Srinagar: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Amit Shah Friday said peace had been established in J&K after the abrogation of Article 370.
Addressing the ‘Vitasta Mahotsav’ organised by the Ministry of Culture in Srinagar Shah, who was the chief guest on the occasion said, “After the removal of Article 370 by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, peace was established in J&K. New dimensions of development are being created, institutions of higher education are being built, industries are being set up, Panchayati Raj has been established and many types of administrative reforms have taken place at the grassroots level without any opposition and now Kashmir has to look ahead.”
“Jhelum has seen difficult times, the stream of Vitasta has also seen blood, attacks by fanatics, many regime changes and Jhelum has also been a witness to the horrific scourge of terrorism,” he said.
In his address, the union home minister said that this was the same Vitasta, which had been witness to many researches in Kashmir for thousands of years and also had the privilege of being an amalgamation of many cultures.
“This Jhelum has also seen Adishankar,” he said.
Shah said that scholars of every field had come out of this land and made their arts famous not only in India but in the entire world and assimilation of all these could be seen in today’s culture of Kashmir.
He said that Vitasta had given affection, love, and enthusiasm to its children by incorporating all these in herself.
The union home minister said that those who consider Jhelum as a river, do not recognise human culture.
“Vitasta is a festival to show the true Kashmir to the whole world,” he said.
Shah said that the objective of ‘Vitasta Mahotsav’ was to acquaint the entire country with the great cultural heritage, diversity, and uniqueness of Kashmir.
“The festival focuses on the folk beliefs associated with the Vitasta river, which has been considered very sacred since Vedic times. This river finds mention in many ancient texts like Nilamata Purana, Vitasta Mahamaya, Harcharita Chintamani, Rajatarangini and it is believed that the pure currents of this revered river destroy all the evils of human nature,” he said.
The union home minister said that Adishankar called Kashmir ‘the land of knowledge’, Mughal rulers called it ‘the heaven on earth’, and Ashoka termed it ‘the appropriate land to churn the thoughts of Buddhism’.
He said that culture was not made in a year or by one art and genre but by assimilation of many aspects of human life.
“Our India is one of the very few countries where such a stream of culture continuously flows and we should be proud of this. Such a continuous stream of ancient culture flows in every part of our country, which together make the Ganges of Indian culture,” Shah said.
He said that once upon a time the British who ruled India considered India’s diversity as its weakness, but when the ruler saw from a constructive point of view, unity in diversity was India’s specialty and greatest strength.
The union home minister said that the specialty of India was India’s culture of living together with everyone and this ‘Vitasta Mahotsav’ was the ambassador of spreading this specialty of Kashmir to the entire India and the world.
He said that through the ‘Vitasta Mahotsav’, Kashmir becomes an all-encompassing ideology and culture.
“It is this place only where music and knowledge developed and reached to their peaks, that’s why Adi Shankar called it Sharda Kshetra and established Sharda Peeth here,” Shad said.
He said that people who had seen the last 30-40 years of history of Kashmir, find it a disputed and disturbed region.
“It is the nature of Kashmir to move forward like an immortal flame despite having many issues,” the union home minister said.
He said that the Kashmir in which more than 40,000 people were killed by terrorism a few years ago, the same Kashmir was moving forward today by assimilating arts through ‘Vitasta Mahotsav’.
Shah told the youth of Kashmir that they should have laptop, books, and pen instead of stones and weapons in their hands.
He said that hatred towards anyone had not been the history of Kashmir and that Kashmir had accepted everyone who comes.
“Like a playing, jumping, and flowing river, the culture of Kashmir always moved ahead and never looked back,” Shah said.
“In such a situation, this ‘Vitasta Mahotsav’ has great importance,” he said.
The union home minister said that under ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’, PM Modi had given a vision to all the cultures of the country to move forward with each other through many programmes like ‘Kashi Telugu Sangamam’, ‘Tamil Saurashtra Sangamam’, ‘Kashi Tamil’ and ‘Vitasta Mahotsav’.
He said that this process would connect, strengthen, and put India once again at India’s aspired place of the world.
Shah said that about 1900 artists from Kashmir and about 150 artists from across the country would exhibit and exchange their art in the ‘Vitasta Mahotsav’ starting in Kashmir on Friday.
He said that only art, culture, and history could unite the country and ‘Vitasta Mahotsav’ was a unique event to unite India.
“This festival is a unique event where cuisines from all over the country will be available to local people and artists from all over the country will also enjoy Kashmiri cuisine,” the union home minister said. “Until we do not use our culture and art in connecting the country, we will not be able to use this unprecedented power of ours for the benefit of the country.”
He said that despite different cultures, languages, costumes, and food habits, everyone was an Indian and this was the country’s great strength.
Shah said that no country in the world had as much diversity as India.
He said PM Modi had decided to celebrate ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ as well as the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ and put three goals in front of everyone.
“First, every child of the country should know about our freedom struggle and freedom fighters and the culture of patriotism should be awakened in them. Secondly, we should glorify the achievements made by the country in 75 years in the whole world. Third, on the basis of the achievements of these 75 years, take a resolution about where India will be in every field in 2047, the centenary year of independence,” the union home minister said.
He said that the time of 75 to 100 years was the time to convert this resolution into achievement.
“The resolution we take today will turn into the achievement of the entire nation at the time of completion of 100 years and our India will become the India as imagined by the leaders of the freedom struggle,” Shah said.
He said that if every person takes a resolution in the year of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, then 130 crore steps of 130 crore people would take the country forward.
“The ‘Vitasta Mahotsav’ is the festival of the upcoming future of Kashmir, a link connecting glorious history with the bright future, and Kashmir and the country moving forward, creating a great India, this is the goal of this event,” the union home minister said.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi, Union Home Secretary and Secretary, Ministry of Culture were also present on this occasion.