Sare Jahan se Accha Hindustan ...

Arun Joshi

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August 5, 2019, cannot, and should not be a never-ending narrative to define Jammu and Kashmir. It was an outcome of malign influences of the political spectrum that followed 1947 when the original state was partitioned. The newly created theocratic nation-state of Pakistan had invaded J&K, for it believed that the two-nation theory that resulted in its own creation was short of its goal unless the Muslim majority in J&K sits on its map.

Kashmir saved, whatever it could, by virtue of accession to India. It offered all support to the Indian Army to push back the tribesmen’ invasion. This was a demonstrative and profound negation of the two-nation theory with slogans, “Hamlawar, hoshiyar, hum Kashmiri Hai Tayar, (beware Pakistani invaders, we, Kashmiris, are ready to fight you back). It was a conscious decision of Kashmir’s towering leadership that Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah symbolised who chose India over Pakistan.

Within minutes after the clock struck 12 noon on August 5, 2019, the Centre, in all its wisdom, decided to split the state into two Union Territories as an instant sequel to the abolition of Article 370 and Article 35A that conferred special status and privileges to the permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir – the legacy of the Dogra rule.

August 5 can graduate to a historic date if India embraces J&K as an all-time its own- its people need to be counted as first. This now serves as a reminder of the day when the state lost its statehood and special status. The Centre viewed it as an unavoidable necessity for its complete integration with the rest of the country. This should have been a moment to move on. It wasn’t – plain and simple. The passion that had fuelled such an outcome has started fading as the script is found to be lost in changing gears. The words are there, meanings are confined to dictionaries. The word power so gained has no vibration, and it cannot be unless the emotional bonds are strengthened. The choice has to be India and Indian-ness alone on the basis of compassion. The expression of dissenting views may not seem much of a threat to powerful regime, yet sometimes it triggers amazingly hostile response to the ideas that are meant to be implemented. Kashmir, through its silence has said it so profoundly.

The integration should be given a meaning. That narrative is not emerging. Barring a few BJP leaders, and all those who thought that this kind of collective punishment to Kashmiris, perceived to be the diehard promoters of separatism, was a must for the complete integration of J&K with India. The voices that wanted development and richness of the UT in the human resources receded. It takes more than development to build free societies – Jammu and Kashmir deserves to be free of all restrictions and democratic as the rest of the country. Here, August 5 needs to be lifted to the extent where it is hailed in real sense as the day of connect, instead of being seen as that of disconnect.

To get to that miraculous point, it requires more than changing the contents of the school text books. The Centre should walk on the path of connect with the whole population of J&K. Laws serve limited purpose. The real test lies in implementation. The Centre, now under the leadership that can change the course for overall betterment of the country, should restore the spirit embodied in: Sare Jahan Se Accha Hindustan Hamara – Our India is the best country in the world. Let’s not go by who wrote it, but discern the passion of poet Mohammad Iqbal in penning this poem. That would inspire the connect. Press memory a little, an image of children singing this patriotic masterpiece will start playing as a flashback of good old days in Kashmir. This was also part of Kashmir history.

‘Centre should connect with entire population’

The Centre should walk on the path of connect with the whole population of J&K. Laws serve limited purpose. The real test lies in implementation. The Centre, now under the leadership that can change the course for overall betterment of the country, should restore the spirit embodied in: Sare Jahan Se Accha Hindustan Hamara – Our India is the best country in the world. Let’s not go by who wrote it, but discern the passion of poet Mohammad Iqbal in penning this poem. That would inspire the connect. Press memory a little, an image of children singing this patriotic masterpiece will start playing as a flashback of good old days in Kashmir. This was also part of Kashmir history.