I pay my homage and tribute to Sarvanand Koul Premi on his 35st death anniversary on1st May 2025 Thursday and I am short of words to describe him and his contribution to secularism, pluralism, progressivism,social reform ,Hindu –Muslim unity ,mutual brotherhood and what not? Premi’s was a multifaceted personality and it cannot be penned down in a small space in paper. Sarwanand Koul Premi ,Son of Gopi Nath Koul –the first matriculate in his village and Omarvati Koul ,was born in a farming family of Anantnag district in the year 1924.Premi was a renowned freedom fighter ,a philanthropist ,litterateur and what not? Premi had good knowledge and proficiency in Hindi, Urdu, Kashmiri, Sanskrit, Persian,English etc and wrote with ease in all these languages. Sarvanand was a great teacher ,educationist ,poet, reformer ,doyen of Hindu –Muslim unity ,a broadcaster, a translator, writer of repute ,journalist ,progressive personality leaning towards communist ideology and still a great Hindu indeed committed to Hinduism and Sanatan Dharma .Premi Sahib was a revolutionary and has penned a number of books .Premi Ji was in fact a household name in Anantnag district and his death at the hands of Islamist terrorists way back on 1st May 1990 along with his well educated son Virender Koul is very unfortunate and it was the death of humanity .

Premi and his son had been killed in Anantnag and it is a big and irreparable loss not only to Kashmiri Pandits but to Muslim baradari as well. He was respected by the people of all communities and in his untimely death a big void has been created which is very hard to fill. Kashmiri Pandits have been observing his death anniversary at Jammu and elsewhere. This year as usual death anniversary of the great man is being observed at JKCA and a large number of people from different walks of life participated in the observance of his death anniversary. Many outstanding personalities recalled his life, contributions and his multifarious life and threw light on his secular and multifarious personality .Sarwanand Koul Premi also spelled Sarvanand Kaul Premi was born on 2rd November 1924 and was a Kashmiri poet ,journalist ,research scholar ,Gandhian ,social reformer and independent activist. During Quit India Movement from 1942-1946,he also worked underground and was arrested on six occasions during this movement. He was honored with the epithet of Premi by Ghulam Ahmad Mehjoor for his love of poetry.
It is very unfortunate and sad that Premi along with his married son ,Verinder 27 were kidnapped ,tortured and killed by Islamic terrorists in 1990 in the hey days of terrorism in J&K. Kashmiris of all hues and all nationalistic people mourned their death and it shook whole Kashmir. For a few years he worked for the village and the Khadi Industries Board a state enterprise as well as the Industries department of Punjab .Premi returned to Kashmir and joined the education department as teacher and in due course he became a great teacher and educationist and taught ,counselled and guided many students of his area. He was much popular as a teacher and a poet. Premi rose to become a headmaster. One of the most shocking killing in Kashmir in 1990 was of Sarvanand Kaul Premi a learned man and a school headmaster .At that time many of the Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave their homes and hearths but his family decided to stay put in Kashmir at his native village of Sofshalli .But this was a wrong decision and he and his son were brutally murdered.
.Premi has stayed put in his village as he had firm belief that no one will harm him and his family as he had taught all the students of his area. The patriotic people of Jammu and Kashmir ask the question as what was his fault and why was he killed brutally along with his son? Where was Kashmiriyat then and where had the Sofi culture and tradition as well as communal harmony gone? These question demand answers from the Muslim community of Kashmir even after 35 years of the shocking tragedy of the cold blooded broad day murder. Premi had proficiency in Holy Bhagvad Gita and holy Quran and used to read both the scriptures. But despite this premi was killed. At the age of 66 years Premi was killed along with his 27 year son. Premi enjoyed goodwill in the Muslim dominated society and so Kauls had decided to stay put in their native village only few days later to be killed by the Islamic terrorists to create fear among the Residual Kashmiri Pandits .
May 1 is every year observed by the KP’s as Shaheedi Diwas and floral tributes are paid to Premi and his son and his contribution to society and secularism is remembered and the participants resolve to fight terrorism tooth and nail .Rajinder Kaul his eldest son is embarking on a mission to republish Premi’s works for future generations and this is a mammoth and praiseworthy effort. When there was communal tension in February 1986 in south Kashmir ,Premi gave a lecture about maintaining communal harmony. Premi was a write of repute and authored more than two dozen books .He also translated Bhagvad Gita and Ramayan in Kashmiri.
Premi wrote on Lalishori, Saint Merzakak and on and
so forth. Premi also translated Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s ‘Madhushala. His son Rajinder Kaul is doing commendable job of the project of publishing his father’s works but faces paucity of finances. The Jammu and Kashmir cultural Academy and the information and culture department of JK UT should provided financial assistance to Rajinder Kaul so that his mission of publishing the works of premi is given a final shape. I conclude this write up with an Udru couplet which fits the personality of the great martyr Premi and reads as ‘’Hazaroun saal Nargis Apni Benoori Pa Roui Tee ,Badi Mushkil Se hota hai Chaman mai Deedver Paedha.’’ May God grant peace to the soul of Premi and his son and we will continue to be inspired by his multifaceted personality.

Email:----------------------------onkoul2019@gmail.com