*On Kashmir... Ira Pande*

'Kashmir is an integral part of India'. I have heard this line parroted by leaders of all political hues. It has always sounded like an arbitrary statement designed to rebuff Pakistan, and to reaffirm India's military might over a coveted geographical area.

*Recently I came across facts that have changed my perspective on Kashmir totally.* Facts that have astounded me.. But more than that baffled me, for they reveal *glaring lacunae in the history we have been led to believe* so far.

Understandable that the *British established a syllabus for us that was designed to obliterate our glories and inculcate shame in us for all things Indian. But, 70 years past independence, *we are guilty of still toeing their line.* Why?????

The facts I speak of are proof that *Kashmir is the fountainhead from which flows our culture,in fact, everything that defines our identity as Indians.*

Due to my education at an elite school, I had considered myself reasonably well informed.

*Yet, I had no clue at all about the significance of Kashmir vis a vis Indian history and that it was home to Panini, whose *Ashtadhyayi* is considered the most *scientific and flawless treatise on grammar* in the world..

*Patanjali, who gifted to humanity his Yog Sutra.*

*Sharangdev, considered the father of both Hindustani and Carnatic music.*

*Acharya Abhinav Gupt*, one of the greatest scholars of all times, *who wrote 46 literary classics,* including the renowned Abhinav Bharti.. *His principles of Ras are being taught in 80 universities around the world.*

*Kashmir was considered the abode of Saraswati, the highest seat of learning in India* and was also referred to as Sharda Peeth. So much so that *when students graduated from Kashi, they took 4 symbolic steps towards Kashmir, denoting their aspiration for higher learning.*

Almost the *entire body of Sanskrit literature* has its origins in Kashmir.

Rajtarangini, an authoritative *historical tome on the royal lineage of Kashmir,* written by Kalhans in the 12th century, outlines the greatness of *King Lalitaditya,* possibly the most powerful Indian Emperor of all times, whose *kingdom in the 8th century extended* from the Caspian Sea in the North to the Kaveri basin in the South, and included Assam in the East.

*How many Indians* have even *heard his name???*

How many of us know that *Srinagar* was *established by Ashoka ?*

That *Mahayana Buddhism was spread* across Mid Asia, China and Japan *by Kashmiri monks?*

Who are these *educationists* who are *deliberately withholding such vital slices* of history from our textbooks?

How will the present as well as future generations realize that *Kashmir is the keystone of our heritage* through millennia, finding mention even in our oldest scriptures?

*It is not just a piece of land. It is the abode of the soul of India*.

*"Kashmir is an integral part of India" now has a new meaning for me. It is no longer a statement, but an impassioned understanding of its importance.*🙏