Truncated Memories

For the young Indian, hearing from our stupid politicians that Kashmir is an integral part of India may sound repetitive. If some one were to turn back and ask why? Why should Kashmir be a part of India? I am sure that a lot of us will get stumped. There is a reason for this surprise. The reason is pretty simple. For over three decades our pseudo intellectuals have been propagating a definition of secularism which is extremely narrow. It does not include what remains of an ancient culture. It does not include the very fabric that defines Indian-ness. It does not include the Hindus. Kashmir is the land of our Rishis. It is the land where our all powerful lord of the himalayas walks and lives.

In every cave and every shrine of Kashmir there is a story hidden behind layers of militant Islam. The story of indigenous people of Kashmir. Their culture and practices are different. Their ceremonies are different. The lineage of their saints are different. They are not children of foreign gods. They are children of Gods as old or older than the ones we know. Kashmir is the land where ancient scriptures mentioning the life and death of Jesus is kept, where the supreme Rishi is not Muhammad, but Shiva. Letting Kashmir go because it is infested by green flaggers is like throwing your baby along with the bath water.

India is an inclusive country. It is every mans home. India is home to numerous religions, cultures, languages, sects, ideologies, and thoughts. There are more incommunicado world leaders living in the streets of Delhi than anywhere else in the world. India welcomes those who are not welcome anywhere else. Indian consciousness, unlike any other consciousness of any nation in this world, has not grown by replacing another religion or thought. We are what we are not because of a millennium of  violence or evangelism, we are like this because this is they way we have been designed. We have been inclusive for over 5000 years. Our subcontinent is very big, and it can hold all of us. This is not a Hindu land, but it is also not a Muslim land or a sikh land or Christian land. This is Bharatvarsh, there is very little of it left to divide. Kashmir is an integral part of India. It was so 5000 years ago, and it will remain so for the next 5000 years. For those who are so intent on dividing this land further, we have already been divided into three in the recent past, leave the big piece behind and move on to Bangladesh or Pakistan. There are about half a million Kashmiris waiting for you to make space for them. These are those whom you have scared away from their homes fifteen years ago.

And then I have two more words to add. For some it may be sacrilege, but for me it is greater than Gayatri Mantr... Vande Matharam.