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| Independence Day: Freedom, Memory, Unfinished Responsibility | | and the Pain of Displacement | 
By Kuldeep Raina
Independence Day serves as a solemn reminder of the freedom earned through the immense sacrifice, courage, and devotion of countless men and women. We bow in gratitude to all those brave souls who gave their today so that India could breathe freely tomorrow.
We celebrate with pride the freedom of our nation. Yet, beneath that celebration, there remains a quiet anguish in the hearts of many Indians, a question that conscience cannot simply silence. Can the joy of freedom ever be complete when a community of Indians has lived for decades in displacement from its own homeland, within its own country?
For those of us who have witnessed this tragedy, displacement is not merely a historical event. It is a living wound carried across generations, the memory of homes abandoned, temples desecrated, traditions disrupted, cultural spaces lost, and roots violently severed from the soil that nurtured them.
I belong to a generation that has witnessed 37 years of displacement from its own birthplace, within its own country.
To be uprooted from one’s home and then to wait for decades for the opportunity to return to one’s own soil is not merely a personal or familial tragedy. It is a profound question before the collective conscience of the nation.
A community that preserved its civilisation, culture, knowledge traditions, and national commitment through generations should never have to struggle merely to preserve its identity and existence.
To speak of this pain is not to diminish India’s freedom. It is to deepen our understanding of what freedom demands from us.
A citizen who loves his nation has the moral right to expect that the nation will protect the life, dignity, identity, culture, heritage, and security of every community equally.
National unity cannot be built by asking the displaced to forget their suffering. It is strengthened when their suffering is acknowledged with truth, justice, compassion, and the resolve to find a dignified, constitutional, and lasting solution.
Freedom and National Duty :
Freedom is not merely a right, it is also a responsibility. The responsibility to preserve our culture. The responsibility to understand and protect our heritage. The responsibility to cherish our civilisational memory. The responsibility to transmit our values and knowledge to future generations. And above all, the responsibility to ensure that no citizen is ever made to feel like a stranger in his or her own country. A nation is not secured merely by protecting its geographical borders. A nation is truly secure when it safeguards the life, dignity, identity, faith, culture, and security of its people.
Therefore, the pain of displacement must not remain outside India’s national memory. The families whose eyes are still turned towards the homes and lands they were compelled to leave behind must also find a place in the conscience of the nation.
From Displacement to a Constitutional and Dignified Future :
For us, the answer to this prolonged tragedy cannot be confined to temporary relief, rehabilitation packages, or the passage of time. We seek a permanent, constitutional, and dignified political solution that guarantees security, equality, cultural continuity, and the right to live with honour.
We therefore reaffirm the aspiration for the creation of a separate Union Territory comprising the contiguous areas to the East and North of the River Vitasta (Jhelum) in the Kashmir Valley, where the Constitution of India shall apply fully, unequivocally, and in letter and spirit, providing a secure constitutional framework for the displaced community and all citizens who choose to live there.
This is not a demand for revenge against anyone. It is a demand for justice, security, dignity, constitutional protection, and a durable framework for coexistence.
The proposed Union Territory is envisioned as a place where the Constitution of India reigns supreme, every citizen enjoys equal rights and equal protection of law, the life, dignity, and security of every individual are protected without discrimination, the civilisational heritage and cultural identity of Kashmiri Hindus are preserved,temples, shrines, cultural institutions, and heritage sites are protected, displaced families can return and rebuild their lives with security, honour, and dignity and future generations of those uprooted from Kashmir can once again become rooted in their own land.
This is the essence of the Panun Kashmir vision not exclusion, not revenge, but a constitutionally protected homeland within India, founded upon equality, justice, security, and civilisational continuity.
The Necessity of “Shatru Bodh”:
There is another responsibility that a mature and vigilant nation cannot ignore, Shatru Bodh, the awareness and recognition of the adversary.
Shatru Bodh is not hatred towards any community, nor is it a call for revenge. It is the wisdom and national consciousness required to recognise forces, ideologies, and designs that threaten the unity, security, constitutional order, and civilisational character of the nation.
A nation that cannot recognise the nature of the threats confronting it cannot adequately protect its people. But Shatru Bodh must always be accompanied by Vivek, Dharma, and justice. It means distinguishing between the innocent and the perpetrator, between faith and fanaticism, between legitimate disagreement and violent extremism, and between reconciliation based on truth and appeasement based on fear.
Forgetting history does not create peace :
Understanding history, learning from it, and acting with wisdom and courage create the possibility of lasting peace. If we fail to learn from history, if we fail to recognise the suffering of our own citizens, and if we hesitate to act when their security and existence are threatened, the consequence is not merely a failure of governance. It becomes a deeper question of our collective national consciousness and our resolve to protect Bharat.
Neither Pity nor Revenge, Only Justice Yet, despite all the anguish, our faith in India remains unshaken. We do not seek anyone’s pity. We seek justice. We do not seek revenge. We seek dignity. We do not seek confrontation for its own sake. We seek the right to live safely, honourably, and fearlessly in a secure constitutional homeland within India.
Displacement may have become our circumstance, but oblivion can never become our destiny.
Our cultural memory cannot be erased by the passage of time. Our civilisational roots cannot be severed merely because generations have been forced to live away from their birthplace.
Towards a Vishwa Guru Bharat:
On this Independence Day, let us look beyond our pain towards a larger national vision. Let us build an India that is modern yet deeply connected to its soul, technologically advanced yet rooted in its civilisation, economically powerful yet compassionate, strong enough to defend itself and wise enough to pursue peace, and confident enough to lead the world without losing sight of its own civilisational wisdom.
The aspiration of Vishwa Guru Bharat cannot mean merely becoming powerful in the eyes of the world.
It must mean becoming a nation whose strength is guided by Dharma, justice, compassion, knowledge, character, and responsibility.
A Bharat that seeks to guide the world must first demonstrate that every citizen matters, that every community’s dignity matters, that cultural memory matters, that justice matters, and that the wounds of its own people cannot be allowed to disappear into the silence of history.
Let the healing of displacement therefore become part of the larger journey of national renewal.
Let the pain of every displaced family become part of India’s national memory, not as an inheritance of hatred, but as a reminder of what must never be allowed to happen again.
Our Independence Day Resolve:
On this sacred day, let us resolve:
To protect India’s freedom. To protect India’s unity and sovereignty. To protect India’s civilization and heritage.
To preserve the cultural memory of every community. To protect the dignity and security of every Indian. To cultivate Shatru Bodh with wisdom, vigilance, and विवेक. To ensure that justice is never determined by identity.
To pursue a constitutional and lasting resolution to the tragedy of displacement. To work towards the creation of the proposed Union Territory to the East and North of the River Vitasta in the Kashmir Valley, where the Constitution of India shall apply fully, in letter and spirit, and where displaced citizens can rebuild their lives in security, dignity, and honour. And to build an India in which no citizen is ever compelled to abandon his or her home because of fear.
May the Tricolour continue to fly high, not merely as a symbol of political freedom, but as a promise of justice, dignity, security, equality, and belonging for every Indian. May Bharat rise with renewed strength, wisdom, and आत्मबोध. May our ancient civilisational wisdom illuminate our modern journey. May India become not merely a Vishwa Shakti, but a true Vishwa Guru, a teacher to the world through the power of knowledge, Dharma, compassion, character, and justice.
And may the day come when every displaced Kashmiri Hindu can look towards the Kashmir Valley not with the pain of separation, but with the confidence that Bharat remembers, Bharat cares, Bharat protects, and Bharat will not abandon its own.
May the proposed constitutional homeland east and north of the Vitasta become a living expression of India’s commitment to justice, security, civilisational continuity, and constitutional equality. May the vision of Panun Kashmir contribute to a stronger, more secure, inclusive, and culturally confident Bharat.
With pride in our freedom,
with reverence for our martyrs,
with anguish for the displaced,
with faith in justice, with resolve for a constitutional solution, and with unwavering hope for the glorious future of our Motherland.
Vande Mataram, Jai Hind
Jai Bharat Jai Panun Kashmir
( The writer is General Secretary of Panun Kashmir)
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