Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny, and when the time came we betrayed our pledge, not wholly or in fullmeasure, but very substantially.
On August 14, 1947, at the stroke of the midnight hour, when the conscience of our leaders slept, India awoke toPartition and bloodshed. A moment which comes but rarely in history, when we replaced thewhite sahib by the brown, when a transfer of power was called independence, when the soulof a nation long suppressed was once more cunningly deceived. It is fitting now that wetake the pledge to dedicate India and her people to the cause of truth.
The truth is that he whom we call the father of the nation refused to own this nation. On freedom's day hespurned the celebrations in Delhi. He refused to give a message to the nation. He snubbedthe government's emissary who sought it. He told the bbc to forget that he knew English.He resolved to spend his remaining days in Pakistan. He got permission to do that fromJinnah. His plans for journeying to Lahore on February 14, 1948, were complete. On January30, 1948, an assassin's bullet stopped him. Thus started the myth about Mahatma Gandhibeing the father of the nation.
Under British tutelage, the first war between India and Pakistan had occurred. It created the Kashmirdispute. It permanently divided one people. Later came two more wars. The fourth wasaverted in Kargil. The Lahore peace process was aborted. A military dictator once morerules Pakistan. He is an architect of cross-border terrorism. He wants to resume talks. Weknow what he might say.
He might say: We want to complete the Partition.
We must tell him: We want to undo the Partition.
He might say: Kashmir is the core problem. It must go with Pakistan.
We must tell him:Pakistan is the core problem. It must go with India.
It is as simple as that.For 50 years, irrational enmity has blighted our lives. It must now end through talks orthrough deeds. History cannot wait forever. It will not accept a Muslim fundamentalistPakistan.
Nor a Hindu fundamentalist India.Only a United States of South Asia. That is the writing on the wall.Leaders of both nations can ignore it only at their own peril.
Our countries became free,
Our leaders remained slaves!
That's why you see
How each government behaves!
