Her: Reclaiming Sindhu

[Nadeem Jamali <jamali@CS.UIUC.EDU>]

An article about the recently organized Sindhu Darshan Yatra...

RECLAIMING INDUS FOR THE NATION

By Chandan Mitra in Leh
The Pioneer
Friday, July 30, 1998

If the snowy sentinels that keep a benign watch over
the playful Indus here could get goose pimples, they
would have on Wednesday. Organised, congregational
worship of a river is an unusual phenomenon; barring
the evening aarti at Hardwar this does not happen
anywhere else.

But when it does, that too in the spectacular physical
backdrop of sharp, ragged, barren, snow-topped
mountains and the emotional environ of the Kargil
conflict, the symbolic significance of the worship
acquires an altogether new and powerful dimension.

Away from the venue of the cultural events on a vast,
undulating plain, a platform had been erected into the
river on stilts for the worship. Since morning, three
Buddhist monks in typical Ladakhi gear were perched
atop, prayer wheels in hand, chanting inaudibly. The
BJP Rajya Sabha MP and renowned Sanskritist Vishnukant
Shastri was at hand with the traditional platter of
paddy, sandal paste and diya. It is he who eventually
performed the puja itself, while the lamas continued
their chant, periodically gathering waster from the
river in their trumpets and offering it to the lead
worshippers.

The three celebrity worshippers represented,
coincidentally perhaps, India's secular trinity. Home
Minister L K Advani, Defence Minister George Fernandes
and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah
sat huddled on the main platform, their feet caressed
by the edges of the fast-flowing Indus. Ladakhis are
generally not given to exuberance, but there was
something infectious about the enthusiasm of the crowd,
comprising hundreds of soldiers, para-military forces
(mainly ITBP jawans), the civilian administration and
their families decked up in their Sunday regalia, and a
few thousand locals in gaily coloured dresses.

Mr Advani's arrival at the venue, some 10 km from Leh
town, caused all hell to break loose. A small Sindhi
contingent kept up the voluble chant of "Ayo Lal, Jhule
Lal", amid other traditional cries of "Vande Mataram"
and "Bharat Mata ki Jai". In the background artistes of
AIR's song and drama division performed "Damadam mast
kalandar". Danseuse Sonal Mansingh, who wears her
indefatigable energy on her blouse, promptly broke into
an impromptu jig, dragging other prominent participants
into the act.

In terms of being an "event", the annual Sindhu Darshan
Yatra is not spectacular. There is no religious
significance of the function, and the formal puja of
the river is a brief, almost perfunctory, affair. But
the symbolic importance that Mr Advani has vested in it
is truly impressive.

Five years ago, on a routine visit here he was unable
to get a room in the Circuit House since then Governor
Krishna Rao was visiting Leh at the same time. Mr
Advani and Panchjanya editor Tarun Vijay, the moving
force behind the Sindhu Darshan concept, were
accommodated in another Government Guest House which
overlooked a river. When Mr Advani discovered next
morning that the river was none other than the Indus,
he hit upon the idea of an annual festival to promote
national integration and popularise the fact that the
Indus -- from which India, the Hindus and even his home
province of Sindh derive their name -- flows
through a part of India. Since most people outside
Ladakh are unaware of this reality, Indus is assumed to
be a "Pakistani" river.

Thus began the Sindhu Darshan Yatra four years ago.
Over time, the cultural shows have got bigger, drawing
more and more people to the event. This year, apart
from Sonal Mansingh and singer Anup Jalota, cricketer
Kirti Azad was here to entertain the locals. A group of
motorcyclists, who had driven from Surat to Kargil
express solidarity with the jawans there, also landed
up to seek the Sindhu's blessings.

All in all, both the morning show on the river bank and
the evening cultural soiree at the Polo Ground were
impressive functions, the evening event drawing a huge
crowd throwing security into total turmoil. With Leh
getting electricity for just four hours every alternate
day, lights kept flickering off intermittently throught
the evening performances as generators were unable to
cope with the load.

Perhaps the greatest enthusiast for the event is Dr
Farooq Abdullah, despite its unmistakable Hindutva
orientation. He insists this is a national, cultural
function, devoid of any religious or denominational
overtone. That several Buddhist and Muslim
organisations of Ladakh take part in it, no doubt,
lends the annual Sindhu Darshan a syncretic character.
Dr Abdullah's flamboyance also helps detract from any
religious exclusivism that might have otherwise
attached to the event.

Not only did he make a fiery speech as usual (his
Hindi, by the way, is getting progressively
Sanskritised), but earlier, on the river bank, he was
the most ardent pujari. In his ardour, he virtually
caused an accident while vigorously passing the aarti
platter with the burning diya to Mr Advani's daughter,
Pratibha.

Later, he was the only political leader to join the
chorus rendering a full-throated Vande Mataram set to a
martial tune, complete with high-power synthesiers
doling out a vibrant beat. He may not have known the
words of the controversial third stanza, "Twam hi Durga
Dasapraharadharini" or the Bengali interlude "Tomar
pratima godi mandire-mandire" (I erect your idols in
temple after temple), but Dr Abdullah betrayed no sign
of unease.

Concluding his robust, nationalistic speech, he raised
both fists to bellow "Bharat Mata ki Jai". For those
who have not kept track of his political meanderings,
this must appear quite a turnaround. But it provided a
fitting finale to the Sindhu Darshan, conducted amid
pictures of Captain Haneefuddin, Wing Commander Ajay
Ahuja and martyred jawans of Ladakh Scouts.

Incidentally, moved by the enthusiasm of the locals and
huge presence of uniformed men, George Fernandes even
promised a Ladakh Regiment soon, in response to Hill
Council Chief Thubstan's plea.

End of The Pioneer article