India-Pak division not in complete sense

The saga is associated with the statue of the dancer which is currently present in the museum in Delhi, India, under tight security. Actually, in the year 1926, this idol and some other statues have been found from there in the excavation of Mohenjodaro. When he was kept in the Central Imperial Museum in New Delhi, there was no discussion about the partition of India.

Even when all the goods were distributed at the time of partition, there was no long debate about the remains found from the excavations of Mohenjodaro and Harappa. In fact, the interest of the leaders was based on the marks of the borders that were being drawn by human blood in those days. The concept of Bharat Mata was there even then. There was no partition in the minds of those who fought against the British rule and sacrificed their lives. At that time there was only the issue of India's independence. Gandhi, Jinnah, Nehru, Patel, Liaquat were all one on that issue. Among those who marched with him were Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Suhrawardy, Kripalani and Ambedkar. Netaji Subhash, Lokmanya Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Azad, Bhagat Singh etc. were all speaking in one voice, 'Britishers! Quit India."

But when the British left India, apart from the horrific tales of partition, art, culture, music were all destroyed. Till then, we did not even realise the magnitude of the partition in terms of the gamut of music or the old cultural heritage, social harmony, weapons, army, administrative components etc.

However, the rest of the things will be discussed later, for the time being, about those artistic statues and amazing heritage found during the excavation, which had no remote connection with the partition of India.

In 2016, Javed Iqbal, son of Allama Iqbal and former Supreme Court judge of Pakistan, had also filed a petition in the Lahore High Court. It was demanded that the sculpture was brought for an exhibition at the National Arts Council, New Delhi, about 60 years ago. But after that the idol did not return. The dispute is over all the ancient relics that are still scattered in Harappa (Pakistan), Mohenjodaro, New Delhi, Karachi and Lahore. Along with the excavation of Rakhigarhi (district Hisar), fears of new controversies have also started to arise.

This is a bronze sculpture of the dancer which was obtained from Mohenjodaro, which is a site of the Indus Valley Civilization. It is believed to have been built around 2500 BC. Another bronze idol was obtained from a house in Mohenjodaro which is almost similar to this. A mural of the dancer has also been found on an earthen pot in Bhirdana. The height of this statue is 10.5 centimeters. It was received by Ernest Mackay in 1926 in the 'H.R. area' of Mohenjodaro. Although the statue is not in a dancing posture, it was called 'Nartaki' because its decoration suggests that its occupation would be dance. It does not have clothes on its body but has bangles up to the top in one hand.

The late Indian journalist Kuldip Nayar once met the man in London who drew the lines that divided our country into two pieces. They asked him how he felt after the tragedy of partition of India. There was a look of deep remorse on his face, a sense of shame, and he had openly admitted that the 'crime of partition' had brought him down in his own eyes. He admitted that he had not visited India even once before 1946, nor did he know anything about its geography, history, culture and social structure. He was only tasked with dividing a plot of land into two parts, but now he feels that he was made to commit a crime that could never be forgiven.

When asked if he would not like to confess his crime once in India and Pakistan, his answer was that the people there would stone him to death and would not forgive him on any condition.

This process of partition is not limited to just between two countries. Pakistan is still adamant on describing the Indus Valley Civilization as its own heritage. He has already expressed a monopoly over Harappa and Mohenjodaro. There is also apprehension that Pakistan may approach the courts on whatever is found in the excavation from Rakhigarhi or Dholavira. The two countries are also face to face in the courts over some paintings. Thankfully, Pakistan has not yet staked its claim on the legacy of Bade Ghulam Khan Sahab, nor has it accused Bismillah Khan of blasphemy. Bismillah Khan used to play the shehnai at the gate of Kashi Vishwanath. Baba Vishwanath used to wake up from rest with his tunes and his melodies.

The circumstances are opposite. In the present situation, there is no room for compassion, harmony or sensitivity between the two countries and Pakistan is legislatively, morally and socially responsible for poisoning the entire atmosphere and completely destroying cultural or social harmony. It makes my soul shudder to think that if there is an Indo-Pak war in the coming period, how will those 1500 temples, gurudwaras, including Katas Raj and Hinglaj temple, be saved from scratches?

In any case, there are many issues which are still unshared, even after 78 years. This division is not even possible. There is a need to reduce tension, to eliminate terrorist elements, to build common bridges. Otherwise, the coming days are not good for Pakistan.