Genesis of Hindustan
The word ‘Hindustan’ came from Persia since it was the first to use the term. To the Persians, the term referred to the region beyond the Indus river and did not reflect on the people, culture or religion that was practiced in the region. It is the name with which they used to describe India as a trading region. In 515 BCE, Darius-I annexed the Indus valley, including Sindhu, which was called ‘Hindu’ in Persian. Hindustan is the Persian name for India, broadly the Indian subcontinent, which later began to be used by its inhabitants in Hindi-Urdu. It continues to be used as a historic name for the Republic of India. It has nothing to do with Hindu religion. Naming India as Hindu rashtra is thus highly uncalled for.
Vidwan Singh Soni, Patiala
Hindustani, not Hindu
In his address at Nagpur, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat reiterated that Bharat was a Hindu rashtra (‘Bhagwat cringes over lynching’, October 9). According to him, the concept of Hindu rashtra is geographical rather than denominational, as is indicated by India’s other name — Hindustan, meaning the land of the Hindus. There is some historical truth in what he says. The term Hindu is a transformation of ‘Sindhu’, which was introduced before the Christian era and was used to refer to people living around or beyond the river Sindh. Therefore, at one stage the terms ‘Hindu’ and ‘India’ got equated. However, the semantics of the word Hindu changed due to the quirks of history and it began to denote a specific religious community with a broad range of beliefs and practices derived from the Vedas or other derivative texts. At the juncture of history we stand today, ‘Hindu’ has a denominational rather than territorial meaning. If we seek a common word for all people living in India, the best word would be not Hindu, but Hindustani.
BHUPINDER SINGH, Patiala
Gone too far
Reference to the editorial ‘Let the phones ring’ (October 9); the government should take steps to end the communication blackout in the Valley, though it may have been justified for a short period for security reasons. Mobile phones have become indispensable even for a short time, and a period lasting more than 60 days is annoying and painful. The US House Foreign Affairs Committee has rightly described Kashmiris as Indian citizens, and it is a matter of solace for us.
Santosh Jamwal, Hamirpur
Lift restrictions
Apropos the editorial ‘Let the phones ring’ (October 9), the idea to abrogate Article 370 was supposed to bring peace and harmony to the people of J&K. However, it has only resulted in suppression and curtailment of their rights.
The halt in communication has only made it more difficult. People are still awaiting the ray of light to reach their homes. The government must do something about it as soon as possible.
Akash Bhakri, Phillaur
This record doesn’t help
We are in the race for getting our name in the Guinness book for the tallest Ravana effigy and stone statues, causing huge environmental pollution and expenditure. Can our nation afford this? There are other fields to create a record in, like high-rise buildings, highest bridges and roads and the lowest percentage of BPL families that may actually benefit the country. We must curb such kind of unnecessary and wasteful expenditure at the cost of human health and national interest. The money saved through this effort can be used for health, infrastructure build-up and education.
Wg Cdr Jasbir Minhas (retd), Mohali
Shastra pujan regressive
During shastra pujan of the Rafale aircraft in France, our Defence Minister Rajnath Singh performed certain rituals that can only lower the prestige of our country in the eyes of the global community (‘Rajnath receives first Rafale from France, says IAF will get more teeth’; October 9). To ward off evil, two lemons were placed underneath the tyres of the aircraft. Such illogical acts are against Article 51-A of the Constitution which says that all citizens must develop a scientific temper.
BS Kakkar, Jalandhar
Aadhaar link with property
Refer to the news ‘HC: Decide to link Aadhaar with property deals’ (October 9); the step will help eradicate malpractices going on across the nation in property-related issues. It will help reduce benami properties and also the generation of black money. By linking Aadhaar card with property deals, many such issues can be solved easily.
Akshara gurbani, Kanpur
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