Sindh Minister Sardar Ali Shah has sparked a contemporary controversy after suggesting that Pakistan may lay declare to Indian states similar to Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana. His remarks got here in response to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s current assertion asserting that Sindh may sooner or later return to India.
Talking within the Sindh Meeting, Shah cited historic civilisational hyperlinks whereas paradoxically conceding that Sindh finds point out within the Rig Veda — a foundational Hindu scripture.
“Sindh is a actuality. It dates again 6,000 years. The world’s first guide, the Rig Veda, was written on the banks of the Sindhu River. The time period ‘Sapta Sindhu’ is used within the Rig Veda, which turned the inspiration of the Hindu faith,” Shah mentioned. “Persians started calling Sindhu as Hindu — it’s really Sindhu faith. It’s not Hindustan, however Sindhustan.”
He additional referred to Jawaharlal Nehru’s Discovery of India, claiming the title India is derived from the Indus — or Sindhu — River.
Shah argued that a number of archaeological websites of the Indus Valley Civilisation are right now positioned inside India.
“At this time’s Pakistan is from Kashmir to Keti Bandar. However some components are damaged,” he said. “Dholavira and Lothal in Gujarat, Kali Bangan in Rajasthan and Rakhigarhi in Haryana are Indus Valley websites. If that’s true, then we will stake declare on Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana. They need to be given to us.”
Rajnath Singh’s remarks triggered debate
The feedback observe Rajnath Singh’s assertion on November 23, the place he urged that Sindh — which went to Pakistan through the 1947 Partition — may sooner or later reunite with India.
Addressing an occasion in New Delhi, Singh mentioned that Sindh stays a part of India’s civilisational consciousness regardless of present political borders.
“Sindh might not be with us geographically, however civilisationally it has at all times been part of India,” he mentioned, including, “Borders have modified all through historical past… Who is aware of, sooner or later Sindh might come again to India.”
The Defence Minister recalled the emotional disconnect many Sindhi Hindus nonetheless really feel after displacement throughout Partition, referencing senior BJP chief Lal Krishna Advani’s writings. He additionally pointed to the shared reverence for the Indus River throughout communities earlier than 1947.
Singh had made related remarks on September 22 in Morocco, predicting that Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) would finally merge with India “with out navy confrontation,” citing rising resentment among the many inhabitants there.