His Tryst;Our Destiny

Today is the 38^th day of curfew in Kashmir and the Independence Day celebrations on the two sides of the line of control reinforce the seven decades old aspiration even further. We have played an audience, defiant and dynamic though, to this quirk of fate for long and are thus quite fittingly determined to rephrase our destiny. Now or never, as goes the slogan this summer.

Cooped inside my house, dawdling from one website to another I came across the full text of Jawahar Lal Nehru’s ‘Tryst with Destiny’ on internet and the speech inarguably is one of the best speeches ever made in the world of politics. One cannot even think of scripting anything comparable but given that ‘independence’ is in the air, abundant and dripping, may I take the liberty of paraphrasing his ‘Tryst with Destiny’ into ours.

This is not an open-letter; I abhor the culture for it has turned into an annoying trend and please, do read the original text of ‘Tryst with Destiny’. Pray the paraphrase doesn’t qualify for plagiarism.

Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, (I am sorry for this tomfoolery but today I must do this)

Long years ago you made a tryst with our destiny, and now the time has come for your pledge to be changed into reality, not just to some extent but wholly and in full measure. We have had enough of leftover shreds; whole and intact is how we want it now.

 At the stroke of today's midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to a feeling of wrongdoing, the sense of shame for denying freedom to a population that is under its occupation for 7 decades now. Or, it may not. Be that as it may, you will agree if I restate that a moment comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance. Claim be made, that moment has come for Kashmir. The declaration so loud, no military might can silence.

It is fitting to mention that in view of your pledge of dedication to the service of India and to the still larger cause of humanity with some pride, this Independence Day, India should celebrate a little less; for the reason that when it writes its Kashmir chapter, history will put her future generations to shame. In view of this pledge, while unfurling the tricolor this independence day, a common Indian must hang his head in shame as Kashmiris are being killed, maimed and blinded in his name. Ironically, in this era of vigilantism in his ‘free’ nation, he cannot even disapprove of this brutality. Humanity is a stale joke no one is bothered about.

At the time of the creation of India and Pakistan, Kashmir started on its unending quest and has pulled through seven decades filled with various unimaginable shades of oppression yet the grandeur of its resilience is worth envy. Through brutal hush-ups, pellet guns and not just ill fortunes, Kashmir has been bruised and blinded but we still haven’t lost sight of that quest and nor have we forgotten that we deserve to live a life of dignity. It may cost us some more but we will end this period of ill fortune and the paradise will surely rediscover itself. When it does, it will be an opening of opportunity, to the great triumphs and achievements that await us. Yes, we’re brave enough and wise enough to grasp that opportunity and accept the challenge of the future.

Freedom and power bring responsibility. The responsibility of our right to plebiscite, which you rested on a sovereign body representing the sovereign people of India, has been trodden down by the giant sized greed of the successive governments. Their hunger is insatiable but, for the birth of our freedom we have endured all the pains of labour and our hearts are heavy with the memory of sorrow inflicted on us all through this time. The pains continue even now. Nevertheless, we haven’t given up on our dream and what keeps us going is the future that beckons to us every now and then.

The future of a free nation must not be one of ease or resting but of incessant striving if it intends on fulfilling the pledges it has taken in the past or the ones it takes today. However, while doing service to India, the political parties in power, with much ease, disregarded all the promises you made to Kashmiris. Promises, some of which you made while sitting with the stalwarts in Delhi and some while standing with the then gullible Kashmiris in LalChowk, remain unfulfilled even today, when free India turns 70. India’s freedom hasn’t really brought an end to inequality of opportunity as far as Kashmir is concerned.

The ambition of the greatest man of your generation, to wipe every tear from every eye has also been eroded by the new generations of the politicians. They have a thing for hyperbole and are always busy with jingoism. While in reality, it is not beyond them to blind the eyes which dare to dream of freedom and dignity. Thus, the tears and the suffering stay because it is hard for these flag waving politicians to understand that these dreams are not for Kashmir only, but they are also for India, for the world, for all the nations. Although, an illustrious author of modern India did once write, “India needs freedom from Kashmir as much as Kashmir needs freedom from India.” Those who intend to change dreams into reality, agree and those who don’t, call her an anti-national.

For now, we don’t have much to rejoice about actually but, destiny, I am sure, has appointed a day for us too. The day, when we will stand forth, after long slumber and struggle; awake, vital, free and independent. Our past will, however, cling on to us because it has moulded us into the bold and brazen, we are today. For now, the wind is high and the tempest stormy, yet, we dare to dream of history beginning anew for us, the history which we shall live and act and others will write about it. We will fight to live this dream and one day we will hold the torch of freedom to light up the darkness surrounding us for eons now. Ameen.

We have hard work ahead .There is no resting till we make of ourselves what destiny intends us to be. But we are sure that one day the star of freedom will rise. It will rise on the edges of our luscious meadows and it will twinkle along with its reflections on our splendid lakes. Seems like, we are on the verge of a bold advance and we can see this long cherished vision, materialize.

After surviving one more frosty summer, which we will, we shall once again bind ourselves afresh to the service of our much loved motherland, the ancient, the eternal and the ever-new valley of Kashmir. And, we will not stop to dream for we have the courage to do so.

There is beauty in the courage of an oppressed.

Text of the speech

Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now that time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of today's midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.

It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity with some pride.

At the dawn of history India started on her unending quest, and trackless centuries which are filled with her striving and the grandeur of her successes and her failures. Through good and ill fortunes alike she has never lost sight of that quest or forgotten the ideals which gave her strength. We end today a period of ill fortunes and India discovers herself again.

The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us. Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future?

Freedom and power bring responsibility. The responsibility rests upon this assembly, a sovereign body representing the sovereign people of India. Before the birth of freedom we have endured all the pains of labour and our hearts are heavy with the memory of this sorrow. Some of those pains continue even now. Nevertheless, the past is over and it is the future that beckons to us now.

That future is not one of ease or resting but of incessant striving so that we might fulfill the pledges we have so often taken and the one we shall take today. The service of India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunity.

The ambition of the greatest man of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but as long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over.

And so we have to labour and to work, and work hard, to give reality to our dreams. Those dreams are for India, but they are also for the world, for all the nations and people are too closely knit together today for anyone of them to imagine that it can live apart.

To the people of India, whose representatives we are, we make an appeal to join us with faith and confidence in this great adventure. This is no time for petty and destructive criticism, no time for ill will or blaming others. We have to build the noble mansion of free India where all her children may dwell.

The appointed day has come - the day appointed by destiny - and India stands forth again, after long slumber and struggle, awake, vital, free and independent. The past clings on to us still in some measure and we have to do much before we redeem the pledges we have so often taken. Yet the turning point is past, and history begins anew for us, the history which we shall live and act and others will write about.

A new star rises, the star of freedom in the east, a new hope comes into being, a vision long cherished materialises. May the star never set and that hope never be betrayed by!

On this day our first thoughts go to the architect of this freedom, the father of our nation, who, embodying the old spirit of India, held aloft the torch of freedom and lighted up the darkness that surrounded us.

We must not forget Netaji though we have often been unworthy followers of his and have strayed from his message. We shall never allow that torch of freedom to be blown out, however high the wind or stormy the tempest.

We have hard work ahead. There is no resting for any one of us till we redeem our pledge in full, till we make all the people of India what destiny intended them to be.

We are citizens of a great country, on the verge of bold advance, and we have to live up to that high standard. All of us, to whatever religion we may belong, are equally the children of India with equal rights, privileges and obligations.

And to India, our much-loved motherland, the ancient, the eternal and the ever-new, we pay our reverent homage and we bind ourselves afresh to her service.