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| Sad demise of veteran journalist M. L. Kak is irreparable loss to journalist fraternity | | A Tribute to Seasoned Journalist | |  Sajjad Bazaz
My routine morning session of social media browsing on Wednesday was not illuminating. It was extremely disheartening to come across a post on Facebook from a friend in Delhi announcing the sad demise of M. L. Kak, a veteran journalist of repute, who without any prejudice started handholding me as a fresher in the field of journalism in the year 1988. In fact, his hand holding in the initial years of my career in Journalism is the foundation stone of my whatever capabilities I possess in the field of my profession.
While going through the shocking post of his sad demise, it took me back to the memories of the pre-1990 era when I mingled with a breed of Kashmiri Pandit journalists after completing my masters degree in Mass Communication & Journalism from Kashmir university in 1988. I was fortunate enough to start my career as a Journalist under the guidance of a few veteran Kashmiri Pandit journalists, including M. L. Kak. They were stalwarts in the field of journalism at that time in J & K. However, M. L. Kak selflessly took it upon himself to handhold and taught me the tricks of the trade. There are certain memorable events having become my permanent companions in life which merit a mention as a mark of respect to this seasoned journalist.
Even as the following tales have been shared on a couple of occasions in my previous columns, today the demise of M. L. Kak once again makes me sentimental about those golden moments of his mentoring me in my field of profession without any bias. These stories need to be told and retold for all times to come so that our young Kashmiri generations (both Pandits & Muslims) don’t lose sight of each other, remain in harmony and defeat hatred for all times to come.
I was just two years old in the profession of journalism when militancy erupted in the Kashmir Valley. That was a time when Kashmiri Pandits were wholly dominating the media scene in Kashmir. Being a Muslim boy, I was feeling like an alien among this KP-dominated journalist fraternity. However, I was fortunate to find a guide in the shape of this reputed Kashmiri Pandit journalist, M. L. Kak who gladly took pains in making me understand finer points of the profession. Even as I had my journalism lessons during the course of pursuing my masters in Journalism, he was generous enough to pass on certain untold professional traits which always helped (and continue to help) me to strike a balance while reporting events or writing analytical pieces on varied subjects all along my career.
M. L. Kak was a master of writing table stories strictly within the ambit of journalistic ethics and without compromising facts and figures. This is the art which among other things I picked from him. Here it also merits a mention that some of his fellow journalists were showing their ‘displeasure’ to him for guiding and chiseling my professional capabilities. But he never abandoned me and in fact apprised me of the situation. “Focus on your job. People will be jealous of you, but not all. This jealousy factor of others is an endorsement that you are on right track while performing your duty as a journalist. Always be objective, unbiased and direct while reporting any event,” he said to me while divulging an incident when he was objected by one of his fellow KP colleagues for mentoring me.
Let me share another unforgettable incident. With the onset of militancy in 1988 and gaining momentum by the end of 1989, the then state government collapsed and Governor’s rule was imposed. Kashmir was reeling under massive public demonstrations and the socio-political unrest was brewing up fast. On January 15, 1990, M. L. Kak called me to his home in Press Enclave and advised me to move out of the valley for at least six months. He was frank enough to reveal that massive military crackdowns were being planned in the entire Kashmir Valley for months together to flush out militants and suppress the uprising. He left Kashmir the next day and we witnessed a mass exodus of the Kashmiri Pandit community officially starting on January 19, 1990. After that, he never returned to Kashmir for decades together.
As a journalist, he was rich in sources and would always take a lead to flash a story with inside details, much ahead of his other colleagues in the fraternity. He would always insist on observing objectivity in reporting and cultivate reliable sources for news gathering to be a distinguished journalist.
Once in a routine private discussion with him in Jammu, while expressing his view on the return of KPs to their homeland (valley), he said that the return of KP migrants should not be an issue. Actually, the debate was again hot in the political circles at that time where some KP groups were pleading for a separate homeland for themselves within the valley and some were opposing their “protected” return. We discussed that for some time, particularly in the initial years of migration, the demand for return of migrant Kashmiri Pandits to the valley carried weight. It was relevant to seek their return to their homeland as most of the migrants were struggling to settle even on routine domestic fronts. Now, if we have a look at the scenario around the migrants, we would find most of the migrant families after toiling hard and hectic efforts have got settled at their respective locations across the country. It has taken them almost 30 years of hard work to get settled away from their homeland.
Let me reproduce what he exactly said: “Pressurizing them to return to the valley for permanent settlement would be another injustice to this segment of Kashmiri brethren. During all these years of migration, this community has braved extreme geographical, climatic and cultural aggression in their areas of settlement and carved a space for themselves to live honourably. How can they be asked to dismantle their own homes again to satisfy the personal agenda of individuals/ groups and parties? This would be an extreme injustice. However, this should not be construed that they should not return. Kashmir is always KPs first home.”
To conclude, M. L. Kak selflessly and unilaterally took it upon himself to guide and chisel my professional capabilities in the initial years of my career building. Precisely, his immense contribution in my career building as a journalist and personality development, that too at a time when it was needed the most, will always stay alive in me. May his soul rest in peace!
(The author is veteran journalist/columnist. He is former Head of Corporate Communication & CSR and Internal Communication & Knowledge Management Departments of J&K Bank) |
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