A century and a quarter ago (1900) the intellectual world was cheated by a Khotanese Muslim by passing the fraudulently prepared manuscripts in old and unknown scripts as genuine antiquarian objects discovered in the barren wastes of Khotan.
His name was Islam Akhun. He duped many European Indologists, mainly Rudolph Hoernel who took them as genuine finds and even read a few until Aurel Stein saw through the forgeries of this cheat but not before Hoernle had given nearly twenty five years of his undisputed scholarship only to be told by Stein that in doing so he had wasted his great learning only in deciphering the forgeries.
Hearing that he was taken for a ride by the cheat Islam Akhun for taking forgeries as genuine manuscripts, the news left the great orientalist crest- fallen and heart broken. From this unbecoming conduct of Islam Akhun, Stein coined a cautionary phrase “Once Islam Akhun; always Islam Akhun” to alarm his fellow explorers in dealing with the likes of him.
However, the paradox of these forgeries is that they have become subject of such international curiosity that all such forged manuscripts are kept in the British Museum alongside Stein’s great archeological treasures found in Central Asia.
Of course , ever since, no one has equalled Islam Akhun in deception and cheating yet many in Kashmir have shown a tendency to distort recorded history to a Muslim line. Less than a decade earlier, a writer in Kashmir termed Kalhana’s Rajataragini as a “false narrative” and debunked the great historical chronicle otherwise acknowledged as the most credible historical treatise of the Hindu Period of Kashmir history.
Notwithstanding, this unacademic and unscholarly claim, it has caused a ripple in the parochial Kashmiri academia and many doubt the authenticity of Kalhana’s work.
Just a year ago another native rabble rouser tried to push the origin of Kashmir’s historical and cultural syncrity to contemporary times instead of its age old foundations to the period of Hindu Kashmir.
This uncultured voice even abused a well known and respected KP scholar , in the full glare of an audience of no less than 300 persons, who tried to correct his historical myopia.
Many such voices even fancy to distort the etymological base of historical places when Shankaracharya Hill is repeatedly referred to as Takht-e- Sulaiman, Hari Parvat as Koh-i-Maran or more than 1500 year old city of Srinagar founded by Ashoka as Shar-e- Khas or Shar-e- Kashmir.
That of course does not lessen the distortions introduced to the life of literature of Lal Ded from distorting her and even her Vaaks. Today much of Lal Ded is being couched in Islamic tunic.
These may, however , be of normal significance because those who know the truth will not be misled by such distortions. But they are enough to waylay the ignorant masses. There lies the danger in this ugly trend Perhaps, all these instances point to one agenda of the majority population in Kashmir and that is to distort Kashmir’s well anchored history.
This new strategy of historical distortions and viewing everything with an Islamic eye is a new danger in Kashmir.
Instead, of continuing with the gun in Kashmir these perverted trendsetter are now using the voice and pen of the intellectual class to continue with the war of soft subversion in Kashmir.
While Kashmir, in recent times, is relatively peaceful than ever before. and violence has come down but a new form of extremism appears to be raising its ugly head. In this fallout, the Kashmiri Muslims are inching to appropriate the intellectual achievements of the Kashmiri Pandits as their own.
This is likely to asunder both the communities further and farther away than the gun may have achieved so far.
An extreme case has come to light.
A book entitled : Kashmir Papers- British Intervention in Kashmir has been
re-published by Gulshan Books, Srinagar.
The book, first edition by Srinagar based Gulshan Books, 2011, is edited by G.N Gauher and Shahwar Gauher ( Gauhar).
The verbatim re-published book was originally published in 1973 and edited by S.N.Gadru , the Editor, Kohistan, Srinagar with a Foreword written by Dr. Mohan Krishen Teng, then Lecturer, Political Science, at the University of Kashmir.
This edition of the book with several relevant photographs was published by S.N.Gadru for Freethought Literature Company, Hari Singh High Street, Srinagar.
The republished edition ,however appears to be an intellectual dishonesty and misappropriation because the edition re-published by Gulshan Books does not bear a word of the Preface and Foreword ( Introduction) of the original book written by S.N.Gadru and Dr. Mohan Krishen Teng respectively. Nor has the superiors book any illustrations in it.
Instead, thevnames bof original editors S.N.Gadru and M.K.Teng are now obliterated by new editors G.N.Gauher and Shahwar Gauher( Gauhar) .
Given these facts, it must be of serious concern to the Kashmiri Pandit community that the names of the original writers/ editors ( both Kashmiri Pandits) are effaced from the revised edition of the book and the names of two new Kashmiri Muslim editors have been superladen over them.
In mere 51 years the original writers of the book have been effaced in this sinister manner.
The worst is that the Gulshan Books, Srinagar , 2011 edition of the book extinguishes the Copyrights of S.N.Gadru in the most brazen manner.
I , therefore , appeal ,through this media house, to all the members of the Kashmiri society to refrain from a new conflict that will tear the two communities apart like never before.
I also demand immediate withdrawal of the fake book published by Gulshan Books and a public apology by the new editors of the book for this heist.
A new faultline is avoidable for communal harmony in Kashmir and one hopes all will appreciate that Kashmiris deserve to be saved from this indelible blot ,a second of which is unknown in their entire literary history of Kashmir, probably also of the world .
The blatant intellectual heist appears even to surpass Islam Akhun’s forgeries.
Pray Kashmir is saved from a new conflict and intellectual predators are put in check. Impersonators have no place in the scholarly and intellectual world. A new chaos in Kashmir is avoidable.
(The writer is a Jammu based environmentalist and a regular contributor to this Website.)
(Feedback at: blparimoo@gmail.com)
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