Kashmiriat – kashmir belongs to Bharat

Kashmiriat – kashmir belongs to Bharat

 The meeting of Indian politicians like Sita Ram Yechury, Manishankar Aiyer, Track 2 type like Vinod Sharma,AVM kak(rtd) with Geelani prompted me to write this Article. For the last few decades,Kashmiri Politicians like the Abdullahs, Muftis and Kashmiri origin Congress leaders have been spouting the term Kashmiriat along with Jamooriyat( democracy) as paradigms of the solution.
Like secularism,Kashmiriat too has been distorted to represent a certain section of Kashmiris-Kashmiri pandits who converted to Islam. Kashmiriat reduces the Kashmir issue to the valley area in Kashmir,along with the pak occupied area of the valley,and creates an artificial construct of Kashmiris being ethnically,culturally different from India,denies any historical connect,reduces the time frame to the era after Sikandar Butshikan--and legitimises the false idea of an autonomous Kashmiri state.
In my article I argue -if Kashmiriat has to be implemented, let Kashmiriat be a pan indian idea, every Indian has a cultural,religious,historical connection to Kashmir
 Kashmir is a Sanskrit word for saffron or kesar--for at least 5000 years the name of the area is Kashmir. Mythologically It is the abode of Saraswati -goddess of learning--when Hindus chant the saraswati shloka --Namastey Sharada Devi Kashmir Pur Vasini Tvam Ham Prartheye Nityam Vidya Danam Che De hi mey" (Salutations to you, O Sharada, O Goddess, O one who resides in Kashmir. I pray to you daily, please give me the charity of knowledge).---this is the Kashmiriat that resides in every Indian !
Amaranth Yatra to Kashmir has been an Ancient Unbroken Ritual undertaken by Hindus throughout centuries--Amarnath Cave situated in Anantnag is a part of Kashmiriat in every Hindu
and Indian
For centuries Kashmir was ruled by Indian Hindu kings whose kingdoms stretched throughout Bharat, not restricted to only the Kashmir valley-historically Kashmir consisted of Jammu,Kandahar ( gandhar) ,Dardar (Gilgit) Baltistan --and not only the valley
Kashmir is the fountainhead that nurtured shaivism, vaishnaivism and Buddhism .In 2nd Century BC Ashoka ,Maurayan Emperor, constructed a Buddha Vihar now known as Srinagar-so Kashmir was a part of the Mauraya Empire whose capital was Patliputra. Kanishka held the fourth Mahayana Buddhist Conference in Srinagar  where the great Scholar-King  Nagarjuna from Andhra attended and stayed for 6 months
In 740 AD Lalitaditya, a Kashmiri king with Capital in Srinagar conquered Kannauj in UP. His Kingdom extended to Kaveri basin in south, Kabul in West, Brahmaputra basin in the east with Ujjain in centre paying it tribute--Lalitaditya was a Vaishnavite-But he requested the Great Saivite scholar Atrigupta to shift to Srinagar .Atrigupta's descendent was Abhinavgupta, one of the greatest scholars Kashmir has produced. He had 9 gurus, one of them lived in Jalandhar in present day Punjab . In his reign Lalitaditya sent 64 Dwarapalas to Kerela and Konkani coast .The manuscripts of Abhinavgupta's work are found in Kerala -signifying there was movement between Kashmir and kerela for centuries
In 8 century, Adi Shankarachaya left Kerala on foot  and Reached Sharada Peeth in present day  Muzzafarabad in Pak occupied Jammu Kashmir. He entered through the South Gate and studied there and Entered into Great Sastrartha( religious/philosophical debates) and was annointed Shankarachaya there and established on the Peeth. The four Shankarachaya mutts in four corners are a living testimony to the Kashmiriat alive through out India .
Guru Nanak stayed in Kashmir during his travels and spread Sikhism in Kashmir,establishing gurudwaras.Guru Tegh Bahadur vowed to protect Kashmiri Hindus and Pandits and sacrificed his life when he was Beheaded by Aurangzeb on November 24,1675.Sheeshganj in Delhi is an Example of Kashmiriat that is was behind Guru Tegh Bahadur's Ultimate sacrifice.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh attacked the Afghan rulers who had captured Kashmir on appeal of Kashmiri Pandits and won Kashmir on 15 July 1819 -So Kashmir was even a part of the Sikh Kingdom.

Without Kashmir, Bharat cannot exist.