'Every major city in India must have a street named after Kashmir'

BENGALURU: 'Sadhguru' Jaggi Vasudev on Monday said that there must be a street, circle or a square named after Kashmir in every major city across the country.

"Everyone in India must know what happened to Kashmiri Pandits," he stressed. He made these statements while addressing the Kashmiri Pandit community at the Global Kashmiri Pandit Conclave on Monday, the official statement from Sadhguru-founded Isha Foundation said.

"We need to capture the narrative. I've been thinking of solutions, I've spoken to various aspects of the government regarding this but any solution you think of is being beaten down by somebody because they have the narrative in the world. I think shifting the narrative is very important," said Sadhguru on Saturday, describing the solutions for the plight of the Kashmiri Pandits.

The conclave was organised by Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora (GKPD)- a Kashmiri Pandit civil society movement on Saturday. The initiative aims to bring together all Kashmiri Pandits globally in exile on a single platform for the world to recognise the Kashmiri Pandit genocide and ethnic cleansing from Jammu and Kashmir.

Explaining ways of building the narrative, Sadhguru said, "I'm saying all across the country, you can demand from the Central government a tragedy that has unfolded in Kashmir, the injustice that has been done to the people, at least to acknowledge that. There must be in every city -- at least every major city across the country, there must be a street named after Kashmir -- a circle or a square named after Kashmir or there must be a Kashyapa mountain or a peak."

"At least in India, everybody who lives in India must know that this has happened to our people," he said. He encouraged the community to come up with small clips showcasing their plight to the world and said, "I feel you need like 10-20 minutes like ad films taking the suffering of individual families and highlighting it and melting people's hearts across the world. This is very important. We have come to a place in technology and reach where we don't need a theatre to spread the message. Just about everybody's phone, everybody's computer, it can be there."

Tweeting about his address, Sadhguru urged the youth to take on the responsibility and rewrite Kashmir's destiny. "My heart reverberates with empathy for every one of you for your immense suffering. Time to re-tell the Kashmir narrative. The youth of Kashmir must take on this responsibility and rewrite Kashmir's destiny. My best wishes & blessings are with you," Sadhguru tweeted.

"We cannot fix the past, but we can commit to ensure there is a future to celebrate. May the youth become a powerful & responsible channel in shifting the narrative & the future of #Kashmir. My support, best wishes & blessings are with you," he opined.

To ensure that Kashmiri rich cultural and spiritual identity is preserved, Sadhguru offered his support to the community to display their rich culture and history.

"If you want to come and do, let's say, one day 'Kashmir Day' in the South, we will provide you everything that you need. Present your literature, your art, music, everything, and let people come to know and also the stories. But let the stories be of the beauty and the power of Kashmiri culture, not just of the terrible things that have happened -- that also needs to be said but it's important that people vibe with you for who you are, not for just what happened, what was done by somebody else to you," he said.