Tuesday, November 08, 2016
Justice Katju forms 'Indian Reunification Association'
Retired Supreme Court Justice Markandey Katju, 70, is a Kashmiri Brahmin and hails from a very renowned family of lawyers. His grandfather Kailash Nath Katju was a freedom fighter and held very important posts as judge and governor. Justice Katju is now frequently in the news, as his comments on political and legal affairs are very clear, sharp and without any political blemishes to color. A very upright person all his life, he is secular to the core and even though he is a very learned Brahmin, he does not subscribe to Hindutva and has very unorthodox views on freedom struggle and the role of Congress leaders. Pained like all citizens over Modi government’s ill-considered raking up the old communal divide between Hindus and Muslims, now even aggressively targeting Pakistan in the so-called ‘surgical response’ to border incidents, Justice Katju has formed a reunification movement under ‘Indian Reunification Association’. In a brief email to members of his blog, he writes today:
“I got the idea of starting this Association only this morning.
For long I have said that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are really one nation called India, temporarily divided by the British on the basis of the bogus two nation theory and the wicked divide and rule policy ( see my article ' The Truth about Pakistan ' and B.N.Pande's speech ' History in the Service of Imperialism ' online ), that Pakistan is a fake, artificial entity, that Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are really Indians, and that we are bound to reunite one day. Only when we reunite can we emerge as a modern industrial giant, with our people enjoying full employment, healthcare, good education, nutritious food, etc and a high standard of living.
For too long have the Westerners, as well our internal reactionaries, befooled us into thinking that Hindus and Muslims are natural enemies, but how much longer must we remain befooled ? How much longer must blood flow between us ?
We share the same culture, we look like each other, we talk in Hundustani. I feel myself no different from Pakistanis when I meet them. In fact when abroad Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis intermix and socialize as if Partition had never taken place.
The first step in this process of reunification is to build up public opinion in favour of this idea. Once this idea grips the masses in India ( in which word I include Pakistan and Bangladesh ) no power in the world will be able to successfully oppose it ( though reactionaries, at home and abroad, will put up fierce resistance )
The setting up of the Indo-Pak-Bangladesh Reunification ( under a secular govt.) Association ( in brief known as the Indian Reunification Association ) will be the first organized step in the direction of reunification. I will temporarily be the President of the Association, until some other younger person is found to replace me.
The basic ideology of this Association will be as mentioned in my article ' The Truth about Pakistan ', in B.N. Pande's speech ' History in the Service of Imperialism ', and my other blogs in this connection on my blog justicekatju.blogspot.in.
Those who think that reunification is not possible since a lot of time has passed since 1947 need only be reminded that Germany was partitioned in 1945, but was reunited in 1990, Vietnam was partitioned by the Geneva Accords in 1954, but was reunuted in 1975, China has still not recognized Taiwan, etc.
Those who think unification is a only a dream, are reminded that when Mazzini spoke of Italian Unification, most people called him a dreamer, but later his dream was made a reality by Cavour and Garibaldi.
The object of this Association will be diametrically opposed to the ' Akhand Bharat ' concept of the RSS. While the RSS wants a united Hindu India, this Association wants a united secular India, in which religious freedom is guaranteed, but religious bigotry and extremism is not tolerated and is crushed.
All of you in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and even in foreign countries who subscribe to the views of this Association can start units of the Association wherever you are, and can communicate with me on mark_katju@yahoo.co.in.
This is only the beginning of a long process, and I invite suggestions from all who agree with the need for reunification about practical details of the organizational set up.”
On first glance given the conditions prevailing in the subcontinent, the prospect for any such reunification project may appear to be a mad man’s dream. However, as Justice Katju has cited from history, different currents may be occasioned by changed situations, when Indians may find their partitioned nation joined together in one big superpower, absorbing all different communities and ideologies that caused its division and disruption.
The new phase of opening up to global economic opportunities, will force India to look to its neighbors for convenient absorption of its own people, now divided and on the verge of internecine skirmishes carrying the danger of wars that may engulf the entire region.
It is this very visionary of Justice Katju to have made the clarion call to unite the nation. Other details, that forced the partitions, are even now in full force of intensity, while on the other hand it is equally forcing a large majority of peace-loving people to bury the hatchet and bring back that age of harmonious living when India had achieved the enviable economic status of registering 23 percent of world GDP.
Let the discussions begin, as to what are positives and negatives inherent in any such movement and how the positives could be nourished and negatives are to be starved, to achieve a start towards a very noble and most coveted future for our coming generations.
Ghulam Muhammed, Mumabai
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