Bhavika Mangalanandan from Kochi; ‘Kochu’ who stunned Pakistan – KERALA – GENERAL

KOCHI: Bhavika Mangalanandan who stunned Pakistan and raised the Kashmir issue at the United Nations. Kochi’s own ‘Kochu’. This pride of Malaysians is India’s Permanent Representative and First Secretary to the UN.

Bhavika (35) is the only daughter of TK Mangalanandan and KN Babyrani, retired BSNL engineers from Elamkulam, Ernakulam. Her nickname is Kochu. She took over leadership of the UN in February and her term of office is three years.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif raised the Kashmir issue at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. “There should be a referendum in Kashmir. Peace will prevail only if Article 370 is restored,” Sharif said.

To this Bhavika gave a befitting reply.

“This meeting unfortunately witnessed a travesty this morning. A country led by its military with a global reputation for terrorism, drug trafficking and transnational crime has had the audacity to attack the world’s largest democracy.

I am talking about the reference to India in the Pakistani Prime Minister’s speech. As the world knows, Pakistan has long used cross-border terrorism as a weapon against its neighbors. It has attacked our Parliament, our financial capital Mumbai, market places and pilgrimage routes. The list is long. If such a country talks about violence anywhere, that is hypocrisy at its worst. It’s even more extraordinary for

a country with a history of rigged elections to discuss political choices, even in a democracy. The real truth is that Pakistan covets our territory and has in fact continuously used terrorism to disrupt the elections in Jammu and Kashmir, an inalienable and integral part of India. Reference has been made to a proposal of strategic restraint. There can be no similarity with terrorism. In fact, Pakistan should realize that cross-border terrorism against India will inevitably have consequences. It is ridiculous that a country that committed genocide in 1971 and ruthlessly persecuted its minorities, even now dares to talk about bigotry and phobias. The world can see with its own eyes what Pakistan really is. We’re talking about a nation that long harbored Osama Bin Laden. A country whose fingerprints are on so many terrorist incidents around the world, whose policies are attracting the dregs of many societies to make it their home. Perhaps it should come as no surprise that the Prime Minister would speak like this in this hallowed hall. Yet we must make it clear how unacceptable his words are to all of us. We know that Pakistan will try to fight the truth with more lies. Repetition will not change anything. Our position is clear and needs no repetition,” she replied at the UN. Bhavika’s agility, which gained worldwide attention, went viral on social media.

The parents said they were proud of the news about their daughter. Bhavika’s parents do not ask their daughter about official matters. When asked about it, they get no response other than laughter.

She passed IFS in 2015 and was appointed Third Secretary at the Indian Embassy in Russia. She subsequently obtained a master’s degree in international interpreting and translation in Russia in San Francisco. She was also head of the consulate in Belarus.

IIT M.tech holder

Bhavika did her schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya and obtained her B.Tech in Electronics from TKM Engineering College, Kollam and M.Tech from IIT Delhi. She completed IFS while working in a private company. Bhavika is married to Prasanth Sreenivasan, a businessman in Dubai.

Singer, writer

Bhavika has learned music and dance. She writes stories and poems in English, Hindi and Malayalam. Bhavika had performed ganaarchana at Mookambika Mandapam before her civil service exams. She was in Guruvayur when the results came. Her mother Babyrani is a member of the executive committee of Aluva Sree Narayanagiri Sevika Samajam.