bhatta, who received land grants as Gramam and Agraharasn. Tilakacharya, versed in Buddhist logic and Sanskrit, is presumed to have participated in these scholastic deliberations.

No independent treatise or biography of Tilakacharya has survived. Unlike Shriya Bhatta, whose healing of the Sultan is narrated in detail, Tilakacharya's mention remains laconic: "Zain-ul-Abidin also appointed Tilakacharya, a Buddhist, as one of his prominent counsellors." Yet this very brevity is instructive. It demonstrates that in an age when religious identity dictated political patronage across much of the subcontinent, the court of Budshah in Srinagar retained space for a Buddhist voice.

In modern historiography, Tilakacharya is cited as a key example of Zain-ul-Abidin's policy of religious toleration and merit-based appointment, often paired with Shriya Bhatta to illustrate that the Sultan's secularism was not confined to Shaivism alone but encompassed Buddhism as well.

( Avtar Mota)

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THE SUN OCCUPIES A POWERFUL POSITION IN THE WORK OF ALBERT CAMUS

                                                                      

          ( Photo courtesy: LIFE and  сamus°сat°cigarett... kris_botticelli)

The Sun occupies a remarkably 

powerful position in the work of 

Albert Camus.

Though arising from disparate intellectual genealogies, Albert Camus’s Sun cannot be properly apprehended in isolation from ancient Greek and Hindu philosophy, for it occupies the same symbolic field whilst inverting its valence. In Greek thought, from Plato to the Stoics, the Sun figured as Logos and the Good: an ordering, rational principle that rendered the cosmos intelligible and conferred measure upon human life. In Hindu thought, Sūrya was Svayaṃ-prakāśa, and Sākṣī, the self-luminous witness that sustained Rta and revealed Ātman as identical with the cosmic light. Both traditions thus sacralised the Sun as a benevolent source and moral axis. Camus does not abandon the ancient metaphor; he desacralises it. The Sun remains the great revealer, but what it reveals is no longer God or Order, but the human condition itself: exposed, solitary, and free.

It is not merely a feature of the Algerian landscape or a decorative element of Mediterranean description. In Camus, the Sun becomes a physical, psychological, and philosophical force. Nowhere is this more striking than in The Outsider, originally published in French as L’Étranger in 1942, where sunlight accompanies the death of Meursault’s mother and reaches its most disturbing intensity immediately before Meursault kills the Arab on the beach. Camus transforms the natural phenomenon of sunlight into an experience of heat, glare, pressure, confusion, and physical vulnerability.

Apart from The Outsider or L’Étranger, and The Myth of Sisyphus, the Sun exists in Camus’s work as both a physical presence and an existential force. In Nuptials, particularly “Nuptials at Tipasa” and “Summer in Algiers”, sunlight represents sensual experience, bodily freedom, and an intense affirmation of life. In “The Wind at Djemila”, however, its brilliance confronts human mortality and the indifference of nature. In The Myth of Sisyphus, light and shadow suggest the inseparability of joy and suffering, while The Rebel develops the idea of “noon” as a symbol of measure and limits. Thus, Camus’s Sun illuminates existence without providing meaning.

In Buddhism, the Sun is a powerful symbol of wisdom, enlightenment, truth and the dispelling of ignorance. Although Buddhism does not regard the Sun as an all-powerful creator or the supreme deity, it recognises the Sun as a source of light and life and frequently uses solar imagery to explain spiritual awakening. Buddhist teachings compare wisdom to sunlight because wisdom dispels the darkness of ignorance, delusion and confusion. In the Anguttara Nikaya 4.143, wisdom is described as the highest of four lights: the light of the moon, the Sun, fire and wisdom. The Milindapanha, or Questions of King Milinda, uses the Sun as a model for a Buddhist practitioner. Its qualities include dispelling darkness, remaining in motion, radiating warmth and making things visible. These qualities are compared to overcoming greed, anger and delusion, maintaining diligence, cultivating meditation and benefiting others through virtuous conduct.

The significance of the Sun becomes still more profound when considered alongside Greek and Hindu traditions. Hindu texts similarly employ the Sun as an image of radiance, divine manifestation, consciousness, and witnessing. The Kaṭha Upaniṣhad describes the Sun as “the eye of the whole world”, while the Bhagavad Gītā identifies the “radiant sun” among the manifestations of the divine. The Āditya Hṛdayam praises the Sun as the “destroyer of darkness” and as Lokasākṣin, the witness of the world.

Plato’s Republic makes the Sun the central image in the philosophical analogy of the Good, associating solar illumination with visibility, knowledge, and truth.  In Greek mythology, the Sun is closely associated with Apollo, although an important historical distinction needs to be made: Helios was originally the personification of the Sun, while Apollo became increasingly identified with solar light in later Greek and Roman tradition. There is also a revealing contrast with Friedrich Nietzsche's distinction between the Apollonian and Dionysian impulses. The Apollonian stands for form, measure and clarity, while the Dionysian evokes ecstasy, instinct and dissolution of boundaries. Camus's Mediterranean world sometimes brings these impulses into tension. In the writings of Albert Camus, sunlight is far more than a feature of the natural landscape. It is a physical presence that shapes human consciousness, influences moral experience and gives his writing its distinctive Mediterranean character. The sun can suggest beauty, vitality, sensual pleasure and the immediacy of existence. Yet it can also become oppressive, blinding and almost unbearable, exposing human beings to a world that offers no ready-made answers to their questions about meaning, justice and death.

The Sun as Communion with Life

In the essays collected in Noces (Nuptials, 1938), especially Noces à Tipasa, sunlight has a more affirmative significance. Camus celebrates the Mediterranean landscape, the sea, the warmth of the earth and the pleasures of the body. The sunlight becomes part of an intense relationship between human beings and the natural world. Here, Camus does not seek consolation in a supernatural realm beyond the earth. He discovers value in the present moment, in physical beauty and in the consciousness of being alive. His celebrated sense of fidelity to the earth emerges from this direct encounter with nature. Sunlight in Noces is therefore not merely illumination. It is an invitation to participate in life without demanding that life possess a higher, predetermined meaning.

The Deeper Significance

For a study of Camus's relationship with Eastern thought, sunlight offers a particularly fruitful point of comparison. In some Indian philosophical traditions, light is associated with consciousness and the revelation of truth. In Buddhist teaching, it can signify wisdom. In Camus, however, light frequently reveals the world without transforming it into a system of transcendent meaning. That distinction may be central to understanding his philosophical temperament. Camus finds neither complete consolation in religious transcendence nor a reason to reject life's beauty because the universe is silent. He insists on holding together lucidity and delight, suffering and sensuality, mortality and the desire to live.

The sun in his work is powerful precisely because it refuses to remain a simple symbol. It can nourish life, overwhelm the senses, illuminate beauty and accompany death. Its meaning changes with the human encounter, while nature itself remains indifferent to the explanations we construct around it.

For Camus, sunlight is therefore deeply ambiguous. It illuminates life, but it does not necessarily illuminate its meaning.

Conclusion: Camus’s  Sun Between Greek and Hindu Thought

The Sun in Albert Camus’s writings offers a compelling point of entry into the central argument of this study: that his intellectual world, though firmly rooted in the Mediterranean and Western philosophical traditions, opens onto questions that have long occupied Eastern thought. In Nuptials, sunlight affirms the sensual plenitude of earthly existence; in The Stranger, its oppressive intensity exposes the vulnerability of the human being before an indifferent natural world. These contrasting experiences express Camus’s fundamental position. Life possesses an immediate and undeniable value, yet the universe provides no assured answer to humanity’s demand for ultimate meaning. The Sun illuminates this tension without resolving it.

The Greek dimension of Camus’s imagination lies in his attachment to the visible world, the body and the pursuit of lucidity. Apollo, particularly in his later association with solar light, offers a qualified parallel through the ideals of clarity and measure. Yet Camus’s sunlight does not guarantee cosmic harmony. Its power can overwhelm reason, revealing nature as something to be experienced and confronted rather than mastered through abstract explanation. His affinity with the Greek sensibility therefore reinforces his insistence that life must be encountered in its immediacy, without recourse to comforting illusions.

The Hindu comparison reaches towards a different dimension of the same enquiry. Vedic reverence for Surya and the Upanishadic use of light to investigate consciousness and ultimate reality reveal a philosophical movement from the visible Sun towards the grounds of existence and awareness. Camus does not make this metaphysical passage. Nevertheless, his insistence on lucidity brings him into a significant comparative relationship with traditions that ask what it means to see, to know and to awaken to the nature of existence. The difference is as important as the affinity: where certain Hindu schools seek liberating knowledge of the self or ultimate reality, Camus accepts the limits of human certainty and refuses to turn the mystery of existence into a settled doctrine.

 This is where the idea of Camus as an Oriental soul in an Occidental frame acquires its philosophical force. It need not imply that he was secretly a Hindu thinker or that his writings derive from Indian scriptures. Rather, it identifies a resonance between his existential concerns and questions central to Indian philosophy, while preserving the distinctiveness of his answer. Camus approaches the mystery of existence through revolt, freedom and fidelity to the earth; Hindu philosophical traditions offer diverse paths towards understanding consciousness, the self and liberation. Their meeting lies in the seriousness of the enquiry, not in identical conclusions.

 The Sun brings this relationship into focus. In Camus, it is neither a promise of salvation nor a cypher for a hidden metaphysical order. It is the radiance of a world that can be loved despite its silence. His achievement lies in affirming life without illusion, embracing beauty without demanding transcendence and facing mortality without surrendering to nihilism. The Sun thus becomes more than a recurring image in his literature: it marks the point where Western existential lucidity meets questions also explored in Eastern philosophy. Camus remains unmistakably himself, yet his encounter with the world opens a comparative horizon beyond the conventional boundaries of East and West. In that horizon, the absence of a final answer does not extinguish wonder; it deepens the responsibility to live fully, freely and consciously.

 

( Avtar Mota )

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.

THE SLOGAN IN A SONG

                                           

Ali Tailor was short-statured, mischievous and a funny character in Bagh Jogilankar, Rainawari. Neither Pandits nor Muslims visited his shop for stitching new clothes. The second-hand clothes market in the city, popularly known as Bangladesh, kept him ever busy with refitting. He had an old sewing machine. After just a few inches of stitching, the thread would come out of the needle, disrupting his work tempo. He was a specialist in refitting old clothes. When in a good mood, Ali Tailor would sing loudly a song that had an intriguing opening line:

"Begham Zuvo mei gham sooziy Hindustan"

"O my carefree self. Keep going like that. I have sent all your worries to India."

One day, Dr. Ram Joo Handoo was passing by his shop. Dr. Ram Joo Handoo had his medical shop close to Ali Tailor's shop. Dr. Ram Joo stopped near Ali Tailor's shop and said, "O Ali Mohammed, why do you sing it incorrectly? It was coined by the National Conference leadership after the Pakistani Tribal Raiders were driven out. Since you are a diehard National Conference worker, you must know the true lines."

Ali Tailor asked for the correct lines. And Dr. Ram Joo Handoo said this:

"Begham Zuvo mei gham sooziy Pakistan"

"O my carefree self. Keep going like that. I have sent all your worries to Pakistan."

Ali Tailor smiled and said, "That is correct. I never knew that. My life is at the disposal of Sher-i-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and his party."

When Dr. Ram Joo left his shop, Ali Tailor put the thread into the machine needle and smiled. He resumed his work singing, "Begham Zuvo mei gham sooziy Hindustan."

(Avtar Mota)

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
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EK NISHAN EK VIDHAN EK PRADHAN AGITATION OF JAMMU

                                      

                                  ( Sher e Duggar Pandit Prem Nath Dogra...1884-1972 )

EK NISHAN EK VIDHAN EK PRADHAN AGITATION OF JAMMU

The slogan Ek Nishan Ek Vidhan Ek Pradhan, which translates to One Flag One Constitution One Prime Minister, was the most powerful political cry to emerge from Jammu after independence. It was not merely a slogan but a complete ideological rejection of the special constitutional arrangement that Jammu and Kashmir enjoyed within the Indian Union. The agitation that carried this slogan from late 1949 to mid 1953 was the first organised mass movement in Jammu, and it laid the foundation for the national debate on Article 370, which continued for almost seven decades until its abrogation in August 2019.

BACKGROUND OF THE SPECIAL STATUS

At the time of accession in October 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh signed the same Instrument of Accession as other princely states. However, political developments soon created a separate framework for Jammu and Kashmir. Under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which was originally a temporary provision, the state was allowed to have its own constitution, its own flag and a separate nomenclature for its head of government. The head of government was called Wazir e Azam or Prime Minister, and the head of state was called Sadr e Riyasat. The state also had its own penal code, known as the Ranbir Penal Code. Perhaps most offensive to the people of Jammu was the permit system. Any Indian citizen who wanted to enter Jammu and Kashmir had to obtain a permit, as if he was travelling to a foreign country.

In Jammu, this arrangement was seen as a symbol of Kashmiri domination over Jammu and a barrier to full national integration. The National Conference government led by Sheikh Abdullah was viewed in Jammu as an anti-Dogra and pro-Valley government. Its land reforms, although progressive in intent, had adversely affected Dogra landlords and agriculturists in Jammu without adequate compensation.

BIRTH OF THE JAMMU PRAJA PARISHAD

To channel this discontent, the Jammu and Kashmir Praja Parishad was founded on 17 November 1947 by Pandit Prem Nath Dogra, who was later known as Sher e Duggar. 

Pandit Prem Nath Dogra was born in a respectable Brahmin family in the village Samailpur near Jammu on October 24 1884. His mother died in his childhood, and he was brought up by his maternal grandmother. After village schooling, he moved to Lahore, where his father, Pandit Anant Ram, was Administrator of state properties. He studied at Pir Mitha School and Model School, Lahore, and graduated from Forman Christian College in 1908, excelling in football. He joined state service as Tehsildar Akhnoor in 1909, then Assistant Settlement Officer Udhampur in 1910, Munsif at Jammu in 1912 and Secretary to the Governor Kashmir and later Wazir-e-Wazarat Mirpur in 1913.

In 1931, Pandit Prem Nath Dogra was appointed as Wazir-e-Wazarat at Muzaffarabad, now Deputy Commissioner. This was the year of the Round Table Conference and of major communal turmoil in the princely state following the events of July 1931. While the whole Jammu and Kashmir state was in turmoil, Muzaffarabad remained free from any sort of agitation, and people lived cordially. This peace was due to his great administrative skills and efficiency, which kept away the communal influence of valley-based leaders. Without any lathi or bullet, he saved the town of Muzaffarabad from violence and anarchy. He became very popular among the local subjects, including Muslims, due to his just and principled handling. calculator

Praja Parishad, formed by Prem Nath Dogra, was ideologically supported and organisationally assisted by Balraj Madhok of the Jan Sangh. According to Madhok, the objective of the party was to achieve full integration of Jammu and Kashmir with India and to oppose what it described as the communist dominated anti Dogra government of Sheikh Abdullah. 

Prof Balraj Madhok was a nationalist leader and founding member of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, born on February 25 1920, at Skardu and brought up in Jammu. He studied at Srinagar and DAV College, Lahore. He worked closely with Pandit Prem Nath Dogra during the Praja Parishad agitation for complete integration of Jammu and Kashmir with India. Along with Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, he founded Jana Sangh in 1951 and served as its President. He was elected MP from New Delhi and remained a strong advocate for national unity, rights of Jammu and Ladakh and abrogation of Article 370.

The Praja Parishad began its first Satyagraha in early 1949. The government response was severe. As many as 294 members of the Parishad were arrested, including Prem Nath Dogra himself. Balraj Madhok was expelled from the state. The central government in New Delhi intervened and arranged a temporary truce.

The second flashpoint came during the elections to the Jammu and Kashmir Constituent Assembly in 1951. The Parishad contested 28 out of the 30 seats allotted to Jammu. However, the nomination papers of 13 of its candidates were rejected on technical grounds. Believing that the elections were being managed to ensure a one-party victory for the National Conference, the Parishad boycotted the polls shortly before voting. As a result, all National Conference candidates were declared winners unopposed from Jammu. Deprived of democratic representation, the Parishad decided to take its struggle to the streets.

ROLE OF KASHMIRI PANDITS

A powerful group amongst Kashmiri Pandits expressed full support for this movement. Two leaders who worked closely with Pandit Prem Nath Dogra in this agitation were Makhan Lal Aima and Onkar Nath Kak. They were joined by a young boy, Amar Nat,h who later rose to become Pandit Amar Nath Vaishnavi, the selfless leader of the Kashmiri Pandit community. Makhan Lal Aima opened the Jagriti Niketan School in Jammu and spent his entire life in Jammu. The family of Onkar Nath Kak also lived in Jammu. Pandit Amar Nath Vaishnavi led the All State Kashmiri Pandit Conference and played a key role in the Parmeshwari Handoo agitation. He also led the Pandit community selflessly post-1990s in Jammu.

Many Kashmiri Pandits came from Kashmir and worked in the Jammu region for the movement. Kashmiri Pandit names documented in the agitation records include , J N Kaul ( who later moved to Bhopal and finally to the US where he breathed his last ) Devki Nandan Nakhasi, Janki Nath Dhobi, Avtar Krishen Kaw ,Som Nath Ogra, Brij Nath Miyan, Niranjan Nath Kaul, Prem Nath Bhat and others. Prem Nath Bhat was shot and killed by terrorists in the Anantnag court premises in the 1990s. I am informed by many elders that two more persons with surnames Rawal ( old Jammu-based Pandit family ), and Peer ( from Rainawari ) were also actively participating in the agitation. About the person with the Peer surname, my guess is Sham Lal Peer, who later joined J&K Information Services.

THE DELHI AGREEMENT AND THE FINAL TRIGGER

In July 1952, Sheikh Abdullah and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru signed the Delhi Agreement, which formalised the autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir within India. The Agreement allowed the state to retain its own flag alongside the Union flag, to have its own constitution and to keep the title of Prime Minister for its head of government.

This agreement inflamed public opinion in Jammu. The immediate trigger was an incident at the GGM Science College, then known as Gandhi Memorial College, Jammu. On 15 January 1952, students refused to salute the state flag when it was hoisted along with the Indian tricolour and staged a demonstration. The students were fined, and some were expelled. On 8 February 1952, a large procession of students and Praja Parishad workers was taken out in Jammu city. The administration called out the military and imposed a seventy-two-hour curfew. The Union Minister N Gopalaswami Ayyangar arrived to broker peace, but his intervention was resented by Sheikh Abdullah.

By November 1952, the Parishad had finalised its strategy. On 14 November 1952, it gave a call for a full-fledged agitation with the historic slogan:

Ek Desh Mein Do Vidhan Do Nishan Do Pradhan Nahi Chalenge

THE COURSE OF THE AGITATION

The agitation rapidly spread from Jammu city to the towns of the Jammu region. The main demand was simple and easy for the common man to understand. In one country there cannot be two constitutions, two flags and two prime ministers. The Parishad demanded the complete abrogation of Article 370, the abolition of the permit system, the application of the Indian Constitution in full, the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of India over Jammu and Kashmir and the hoisting of the tricolour as the sole national flag.

The state government responded with large-scale arrests, lathi charges and firing. Several incidents became etched in the memory of Jammu.

At Hiranagar on 11 January 1953, police firing killed two persons and injured more than seventy. At Jourian on 30 January 1953, a crowd of nearly three thousand people defied prohibitory orders. Police opened fire, killing six persons and injuring about one hundred and twenty-five. At Ramban, Udhampur and Sunderbani, protesters were shot while attempting to hoist the Indian tricolour on government buildings. The first martyr of the movement was considered to be Mela Ram of Chhamb, who was shot while hoisting the national flag at a police station.

Despite repression, the movement intensified. Markets in Jammu observed complete Hartal for weeks. Lawyers boycotted courts. Women took out processions.

JIS KASHMIR KO KHOON SE SEENCHA WOH KASHMIR HAMAARA HA 

This powerful slogan was first raised during the historic Praja Parishad agitation of 1952-53 in Jammu. It was coined by Pandit Prem Nath Dogra, Sher-e-Duggar and founder of the Jammu and Kashmir Praja Parishad. He gave this slogan as the central call for complete integration of Kashmir into the Indian Union. At that time Sheikh Abdullah had demanded a separate constitution, separate flag and separate Prime Minister for Jammu and Kashmir. Against this, Prem Nath Dogra declared that there cannot be two constitutions, two flags and two Prime Ministers in one country, and that Kashmir nurtured with blood is ours.

Prof Balraj Madhok and other Praja Parishad leaders popularised this slogan in every street of Jammu and later at the national level. Surprisingly, this slogan coined with a nationalist and integrationist spirit was later used by every shade of political thought in Kashmir. Even Sheikh Abdullah's Plebiscite Front, which was ideologically opposed to Praja Parishad and was demanding a plebiscite, raised it in its rallies. Later, separatist groups also raised it with a twisted interpretation for their own politics. The slogan was raised by exiled Kashmiri Pandits at Jantar Mantar while agitating against terrorism and their own exodus from the Valley. The universal adoption of this slogan proves its emotional power and historical truth, though its original creator and spirit remain nationalist,alist as given by Pandit Prem Nath Dogra.

NATIONAL DIMENSION AND THE ROLE OF DR MOOKERJEE

What had begun as a regional agitation of Jammu soon acquired a national dimension. The Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the Hindu Mahasabha and the Ram Rajya Parishad and the Shiromani Akali Dal extended support to the Praja Parishad. The Akalis launched a morcha because they argued that if Hindus and Sikhs needed a permit to visit Vaishno Devi and other shrines, it was an attack on religious freedom.

The most prominent national leader to associate with the cause was Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee, founder president of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and former Minister for Industry in Nehru's first cabinet. Mookerjee had resigned from the cabinet over the issue of special status to Kashmir and the Nehru-Liaquat Pact. He toured the country mobilising public opinion and famously asked in Parliament, why should an Indian need a permit to visit a part of India?

In May 1953, Mookerjee decided to enter Jammu and Kashmir without a permit to support the satyagrahis and to protest against the permit system. He crossed the Ravi at Lakhanpur on 11 May 1953, defying the permit check post. He was arrested at the border by Jammu and Kashmir police and taken to Srinagar Central Jail. He was detained in a small cottage without adequate medical care. On 23 June 1953, he died in detention under circumstances that have never been fully clarified. His death sent shock waves across the country and turned the Jammu agitation into a national issue.

AFTERMATH AND LEGACY

The agitation was formally called off on 7 July 1953 after an appeal by Prime Minister Nehru and after assurances that some of the grievances would be examined. The immediate political fallout was significant. The relationship between Sheikh Abdullah and New Delhi, which had already been strained due to Abdullah's statements about independence and his contacts with foreign diplomats, deteriorated completely. Sheikh Abdullah was dismissed and arrested on 8 August 1953 and Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad became the new Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.

Several concrete concessions followed the agitation. The permit system for entry into Jammu and Kashmir was abolished in 1954. The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court was extended. The provision for financial integration was strengthened. The titles were not changed immediately, but after 1965, under the Sixth Amendment to the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution, the Wazir e Azam was redesignated as Chief Minister and Sadr e Riyasat as Governor.

In the long term, the Ek Nishan Ek Vidhan Ek Pradhan agitation created the ideological bedrock for the demand to abrogate Article 370. For the Bharatiya Jana Sangh and later the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Praja Parishad struggle and the martyrdom of Mookerjee and the Dogra satyagrahis became a foundational narrative. Every year, Jammu observes 23 June as Balidan Diwas in memory of Mookerjee.

When the Government of India finally abrogated Article 370 and Article 35A on 5 August 2019, reorganised the state into two Union Territories and extended the Constitution of India in full to Jammu and Kashmir, with one flag and one constitution for the entire country, the central government described it as the fulfilment of the dream of Syama Prasad Mookerjee and Prem Nath Dogra.

For the people of Jammu, therefore, the agitation is not just history. It is remembered as the movement that asserted the Dogra identity, that questioned the concept of dual citizenship within a single nation and that kept alive the idea of complete constitutional integration for more than six decades.

( Avtar Mota )

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
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A SMALL TRIBUTE TO NANA PATEKAR

                                        

Nana Patekar The Soul Of Honest India Is No More

Today India has lost one of her finest sons. Veteran actor, true patriot and great humanitarian Nana Patekar passed away today after a sudden heart attack at his home in Goa. He was seventy five. Doctors at Manipal Hospital tried for forty five minutes with continuous CPR to revive him, but he could not be saved. He was declared dead at five twenty in the morning. The news has left the entire nation stunned, as if a voice that always spoke truth has fallen silent forever. I post this tribute today with a heavy heart and folded hands

The Actor Who Gave Anger A Soul

Nana was never just a film star. He was truth itself on screen. He did not need designer clothes or foreign locations to be loved. He needed only his eyes that could burn with rage and fill with tears in the same moment, and a voice that could shake the theatre. He made acting honest. When he was on screen, you did not see an actor. You saw your father, your brother, your neighbour, your own conscience. His brilliance was that he could say more in silence than others could in pages of dialogue.

The Patriot Who Stood With Brave Soldiers On Borders And Within

This was Nana at his noblest. He did not just play a patriot in Krantiveer. He lived patriotism. He visited our brave soldiers fighting enemies on our borders and also those fighting their hidden agents within the country. During Kargil he went to the front lines, not as a celebrity for cameras, but as a brother who wanted to share their pain. He sat in bunkers, he drank tea in tents, he walked to remote posts in freezing cold, he spent quality time listening to their stories, laughing with them and lauding their supreme sacrifice. He would tell them that India sleeps peacefully only because they stay awake. He respected the uniform more than any National Award or Padma Shri. For him, Bharat was not a slogan to be shouted. She was a mother to be served.

Memorable Roles That Will Live Forever

It is impossible to forget the characters he gave us, because each one lives in our memory as a real person. In Parinda as Anna, the underworld don, he was terrifying and brilliant and won his first National Award. In Ankush as Ravi, the angry young man who cannot find a job and cannot accept injustice, he became the voice of an entire generation.His role as Major V.S. Chavan in Prahaar remains unforgettable.Major V.S. Chavan is a strict, disciplined, and uncompromising Indian Army officer who trains young cadets to become elite commandos.In Krantiveer as Pratap Narayan Tilak, the journalist who screams at a corrupt system, his dialogue became the anthem of every honest Indian. In Agni Sakshi as Vishwanath, the violent husband, he showed how cruelty can destroy love, a performance that still haunts. In Ab Tak Chhappan as Sadhu Agashe, the encounter specialist who lives alone with his principles, he gave us a hero who is tired yet unbroken. In Apaharan as Tabrez Alam, the don from Bihar, he was both funny and fearsome. In Taxi Number Nine Two One One as Raghav Shastri, the arrogant rich man who loses everything, he showed ego collapsing into humanity. In Natsamrat as Ganpatrao Belwalkar, the fallen Shakespearean actor, he gave the greatest performance of his life, a man who once ruled the stage and now has nothing but memories. In Welcome as Uday Shetty, the lovable gangster, he made us laugh till tears came, proving that a great actor can do comedy with the same depth as tragedy.Each role was different, yet each had the same honesty. That was his magic.

Nana Patekar had several films awaiting release. His last film to be screened was The Confession of Mary, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Nana’s upcoming releases include the Hindi films, Shakti Shalini, Eetha, Vedantam and Kuku Ki Kundali. However, not all these films have been completed.

Few actors owned their voice the way Nana Patekar did. It could tremble, threaten, crack a joke and break into a lament — sometimes in the same scene. That is why even the simplest line sounded memorable when he said it. Nearly five decades of work , Krantiveer’s fury, Parinda’s dread, Ab Tak Chhappan’s steel, Welcome’s comic timing  lives on not just as films, but as dialogues that audiences still quote word for word.

Dilip Kumar's Acknowledgement

Following his National Award for Best Actor for Krantiveer (1994), Nana Patekar was invited by Dilip Kumar to his residence at Pali Hill. Arriving completely drenched due to heavy rain, he was received with quiet grace. Without ceremony, Dilip Kumar brought him a towel and offered a fresh shirt to change into. Deeply moved by the gesture, Patekar is said to have remarked, “Isse bada kya award chahiye ek insaan ko?” What greater award could a man seek? The incident remains a poignant illustration of humility, affection and mutual respect between two eminent figures of Indian cinema.

Simplicity In A World Addicted To Show

In an industry known for luxury, Nana lived with striking simplicity. One small flat, plain white clothes, simple chappals and a heart bigger than any palace. He never cared for glamour because he knew what real life looks like. He lived like the farmers he helped, like the soldiers he loved, like the common people he portrayed.

Philanthropy That Wipes Tears And Restores Honour

With his friend Makarand Anaspure he founded Naam Foundation. When drought shattered Maharashtra and farmers were taking their own lives, Nana did not just send money. He went village to village, sat on the ground with widows, held their hands, gave them monthly income, gave water, gave seeds, gave homes, gave education to children and gave hope where there was only despair. He believed that the man who feeds the nation must never have to beg. His greatest awards are not in his cupboard. They are in wells that still give water, in homes that still stand, in children who still go to school because of him.

A Legacy That Will March On

Nana Patekar has left us, but he will never truly go. He will live in every honest man who refuses to pay a bribe, in every soldier who remembers that a true artist once sat beside him and called him brother, in every farmer who remembers that someone came when no one else did.

Rest well dear Nana. You loved India fiercely. India loved you even more fiercely. You were our rage, our pride, our conscience.

Sadgati  And Moksha to your noble  soul Nana .

( Avtar Mota )

PS

Read this also:

https://autarmota.blogspot.com/2016/09/and-bollywood-actor-nana-patekar.html?m=1

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.