Pittsburgh Patrika April 2022

Vol. 27, No 3 April 2022

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The Pittsburgh Patrika, Vol. 27 No 3, April 2022

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The Quarterly Magazine (Jan, Apr, Jul, and Oct) for the Indian Diaspora

Vol. 27 No. 3, April 2022

www.pittsburghpatrika.com

4006 Holiday Park Drive, Murrysville, PA 15668

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Highlights in this issue... ... ...

Page

Provoking Russian Invasion of Ukraine

By Kollengode S. Venkataraman ......................................2

In the Globalized World, All International Politics is

Local & Personal

By Kollengode S. Venkataraman.......................................3

Obituary: Parvathi Gutti (1944 – Dec 17, 2021)

By Nangali s Srinivasa ..................................................7

Snow Leopard Expedition in Ladakh

By Nitin Madhav..........................................................9

Coming of Age for Indian Americans in the ‘Burgh

By K S Venkataraman.................................................. 13

Summary of Ramayan (In Hindi and English)

By Juginder Luthra..................................................... 15

British Airways Revives Its Nonstop to London

By News Item ........................................................... 17

The Kashmir Files Portrays the Brutal Genocide and Exodus

of the Kashmiri Pandits

By Bupesh Kaul ........................................................ 18

On the cover: Spring time in Qingdao, a second tier city in China along

the coast of Yellow Sea. The city allocates manpower and money to plant

native bushes and flower beds in all public places like side walks. The

splash of bright colors enlivens the place during spring time. •

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The Quarterly Magazine (Jan, Apr, Jul, and Oct) for the Indian Diaspora

Vol. 27 No. 3 April 2022

Phone/Fax: (724) 327 0953 e-mail: ThePatrika@aol.com

Provoking Russian Invasion of Ukraine

By Kollengode S Venkataraman

Henry Kissinger, in his Washington Post article (March 5, 2014) titled

To Settle the Ukraine Crisis, Start at the End, didactically traced

Ukraine’s convoluted political, cultural and religious history, and why

Russia — not just Vladimir Putin — is obsessed with Ukraine. Kissinger’s

advice was unambiguous: Ukraine “should not join NATO” while it

“should have the right to choose freely its economic and political associations,

including with Europe.” Kissinger is not alone on this. Among

many other experts, George F. Kennan was the architect of American

post-World War II strategy for containing the Soviet Union. In the late

1990s after the USSR imploded, Kennan called the expansion of NATO

into Central Europe “the most fateful error of American policy in the

entire post-Cold War era.” But US foreign policy machine and bipartisan

Congressional leaders in the Obama, Trump, and Biden presidencies have

been heedless.

President Biden, so soon after ending the longest (20 years) and the

costliest ($2 trillion) American war in Afghanistan, knows that Americans

are not ready for another military adventure thousands of miles away in

Russia. Further, the US military and foreign policy advisors to Biden recognize

that Russia is no Afghanistan or Iraq. And EU nations are not ready

to spill their blood and draining their treasury in a military confrontation

with Russia over Ukraine. Besides, 40% of EU’s natural gas comes from

Russia, with which EU is historically interlinked in complex ways.

No wonder, other than sanctions — including sanctions on individuals

in Russia — there is nothing the US can do for now. So, Russia is militarily

overpowering Ukraine and prolonging the conflict. No matter how

this ends, we are in for a long Cold War II.

Media in the US talk in moral tones about Russia’s military ambition

and penchant for interfering in US domestic politics. But then, since

WW-II, the US has deposed democratically elected leaders, propped up

despots, and made the USSR implode, not to speak of countless asymmetric

wars, big and small, in many parts of the world killing civilians in

Ukraine... ... Continued on Page 16

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In the Globalized World, Even Internationally,

All Politics is Local & Personal

By Kollengode S Venkataraman

read with anxiety Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau’s warnings

I to the Canadian truck drivers’ mostly peaceful protest against the Covid

vaccination, blocking truck traffic between the 2000-mile-long US and

Canada border. These trucks provide smooth supply chains and logistical

support between Canada, US, and even Mexico. They deliver parts for

factories and move finished goods, industrial machinery, large volumes

of agri and animal products, pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, and vital

components for the auto and aerospace industries. Delivery delays from this

protest were choking the already snarled post-Covid global supply chain

costing billions of dollars to the economy. Consider this: In 2020 Canadian

merchandise export to the US was $375 billion (70% of its total exports)

and import from the US was $349 billion (62% of its total imports). And

over 55% of US-Canadian merchandise moves in trucks.

So, Justin Trudeau, the Liberal Party Canadian Prime minister, with

the truckers only a few days into their protest, assumed emergency

powers to manage the strike. The last time this happened was when his

father Pierre Trudeau declared an emergency fifty years ago during the

violent protests (“terrorism”) by Quebecois.

Justin Trudeau’s warnings to the weeks-long truckers protest was

stern. “It’s high time that these [striking truckers] illegal and dangerous

activities stop… … They are a threat to our economy and our relationship

with trading partners. They are a threat to public safety.” His other

words of warning: “Blockages, illegal demonstrations are unacceptable,

and are negatively impacting businesses and manufacturers. We must do

everything to bring them to an end.”

“If you joined the protests because you’re tired of COVID, you now

need to understand that you’re breaking laws. The consequences are becoming

more and more severe. You don’t want to end up losing your license,

end up with a criminal record, which will impact your job, your livelihood,

even your ability to travel internationally, including to the U.S.”

Then, he leaned on President Joe Biden for support: “President Biden

and I both agree that for the security of people and the economy, these

blockades cannot continue,” Trudeau said. “So make no mistake, the

border cannot and will not remain closed… Canada’s banks are governed

by laws … that ensure funds cannot be used for criminal or illegal activity,

and these blockades are illegal...” Trudeau said he updated U.S. President

Joe Biden on the situation, including discussing the influences of U.S.

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right-wing citizens and foreign money funding this illegal activity.

The same Trudeau, last year, when farmers’ protests in New Delhi went

on for over a year led mostly by Punjabi farmers with financial and

political support from the active Canadian Punjabi diaspora, addressed

the Sikhs on the Guru Poornima day with these words:

“I would be remiss if I didn’t start by recognizing the news coming from

India about the protest by farmers. The situation is concerning. We are

all very worried about family and friends… Let me remind you, Canada

will always be there to defend the rights of peaceful protesters. We believe

in the process of dialogue. We’ve reached out through multiple means to

the Indian authorities to highlight our concerns. This is a moment for all

of us to pull together.”

The Indian farmers protest was against the Modi government’s efforts

to bring market reforms in the farming sector by giving additional options

for farmers to sell their produce to whomever they want to sell, while a)

preserving the minimum support price for their products guaranteed by the

government, and b) retaining their option to sell their products to existing

cartels in Punjab now controlling the grain market for over 60 years.

The Trudeauvian hypocrisy of supporting the year-long Indian farmers’

agitation blocking national highways around New Delhi in the middle of

the Covid pandemic led by the Punjabi farm lobby on the one hand, while

assuming emergency powers to quell the mostly peaceful just week-long

protest of Canadian truckers is astounding. Remember, Justin, like his

father, Pierre Trudeau, is the leader of the Liberal Party in Canada.

Trudeau’s political address to the Sikh’s in Canada on a religious festival

(Guru Poornima Day), was not just out of political compulsion, with 17

MPs of Indian origin (many of them Sikhs) in his parliament, and four

Indian-origin ministers (three of them Sikhs) in his cabinet.

Trudeau’s support for the farmers protest in India orchestrated by farmers

from Punjab has a larger Canadian context. Today, of the over

300,000 truck drivers in Canada, nearly 20% are of Indian origin, more

specifically, Sikhs. By comparison, in 1995, only 2% of the truck drivers

in Canada were from the Indian sub-continent. In and around Toronto,

Ontario and Vancouver, British Columbia, Sikhs account for nearly 50%

of truck drivers.

And trucking being a lifeline for trade between Canada and the US, it

is no wonder that Trudeau was trying to please not only the Sikh members

in his cabinet and in the parliament, but also the nearly 60,000 Sikh truck

drivers and many Sikh owners of trucking companies. The Sikhs are a vital

link sustaining the Canadian economy. Incidentally, Punjabi-style dhabas

are coming up in many truck stops across Canada and the US.

Trudeau was also trying to placate the 500,000 Canadian Sikhs, who

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are 50% of the Canada’s 1,000,000 people of Indian origin. In Canada’s

population of 35 million, Indians are 3%, with Sikhs comprising of 1.5%.

Remember, the population of Mumbai Metro area is over 20 million.

Pandering to his domestic Sikh constituency aside, there is no political

or economic consequence for Trudeau in supporting the Indian farmers

strike internationally. In the big scheme of things, Canada is a small potato

for India. India’s foreign trade in 2019 is over $320 billion exports and

$420 billion in imports, of which trade with Canada is paltry. Exports to

Canada is only $2.9 billion and imports from Canada, $3.9 billion. For

Canada too, trade with India is a small. The total volume of Canadian

exports is $390 billion, and imports, $420 billion. Besides, Canada has

no political gravitas internationally, being a weak second-tier partner in

the Western alliance. In North America, the behemoth US dwarfs Canada

in every measure.

This is perhaps why India’s foreign policy establishment ignored Justin

Trudeau’s hifalutin support of the Indian farmers strike as his pandering

to his Canadian Sikh constituency, purely for his domestic consumption.

However, for Indians, Trudeau’s iron-fist way of managing the Canadian

truckers’ strike brought his hypocrisy into sharp relief.

In 1996, Ralph Wright authored the book All Politics is Personal, and

in 1997, Tip O’Neill, the famous Speaker of the US House of Representatives

authored the book, All Politics is Local in the “local” US context.

Trudeau... ... Continued on Page 16

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Obituary: Parvathi Gutti (1944 – Dec 17, 2021)

Anesthesiologist, Affable & Anchor to Her Husband

By Nangali S Srinivasa, Murrysville, PA

Parvathi Gutti, a long-time resident of Jeannette, Pennsylvania passed

away surrounded by her family on Friday December 17, 2021, after

an abdominal surgery needed for a complicated medical condition.

She was born on January 12, 1944 in Brahmapura,

a small village in Krishna District, Andhra

Pradesh, India. Her father Perrysetti Subbiah and

mother Mahalakshamma were traditional weavers.

Parvathi was the last of sixteen siblings. Born of

humble beginnings, she was the first girl in her village

to get a formal education, which led her to earn

a medical degree from the Andhra Medical College,

Vishakhapatnam, the oldest and a top-ranked medical

college in Andhra Pradesh.

Losing her parents when she was very young, Parvathi was raised by

her elder brother. Being the youngest of sixteen children, she was content

with household chores. She started school when she was nine, on the recommendation

of her home-school teacher, who recognized her intelligence.

In small villages in those days, girls were not sent to school. During her

school days she was acquainted with a Kuchipudi dance student, who was

the younger sister of Varaprasad Gutti Rao, whom she would later marry.

With financial support from others, Parvathi went to Hindu College in

Machilipatnam, a nearby coastal town. Later, she earned a scholarship to

go to Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam.

Soon after graduation, she married Varaprasad in 1968 before he went to

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, for his PhD in Nuclear

Engineering on a NASA fellowship. Parvathi joined him, pursuing her

studies in anesthesiology at Albany Medical Center, later completing a

6-month Fellowship in Gyne-Anesthesia at the Yale University hospital.

The Guttis moved to Latrobe in 1974 where she joined the Latrobe Area

Hospital, which later became part of the Excela Health System and worked

as a staff anesthesiologist for nearly 48 years. She started the first Pain

Clinic in Westmoreland County, becoming the chairman of the Department

of Anesthesiology at the hospital. She was an early donor for the expansion

of the Latrobe Area Hospital in the 1990s and was the Co-Medical

Director of the Westmoreland Latrobe School of Anesthesia during 1981

and 1986. She set up an annual award for outstanding nurse anesthetist.

After retirement, she continued to work part-time. She was well liked by

the physicians, nurses, and support staff who worked with her.

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She loved the performing arts, especially Indian classical music, dance,

and theater. She took keen interest in training her children from a

very young age and developing them into mature artists. She served as a

secretary of SPIFPA Foundation for performing arts, affiliated with the

Pittsburgh Foundation and Community Trust.

A sheet anchor for her family and a strong supporter of her husband

in many of his endeavors, Parvathi was quite stoic in accepting personal

losses. In the early days of S.V.Temple in the 1970s, when people were

not even sure of a need for the very idea of a Hindu place of worship here,

Parvathi and her husband supported the concept by donating his very first

month paycheck to the temple project. The Gutti family has generously

supported the growth of the temple in many ways to this day.

Parvathi was well liked by members of the temple community for her

simplicity, mild nature, loving spirit, and above all, her warm hospitality.

She leaves behind her husband of fifty-four years of marriage, her daughter

Bindu Madhavi, son-in-law Kumar Rachuri, and two granddaughters

Krishnaa and Siri. A large number of her extended family and friends

virtually attended the funeral at the Frederick Funeral Home, Latrobe. She

was given a Hindu burial, with Shri Samudrala Venkatachayulu from the

S.V.Temple helping the Gutti family with the religious rites. •

From the Gutti Family:

Thanks for Your Support in Our Time of Grief

Dear Friends: We thank you very much for all your help and support

during our time of grief. So many of you offered your condolences, came

to pay your respects and share in our grief, provided

us with nourishment (both physical and emotional),

gave us your shoulder to lean on, helped us with all

the funeral logistics that we did not have the presence

of mind to deal with and in so many other countless

ways, big and small. Your thoughts, words and actions

mean more to us than what you will ever know.

We owe our thanks to the S.V.Temple staff, Officers

and the Board, including the temple community, as well as to the

entire Pittsburgh Indian Community and the entire Excela Health Medical

community. So many of our personal friends went out of their way to care

for us. Thank you all.

The Gutti Family and the Rachuri Family

Varaprasada Rao, Bindu, Krishna, Kumar, and Siri

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•


Snow Leopard Expedition in Ladakh

By Nitin Madhav, Washington DC

Nitin Madhav was born and raised in Pittsburgh,

graduating from Penn Hills Senior High School and the

University of Pittsburgh. After his bachelor’s and two

master’s degrees, he began working in public health

in several countries around the world. He has traveled

extensively and is an avid photographer. His work is on

nitin.photography and on Instagram at @nitinmadhav.

have never packed fourteen pairs of long underwear

for a trip to India! When my friend,

I

Behzad Larry, invited me to join him on an expedition to see snow leopards

in Ladakh in November — he warned me it would be cold — I jumped at

the opportunity since this was not the usual thing a guy from Pittsburgh

does. I have been to India many, many times to visit family or for religious

festivals, but never had to pack for the cold. This was a first — a snow

leopard safari in the high mountains of the Himalayas.

Behzad, who is from Indore, India and an accomplished wildlife

photographer-turned-conservationist, saw a void in the tourism experience

that Ladakh offered. While most people came to Ladakh to trek, there

is an incredible story for these visitors to share with people interested in

wildlife, especially the critically endangered snow leopards.

Behzad worked with his Ladakhi

partners, Abdul Rashid and Dorjay

Stanzin, to set up a camp for snow

leopard safaris near Hemis National

Park (32 miles from Leh at 16,000 ft

elevation), which has only about 70-80

of these cats, out of a worldwide population

of about 3500.

Conservation in India has seen a

positive change in the last few decades.

While there is still human/animal conflict where man is encroaching on

wildlife habitat, there is a renewed urgency in maintaining the biodiversity

of India. There are several national parks where one can see tigers, but few

with the world’s most elusive big cat — snow leopards. Ladakh happens

to be the place with the highest concentration of snow leopards in India.

The altitude is important to factor into travel plans in Ladakh. I flew

from Delhi to Leh, the capital, and spent two days acclimatizing to the

high altitude. I am pretty fit, but still found simple tasks like putting on my

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shoes left me gasping for breath.

Behzad told me that this was

normal, and I would acclimatize

in a few days, which I did.

Since I have been on many safaris

across Africa, the Ladakhi

experience is not significantly

different... just miserably colder.

Behzad works with highly skilled

spotters who can identify snow

leopards on high mountain ridges from great distances, sometimes up

to seven kilometers away. They depart early in the morning, radioing

back to camp when a cat has been spotted. Then, we bundle up, grab our

cameras, and hop into the jeep.

Snow leopards are most active at dawn and twilight, so it is key to

make the most of this time. The spotters look for blue sheep, known

as bharal in the local language. A hungry snow leopard will often target

blue sheep in its hunt; so, if these local experts spot these sheep, it is most

likely that a cat is somewhere around.

Snow leopards camouflage themselves in the rocky terrain. They roll

around in the dirt before stalking bharal, covering their coats in soil. Their

spots make them blend in with rock formations, making them difficult to

spot. Thus, it is important to work with trained spotters who know what

to look for. Sometimes, the spotters will see a cat and will try to track

it; however, the cat will disappear over a mountain ridge. They carefully

scan the mountains paying attention to the bharal and the condition they

are in. If they are agitated or seem on

edge, a snow leopard could be nearby.

Sometimes the wait can take all day in the

cold, which is why I made sure to pack all

those long johns!

While there are others that offer snow

leopard tours, it is vital to ensure that these

are done ethically, without baiting the cats.

When snow leopards are baited, it creates

Temporarily tranquilized.

Naturally camouflaged to blend with its background

the expectation that domestic livestock

are easy prey for the cat — which leads to

ongoing human/animal conflict as herders can lose their entire herd to a

snow leopard, and they, in turn, would prefer to kill the snow leopard to

avoid future losses.

The first time I saw a snow leopard, I mistook a group of bharal for

bushes, and I asked Behzad to stop for a second, when one of our trackers

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hollered “Snow leopard!”

and indeed, it was. It was

a scruffy beast, not at all

like the supermodel snow

leopards I had seen in

photos. This was a beast

who had worked hard to

find every meal — and

he slowly approached the

bharal which fled in fear

— but not before Behzad


got a few shots of the snow leopard close to the bharal.

The next day, we got a call telling us that a snow leopard had gotten

trapped overnight in a shepherd’s corral in a village about an hour

away, and were invited us to take part in its rescue. The snow leopard

snuck into a corral at night. The shepherd heard the commotion of the

cat attacking the sheep, and let the other sheep out and locked the gate

with the snow leopard captive inside. The Indian Wildlife Service rangers

came by, tranquilized the snow leopard and after it was sedated, brought

it out of the corral and took some biometric data before releasing it into

the wild.

While it was sedated, I got to pet it and be a part of the biometric measuring.

It was a beautiful male cat about five years old. I have been told

many times that that is an unusual occurrence — I am the only one who

has had a chance to do

that, of the several

hundred people who

have gone on Behzad’s

expeditions. It was an

experience I will never

forget — which made

the trip so much more

worthwhile.

Behzad kept saying

he didn’t know if he

could top that experience,

and to be honest,

Tranquilized temporarily caged to get biometric measurements.

Getting biometric measurements before releasing to its

habitat

nothing quite as interesting happened the rest of the trip. But this was the

thrill of a lifetime.

If you are interested in a snow leopard expedition in either Ladakh

or Kyrgyzstan, Behzad is offering a discount to readers of the Pittsburgh

Patrika — mention that when you contact him on his website: https://

voygr.com/ •

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Coming of Age for Indian Americans in the ‘Burgh

By K S Venkataraman

Bhavini Patel, Veena Szymkowiak, and Mandal

Singh at the event.

People of Indian origin

in our area, while continuing

with their careers as

professionals and entrepreneurs,

are expanding

into public life in elected

offices in schools and local

governments.

Last December, Ravi

Balu and his volunteers

felicitated three members of

our community who made small steps in their public lives by seeking and

getting elected to various offices. They are:

Bhavini Patel, the council member of

Edgewood Borough; Veena S. Szymkowiak,

Board Member of the North Allegheny School

District; and Mandal Singh, Director, the

Gateway School Board.

Ravi Balu organized a well publicized

event open to the public at the Triveni Center

in Monroeville. He introduced the three

elected officials, giving them the podium to

Ravi Balu at the Podium

talk about what motivated them to seek elected public offices in the midst

of their busy careers and entrepreneurial commitments. There was also a

Q/A session at the end. •

Ravi Balu with his volunteers at the event with the three elected officials.

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Summary of Ramayan

Juginder Luthra, Weirton, WV

Father agreed with what wife said

Son agreed with what father said

Marich transformed to a golden deer

Ravan kidnapped Sita

Filled his bag of sins

Monkey burnt Lanka with his tail

Lanka fell by leaked family secret tale

Ram Lakhan brought innocent Sita home

Bharat removed sandals from throne

People joyfully lit lamps in homes

Due to washerman, earth swallowed Janaki

Sita bore sufferings, even lost her life

Since then people keep saying

Victory to Sita’s husband, Ram Chandra

Victory to Sita’s husband, Ram Chandra

15


Trudeau... ... Continued from Page 6

These books came out before the advent of social media. But with social

media bringing everything into the open globally, seeing Justin’s Trudeau’s

hypocrisy, one can say, even in international politics, All politics is personal

& all politics is local as well.

An ironic end note: Many writers bearing Indian names were berating

the Modi government in the American media for not negotiating with

the farmers strike leaders last year. However, not one of them, to the best

of my knowledge, had anything to say on Liberal Party Trudeau’s ironfist

tactics to break the mostly peaceful truckers strike in Canada. That is

a fine example of the hypocrisy of left-leaning Indian and Indian-origin

intellectuals among social and political scientists. •

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Ukraine... ... Continued from Page 2

the thousands and destroying their physical infrastructure.

Russia is not, by any stretch of the imagination, an economic or

technological threat to the US. Militarily, maybe. And yet, after dismantling

the USSR, the US added fifteen new members to NATO, all encircling

Russia, Wanting to admit Ukraine into NATO only provoked Russia. The

American focus should be on China, a more menacing threat economically,

politically, militarily, even culturally, and with deep pockets. •

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British Airways Revives Its Nonstop to

London Heathrow from Pittsburgh

British Airways resumes its nonstop services to London Heathrow

starting in June, four days a week. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays

and Sundays the flight departs

from London Heathrow at 4:45

p.m. and lands in Pittsburgh at

7:50 p.m. The return flight will

depart Pittsburgh the same day at

9:50 p.m., arriving in London at

10:10 a.m. the following day.

British Airways started the service to Pittsburgh in 2019. The flight

operated successfully for a year before pandemic-related travel restrictions

led to the flight’s suspension in 2020.

The flight is expected to generate more than $50 million annually to

the Pittsburgh regional economy. For people traveling to the Indian subcontinent,

this convenient flight offers several options to reach many big

cities with one stopover in London Heathrow, and all second-tier cities

via Dubai, Abu Dhabi. Qatar, or through Mumbai and New Delhi. •

17


The Kashmir Files Portrays the Brutal Genocide

and Exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits

By Bupesh Kaul, Squirrel Hill, PA

e-mail: bupeshkaul@yahoo.com

Bupesh Kaul, a resident in our area for over twenty-five years, is

a practicing physician, now in semi-retirement. He was an associate

professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. This is his

review of the Vivek Agnihotri’s acclaimed film The Kashmir Files.

The release of the movie, The Kashmir Files, has led to

a renewed interest in the happenings in the verdant vale of

Kashmir over three decades ago. The history of Kashmir is

very tangled and complex — as all history usually is.

In the Indian context, Kashmir was an important center for learning

— arts, literature, religion, and spiritual quest -— a place where Adi

Shankaracharya preached as he revived Hinduism during his travels in

the eighth century, CE.

The advent of Islam in the valley in the 14th century, though initially

comparatively peaceful, became particularly brutal for the Kashmiri

Hindus (Kashmiri Pandits) resulting in mass conversion to Islam, not

always by persuasion. At one

point, only a small number

of Hindu families were left

in the valley. Following the

Anglo-Sikh war in mid-19-

th century, Kashmir, which

was a part of the Sikh Empire

and was mostly Muslim, was

“sold” to the Raja of Jammu

by the British for a princely sum of 75 lakh Nanakshahi Rupees. The State

became Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).

In August 1947, J&K had four distinct regional ethnicities. The Kashmir

Valley (Kashmiri), Jammu (Dogri), Ladakh (Ladakhis) & the Northern

territories (Gilgit and Baltistan). The Valley had a Hindu minority, about

2-3% of the population. The Kashmiri language was spoken only in the

Valley.

It is beyond the remit of this article to trace or debate the political

machinations, calculations, and intrigue from 1947 to 1990 that led to

the exodus of the minority Kashmiri Pandit community from the Valley

in 1990. But what is indisputable is that a premeditated, calculated effort

was made to rid the Valley of its Hindu natives. Long before the term

18


“ethnic cleansing” gained currency in the West, it was a reality for the

minority Hindu community in the Kashmir Valley. A targeted and carefully

orchestrated campaign resulted in a premeditated brutal murder of scores

of Pandits that led to the mass exodus of the minority Hindu population

from the Valley.

The Kashmir Files brings attention to this brutal cleansing by highlighting

the experiences of one such Kashmiri Pandit family. In the tiny

Kashmiri Pandit community, every Pandit knows someone who was either

personally brutalized, or witnessed the rampage, or knows someone who

was murdered, or has/had a family member or personal friend witness

this murderous rampage.

The makers of film recorded the oral history from many survivors of

this brutality, verifying it by poring over other publicly available documents

before making the movie.

With the movie concentrating on one family, some may not get the full

scale of the atrocities committed on the Pandits. But the research and the

use of Kashmiri dialogs bring a great deal of authenticity to the movie.

The film also brings into sharp focus the inability/unwillingness of the

Indian state and its media to recognize this issue as an Indian issue instead

of seeing it as a Kashmir issue. The film does not portray the planning,

coordination, and orchestration of the attacks by India’s immediate neighbors.

Excepting for this and other minor quibbles, the movie graphically

captures what should only be called genocide by terrorism, leading to the

exodus of almost all Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley.

Watching the movie at the Waterfront Multiplex, I and other members

of the Pandit community had a cathartic release, with many in the

audience sobbing through the screening. The makers of The Kashmir Files

do not shy away from making bold statements and that is the strength of

the movie.

The director, Vivek Agnihotri gives voice to alternate viewpoints for

which he needs to be commended. The Pandit community hopes this film

will initiate a dialog to bring out the deafening

silence by both the media and a spate of weak,

corrupt politicians and officials who conspired,

perhaps unwittingly, to condemn the whole

Pandit community to become refugees in their

own land. And bring to justice the perpetrators

of the murder, loot, rape, and pillage perpetrated

on a peaceful community.

The Pandits believe in the idea of India and in law and order, and not

in vigilante justice. Which is why not one Kashmiri Pandit picked up a

gun to avenge the murderous wrongs perpetrated on the community. •

19


Wicked Humor — Tamil Nadu Style

A village elder watched municipal employees digging ditches on a

pavement at fifteen feet apart. They left. After some time, another team

followed, and they simply filled the holes dug by the earlier team using

the excavated dirt lying around, effectively closing them. They too left.

Puzzled and overcome with curiosity, the village elder quipped one

local guy, “What is going on here? Why is that one group digs the hole

and the second group simply fills the hole?”

“Sir, they are subcontracted municipal employees doing their job.”

“What job?”

“Well, it’s like this Sir… … These are from the horticultural department

assigned to plant trees. The first group was to dig the ditches, and

the second group was supposed to come with germinated seeds for the

plant and the third group’s job was fill the holes. The second group was

given some other assignment and they did not come. But the third group

wanted to complete their part of the assignment to get paid.”

“Really?” was the perplexed look of the village elder.

“We too saw this, and when we asked the supervisor, he was annoyed

and he reprimanded: ‘You don’t interfere in our work, mind your own

business, and don’t poke your nose in our business!!’ “ •

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Pittsburgh Patrika April 2022

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