Indian Fault Lines: Perception and Reality

Posted by : Shri. Maloy Krishna Dhar

We live in an uncertain world, more so, in an uncertain country. Whatever is left of
India after 1947 is supposed to be a ‘One India’ united imperishably by all the
parameters of nationhood. This philosophical assertion and wishful thinking and
perception of oneness have not stood the test of time, since 1947. The emotional
oneness that was generated by the by the stalwarts of renaissance, nationalism and
independence struggle started developing ideological fissure broadly between the
Hindus and the Muslims and at micro level in intra-Hindu approaches to multifarious
problems confronting the country. These legacies of widening gulf between
perceptions and reality checks have continued to haunt the country since our leaders
started experimentation of piloting the affairs of the country in 1937.

It is, therefore, necessary to share with the readers the wide gulf between perceptions
of various problems in the country and the real ground situation. It is more necessary
because our political course have undergone several dramatic changes and more
changes are likely to add stresses and strains on the country’s socio-political-cultural
and security environs. Resurfacing of linguistic and ethnic exclusivity discords like
slogans of Maharashtra for Marathis alone and outsiders are not welcome there,
earlier agitations in Assam, Orissa and Bihar against the Bengali speaking people
remind us that for narrow political gains unscrupulous political leaders do not hesitate
to divide us and wrest power.

The uncertain conditions have impelled the political and media advisories often sing
lullaby that we should learn to live with terrorism; that is the present world order. Such
clichés are not tough enough not to ricochet the bullets, to neutralize the IEDs and to
persuade the Shahidee dastas sponsored by ideological or religious fanatics. Other
insurgents and terrorists stand in the same pedestal. India is perhaps the only country
that has simultaneous presence of ethnic insurgency, ideological terrorism and
religious jihad sponsored by foreign based tanzeems and sponsor by foreign
intelligence agencies and great social divide.
Popular perception in ‘Mainland India’ about terrorism loiter about Muslim militancy
coupled with Pakistani and Bangladeshi input and to some extent Maoist terrorism in
the Red Belt. In ‘Outer India’ i.e. the Northeast and tribal belts the perception is
entirely different. So also is the situation in ‘Also India’ i.e. Kashmir.

Perception varies also on the grounds of political colour of the peoples who represent
the People of the Country. Their real or presumed ideological bases recognize acts of
terrorism in different lights. Vote bank compulsions prompt parties to sing paean of
the entire Muslim community from which most of the religious terrorists and
separatists were produced between 1990 and 2009. Even the vast majority in the
Muslim community do not tend to recognize that certain segments in their community
have been infected by jihadist ideology and they are collaborating with foreign
intelligence agencies and foreign based jihadi tanzeems. Evan a daylight incident as
was in the Batla House in New Delhi was questioned by eminent Muslim leaders and
the ulama community of Azamgarh even organised a mass demonstration in the
capital for branding the Azamgariahs as terrorists. Muslim intellectuals and
organisations have protested against branding all Muslims as terrorists. The concerns
expressed by the later are genuine; all Muslims are not terrorists but some are. This
fact of life cannot be ignored. We will come to that in later paragraphs.
Some political outfits described as Hindutwa organisations perceive signals of danger
from the alleged accretion in Muslim demography, illegal Bangladeshi infiltration and
Muslim separatism as serious threats to national integrity. They, as well as the
Muslims, still suffer from the hangover of Muslim separatism and Hindu unity effort as
it were before the partition. This fault line, though not classified as terrorism, has the
potential of aggravating the national divide; reeling the country between Muslim
action and Hindu reaction or vice versa.

It is therefore, necessary to understand, define the fault lines and differentiate

between the reality and the perceptions. To start with it should be understood that
Perception is a combination of reality, fiction, historical smoke, idiosyncrasy and
Group Psychology. Reality, on the other hand is undiluted fact that is visible and that
can be analyzed with hard reasoning. This differentiation is necessary to analyze the
entire spectrum without hangover of false patriotism.

Starting with the ‘Outer India’ it must be admitted that nearly 90% of the Hindi
heartland and the Southern Peninsula are not abreast with the situations prevailing in
those remote geographical areas, causations and expected outcome of the chaotic
situation, where some kind of electoral democracy coexist with armed insurgency and
terrorism. The façade of constitutional unity is maintained more in form than in faith.
Delhi relinquishes its duties by pouring money, administrative assistance and by
deploying paramilitary and military forces.

The entire ‘Outer India’ is a study in contrast. While the Naga Territory was the first to
unfurl the banner of separatism, Assam and Tripura and Kamtapur movement in
West Bengal arrived rather late. In between the Lushai Hills (Mizoram) and Manipur
had joined the bandwagon early on. The story of Mizoram uprising is juxtaposed with
inputs from Pakistan and China and obviously scandalous mishandling of general
and developmental administration of the area by Assam and Delhi governments. The
violent insurgency ended in a happy note with Rajiv-Laldenga Accord and creation of
the Mizoram state. Details of the insurgency movement and peace negations are too
varied and cannot be incorporated here.

The Naga Territory was granted statehood in 1963 and from 1964 there has been
elected governments in the state. The period between 1964 and 1974 had been the
wildest peak of insurgency actively supported and assisted by Pakistan and China.
The Shillong Accord between the Government of India and the Naga National Council
and the Naga Federal Government ushered in a new phase, though two renegade
followers of A. Z. Phizo, Th. Muivah, a Tangkhul Naga and Isac Chisi Swu, a Sema
Naga revolted and joined hands with China. They floated the Nationalist Socialist
Council of Nagaland (NSCN). It had an offshoot head by S. S. Khaplang, a Burmese
Konyak Naga, has now spread its tentacles all over Nagaland and parts of Manipur
Naga areas and NC Hills areas of Assam.

NSCN (I-M) continues to the main insurgent body having off and on peace talks with
the government and maintaining nearly a parallel government and army in Nagaland
and parts of Manipur. The merits and demerits of the peace talks cannot be
discussed in this space. However, several other civil society organisations like the
Naga Hoho have come into existence as interlocutors and apparent peace and
trouble makers. Peace as such, as the meaning of the word goes, is holding in
Kaccha Dhaga, a fragile thread. There are two, if not three distinct governments in
today’s Nagaland and both the Indian Army and the Naga Armies are dominating
their respective positions. The reality show in Nagaland is does not exude nectar of
peace, though perceptions in Delhi and barely in certain quarters in rest of India may
paint a very rosy picture. Nagaland is parts of India and, in a sense, perceptions in
majority of Naga minds prompt them to claim that Nagaland in the present form is not
acceptable, they require a Greater Nagaland and very much special status is a
feudatory unit of the Union.

The story about another part of ‘Outer India’-Manipur is rather different. Seen as a
pristine land of Manipuri dance the state is in grave crisis. Merged with India in 1949,
the princely state was relegated to a part ‘C’ and put under a Chief Commissioner,
and after much strife and bitter political struggle was granted statehood only in 1971.
Culturally most advanced in the Northeast and with a sizeable Vaishnavite Hindu
population the state took to separatist movements in 1968 for bagsful of reasons
including political and economic mishandling by Delhi, colonial attitude of the
administrators and inferior treatment to the Meitei peoples compared to pampering of
the Nagas. Since 1975 Manipur has turned to a virtual minefield with several terrorist
and separatist outfits flourishing in the sprawling valley with sanctuaries in Myanmar,
and even receiving assistance from Mayanmarese insurgent groups and obviously
the DGFI and ISI operators located in Bangladesh. They also obtain support from
Mayanmarese rebel groups. The Manipuri youth and gentry in general have opted for
Meiteilon script in place of Bengali, Sanamahi religion in addition to Vaishnavism and
they want revival of the old glories of the kingdom of Kangla. The Manipuri valley
terrorists dominate vast areas, exact taxes from the people and from all government
servants and their writ run in the entire valley.

The Naga Hills in Manipur are basically controlled by the NSCN (I-M) and NSCN (K)
and the Kuki etc tribal areas are dominated by assorted Kuki, Hmar, Zomi etc armed
tribal groups.

This is the reality show. The perception show is: there is an elected government,
elaborate presence of police, paramilitary and regular army. Why and what went
wrong in Manipur have been commented widely by various thinkers and authors,
including my two books. These light and shadow regions of Manipur are real and the
perception that we have access to the minds of the general Meitei people is a
hallucination. Most probably Indians beyond Assam are not aware of this reality
show.

The other shadow area of India, Assam presents a story in contrast that betrays
Delhi’s attitude towards the peripheral states and peoples of India. Timeless Assam
(Pragjyotishpura) witnessed dingdong battle between the Ahom-Bengali speaking
people on the one and the Congress and Muslim League on the other. Right from
1916 planned infiltration of Bengali speaking Muslims started in the Barak and
Brahmaputra valley. The allegations of collusion between the British rulers and the
Muslim League were clearly discernible. However, fear of Bengali speaking Hindu
superiority continued to haunt the Assam leaders even to the days of referendum for
Sylhet district. The Assam Congress leaders did not want Sylhet’s merger with India;
so also the Muslim League. Jinnah was keen for merger of entre Assam with Bengal
forming a part of Pakistan. Nehru was not averse to the idea and said that Assam
could hang in balance and to decide later if it wanted to be in India or Pakistan.
Fortunately some Assam leaders, some leaders of Bengal and Mahatma Gandhi
finally settled for Assam’s inclusion in India. According to authorities Pakistan and
Bangladesh still nurture the scheme of greater Bangistan as envisaged by Chaudhry
Rahmat Ali (1936). This latent dream of Muslims now disturbs the non-Muslim
peoples of Assam.

Continent of DINIA, Doomed continent by Rahmat Ali. See Bangistan concept.

Considered as “Outer India” Assam was not in the radar of Congress’s national
developmental policies. Developmental imbalance, perception of treatment of Assam
as a raw material extraction zone by rest of India, absence of higher educational
facilities, employment generation avenues and treatment of Assamese or East
Pakistan Muslim as vote banks by the Congress created cesspool of disaffection in
the minds of ethnic Assamese people. It took nearly 30 years for the youth forces of
Assam to concretise their anger. The surrounding ambience of tribal insurgency in
Nagaland, Lushai Hills (Mizoram), Manipur and brewing separatism in Khasi-Garo
Hills (Meghalaya) had infused the bitter juices of defiance of the state and challenging
its policies.

This took shape as anti-outsider agitation (Bahiragoto Virodh) mainly directed against
Pakistani/Bangladeshi illegal immigrants and other demands for fair deal to Assam.
The agitations launched by All Assam Students’ Association (AASU), Assam Gano
Parishad (AGP) were not separatist agitations. Near total mass mobilization often
leads to state repression and people’s violence. At that critical point of mass agitation
violence, individual, group and state level violence cannot be avoided. That is the
intrinsic analysis of all mass agitation. Even Mahatma Gandhi’s peaceful stayagrahas
mostly ended in violence. Violence in mind cannot be nipped even by a saint.

Whatever official coloration is given to the mass agitation in Assam was not
secessionist. Being closely associated with events in Assam at that period I gathered
impression that India was bleeding in Assam because the rulers in Guwahati and
Delhi treated Assam as a primitive territory not worth investing and improving the
conditions there and bring the areas to the level of other developed states.
Amidst these dins and dusts of agitations and countermeasures two important
developments took place. Some Mottuk (Thai-Ahom) youths of Upper Assam formed
what they claimed as United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) allegedly at Rang
Ghar near Jorhat on April 7, 1979. The initial top leaders were Paresh Baruah
(Commander-in-Chief), Arabinda Rajkhowa (Chairman),Anup Chetia (General
Secretary) (in Government of Bangladesh custody) and Pradip Gogoi (Vice-
Chairman) (in Government of Assam custody). Most of these youths were related to
Congress and Left parties. The allegations that a former chief minister of Assam
encouraged the Muttock youth (himself a Muttock) to form the ULFA with a view to
belittle and disarray the AASU and AGP cannot be denied as rumors. The history of
ULFA’s alleged struggle for liberation of Assam between 1982 and present day has
been a unique subject of study by sociologist, economists, political scientists and
strategic thinkers.

The ULFA immediately drew attention of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Chinese

intelligence agencies and the stories of ULFA’s connectivity with them and the course
it traversed cannot be put in few sentences. What was born as a diversionary political
move had later assumed the color of the separatist soul of Assam that verged with
the revivalist glories of the Muttock kings of Thai-Mongol-Ahom origin. The problem is
still festering with active assistance of Inter Services Intelligence of Pakistan and
Directorate General of Forces Intelligence and the National Security Intelligence of
Bangladesh.

The other development in Assam around 1984-85 was the surfacing of BODO
agitations that also took violent shape. The allegations that a former Prime Minister
had encouraged the BODOs to start agitation with a view to divide the AASU, AGP
and ULFA movements in Assam can also not be ignored. Several shades of BODO
agitation have rocked Assam that was also helped by the ISI, DGFI and the NSI.
Though the problem has been partially solved certain factions (NDFB) still continues
to operate from Bangladesh and carry out violent activities.

Two other reality checks would show that Assam still sits on a volcano. North Cachar
Hills is on fire. The dominantly tribal areas is inhabited by kaleidoscopic people
belonging to Cachari, Dimasa, Hmar, Zemi, Zeliang etc aboriginal Assamese, Kuki
and Naga tribal people.

The Karbi Longri North Cachar Hills Liberation Front (KLNLF), a breakaway group of
United People’s Democratic Solidarity (UPDS), was formed in 2004 and its declared
objective was to achieve Hemprek Kangthem (self-determination). It was supported
by DGFI and often resource support from ISI operatives based in Bangladesh. There
are splinter groups like Karbi National Volunteers, Karbi People’s Front. These are
basically extortionist groups.

Other important groups are Hmar People’s Convention, Democracy (HPC-D) a

faction of Chin origin people, Dima Halam Daoga (DHD) and NSCN (I-M) and NSCN
(K). The NSCN factions support the Naga tribes like Zemi and Zeliang etc. They use
these areas as a safe corridor to Bangladesh for arms collection and liaison with
DGFI and the ISI.

In addition to the above the United Liberation Front of Barak Valley (ULFBV), formed
in 2002 wants self determination for the tribal people of Silchar, Karimganj and
Hailakandi districts of Assam. It support of NSCN (I-M).
The list is not exhaustive. Assamese and Bengali speaking Hindu people’s
relationship have not been historically very smooth. Several “Bangal Kheda” (expel
the Bengalis) drives by the Assamese speaking people had generated enough
violence. In the Barak Valley there are impressions that the Bengali majority area is
given step motherly treatment by the Assamese leaders. Movements like Bengal
Tiger Force and Barak Valley Youth Liberation Force are in the forefront of projecting
Bengali demands. Though not armed and violent these groups have the capability of
destabilizing the region. In addition to the Bengali Hindus, the Muslim underground
outfits like the Muslim United Liberation Tigers of Assam (MULTA), Muslim United
Front of Assam (MULFA), and Islamic Liberation Army of Assam (ILAA) etc have
known connectivity with HuJI, Jamait ul Mujahideen, Bangladesh and the intelligence
outfits of Bangladesh.

So? Against this reality check the perspective that Assam is still a ‘Lahe Lahe’ (slow
moving) state is not correct. Assam is on the ferment. The ULFA has lost some of its
fangs but the ideology of Ahom separatism lit by them is burning slowly. India can
only dissipate the situation by fast track actions to remove economic and
developmental imbalances, building up employment generating infrastructures and
by adopting a nationalist and pragmatic and not vote-bank secularist attitude towards
illegal Bangladeshi Muslim infiltration. Assam’s fears about losing territory to Greater
Nagalim, as demanded by NSCN factions should also be allayed by unequivocally
telling the Naga outfits that no further change in political boundary of Nagaland is
possible at the cost of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal.

Delhi is pussyfooting the Naga dialogue that has created several vested interests and
the country cannot afford to keep alive a cancerous growth indefinitely. Assam’s woes
are also related to welfare of the Plain’s Tribals and Tribals in NC Hills. These
problems need immediate firm and wise handling. The basic requirement is removal
or neutralization of NSCN incursions in Assam, particularly in the NC Hills. Obviously,
pussyfooting the Muslim issue can only aggravate the Bangladesh and Pakistan
connected nascent Muslim separatism and desire to form a political block with
Bangladesh. See map below.

The story of India’s suicidal goals in Punjab has been told by several writers and in
my two books. Fortunately, Pakistan could not exploit the Sikh sentiment beyond a
point because of inherent ties of the Hindu and Sikh communities and vivid memory
of brutal killings of the Sikh and Hindu Punjabis during partition. However, the
perception that heroic police officers and intelligence operatives had succeeded in
dousing the fire is only partially correct. Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal were
equally responsible for putting fire of fundamentalism in Sikh psyche between 1775
and 1980. Both sides used religion to gain political upper hand which was exploited
by the Dam Dami Taksal, Akahand Kirtani Jatha, and other religious outfits. With
them joined the highly aggrieved and impoverished cultivators, unemployed youths
and remnants of the Naxals. Some Sikh Diaspora, egged on by the ISI and western
intelligence agencies, supported the movement. The separatists still rune several
web portals demanding secession, Pakistan still harbours over 20 top leaders of the
so called Khalistan movement. The ground situation of agrarian impoverishment,
unemployment, stinking corruption, lack of avenues to migrate abroad and influx of
outside labours and demographic growth of Muslims have generated the conditions
again those helped rise of Bhindranwale Frankenstein. Punjab is again on the brink.
That is the reality check; political perception is different-all is hunky-dory.
Average literate Indians are generally aware about the Naxal or Maoist movements
raging in a well visible Red-Corridor right from West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa,
Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. A map based on data of
2007 is reproduced below. Between last two years more areas in Maharashtra, West
Bengal and Tamil Nadu and Kerala have come under Maoist action. We may
remember that the districts of Bangladesh bordering India like Rangpur, Jessore,
Bogra, Faridpur, Khulna, Kushtia, Dinajpur etc are active operations theatres of
Purba Banglar Biplabi Communist Party and Janajuddha (both Maoist). Indian
Maoists often procure weapons through them with help of ISI and DGFI operatives.

Courtesy ‘One hundred flowers’ posting in Revolution in South Asia

Some Indians perceive the movement as isolated, some think in terms of Pashupati
(Nepal) to Tirupati (AP) being converted as a solid Red Empire under various groups
of CPI (Maoist), Janajuddha, PWG etc and later forming an apex body to administer
the tract worth lakhs of crores in wealth. This is a Red Dagger thirst in the heartland
of India.

It is not necessary to highlight that the Maoists are opposed to parliamentary

democracy and they do not believe in change through the ballot box. They believe in
arms struggle and physical elimination of the Class Enemy. During last 10 years the
Maoists have reached better coordination and ideological cohesion. They have
accrued strength, more and better firepower and expanded their supply sources-
internal sources, sources in Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The LTTE also acted
as a source of weapons supply to the Maoist groups. The Maoists are now capable of
manufacturing rapid firing rifles, grenades and rockets. Their training facilities have
been perfected and they have improved communication devices.

It is not that Delhi and the state governments are not having correct appreciation and
perceptions. While other state governments have banned the Naxal outfits West
Bengal, suffering from ideological hiccup are yet to ban these organizations. The
Naxals have reoccupied vast territories in Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia and Birbhum.
The nearest Red Fort in West Midnapore is only 90 miles from the heart of Kolkata.
The Central and state governments are also adopting police measures and are not
implementing economic, social and political measures that are required to bring these
‘peripheral and neglected areas of Indi’ a at par with the developed and fast
developing areas of the country. Neglect by the British and the independent country’s
governments these areas have become bastions of the Maoist revolutionaries, just
like the impoverished areas were exploited by the Nepal Maoists. Neglect and
exploitation are now being returned with bullets.

Let anyone not remain under misperception that the Maoists would be defeated by
police forces alone. The State is required to pump in more resources in these areas
for infrastructure building and reconnecting the neglected proletariats with the
mainstream. There cannot be ‘Different Indias’ inside India. Viewing India as different
Indias according to the region’s and people’s maximum usability by the ruling
classes, exploiters and bureaucrats cannot give us back a ‘United India.’ If the
present trends continue we would soon have bigger problems before us to deal with
‘Different Indias’ with different yardsticks. Readers interested in details may peruse
my two dissertations in the same portal.

Since our problems are too many, our realities are more complex and our
appreciations and perceptions so shallow we need discussing these fault lines in
details. However, this portal is not the correct canvas.

The other cancerous reality check pertains to unbiased appreciation of the growth of
Islamic fundamentalism, contamination of Indian Muslim minds with the poison of
jihad and revival of the isolationist separatist tendencies. Let us be clear at the outset
that all Muslims are not separatists and jihadists. Most of them are not even
fundamentalists. In case a comparative study is made between the 80+ crore Hindus
and 15+ crore Muslims it would appear that about 5% Hindus strongly believe in
Hindutwa and Hindu fundamentalism. Only a fraction, may be 0.01% think of taking
up weapons against the Muslims.

Compared to this about 60% of Muslims can be rated fundamentalists, 35% believe in
Islamic resurgence, 30% believe in isolationist separatism and nearly 15% believe
that armed jihad, as practiced by Pakistani and Bangladeshi tanzeems can alone
retrieve the lost glory of Islam in India. This figure is worrisome. The minorityrian
isolationism that is leading to Muslim separatism and majoritarianism of the Hindus
are gradually coming to conflict situation. Government’s efforts to remove grievances
of the Muslims on the basis of a pro-minority report by Sachar Committee are
creating opposite reactions among the majority community. The trend is disturbing
and require immediate attention of Central and State governments. If the trend is
allowed to drift indefinitely and minorityism is pampered and the seeming cost of the
majority community a serious cleavage at perception level might overcome rational
thinking.
The visibility factors of spread of jihad philosophy and practice is sporadic and not
well researched and never openly discussed. Studies made by the intelligence
community present a disturbing picture: innumerable pockets of Muslim population in
India, all over the country, have been contaminated by the developments in
Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The ideology of Taliban and al Qaeda like
action in Dar-ul-Harb Hindoostan is growing. In the recent past India has had brush
with SIMI, Indian Mujahideen etc organisations connected intricately with Lashkar-e-
Taiba, HuJI etc terrorist tanzeems promoted by Pakistan to wage Islamist terrorist
actions in India.

Hindu reaction to these developments, especially after Pakistan’s open involvement

in Punjab uprising and continued proxy-war in Kashmir, have been pronounced. I call
it a resurfacing of the communal divide in the country that existed before partition and
as reaction explained by Newton’s Third Law of Motion. Majority disaffection to
government’ minority policies also explain such reaction considerably. History of
communal riots from 1714 to date would clarify the reality story that there has never
been an assimilated India. It is a living together separately situation. Since the subject
is too big to be discussed in a short essay I prefer to travel to other hotter fault lines
that appear to be cool on the surface but which contain gunpowder of near future
explosion.

The division of the country on caste lines is not yet complete. The disease of
constitutional reservationism that started with 1906 British reforms has continued to
dissect the country. Instead of offering constitutional protection to the weaker
sections of the society irrespective of caste, ethnicity and religions the government
has mindlessly followed the British formula to keep the peoples divided. Such division
may give an apparent façade of unity through distribution of equity, but in deeper
analysis it is found that in this arena also we live in ‘Many Indias’-India of the Dalit
Hindus and Buddhists, India of the Hindu Backward and Other Backward Classes,
Upper Caste Hindus, Scheduled Caste Hindus, ethnic tribals, linguistic diversities and
of course fresh demands from the Muslims to give general reservation to them or at
least to the SC, Dalit and BC, OBC Muslims.

Despite the façade of constitutional unity, the country is divided at the economic and
societal levels. The glaring disparity between Urban and rural economies are so
acute that these cannot be bridged by marginal non-productive employment
guarantee, some housing complexes here, some water supply schemes there, some
never-implemented education and health-care schemes cannot connect rural India
with urban India that is getting connected with global economy. The distribution of
doles is creating large community of non-productive beggars who add up to the
miseries of the country.

This divide is as dangerous as the divide between the ethnic tribal dominated areas,
now affected by ethnic insurgency and Maoist terrorism and the urban and semi-
urban areas. The difference is that the ethnic peoples have unfurled the flag of revolt
and the plains people still maintain somewhat faith in constitutional democracy and
they are yet to be organised to revolutionary path. This fault line is as difficult to
bridge as the other great fault lines we have mentioned in this dissertation. In India,
the ruling classes take notice of problems when it is on fire and deploy fire brigades
like police and army. Such attitude cannot ensure unified growth of India and birth of
‘One India’ out of ‘Many Indias.’
So, in the final reality count India appears to be compartmentalized seriously as we
were well before independence. Perhaps creations of linguistic states and ethnic
states have divided us more, besides our failure to reconcile the cultural and religious
differences. How we discover the soul of India from the dust bin of fragmented India?
Are we in the process of having ‘Many Indias’ and permanently losing ‘One India’ for
which the Indians fought against the British? Are we reverting back to an India that
was divided into different polities with fragile geographic and cultural bonds in 9th and
10th century? How long the present fragile constitutional bonds would hold together?
The perception of ‘Asamudra Himachal’ Bharat appears to be folklore.

These questions should disturb young minds and minds of those who pretend to run
the System.