INDIA : TALES PROFESSOR VIPIN KUMAR TRIPATHI

NEW DELHI : A retired UT Delhi Professor Vipin Kumat Tripathi takes a long walk from his home in south Delhi's Sarvodaya Elclave with a bagful of Hindu and English pamphlets titled :

''Disquiet of Kashmiri Masses and Jubilation in India'' to distribute them among passersby.

The 71-year old walked for around 5 kilometer frequently stopping to distribute the pamphlets. Near Moolchand Flyover a car pulled up beside him and the driver asked for a pamphlet.

Before Tripathi could respond the man snatched a bunch of 150 pamphlets from his hand.

He shouted at me, are you a Pakistani? You are commiting treason. If you were not an old man I would have hit you hard.
I replied you can do that right now if you want but tell me what's wrong with my pamphlet, Tripathi said. When few policemen arrived, the man asked them to arrest me, he said.

I said I wanted to bring understanding between the people of Kashmir and India.

He then distributed some more pamphlets.

Tripathi has been writing pamphlets for 27 years and has traveled as far as Assam. Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Haryana to distribute them often meeting with abuse. But this was the first time he had pamphlets snatched from him and was threatened with violence.

The former Physics professor began his love affair with pamphlets the day after the Babri Masjid demolished. He distributed 20,000 pamphlets titled:
''Fire of Violence in the Country'' with the help from like-minded IIT professors and students and Maids from JNU and Jamia Millia Islamia.

His latest pamphlet asks New Delhi to freeze the August 5 decision on Jammu and Kashmir till a reconstituted Assembly approves the move to end the clampdown and release the detainees.

Tripathi who has taught briefly in the US held special lectures outside classrooms at UT Delhi to talk about how imperialism is still alive and sectarianism its instrument.

He retired in 2013 but continued teaching at the UT as an honorary professor till last year.