Prem Nath Bazaz
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- Politician
- scholar
- author
Prem Nath Bazaz | |
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| Born | July 13, 1905 |
| Died | 1984 (aged 78 or 79) |
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| Children | 9, including Bhushan |
Prem Nath Bazaz (13 July 1905 – 1984) was a Kashmiri politician, scholar, and author born in Budgam, Kashmir. He was a secularist and a democrat. He was born to a Kashmiri Hindu family. He was a Kashmiri politician who founded two political parties, Kashmir Socialist Party, and Kisan Mazdoor Conference. He was the architect of the famous slogan "Kashmir belongs to Kashmiris", and was an ardent supporter of the Kashmir freedom movement till the end.
In the preface of his book, History of Struggle for Freedom in Kashmir, he wrote: "It is the voice of one who believes that the future of Kashmir, owing to its past traditions and culture, is inextricably linked with both her neighbours. But Kashmir belongs to Kashmiris and neither the Maharaja had, or any outsider has, however powerful he may be, any right to dictate about its future."[1]
Prem Nath famously said "The Dogras have always considered Jammu as their home and Kashmir as the conquered country…They established a sort of Dogra imperialism in the State in which all non-Dogra communities and classes were given the humble place of inferiors…Dogra imperialism brought nothing but misery, thraldom, physical and mental deterioration in its wake…"[2]