Vivek
Sinha
I vividly
remember that day in school when a simple exercise about map explanation turned
out to be a big shocking experience for me. The assignment was to draw the
external boundaries of various Indian states and mark important cities therein.
Each
student chosen to draw the boundaries of one Indian state would also mark its
major cities and explain the state’s historical, geographical and political
importance to the whole class.
I was to
explain about Jammu Kashmir.
“This is
Jammu Kashmir and this is the state’s capital city Srinagar,” I said pointing
my little fingers towards Srinagar on the map.
“…the
famous 'silk route' passed through this state which served as the world’s major
trade route since ancient times. Jammu, Gilgit-Baltistan, Muzaffarabad,
Gulmarg, Mirpur are other important cities of this state. The state has famous
pilgrimage centres such as the Sharada Peeth, Amarnath Shrine and Mata Vaishno
Devi….” I went on with my erudite explanation about the state.
“So,
where do you want to go in Jammu Kashmir?” the teacher asked.
“Hmmm….well,
I want to go to Sharada Peeth,” I said after a brief pause.
I had
read that Sharada Peeth was the great centre for learning and was the place
where our Vedas were first written, but this seat of high learning was now in
ruins and shambles. Yet, being a student I felt a strong connect with Goddess
Saraswati's abode--the Sharada Peeth, and wanted to visit the shrine.
The
teacher smiled and said, “Yes that is a noble thought but you need to have a
passport to go there...so go get a passport.”
“Passport?
Why do I need a passport to visit an Indian city?” I said in exasperation.
“Well,
the Sharada Peeth is part of a large region that is with Pakistan and is now
known as Pakistan occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK)…so you must seek Pakistan’s
permission by taking a visa to visit any place in the PoJK,” the teacher
explained.
“B...but
how can this be true… see this is the map of Jammu Kashmir and here are Sharada
Peeth, Srinagar, Jammu, Gilgit-Baltistan, Gulmarg, Mirpur, Muzaffarabad which
are all within the territorial limits of this state and a part of India so why
do I need a visa and a passport…,” I blurted out.
“Yes this
is true but then this truth exists only on paper…in reality a huge portion of
our Jammu Kashmir is still with Pakistan which is known as the Pak occupied
Jammu Kashmir…so cities such as Gilgit-Baltistan, Sharada Peeth, Mirpur,
Muzaffarabad are all under Pakistan’s illegal control ever since India’s
independence. And we in India have still not been able to get control over this
entire region...,” the teacher elaborated as I listened with stunned silence.
When this
incident took place I was a student of standard sixth and found it hard to
believe and digest that India has not been able to take back its own region
from Pakistan.
This was
several years back.
Much
water has flown through the Jhelum and Indus rivers of Jammu Kashmir since
then, but I still find it hard to digest why India has not been able to wrest
back its own region-- the PoJK, from Pakistan.
Ironically,
Pakistan that has committed worst forms of human rights violation with the
people of Gilgit-Batistan, Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, destroyed the centre of
learning--Sharada Peeth, and many other parts of PoJK, celebrates a
“solidarity” day for “Kashmiri people” on February 5.
The
Pakistani establishment commemorate this day to reaffirm their commitment to
support all kinds of terrorist activities on the Indian side of Jammu Kashmir.
Pakistani
politicians, ministers and terrorist leaders take a pledge on this day to
provide arms and ammunition to separatists and terrorist outfits operating
across Jammu Kashmir to help them continue their proxy war against the Indian
security forces and Indian establishment.
This year
also the Pakistan National Assembly passed a resolution expressing moral,
political and diplomatic support to the people of Jammu Kashmir. In fact, in
the garb of providing support, the Pakistani authorities provide covert funds
to Separatists and for various kinds of terrorist activities across the state.
With
Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm in India, the Ministry of External
Affairs need to take up these issues at the diplomatic level with Pakistan. It
is high time that the mist be cleared about Jammu Kashmir's accession to India
and everybody should know that we do have a watertight case against Pakistan on
Jammu Kashmir.
Consider
this: The accession of Jammu Kashmir with India happened through the same
process as that of other Princely States so no questions can be raised about
the region being an integral part of India. Even the oft-repeated claims of
Plebiscite in Jammu Kashmir had become invalid after United Nations said that
Pakistan never fulfilled the mandated preconditions before a referendum could
be held in the state.
Further,
on February 22, 1994 both houses of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha and Rajya
Sabha) passed a unanimous resolution reaffirming its stand to take back the
region of Jammu Kashmir occupied by Pakistan.
“On
behalf of the People of India…(we) firmly declare that the State of Jammu
Kashmir has been, is and shall be an integral part of India and any attempts to
separate it from the rest of the country will be resisted by all necessary
means... and demands that Pakistan must vacate the areas of the Indian State of
Jammu and Kashmir, which they have occupied through aggression and resolves
that all attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of India will be met
resolutely,” reads the Indian Parliamentary resolution of February 22, 1994 in
clear terms.
Hari
Singh, erstwhile Maharaja of the then princely state of Jammu Kashmir had on
October 26, 1947 signed the instrument of accession with the government of
India. With his signature on the instrument of accession and India's acceptance
of that letter, the entire state of Jammu Kashmir became an integral part of
India and that includes Gilgit-Baltistan and other Pak-occupied regions of
Jammu Kashmir. And it is in these regions wherein the revered Sharda Peeth
lies. Sadly, this pious pilgrimage site where our Vedas were written is in
ruins. It is time that the world knows about Sharda Peeth and its importance
for Hindus. It’s time that we initiate processes to bring back the remaining
portion of Jammu Kashmir to India. Annual pilgrimage to the revered
Sharda Peeth in the PoJK could be a beginning point.