Baby Chakraborty, KalimNews, January 3, 2025, Kolkata : Union Home Minister Amit Shah has made a significant statement regarding the renaming of cities and districts, suggesting that Kashmir could be renamed to “Kashyap.” Speaking at the launch of the book Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh through the Ages in New Delhi, Shah criticized the distortion of Kashmir’s historical identity. He claimed that the name “Kashmir” had been “distorted” over time and referred to an ancient text, an 8,000-year-old book that mentions both Kashmir and Jhelum, asserting that “who can say whose Kashmir?”
Shah emphasized Kashmir’s unwavering connection to India, stating that it has always been an integral part of the nation. He argued that history should not be written to please any political regime, referencing the colonial period and the post-independence era when history was often shaped to suit the rulers of the time. “History is not written sitting in Lutyens’ Delhi. The time for writing history to please the rulers is over,” he remarked.
The Home Minister also appealed to historians, urging them to write India’s history based on evidence, not political convenience. He pointed out that for centuries, history was written with the intention of pleasing those in power, but now it was time to “break free” from that tradition. He urged historians to document India’s rich and diverse history, particularly the significance of Kashmir’s culture and its contribution to the Indian subcontinent.
Shah highlighted Kashmir’s profound cultural and spiritual ties with India, citing the destruction of temples in Ladakh, the mistakes made in Kashmir after independence, and the subsequent corrections that followed. He also referenced important landmarks like Shankaracharya’s mention of the Silk Route and the Hemis Math to prove that Kashmir has long been a cornerstone of India’s cultural foundation. He further noted that Sufi, Buddhist, and Shaivite monasteries had all flourished in Kashmir, emphasizing the region’s central role in the history of Indian civilization.
The Home Minister stressed that India’s 10,000-year-old culture is present in every part of the country, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Gandhara to Odisha, and Bengal to Assam. He argued that those who view the country solely through a geopolitical lens fail to grasp the deeper cultural and historical ties that bind the nation together.
Shah’s comments on renaming Kashmir to Kashyap and his call for a more fact-based historical narrative have ignited a renewed debate on the region’s identity and the interpretation of India’s past.