Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is known for speaking the truth no matter what the cost. His proclivity to state the truth was on display again, yesterday. He said, “Aurangzeb forced Kashmiri Pandits to change their religion.” Earlier, CM Yogi had praised Maharana Pratap for not surrendering to a foreign invader and fighting for the sovereignty of his kingdom. He further added that, “Maharana Pratap proved it was not Akbar who was great but only Maharana Pratap was great by ultimately winning back his forts.” CM Yogi is more informed about actual history than leftist fiction writers masquerading as historians.
This time, he has clearly stated the root cause of Kashmir problem and why the Kashmir is the way it is. According to Indian Express report, He was addressing a gathering of Banjaras in Lucknow where he said, “Kashmiri Panditon par jab Aurangzeb ka atyachar prarambh hua tha… Aurangjeb se mukti ke liye Kanshmiri Panditon ka ek group Guru Tegh Bahadur ke paas Delhi mein aata hai aur apni peeda batata hai ki jabardasti humara dharmantran ho raha hai… humein dabaya ja raha hai… apmanit kiya ja raha hai (When Aurangzeb began torturing Kashmiri Pandits, then to free themselves from Aurangzeb’s oppression, a group of Kashmiri Pandits met Guru Tegh Bahadur in Delhi and told him about their suffering and how they were being forcefully converted.”)
CM Yogi further elaborated that Guru Teg Bahadur, ninth Guru of Sikh religion, came to save Kashmiri Pandits and asked them not to be scared of Aurangzeb. He said, “Guru Tegh Bahadur asked them to tell him (Aurangzeb) that they would accept his religion only if their Guru accepts it.” He further added, “Aurangzeb ko laga ki yeh to bahut aasaan kaam hai, unhone Guru Tegh Bahadur ko giriftar kar ke anek prakar ki yatnayein deni prarambh ki… Lekin Guru Tegh Bahadur tas se mas nahi hue (Aurangzeb thought it was an easy task and got Tegh Bahadur arrested and tortured him, but he did not budge).”
Once again by calling a spade a spade, CM Yogi has won the hearts of millions. Not just Akbar and Aurangzeb, Hindus suffered persecution under all the Muslim and Mughal rulers. But no Hindu ruler ever did that with his Muslim subjects. But Islamist apologist masquerading as historians whitewashed the crimes of the Mughals and presented them as benevolent rulers in the history books.
Kashmir has always been a part of Indian civilization and culture, an important one at that. Kashmir got its name from Kashyapa rishi.It has been a place of learning and wisdom till 1990. Many great scholars like Abhinavgupta were born in Kashmir. Many great Sanskrit scholars born and completed their works in Kashmir. The great Indian Emperor, Ashoka founded the city of Srinagar. Many Buddhist scholars settled in Kashmir under the rule of Ashoka and thus Kashmir played a pivotal role in the spread of Buddhist teaching and philosophy. It used to be a place of philosophy, poetry, music, stories etc but all this changed after the advent of Islam in the valley. Kashmiri Pandits, ethnic people of Kashmir suffered persecution at the hands of Islamists. T
They were forced to convert to Islam and thousands of Hindu temples were destroyed. Genocidal marauders converted a beautiful place like Kashmir into a hell with their murderous conversion spree. This reign of terror perpetrated against Kashmiri Hindus stopped only after the army of Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh defeated Muslim rulers of Kashmir and Kashmir became part of the empire of Maharaja Ranjit Singh for forty years. Then later on Britishers defeated Sikhs, but Britishers were not interested in Kashmir, so they sold it off to a King of Dogra dynasty, Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1846. Dogra dynasty ruled entire Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh (undivided) till 1947. Later on, Maharaja Hari Singh signed the instrument of accession on 26 October 1947 and joined Indian state with his princely state including Jammu, Kashmir, Northern Areas, Ladakh, Trans-KarakoramTract and Aksai Chin.
Leftist historians whitewashed the history in such a way that those who perpetuated the atrocities became victims and victims were presented as some sort evil people who perpetuated the acts of brutalities.
That’s why it’s very important to know the history as those who forget the history are condemned to repeat it. It’s good to see now states are being governed by leaders who have no illusions about history. As said by Howard Zinn , “History is important. If you don’t know history it is as if you were born yesterday. And if you were born yesterday, anybody up there in a position of power can tell you anything, and you have no way of checking up on it”. This tells us how important history is for nation building.