How Farhan Chak uses academia to spread separatist propaganda
Bharat, that is India, Hindus, and Hindutva are becoming an easy target around the globe. One such example is Farhan Chak, a Pakistani-born political commentator and Kashmir activist, and currently a candidate for Councillor in Edmonton, Canada. I first saw him mentioned in a CoHNA tweet making the startling claim that Muslims were the aboriginal people of Kashmir, while Hindus and Buddhists were later “settlers.”
What does indigeneity mean to @UCalgary? Last week some academics, sought to deny and rewrite the history of the ancient land of Jammu and Kashmir and its indigenous Hindu and Buddhist people.
We understand academic freedom is sacrosanct and everyone is entitled to their… pic.twitter.com/kTL0XztPYv
— CoHNA Canada (@CoHNACanada) August 20, 2025
Upon further investigation, Chak is reported to have argued: “Kashmir cannot be considered a separatist movement, as it has never been part of India[1]. On what authority did the Maharaja decide to accede to India without consulting the people of Kashmir?”
This was carried in an article under the sensational caption: “Farhan Chak’s Nuclear Flashpoint amplifies the Kashmiri Muslim voice, exposing Hindutva’s colonialism, genocide denial, and erasure of identity.[1]”
Such claims may sound authoritative to those unfamiliar with South Asia’s history. But to anyone who has studied the region seriously, Chak’s words are not scholarship but merely propaganda. It caught my attention because Chak also claims to be a professor. Yet he is not adhering to academic integrity, bringing a bad name to the world of academia.
Who is Farhan Chak?
Chak introduces himself on his campaign site as a Professor of Political Science, Author, TEDx Speaker, and Secretary-General of the NGO, Kashmir Civitas[2]. He asks people to join him in transforming the community, empowering the present, and enriching the future. Chak goes on to suggest that the voters deserve bold leadership, integrity, and action in creating a safer, stronger, and more connected community.
Chak claims past or current ties with Georgetown University and Qatar University. He also lists his affiliation as a Sessional Instructor in the Department of Political Science at both the University of Alberta and MacEwan University. But irrespective of his résumé, a scholar’s credibility rests on evidence, not affiliations or distortion of historical facts.
When someone claiming to be a political scientist proclaims that “Kashmir has never been part of India,” it is not a debate; it is a falsification of history. It is unacceptable, especially from an academician.
The historical record about Kashmir
The historical facts are clear and well-documented. The princely state of Jammu and Kashmir existed under the rule of Maharaja Hari Singh at the time of India’s independence in 1947. The Maharaja’s authority to sign the Instrument of Accession was the same as that of hundreds of other rulers whose decisions integrated over 560 princely states into the Union of India. To question his authority in Kashmir is to question the entire legitimacy of modern India’s political map.
More importantly, Kashmir’s place within the civilizational continuum of Bharat predates colonial lines by centuries. From the Mauryan Empire under Ashoka to the Kushans, and from the cultural record of Kalhana’s Rajatarangini in the 12th century, Kashmir has always been deeply embedded in the philosophical, political, and economic currents of the Indian subcontinent. Hindu monarchs ruled Kashmir for centuries before the arrival of Muslim dynasties. To claim otherwise is not interpretation; it is historical erasure by the so-called scholar and someone teaching political science at the university level.
Chak’s challenge to the Maharaja’s authority is intellectually hollow. If Hari Singh’s authority is illegitimate, then so would be the accession of Mysore, Hyderabad, Junagadh, and every other princely state. By that logic, the emerging new Bharat itself would be invalid.
The Hindutva straw man
Like many separatist apologists, Chak demonizes Hindutva, projecting it as a colonial, violent ideology to divert attention from Pakistan’s own role in destabilizing Kashmir. He caricatures Hindutva as erasing Kashmiri Muslim identity, ignoring that Kashmiri Pandits, indigenous Hindus, were ethnically cleansed in 1990, a fact rarely acknowledged by him and others..
This rhetorical strategy mirrors the infamous Rutgers report and similar writings that weaponize “academic freedom” while disregarding historical truth[3].
Courts outside India have rejected this conflation. In a recent UK court ruling, attempts to malign Hindutva were dismissed as exaggerated and unsubstantiated. A recent article on this topic debunks false narratives and offers Hindus worldwide, especially the diaspora, a reason to celebrate and organize[4].
If British courts can separate polemics from fact, why do Canadian universities provide a platform for precisely such distortion?
Academic irresponsibility and the cost of misinformation
Criticism of Indian policies is legitimate. But falsifying history is not. When a professor claims that Kashmir was never part of India, one must ask, is it education or indoctrination?
Would academia tolerate a physics professor like me if I denied gravity, or a medical professor who teaches that vaccines cause autism? Certainly not. Why then should political scientists like Chak be granted immunity when they deny documented history in a public forum?
For Bharat and the Hindu diaspora, the stakes are immense. Each repetition of such falsehoods in Western lecture halls lends credibility to Pakistan’s propaganda, weakens nuanced debate, and fosters polarization in diaspora communities. Communities in public lectures and students in the classroom are denied a critical, balanced view and instead given a one-sided political narrative masquerading as scholarship. Future generations are being misled and misinformed; Chak is neither empowering the present nor enriching the future as claimed on his platform.
Conclusion
Farhan Chak’s claim that “Kashmir has never been part of India” collapses under the weight of history. From Ashoka’s Mauryan rule to Kalhana’s chronicles, from Mughal governance to Dogra monarchy, and finally through the legally binding Instrument of Accession (1947), Kashmir’s place within India’s civilizational and political framework is indisputable.
For a supposed scholar to erase this continuum is an academic lapse and malpractice. It misleads students, degrades scholarship, and weaponizes history for political ends.
Kashmir’s history is too rich, too complex, and too consequential to be falsified for separatist propaganda. Universities that give platforms to such distortions fail their students, their mission, and the truth.
If Farhan Chak wishes to be a politician in Edmonton, he is free to peddle slogans. But when he enters a university classroom or dons the garb of a “scholar,” he owes his audience facts—not falsehoods. To claim otherwise is not scholarship—it is deceit.
When universities permit such distortions as scholarship, they betray their core mission of educating through evidence and reason. Kashmir’s past cannot be reduced to propaganda lines. To let such statements go unchallenged is to weaponize academia against truth itself.
Chak’s rhetoric is not merely wrong; it is dangerous. And if scholars abandon honesty for ideology, they cease to be scholars at all.
One last question to ponder- was the public lecture titled “The Pakistan Concept…” on August 15 (Bharat’s Independence Day) a deliberate attempt to add salt to the injury, while the poster indicated Pakistan Independence Day (which is August 14).
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
3. The author acknowledges the use of ChatGPT in researching topics and the meaningful improvement of content.
Reference:
[1] Centred Kashmiri Voice Challenges Hindutva Narratives In Farhan Chak’s Nuclear Flashpoint – Aug 13, 2025, The Friday Times
[2] Meet Dr. Chak – Councillor Candidate – Farhan Chak
[3] The Rutgers University Report – Part 6: Operation SINDOOR; A Civil Counteroffensive – Aug 10, 2025, New India Abroad
[4] From UK to North America: A Judicial Victory for Hindus – Aug 19, 2025, New India Abroad
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Formerly, a researcher in Italy, Japan, and France, he has widely travelled and came to the US in 1978. He was a faculty and academic administrator in several different universities in PA, TX, NJ, MN, WI, and NY, and an Executive Fellow in the White House S&T Policy during the Clinton administration.
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