Emergence from Darkness
Late Prem Nath Bazaz, Delhi
[Excerpt From Daughters of Vitasta]
Pandit Kashyap Bandhu, preacher, journalist and
politician joined the Yuvak Sabha in summer 1931. As Tara Chand Koul, a
youth of twenty, he had left Kashmir a decade earlier to seek fortune in India.
In the course of extensive wanderings, he embraced Arya Samaj in Quetta, changed
his name to Kashyap Bandhu and was selected by the elders of the proslytising
Hindu sect for the job of a missionary. He studied Sanskrit and the holy
scriptures under Vishwa Bandhu in a Samajist educational institution at Lahore.
He fell in love with and married, in 1929, Vimladevi, daughter of Vishnu Dutta,
A Kashmiri Pandit who had settled at Ferozepore. Kashyap Bandhu was
editing the Arya Gazette, an Urdu weekly devoted to propagation of Samajist
doctrines, when the political disturbances broke out in Kashmir. Despite
his sincere admiration for Arya Samaj his deep attachment to homeland created
yearning in his heart to return to the valley. He kept himself informed of
the developments and made no secret of his desires and aspirations. So
when he received a call from the Yuvak Sabha to come and participate in the
struggle, he reached Srinagar in August 1931 along with his wife, joined the
movement and forthwith distinguished himself as a tireless worker.
It was through the labours of Kashyap Bandhu and other workers of the Yuvak
Sabha that the wearing of saree became popular within months of its introduction
in Pandit homes. He employed the gift of the gab and his experience as
preacher to influence public opinion. Subsequently Bandhu expended part of
his inexhaustible energy to coax young but helpless widows to remarry and to end
their avoidable misery. His labours bore fruit and more and more marriages
were solemnised in the following years in Srinagar and other parts of the
valley. Widow marriage ceased to carry any stigma with it and even the
Sanatan Dharam purohits recognised the validity of the religious rites performed
to finalise the weddings. In the beginning, only poorer or fallen widows
who were supportless came forward to brave the
public ignominy but as time passed on and the number of widow marriages
increased, better class parents gave assent to their widow-daughters to marry if
they so desired. Widow marriage is not even today as common as the
marriage of virgins in Pandit homes but now the position is different; those who
oppose such marriages are reproached as unjust, cruel and myopic people devoid
of human feelings. Even some artistocratic and orthodox families can be
counted among those whose widowed daughters and daughters-in-law have remarried.
Such unions are no more frowned upon. It is a great triumph for the cause
of suffering women.
Another reform which the Pandit leaders attempted to introduce was
curtailment of wasteful expenditure on marriage ceremonies and other festivals.
Side by side, it was also suggested that the making of presents in the shape of
ornaments or hard cash on the part of bride's parents should be regulated by
social conventions. For some time prior to 1931 a tendency to give huge
sums and present more precious ornaments than their financial condition
warranted, was noticed in an increasing number of parents causing concern to the
well-wishers of the community. The tendency to overspend on marriages was
alarming and the poorer classes were hard hit. They were forced either to
borrow from the userer or to reduce their standard of living and save pennies to
meet the heavy expense on marriage ceremonies of their daughters.
Among Kashmiri Pandits there are no higher or lower classes. There are
no multi-millionaires and practically no beggars; every member of the community
more or less enjoys equal social status with others; so any innovation, if
allowed to go unchallenged, affects all the members whether they like it or not.
Several cases of ruined families and harassed daughters were publicised
creating a commotion in the community. The Yuvak Sabha, in consultation
with the elite of Pandits, prepared schemes to restrain extravagant and
ostentatious members from obnoxious practices and did its best to enforce them.
But the more rigidly the plans were put into effect the more widespread the evil
became. The endeavours of the Sabha ended in complete failure. In
1944, another Organisation, the Social Sudhar Samiti, came into existence with a
militant programme to achieve a similar objective. Gopi Kishen its
President and several well-meaning elderly gentlemen including tireless Sham Lal
Koul spent their time and energy in persuading Pandits to desist from pursuing
the harmful course. Uma Razdan, an unassuming young lady, was the moving
spirit of this body which laboured hard to achieve the objective. Dramas
in Kashmiri were specially written and acted on the state to caricature evil
practices and educate women. Squads of youths ,were organised who
picketted homes where wealth was lavishly squandered on marriages and other
festivals. It all however came to nothing.
Things have been going from bad to worse and today the immoral system of
dowry, unknown in Kashmir till 1931, is as much in vogue among Pandits as in any
other Indian community. Many virtuous and comely girls are deprived of
suitable matches because their parents cannot afford to pay large sums in cash
or in the shape of ornaments to the guardian of the bridegroom.
Shamelessly the Pandits who prized in the past virtues of contentment,
simplicity and frugality, today strike bargains in terms of cash-gifts before
matrimonial alliance is settled. Good men are shocked at the fall in moral
standards but so far they have failed to find a solution to the problem.
Perhaps a remedy lies with individuals who, by behaving honourably and
rationally, can set examples for others. If anywhere example is better
than precept, it is here. Unfortunately even many staunch supporters of
the reform have been known in the past to honour pledges in breach than in
observance. And so the situation aggravates.
To implement its social reform scheme in 1931, the Yuvak Sabha launched a
vigorous campaign to educate public opinion. Advantage was taken of the
excitement which had been generated by the political upheavals. The
spacious grounds of
Shital Nath became the headquarters of the movement from where guns of
publicity were fired and trumpets blown. Public meetings were held in
every part of Srinagar which were largely attended. Efforts were made to
enlist the cooperation of women in making the scheme a success. In the
capacity of President of the Yuvak Sabha, I had to address numerous gatherings
in the city, in towns and even in far off villages wherever Pandits live.
The lively scenes of enthusiasm are still fresh in my mind. I distinctly
remember a meeting which was attended by more than 3000 ladies at Alikadal when
a wall had to be demolished to make a big compound adjacent to the meeting
ground available to accommodate the unceasing flow of eager women. I also
retain in my memory the clear impressions of a huge mile-long funeral procession
of men and women which was carried out with a pheran and taranga borne on a
plank in the middle, symbolising the death of the discarded attire. It
ended at the crematorium on the bank of Dood Ganga. The years 1931-34 were
full of zest when Pandit women took a glorious part in the regeneration of the
community though in a restricted sphere. Vimla Kaul, Chandadevi, Deviki
Koul, Sona Batni (nee Badri) Bazaz and several grown-up girls of the Trust
schools were among those who played leading roles in organising the
demonstrations.
It is not surprising that a few eager maidens enthused with the spirit of
patriotism and love of the community should get opportunity of displaying
qualities of leadership and earn encomiums of their co-religionists. But
like their Muslim sisters, and for similar causes, their glory was short-lived.
The most important problem which attracted the attention of the new
leadership was the backwardness of women in education. It is true that the
Women's Welfare Trust schools had become popular and hundreds of pupils annually
sought admission in them; but, by and large, the overwhelming majority of the
girls was afforded no opportunity to attend school. In the new atmosphere
of revolutionary thinking generated by the unprecedented upsurge, a persistent
demand for more schools was voiced from almost all parts of the State. The
Trust raised the Vasanta Middle School to the high standard which has been doing
splendid work in preparing girls for the University. It has turned out
more than 500 matriculates in the past and generally shown excellent results in
examinations. At times, the percentage of successful students has been as
high as 94. Much credit for this good work must go to the Head Mistress,
Gora Batni Shangloo, a trained graduate, herself a product of the school. She is
assisted by a few other educated girls imbued with a spirit of sacrifice and
devotion.
The Vasanta High School is now housed in a building which was constructed by
the Trust at a cost of nearly Rs. 71, 000. On 2nd October, 1956, Yuvraj
Karan Singh performed the inaugural ceremony of the building when the elite of
the city people attended to admire the excellent work of the Trust.
Denominational schools too sprang into life. The Punjabi Hindus opened
Arya Putri Patshala at Wazir Bagh; the Sanatan Dharam Sabha, the Anjuman
Himayat-i-Islam and the Sikhs too started schools of their own to educate girls
on lines of their respective cultural patterns. The Government was forced
to ear-mark an increasing amount in its annual budgets for the advancement of
female education. Every year a few new primary schools were opened in the
towns and large villages or, where conditions warranted, existing primary
schools were raised to the status of middle standard.
In 1931, there was only one institution where university education was
imparted to students in the valley. Though there was no ban on the
admission of girls in the S. P. College, only boys numbering over 500 were on
its rolls. Nearly two dozen girls had matriculated but in the absence of
adequate arrangements for higher studies they had given up further pursuance of
studies. It was a bold idea when in the spring of 1932, Vimla Koul, wife
of Kashyap Bandhu, who had qualified for the university course before her
marriage, applied for admission in the college. A problem was created for
the educational authorities but loathe to face adverse public criticism, the
Government wisely provided facilities to the young lady to secure admission.
It was a strange spectacle to find a solitary woman moving among hundreds of
young men or sitting in the class room side by side with them. Vimla had
to undergo trials but she persevered to the last. Her boldness and quiet
dignity encouraged many hesitant girls to follow her and seek admission.
Before 1940 more than fifty girls were on the rolls of the S. P. College and
when another Degree College was started by the Government to meet the
ever-increasing demand for expansion of higher education, Pandit girls were
equally solicitous with boys to enroll themselves in the registers of the new
institution.
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