The Indian Union

by Arun Misra, Ph.D.

When would India, Pakistan and Bangladesh; possibly, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Mynamar too, will combine together to form one Nation, The Indian Union, with its distinct components, sprinkled over on a larger convass.
With the current trend of dissentions, and the dissolutions and divisions of countries and territories, on the principle of ‘divide and rule’, like England and Ireland, North and South Koreas, Kosovo and Bosnia, and others, this concept of The Indian Union may seem Utopian. The Indian Union should not seem far fetched, in the light of the existence of The Indian Subcontinent, and the recent examples of the reunion of
North and South Vietnams and of East and West Germanys into one Vietnam and one Germany. The ample expectation of this merger should help create a region comparable to the previous USSR, and the current USA and EU.
The western political concept of a nation is kind of alien to Indian Culture. The ancient India, known as Bharatvars or Aryavart, was already a vast Cultural Union and a contiguous Nation, extending from Afghanistan through Mynamar, including Sri Lakna, Tibet, Bhutan and Nepal. The entire territory extending for thousands of miles, from east to west and from north to south, made one homogenous and uniform cultural and national union, where hundreds of small kingdoms, languages, food habits, dress patterns,
religious practices existed together in wonderful harmony from time immemorial. Goods, people and their belongings moved freely from one corner of this Indian Universe to the other, without any passport and visa rules, merely on the trust and goodwill of human spirit. All kinds of trades were conducted without any of the modern WTO, IMF, and World Bank through open era capitalism, and the political and social disputes were resolved amicably without the intricacies of present day UNO. People flocked from all over the world to India, which encouraged every culture and religion of the world to find a place and flourish better than elsewhere. Talent and virtue, oppressor and the oppressed
all found an abode in ancient India, as no where else, even more refined than the present US melting pot. Numerous historical accounts are available to describe these periods that
sustained itself for the longest time in the history of the mankind, in the Indian region.
In Vedic times, Yajnvalkya, after his graduation from a school near Taksila ( the Budhist University of past), then Panjab of undivided India, now western Panjab of Pakistan moved to Mithila, now north Bihar and the southern terai of Nepal to be with philosopher king Janak, where the sage created the finest Vrihdarnyak Upanishad. Risi Visvamitra frequently roamed between Varanasi (in UP) to Baksar (in Bihar), where the demon lady, Tarka was killed during the education of Prince Ram and Laksman of Ayodhya (in UP), and the wedding of Sita in Janakpur (in Nepal).
Things did not change much, even after the onslaught of Muslims from Turkey and Iran.
When Akbar was the king in Delhi, my oriya forefathers migrated from Puri (in Orissa)
To Darbhanga (in north Bihar) and converted into maithils. During the same period, Mira Bai in Gujarat being torn between her lover for Lord Krishna, and the duties to her husband, the king, wrote to Tulsidas in Varanasi for guidance, and was told that association with God is preferable to worldly lusts. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu left Nadia (in Bangladesh) and moved to Puri (in Orissa) to associate with Lord Jagannath.
In 1857, the first war of independence, was fought against the British under the leadership of Bahadur Shah Zafar. In the earlier part of 20th century, there was plenty of struggle by all concerned to stop, Bang-Bhang, the division of Bangal for Hindus and Muslims, which the British finally succeeded, by creating east Pakistan in 1947, that finally became Bangladesh in 1971. England succeeded in creating rift between Hindus and Muslims, and vivisected the country into India and Pakistan. The West has managed to keep the region, especially Kashmir, as a hot spot, and has pitted Pakistan against India time and again for the sale of arms to warring factions. This has been repeated in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and several other places in Africa and in South American hemisphere. Sikhs, who helped Hindus from the tyranny of Muslims, we re finally manipulated to kill Hindus, for the creation of their independent Khalistan, which did not materialize Numerous lost tribes of Jews have found safety in the forests of Assam,
and are now trying to return to Israel. Muslims now fight Christians the world over.
Hence to stop terrorism, alleviate hatred between religions of the world, and establish a better world order, it is imperative, for the ‘The Indian Union’, outlined above, to be formed. Sooner the better, as a saner world can be created, faster and easier, using the ancient Indian concept of harmony and justice to all, by eliminating the exploitation of the masses under the garb of capitalism, by following the principle of ‘to each according to his/her needs, and from each according to his/her capacity’, and propagating the ideal of, ‘the whole world as one family’, than what the UNO and the Super Power(s) can achieve.