The picture of an ideal leader in his charismatic form is obtainable in Nilamatpurana — the earliest available source of historical information of Kashmir and a unique treatise that clearly marks wit the sketches of to iconic leader who was none other than Nila Naga, the frunder of Jhelum Valley Civilization that flourished on the banks of Veth or Vitasta, Kashmir “leaders” are thriving on the agonies bequeathed to the masses by the partition for which both Nehru and jinnah were responsible. Kashmiris are paying too heavily for their obstinacy, stubbornness and fierce political rivalries that struck a fatal blow to historic Indus Valley C’iviikation: fragmenting it to degenerate into an unprecedented bloodbath of innocent killings that finally save birth to India, Pakistan, two Kashmirs and Bangladesh — how many’ more pieces are likely to emerge on the map of the world God alone knows.
Lal Ded and Sheikh Noor-ud-din present a picture of real charismatic leadership. Their intrinsic worth, high calibre and virtue made them the genuine mass leaders and the real harbingers of a great social change.
The unwise constructed structure of clay,
But those of dilapidated within 73 years,
Who with determination distributed largesse?
Reached the destination thoutgh physically disabled.
(Nund Rishi)
Whether or not Kashmiri leaders fulfil the the criteria historically recognized as prerequisite for becoming cream of the crop- a visionary, creative, energizing and charismatic leader—is a difficult question to answer. It is however , generally believed that a charismatic leader is one who personifies all those merits that have been identified by David A Nadler and Michael L Tushan in their book Beyond the Charismatic Leadet: A product of painstaking research that speaks high of scholarly exertions of these political scientists, the book is in no way the first of its kind on the subject. As a matter of fact it is a laudable and meaningful attempt to recapitulate systematically what the great scholars have already contemplated and marked out, long, long ago, as main components of unadulterated, stimulating and genuine leadership.
The interest in understanding the issue of leadership—which they have rather rekindled now —was awakened by the intellectuals of yore centuries before the emergence of Nation States; actually at a time when the human Civilization hadn’t yet made many strides and was still in its embryonic form on its way forward struggling hard to reach the acme of excellence. The foremost among them were Aristotle and Plato who delved deep into the subject and subsequently gave the world the model of a flawless leader who possessed tremendous potential to lead people through thick and thin and represented a wonderful combination of self-discipline, hard-work and honesty and foresight. The model was, subsequently, elaborated and perfected by their successors; more distinctively by Ibn-Khaldun and Arnold Toynbee. The conclusions which these scholars of stature have drawn after studying various Civilizations, especially the major civilizations of the world’ , are now making rounds in Western and Asiatic Societies, of course in an adapted form, through the publications of contemporary social and political scientists .
The picture of an ideal leader in his charismatic form is equally obtainable in Nilamatpurana ; the earliest available source of historical information on Kashmir; a unique treatise that clearly sketches the picture of an ‘envisioning, energizing and ennobling’ iconic leader who was none other than Nila Naga’ , the founder of Jhelum Valley Civilization that flourished on the banks of Veth of Vitasta. He was the first and foremost Kashmiri Patriarch of great consequences who, with his unusual blend of intelligence, determination and character, drove out of Valley’s womb the most dreaded people; the pretenders and imposters; the enemies of natives` ; and, thereby, laid the foundation of a safe and peaceful heaven on earth for human settlement. His moral substance and qualities of head and heart were so powerful that they inspired a galaxy of historical personalities like Avantiverman, Laltaditya and Budshah etc to follow his footsteps and touch the peaks of glory, popularity and esteem. Thus by drinking deep of the intellectual ambience, furnished by this classic work on Kashmir, these leaders envisioned a prosperous, strong and peaceful Kashmir which they realized finally to lure a huge number of Central Asian Sausfis and Scholars who settled here and enriched its ethos profoundly.
Alongside, Nilmatapurana, Kalhana’s Rajatarangni , Vakhs of Lal Ded, Nund Rishi’s expositions and Shah-i-Hamdan’s Zakhirat-Ul-Malook deserve to be equally credited for having widened the contours of the discourse on the qualities of leadership. The authors of these monumental works were the most innovative social engineers who had a strong urge to transform Kashmir by changing the outlook of its leadership. Their main thrust was on enlightenment which they believed is possible through the pursuit of knowledge, the attainment of moral ascendancy and the rejection of arrogance; the qualities which the present “leadership” lacks so conspicuously and despises so amply and abhorrently. The watchword of their philosophy is an amalgam of Vision, Virtue and Wisdom which is evidently absent among the contemporary “leaders”.
Lal Ded and Sheikh Noor-ud-din were prefect embodiment of these Virtues that enabled them to become the genuine mass leaders, the legitimate people’s priests and the real harbingers of a great social change. The personal Charisma of these leaders continues to inspire every Kashmiri even after the passage of so many centuries’. The quantum of esteem they are held in can only be gauged at Chera-ri-Sharief where an ocean of people is seen present to pay their homage. There is hardly anything that hasn’t received their attention: their repertoire encompasses everything from economics, politics, science, medicine, philosophy to environment; they have ably dealt with whatever came their way for rectification, renovation, restoration and innovation. The following sayings of these public priests and leaders point towards what they actually stood for:
The unwise constructed structure of clay,
But those tgot dilapidated within 73 years,
Who with determination distributed largesse ?
Reached the destination through physically disabled,
Who by heart recited the Holy Scriptures?
They alone became His chosen ones.
(Nund Rishi)
…to be continued
Dr. Abdul Ahad is a well-known historian of Kashmir. He presents a perspective on the Kashmir issue and talks about Kashmir’s history and individuality and personality.
