EXPLORING THE IDEA OF AN ‘AKHAND BHARAT’

 

“The lure of an ‘Akhand Bharat’ from the distant pre-historic past is shrouded in the mists of time that swirl around the early spoken history of the land itself. As with the origin of the Gods, the idea of an ‘Akhand Bharat’ would appear as nebulous or as compelling as the strength of the belief in the idea per se.”

– Col RS Sidhu

Backdrop

Influence of the irridentist ideologues of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is powering an increasingly assertive right wing nationalism within India. The perceptive distancing by India’s governing leadership from the hitherto dominant political dictum of, ‘Ahimsa parmo dharam’ (non-violence is the principal religion), while promoting its contrair precept of ‘Veer bhogya Vasundhara’ (the brave shall enjoy the earth), should be seen as the first subtle indicator of the winds of change sweeping the political terrain in the country. A more definitive pointer is the intermittent, but public exploring of the as yet indeterminate vision of an ‘Akhand Bharat’.   

The policy pronouncements by India’s governing leadership mimic this popular view while vowing to reunite POJK and Aksai Chin with India, and the definitive goal to make India the second largest economy in the world by middle of the 21^st Century CE, backed by a revitalised and reorganised military competent to safeguard its economic aspirations.

As the third decade of the 21^st Century CE commences, and seven decades post-independence, a resurgent India is articulating its geopolitical aspirations to take its rightful place in the world forums. India showcases its right to be recognised on the world stage based on its demographic strength, strong economic fundamentals, rich and diverse cultural heritage, and reasonably hard military power. In short, its Comprehensive National Power (CNP) comparative to most of the great powers of the world. 

However, India’s march to regain its due place in the world comity of nations is blocked by the pre-requisite to counter the dominating shadow of China. India’s governing leadership looks to its pre-historic past as the way out to gain the requisite geopolitical mass necessary to break through the stranglehold of China.

Rise of the Enigma of An ‘Akhand Bharat’

It’s difficult for reasoning to succeed over faith, as is evidenced by the enigma of an ‘Akhand Bharat’, an entity that is non-existent in recorded history, but yet exercises a strong and emotive appeal in the ancient lore of the land of Bharat. Belief in centrality of own civilisation, especially at its apex, is a common factor to all flourishing cultures and societies. But there is a uniqueness at the way the civilisation in the land of Bharat looks at itself.

It lies in its quest to look towards the stars in the ‘Brahmand’ (Universe), showcased by its belief that the lineage of every human in the land of Bharat is descended from one of the seven Maharishis personified by the ‘Saptrishis’ (Ursa Major or the Great Bear) constellation. While civilisations the world over, across broad scales of times and expanse of land, are steeped in legends of ‘visitors’ or ‘Gods’ descending upon earth, in the land of Bharat, the ‘Gods’ are assigned specific planets in specific constellations and galaxies. Even the myths and legends of this civilisation are compelling, in most cases being precisely recorded as per the then planetary and star alignments that have withstood the demanding scrutiny of modern day astronomical science.

The lore of the ‘Shaktipeeths’ (the feminine energy power centres) is equally unique when attempting to identify the expanse of the ancient Bharat. The geographical spread of these 51 ‘Shaktipeeths’ is over seven present day countries and 19 states/UTs within India. The Northern most of these Shaktipeeths is Manas near Mount Kailash in Tibet, the Eastern most is in Yunan province in China, Southern most is Shankari temple in Trincomalee (Sri Lanka), and the Western most is Hinglaj Mata Temple in Pakistan. 12 of the 51 Shaktipeeths are located in six countries other than in India - Pakistan (1), Tibet (1) currently under Chinese rule, Nepal (3), China (1), Bangladesh (5), and Sri Lanka (1). While not a clinching evidence in proving the expanse of ancient land of Bharat, the legend does point to the extent of influence exercised by the civilisation of Bharat even in pre-historic times.

Constitutional Support To The Idea Of An ‘Akhand Bharat’

The idea of an ‘Akhand Bharat’ had first been articulated by irridentist politico-religious ideologues in the run up to the freedom struggle from British rule in the 19^th and 20^th Century CE, with Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, one such prominent public figure of the time, defining Akhand Bharat as "from Kashmir to Rameswaram, from Sindh to Assam”.

Interestingly, closer to the current times, the Constitution of India also obliquely underpins the idea of an ‘Akhand Bharat’. The leanings of the varied and learned founding fathers of the Indian constitution may be surmised from the way the name and territory of India has been qualified, excerpt as under

“PART I

THE UNION AND ITS TERRITORY

1.(1) India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.

1 [(2) The States and the territories thereof shall be as specified in the First Schedule.]

(3) The territory of India shall comprise—

(a) the territories of the States;

[(b) the Union territories specified in the First Schedule; and]

(c) such other territories as may be acquired…”

To the discerning mind, the Para 1 (1) read in conjunction with Para 1(3) (c) showcases the belief of an earlier existent Bharat, conjointly with the desire to see an expanded India, an 'Akhand Bharat' ! The embellishment of the Constitution of India with image illustrations from the civilisational past of the land from Ramayan, Mahabharat, and Vedic times, also records for posterity a latent faith in, and embracing, the glorious pre-historic past of the land of Bharat.

Articulating The Contours Of ‘Akhand Bharat’

India and China are on a natural collusion path for geopolitical eminence on the world stage, a theme understood and factored by China’s leadership into its dealings with the former since the two gained independence from colonial rule in the 1940’s in a simultaneous timeframe. Whereas India’s leadership is still struggling to comprehend this nuance which is central to the adversarial relationship between the two nations. The geopolitical and economic mass that China has gained in this interregnum, actively aided and abetted in the initial stages by the naivete of India’s then leadership, looms large over India’s path to world geopolitical stature. India therefore needs to add the requisite mass to achieve success in its geopolitical ambitions.

India’s relationship with the West, termed as natural allies by the idealists, is a mere ideological dogma unsupported by the harsh facts of realpolitik. The West has gained geopolitical dominance on riches expropriated by it during its nearly two centuries of colonial exploitation of the countries in Asia and Africa.  Now with two Asian countries vying for a seat in the sun in world forums, the West bloc is unlikely to voluntarily relinquish its privileges and be an uninterested bystander.

Another factor that complicates the envisioned path of an ‘Akhand Bharat’ is the incongruity of aligning the aspirations of its ideologues with the geopolitical divisions in its near abroad. The more hardcore ideologues of an ‘Akhand Bharat’ illustrate as one entity a geographical mass twice the current size of sovereign India, from Afghanistan in the West to Myanmar in the East, and from Tibet in the North to the near island territories of the Indian Ocean to the South. It’s unrealistic to expect that these sovereign countries, some of whom are in mutually adversarial relationship, will acquiesce in forming part of a broader sovereign entity led by India, which just does not have the necessary geopolitical clout and strategic might to bring into being the desired ‘Akhand Bharat’ through force.  

The cultural and religious factors of bonding with an Indian union too has its plus and minus aspects. While there is some affinity in the home grown religions and culture, the Abrahamic religions and culture have an established presence in the region, which cannot be wished away.

Demographically speaking India sets to emerge as the most populous nation by the middle of 2023. Its for the Indian state to either leverage this as an exponential advantage to further its reach into the established foreign economic markets or let it become a demographic millstone that tears its own economy asunder. Currently two major factors are preventing it from fully leveraging the current demographic dividend. The first is the substantial presence of fundamentalist forces of foreign origin as a strong divisive factor in India’s demographic profile. The other is the weak penetration of women in the productive economy. These aspects merit strong remedial action by the state while ensuring that all sections of the citizens are carried along for the economic upliftment. These are also steps which are likely to be closely monitored by India’s near abroad and perhaps influence the affected regions in their viewpoint to merge with an ‘Akhand Bharat’.

That leaves achieving a broad but seamless economic union as the best first step to an ‘Akhand Bharat’ in an acceptable timeframe. Mutual economic upliftment is after all the best known bond.

The Way Forward

At the present there is a lack of ideological clarity, at least in the public domain, on the political shape and character of this ‘Akhand Bharat’. But achieving it in a realistic timeframe would need…

Visionary ideologues, who are able to articulate this vision without arousing the deep rooted psychological apprehensions of existing cultures, religions, languages, and customs being subsumed into a monolithic whole.

A responsive and pluralistic governance structure conducive to industrial enterprise and trade, with a responsive policing structure that enforces compliance to enacted laws, a just and speedy judicial system that upholds the majesty of the law even to the mightiest in the land, and a robust revenue system that instils confidence in the industry to engage in trade and enterprise.

All backed by a professionally led military, capable of exerting national will in pursuit of national interests in near abroad.

But more than anything else it needs a change in the existing timid mindsets of those part of the deep state of India. India’s path to an ‘Akhand Bharat’ shall be marked with supreme sacrifices by its warriors who, if confined to the dustbin of state apathy, shall compromise its national resolve in critical times.

An even more important factor is the lack of political consensus within the domestic polity in India on the adoption of the ideology of ‘Akhand Bharat’. In fact, it is a deeply contested territory. At some point of time the current phase of a deeply divided society rife with deep fissures of all hues has to be replaced by a society with one vision and one goal.

In the very least, a seamless economic trading sphere, that looks at shared prosperity of the South Asian sub-continent, is critical to the realisation of this ideological vision. It also needs no gains saying that an economically expansionist India is bound to invite hostility from the dominant geopolitical forces in its near abroad. This will mandate it to be prepared for Out of Area (OOA) military operations to secure its economic and geopolitical interests. There is a big question mark on India acquiring this capability in the foreseeable future. Perforce, the economic entities leading and gaining from India’s push to expand its access to mineral resources and economic markets should themselves be capable of securing their economic interests in territories not within effective strategic reach of India. Of necessity, the Indian state needs to take a serious look at enabling coming up of Indian ‘private military contractors’ (PMCs). The push within the country for defense and space privatisation is fortuitously coming at the right time.

But these are, ‘not before seen times’ (?!!!) for the people born on earth where, ever new scientific technological advancements are enabling practical visions of expanding its civilisation into the extra-terrestrial space. India, that is Bharat, too must aspire to expand into the stars that it has studied in the past. Towards that end, the privatisation of the ‘race to colonise extra-terrestrial space’ industry must inevitably be followed by the coming of age of its ‘PMCs’, to enable creation of supranational corporations of Bharat that colonise and safeguard the future ‘Space adjunct of Bharat’.

“Achieving ‘Akhand Bharat’ in a realistic timeframe will be more feasible through our vision rather than my vision.”  - Col RS Sidhu