Kashmiri Hindu Heritage Day Declared

News and Events

Historic declaration of Kashmiri Hindu Heritage Day
Miami, Florida, USA, November 17, 2012

Mayor presenting proclamation to Pandit Gopinath Raina, Senior Editor-Shehjar Magazine amid traditional Shankh-Naad

t is significant for the displaced Kashmiri Hindus, who have been dislodged from the land of their birth due to acts of terrorism in the valley, to receive a proclamation from the Mayor of one of the largest cities of South Florida, North Miami. The proclamation declaring the third Saturday of November as Kashmiri Hindu Heritage Day was made at a function sponsored and organized by the author of Koshur Saal, Mrs. Chandramukhi Ganju, with the support of Kashmir Hindu Foundation, Inc., and North Miami Library.

The purpose of the function was to display Kashmiri Hindu culture, particularly its arts and crafts, architecture, wedding, cuisine, history, literature, poets, saints, sages and philosophers and create an opportunity to the world to learn and experience the Hindu culture of Kashmir through a visual voyage.

Handing down the proclamation amid traditional Shankh Naad and Ghanti (the sound of conch and bell), the City Mayor, Andre Pierre, said, "We in North Miami, which has such a wonderful diversity, are glad that we are part of this function that showcases Kashmiri Hindu culture". The Proclamation noted that 500,000 Kashmiri Hindus were dislodged by acts of terrorism and many of them migrated to the USA and today 22 years later, a majority of Kashmiri Hindus have not due to fear returned to their place of birth and this community has retained and preserved its 5000 year old art, culture and cuisine.”

The resounding message of the program was that while one can take a Kashmiri Hindu out of Kashmir, one cannot take Kashmir out of him. The function proved a historic day for Kashmiri Hindus now forgotten community in India in that it was the first time a city Mayor recognized the resilience of Kashmiri Hindus. The Kashmiri Hindu Community will now be celebrating the 3rd Saturday of November every year as Kashmiri Hindu Heritage Day. It will inspire us to hold such exhibitions in other parts of the US. A Cultural Center will also be established in the city of Miami to showcase the richness of Kashmir Hindu heritage.

See Related articles:

Photo Feature of the Event: http://www.shehjar.com/list/0/2194/1.html
Media Coverage-Kashmiri Hindu Heritage Day: http://www.shehjar.com/list/0/2192/1.html
Heritage Day - TV Asia coverage: http://www.shehjar.com/list/0/2197/1.html
Video Highlights: http://www.shehjar.com/list/0/2196/1.html
A celebration of Kashmir: http://www.shehjar.com/list/0/2200/1.html
Heritage Day Proclamation: http://www.shehjar.com/list/0/2191/1.html

Comments
Congratulations - Great Effort! Added By Ravi Kaul
congrats Chandra ji ...really gr8 job ... Added By Rewanti Ganjoo
People like u r keeping our culture alive!!!!! Added By Vineet Bhat
This is a big achievement. Kudos to all those who conceived and organized this event. KP's rock wherever they go. Added By Shiban Raina
Makes me feel proud of such efforts. Congratulations. Added By Ramesh Bhat
Dear Deepak Ji Congratulations, the whole team, for showcasing Kashmiri culture and for the declaration of Kashmiri Hindu Heritage Day. This is a rare distinction and the credit goes to the organizers and the mayor. The KP community worldwide is grateful to Mr Andre Pierre for his gesture. I am sure this will set the trend for the recognition of our survival as a distinct ethnoreligious community from more and more statesmen. All the best. Added By Dr. K L Chowdhury
It is great to have a day dedicated to preserving Kashmiri Hindu(Pandit) culture in USA.Mr Deepak Ganju and Chandermukhi, his wife, deserve all praises from community members for their efforts to get the mayor of city to do the honour to the community.The exhibition of culture through photographs and artifacts was great and at once takes us back to good old days of our life in Kashmir. We will be looking ahead for celebrating this day next year all over USA. Added By Piyaray Raina
I commend you and your colleagues for the time and resources that you invested in this noble effort. God bless. Added By Dr. Vijay Sazawal
At the very outset, I would like to congratulate Mrs. Chandra Ganju for successfully organizing the Kashmiri Hindu Heritage Day. I am sure it must have taken days, if not weeks, of hard work, meticulous planning of all the intricate details, coordinating with different government and media agencies, and finally executing it with utmost precision and ease. It was yet another feather in her cap. Added By Dr. Shashi Razdan
WONDERFUL! It may sound as a slap to our Mother India that Kashmir is being recognized and celebrated in USA while our plight has been ignored in our own country. Needless to say that you did a great job and that is what it took Indian Express to print. Added By Sarla Ganju
Dear Deepak ji You deserve all appreciation for the tireless efforts you have been making to serve the community in all possible ways from time to time in your humble way.The whole community is proud of you. God Bless you and your family. Added By Makhan Sazawal
It's not a cakewalk to organize such events. The exhibits are succinct in portraying our culture, heritage and ethos in the real sense. Sri Gopinath Raina and Sri Deepak Ganju's team deserve acclaim for their selfless and untiring efforts in arranging the community events, in the south. Hope they'll continue to enthuse us in future as well. Added By Dr. Tej Munshi
It is indeed a great day for all of us. Congratulations to the team who made it possible. Prof. b b dhar. President, K E C S S, New-Delhi Added By Prof. B B Dhar
Yet another Milestone in creating a Landmark Memoir Event - Very important to get registered our Wounds, culture, Dharma in the Pages of History. I recall many years back, Post Migration, Sh.T.N.Razdan & Sh.Anupam Kaul Ji used their proximity with Mr Jagmohan then Urban Dev Minister of Delhi to rename One District Park close to Connaught Place as B.K.Ganju Memorial Park & there are other but Limited examples. Added By Rajesh Kaul 'Upmanyu'
This sphere of activities has to expand to The field of Literature & Shehjar & Praznath are good initiatives Plus the Contribtion by Sh A.N. Kaul Sahib towards Kashmiri Language is well recognisable. Great Initiative by Deepak- Indeed! Trust that keeps the community inspired! Added By Rajesh Kaul 'Upmanyu'
My heart goes out to the Kashmiri Hindu community who have been displaced from their home state. If only Nehru had allowed the Indian army to throw out the aggressors and for his own ego and personal glory not taken the issue to the UN, an organization that has no power to solve any thing except words in the form of worthless resolutions, the problem would not have been there today and China and Russia would not be playing games with the lives of the innocent Hindus. Added By Bhavani Nirmal
Congratulations.What a historical achievement. Pictures are speaking a lot about event and amount of work involved. I congratulate Mrs Ganju and her team for their selfless work and making our community proud 1000 of miles away from home. Added By Nirmala Bhan
commendable job done by the organisers n ppl, one thing i want to add, Dastar effect is missing i being a typical kashmiri pandit want to draw ur attention towards this fact that Dastar needs preservation as it is vanishing after Sh Vaishnavi Ji father of community died....pl take a positive note of this comment as i m not criticizing u,,,,ur efforts r highly appreciable Added By kanwal peshin
Thank you Kanwal ji.Yes, we agree with you, dastar is missing. Dastar was arranged also but due to some unavoidable issue,had to move on without Dastar.I am myself feeling bad for the same. Added By chandra Ganju
Nice work done for kashmiri baradari keep it up god bless you Added By Usha Dhar
you are doing a commendable job of preserving culture and heritage of kashmiri pandits Added By Vijay Kaul
congratulations Chandra ji, I have your book in my library. Added By Amit Bamzai
Congratulations for contributing in retrieving the lost flavours of our kashmiri cuisine.U vr good in studies in srinagar too so r u there(USA) also Added By Rita Jailkhanii
Remarkable job.. Thank you for all your efforts to keep kashmiri culture alive.. Added By Rashmi Razdan