The nation can never be homogenous unless all the components are welded together in a strong bind that would not wither in rough weather. When Mr. Kovind talked of national- welding, he meant all that and more. Let us not miss a wonderful reality at this point that the President’s address was a rare document that highlighted the national need in the most appropriate manner.

 

 

New Delhi, August 14 (ANI): President Ram Nath Kovind, on Wednesday, expressed confidence that abrogation of Article 370 and reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories would be of immense benefit to the region as people would enjoy the same rights, privileges and facilities as citizens in the rest of the country, including “egalitarian and progressive” laws such as right to education and abolishment of triple talaq. In his address to the nation on the eve of the 73rd Independence Day, the President said the illustrious generation that led the country to freedom did not perceive Independence only in terms of transfer of political power but “as a stepping stone in a longer and larger process of nation-building and national welding”. Their objective was to improve the life of each individual and family and of the society as a whole. ...

  

NOT just transfer of political power but a stepping stone to “nation-building and national welding”. In such simple words, President Mr. Ram Nath Kovind underlined what India and her Independence stood for. Though he talked about abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir, the President’s context was far wider and deeper. Kashmir, in that sense, came only as a point of reference to the larger and bigger and deeper thought of the metaphor of Independence. Mr. Kovind’s invocation has to be seen in that light.

 

 

Against the background of the momentous development in Kashmir, the President’s statement assumes a deeper meaning. For reasons whose meaning nobody could ever explain or understand, the State was put under Special Category and under constitutional and legal barriers that were mostly senseless. That segregation of the State from Indian mainstream prompted the enemy to take a vice-like unholy hold on Kashmir.

 

 

The President made a direct reference to that ugly reality by asserting that from now on, the people Kashmir would enjoy the same rights and facilities as did the people in other parts of the country. This achievement of equality in constitutional, legal and actual terms was at the root of the massive change the Centre introduced in Kashmir. The statement of the President in that regard gave an appropriate meaning to the idea. Hence the reference to transfer of political power as a lesser goal, and equality of rights of all people as a greater achievement. It is necessary for all Indians to understand the finer nuances of the thought that provides a firm and sublime foundation to democracy in India.

 

 

Even though the Centre took the all-important step in Kashmir, there are elements that oppose the move merely for political reasons that they try to swath in ideological cloak that they have woven over time to distort the public discourse in India. The President sought to explain the corrective steps of the Government as regards Kashmir from different angles.

 

 

A similar sentiment was expressed by Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, as well, in his address to the nation. Both of them did make reference to the security concerns, but talked mostly in terms of integrity of the nation -- not just territorial integrity but also spiritual unity. Mr. Kovind’s statement highlights this point very well. Kashmir is all that and much more. Seen historically, the story of Kashmir presents a paradox India’s leadership could never explain correctly. Nobody actually had a correct and authentic explanation of why Special Status was granted to the State in the first place, and what benefit the nation ever garnered out of that unnatural arrangement. On occasion after occasion, the common people of India kept getting an impression that the rulers in New Delhi and Srinagar were out to befool the nation on counts whose meaning they did not explain.

 

 

Of course, it was a deliberate act of keeping the nation in dark, the political purpose of which was never explained to the people. There was never a satisfying explanation of why Article 370. There never was a convincing argument as to why the Government was so soft on anti-national elements in Kashmir. There also was never a correct analysis of the massive damage to national interest in Kashmir. All these missing points did give an impression that something dirty was being cooked conspiratorially in Kashmir.

 

 

The President’s address offers a legitimate and logical explanation of the reasons why the Centre took certain steps and how it has sought to stem the continuing damage to national interest and sentiment. Seen from the President’s point of view, the Kashmir issue, in retrospect, looks very stark and dark. The mind shudders in thought about how dangerously close the nation had come to losing Kashmir to the enemy -- just because the rulers in New Delhi were slumbering all the while, almost deliberately, as if they were colluding with anti-national forces. This very thought is shocking, to say the least.

 

 

The strong reference of Mr. Kovind to the tasks of nation-building and national welding is not an exercise in mere alliteration. Much to the contrary, it was an expression of a resolve to continue working the most critical task of building the nation with right stuff, which in turn cannot happen unless there is a strong sentiment to weld the multiple components together in a solid mass.

 

 

The nation can never be homogenous unless all the components are welded together in a strong bind that would not wither in rough weather. When Mr. Kovind talked of national-welding, he meant all that and more. Let us not miss a wonderful reality at this point that the President’s address was a rare document that highlighted the national need in the most appropriate manner.