Substance of Swaraj
APROPOS (Substance of Swaraj), Organiser, August 18, 2019, the editorial makes an interesting read. The delightful play on the word ‘Swaraj’ says a lot about this very special Independence Day, as the Home Minister Shri Amit Shah has made his historic announcement on August 5, 2019 repealing at one fell stroke the discriminatory Article 370 and 35A, which provide for the ‘special status’ to Jammu & Kashmir. The decision has been welcomed by the whole country wholeheartedly. With this momentous decision, we have truly attained ‘freedom’ from the tyranny of discriminatory Articles 370 and 35A. This 73rd Independence Day is a special day in the history of India. Hopefully, this brave act will lead to many more ‘freedoms’ in future, as PoJK still remains in the hands of Pakistan. A day will come when India attains the full freedom and PoJK is liberated from the illegal occupation of Pakistan. We also need the Aksai Chin area which is under illegal occupation of China.
Ravi Venkat, Chennai
Integration 2.0
APROPOS (Integration 2.0), Organiser, August 18, 2019, if it had not been Sardar Patel, it would have been just unimaginable that we the Indians would ever see a united Bharat. Kashmir remained a thorn in the flesh until present Home Minister Shri Amit Shah mustered the courage to ‘cut the Gordian Knot’, ‘righting’ a seven-decades-old wrong, which the successive governments never had the guts to take on. It took ‘Sardar 2.0’ to undo the historical wrongs that made a mockery of the idea called India. Finally, India can look forward to seeing a ‘Naya Bharat’, which is democratic and completely secular and is bringing justice to every citizen of India, irrespective of his religion, caste, creed or region.
Ganesh Vaidya, Haridwar
Kashmiriyat
APROPOS (Kashmiriat or Kashmiri Shariat), Organiser, August 11, 2019, Kashmiriyat was under threat during the Muslim rulers as they were working under the mindset of Ghazwa-e-Hind with active support of anti-India outfits. J&K political parties did their best to evacuate the minorities, the Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists, from the state and exploited the SCs, STs and OBCs. After getting special rights on a temporary basis under Article 370 and 35A, the Kashmiri political parties exploited the rights of Jammu and Ladakh and turned the ‘heaven’ into ‘hell’ just for their selfishness. But now the bifurcation of J&K will enhance development of this beautiful region.
Rishi Sharma, Kapurthala
Trendsetter Foreign Minister
APROPOS (Embodiment of Principled and Compassionate Politics), Organiser, August 18, 2019, the sudden passing away of Smt Sushma Swaraj has shocked the nation. A woman full of unique qualities set a new trend of foreign policy in the country with her doors always open through Tweets for commoners to whom she helped as a remarkable Foreign Ministry of this nation. She was amongst the best Hindi orators whose speeches in Parliament were listened with full attention even by those on opposition benches. She always took bold political challenges like when her party desired from her contesting election against Sonia Gandhi from Bellary (Karnataka) she learnt Kannada in just 15 days. Even though she pledged to get her trounces in case Sonia Gandhi would have become Prime Minister, she always had friendly relations with her. She exhibited the unique quality of having cordial and friendly relations with her otherwise bitter-most political rivals. Wordings of her last Tweet congratulating Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on his bold step on Kashmir reflected that she sensed her end of life like a great spiritual saint.
Subhash Chandra Agrawal, Delhi
