The Chronicles of Kashmir

Book excerpt: An insight into many untold facts describing the position of Kashmiri Pandits since the pre-independence era, the subsequent developments that shaped the socio - cultural and political environment in J&K, the sowing of the seeds of terrorism much before they showed up and the factors that led to the world’s largest mass exodus of people in their own country, the book charts the role of Shri Amarnath Vaishnavi who was a social activist at the grass root and was at the helm of various historic events pertaining to Kashmiri Pandits that shaped its history and influenced the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. While describing his activism, this biography chronicles historic events witnessed and led by him dating back to 1947 up to the year 2012. This is the revised edition of the book which was first published in 2021. The reader reviews reveal that this first hand account of events, from the diary of Pandit Vaishnavi, serve as a treasure trove of information for the researchers. This book includes a narrative which has long been suppressed. A man who was so influential was never tempted to accumulate wealth or use power to help himself or his close family members. He lived a down to earth life in one of the Kashmiri refugee colonies in Jammu and was honoured with the title, “Father of the Kashmiri Pandit Community.”