Draft:Vijay Sazawal

• Comment: See the referencing tutorial at WP:INTREFVE. qcne (talk) 12:21, 11 November 2024 (UTC)

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Vijay Sazawal, born Srinagar, India is an Indian-American nuclear industry executive and a South Asia policy analyst, specializing in multi-faceted dimensions of the Kashmir issue. He has over four decades of nuclear experience, covering the entire nuclear fuel cycle, having worked as a senior executive in three global companies specializing in the nuclear enrichment (Centrus Inc., formerly the United States Enrichment Corporation) to nuclear power (Westinghouse Electric Company) to nuclear waste management (Orano USA, formerly COGEMA, Inc.)

In the nuclear arena, Sazawal led projects in civil and defense nuclear reactor designs (1), defense environmental remediation (2)(3), and international civil nuclear cooperation (4).

The U.S. Administration selected him thrice, spanning both Democratic and Republican Administrations, to serve on the Civil Nuclear Trade Advisory Committee (CINTAC) under the U.S. Commerce Department (5), the only India-American to receive such a recognition (6).

As an expert on the Kashmir issue, Sazawal specializes in local governance and intra-community issues affecting political dynamics within the Kashmir valley (7). Sazawal has been invited to speak on the Kashmir issue at many major Think Tanks in the Washington, DC, namely, the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), the Stimson Center, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), The Asia Society, and the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) (8). Sazawal’s work on the Kashmir issue has been reported in the Washington Post (9) (10). In fact, his first interview with an American newspaper appeared in June 1990, just after the minorities in Kashmir fled their homeland following a brutal and violent insurgency unleashed by Islamic terrorists (11).  His commentaries have appeared all major English newspapers published in Kashmir and elsewhere (12)(13).

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION

Sazawal was born in 1946 in Srinagar, Kashmir, during the reign of Maharaja Hari Singh, in his family home in Badiyar that the extended Sazawal family had lived in for over 100 years. His father, Chuni Lal Sazawal was a small businessman, and his mother, Chand Rani (Shanta Badam) was a home-maker.

Sazawal matriculated from the Tyndale Biscoe Memorial High School, Srinagar, in 1960 and received an F.Sc. degree from the Amar Singh College, Srinagar, two years later. He received a Bachelor of Engineering from the BHU College of Engineering (now the Indian Institute of Technology), Varanasi, and a Ph.D. from the Michigan Technological University, USA, in 1975 (14).

Sazawal married his wife, Meenakshi (Muni Kaul), also a Srinagar resident, in 1970. She graduated from the Women’s College Srinagar, and did her post-graduate studies in Economics at the University of Kashmir.

PROFESSIONAL CAREER

After completing his doctoral degree in Structural Mechanics, Sazawal was offered positions in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in Huntsville, Alabama, and the Westinghouse Electric Corporation (WEC) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He accepted the position offered by the WEC, joining the technical team involved in the Advanced Fast Breeder Reactor program. His tenure in Westinghouse lasted for 20 years, during which time he rose through successive technical and management positions with responsibility for fast reactors, advanced terrestrial and space reactors, nuclear defense related programs, and the U.S. Government programs to promote safety upgrades of Soviet-built reactors in the Central and Eastern Europe. In that capacity, he frequently interacted with diplomats and nuclear energy ministries in the former Soviet Union (FSU).

Following his exit from Westinghouse, Sazawal moved to the Washington, DC area and began the next 20 years of his career, first with COGEMA Inc. (now ORANO USA), and later with the United States Enrichment Corporation – USEC inc. (now called Centrus Inc.). The former company was a French government owned enterprise headquartered in Paris, France, specializing in the “back end” of the nuclear fuel cycle, whereas the latter company, which was at one time part of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), specializes in the “front end” of the nuclear fuel cycle. As an executive of USEC Inc., he represented his company at multiple IAEA General Conferences in Vienna, Austria. After July 2005, Sazawal was part of the U.S. industry coalition advising the U.S. Government on the U.S.-India Nuclear Agreement (15) (16).

REDEFINING THE KASHMIR POLICY

Sazawal made his initial foray into understanding of the Kashmir issue in 1986 when Kashmiri minorities became victims of unprovoked violence against them by the majority Muslim community in the Anantnag district of Kashmir (17). On one side, his understanding of the Kashmir issue was enhanced by not only his own first-hand knowledge of the place of his birth, but also by his experience in diplomacy that he had acquired during his professional career. On the other side, he was handicapped by his professional career which was deeply enmeshed in highly classified projects (including “Black” programs), which required him to have the “Secret” security clearance from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and the “Q” security clearance from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and which severely curtailed his ability to maintain contact with outsiders, and especially non-U.S. citizens. Sazawal resolved this dichotomy by proposing the “Edward Teller Model.” Dr. Teller, also a “Q” security clearance holder, is considered the father of the hydrogen bomb, was a Hungarian born Jew who fled Hungary from Nazi persecution, and who in spite of his secret and highly classified professional career in the U.S., was allowed to undertake activities in the U.S. and abroad to assist his beleaguered Hungarian Jewish community.

Sazawal’s approach towards Kashmir is holistic, meaning that to help his fellow Kashmiri Pandits (minority Hindus of Kashmir), his advocacy focused on new and innovative ideas to bring peace, prosperity, democracy and pluralism in Kashmir. He pursued interactions on behalf of Kashmiri Pandits with the U.S. Administration, the U.S. Congress, Foreign Diplomats, and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and created a website, www.KashmirForum.org, Sazawal has spoken publicly on the plight of Kashmiri Pandits in the U.S. Congress, the Palace of Westminster (the British Parliament), and the United National Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva. He has also spoken at numerous Think tanks in the U.S. and India (8). The U.S. State Department has acknowledged that Sazawal was one of the Kashmiris whom the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi would contact for inputs regarding the situation in the valley, the only U.S. citizen on their list. A collection of his major presentations and commentaries were released in a book in 2024 (18).

COMMUNITY RECOGNITION

Sazawal has received many community commendation awards. In 1999 and 2024, the Kashmiri Overseas Association (KOA), the apex body of the people of Kashmiri ancestry living in the U.S., recognized him for his efforts to educate and reach out to the U.S. Administration and the U.S. Congress on the plight of Kashmiri Pandit Refugees. In 2019 he was honored with the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) Award for the Advancement of Hindu Human Rights for his lifelong contributions to advancing human rights of minorities in Kashmir.

In 2013, his Alma Mater named him to the Mechanical Engineering Academy, an award recognizing excellence and leadership in engineering and civic affairs (19).

BORN – Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, British India

ACADEMIC BACKGROUND –

Engineering degree from BHU Engineering College (now IIT Varanasi)

Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Tech, USA

PROFESSIONAL CAREER –

Advanced nuclear systems, Government Nuclear Programs

Analyst and Policy Expert on the Kashmir Issue

ACCOMPLISHMENTS –

Member of the U.S. Government instituted the Civil Nuclear Trade Advisory Committee (CINTAC)

Participant in the US-India Civil Nuclear Agreement

Advocacy for the human rights of minorities, especially Kashmiri Pandits, in Kashmir after the rise of Islamic insurgency in 1986

NOTABLE WORKS (AVAILABLE IN PUBLIC)

The Book: The Kashmir Chronicles (1986-2023): Neoteric Analyses of a Rapidly Changing Landscape, Vijay K. Sazawal, Ph.D., Sabre & Quill, 2024.

The website: www.KashmirForum.org

References

1.    https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/westinghouse-bankruptcy-unlikely-to-impact-indo-usn-deal-top-us-expert-117032901392_1.html

2.    https://inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=RN:29006863

3.    https://www.osti.gov/biblio/244533

4.    https://lnsp.mit.edu/seminar-list/2013/4/23/challenges-in-promoting-us-civil-nuclear-reactor-exports

5.   https://2014-2017.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2016/12/us-department-commerce-appoints-new-members-civil-nuclear-trade-advisory.html

6.    https://www.rediff.com/money/report/vijay-sazawal-to-serve-on-civil-nuclear-trade-advisory-committee/20110202.htm

7.    https://www.outlookindia.com/national/the-political-education-of-hurriyat-news-214469

8.    https://www.kashmirforum.org/articles/

9.    https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/08/27/recognizing-other-refugees/b61e780c-7768-47cb-924e-38a0b9d98060/

10.                      https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/group-protests-the-posts-coverage-of-crisis-in-indias-kashmirregion/2019/09/07/398a60e4-d1b2-11e9-b29b-a528dc82154a_story.html

11.                      https://www.kashmirforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/0291_001.pdf

12.                      https://thekashmirimages.com/2020/07/12/those-who-stayed-back/

13.                      https://www.brighterkashmir.com/why-kashmiri-pandits-are-targeted

14.                      https://www.mtu.edu/mechanical-aerospace/people/alumni/profiles/vijay-sazawal.html

15.                      https://www.outlookindia.com/making-a-difference/behind-the-deal-news-235423

16.                      https://www.vifindia.org/author/dr-vijay-k-sazawal

17.                      https://www.fairobserver.com/world-news/india-news/were-30-years-of-the-slaughter-of-kashmiri- hindus-inevitable/

18.                      The Kashmir Chronicles (1986-2023): Neoteric Analyses of a Rapidly Changing Landscape, Vijay K. Sazawal, Ph.D., Sabre & Quill, New Delhi, 2024.

19.  http://readme.readmedia.com/Sazawal-Named-to-Mechanical-Engineering-Academy/6454845