Radcliffe’s partition turned a bane to J&K, Punjab

There was this story of two very good friends who played chess every day. They looked forward to the daily rounds of the game, after coming back from school. The Chess game set was gifted to them by a foreigner passing by their village. One fine morning a fight broke out in the village between two communities. The two friends belonged to the two different communities; and it was decided that one of the communities would be shifted to a separate neighboring village. The village head decided that one of the two friends would retain the Chess board and the other, the Chessmen. He did not have the faintest idea what this game was all about. The two friends protested and cried… but in vain. The headman’s order was cast in stone…and the two friends became the worst of enemies; trying to snatch away the other part of the game, so as to make their set complete.

This story reminds me of Sir Cyril Radcliffe, the headman, with no idea whatsoever of the landmass he was to divide… neither any experience in cartography, surveying, or the complex process of drawing international boundaries. As a matter of fact, he had never visited India before this. So many Chessboards, Chessmen and friends were separated indiscriminately, converting into sworn enemies.

As I sat thinking of the genesis of what happened in Pahalgam in J&K; and before that the innumerable bleeding wounds being painfully suffered by the two bordering states (Punjab and J&K); I, as a novice, feel that we should be having a more robust and sustainable security and support framework for these two beleaguered land masses. A more responsible and strategic leadership focusing on alleviating the trauma and disputes created by Radcliffe’s senseless doodles, leading to the macabre partition and an endless boil in relationship between the now two nuclear powers.

A firm, albeit diplomatic hand is the call for the day. History is the guiding flashlight showing the way to a reality check… and the reality is that we have been wrongfully torn apart with painful edges on both sides, which might take ages to heal… or may remain as they were.

Our country has done well despite a rough Independence. We have an inclusive Constitution which continues to bind us together as one nation, despite our diversities…and so many more successes to our name…including being the fourth in terms of military power, according to the Global Firepower Index. I personally feel that with proper positioning; and repeated destructive warnings of cross border terrorism, we should have already had a more focused permanency in place to frustrate designs of snatching away our chessboard.

Tavleen Singh, in her very well written piece, ‘We are already at war’ (Indian Express, Fifth Column…Sunday, 4th May 2025), has clearly stated that we are already at war…the two neighboring nuclear powered nations… hence Pahalgam should not have happened so comfortably… with the perpetrators walking out of our radars with so much of confidence.

Radcliffe presented us with a traumatic Independence…which is so well recorded in history. We need to rewind from now to August 15, 1947; and create a focus on what should be a sustainable approach, which includes retribution… both showcasing of effective military strength and SOPs leading to de-escalation; and creation of an effective diplomatic web asphyxiating desires of any such future efforts.

Parallel to a priority focus on these two beleaguered States, our leaders, both at the Center and State levels, should realize that the people of these states have been suffering far more than what we can perceive. Hence, we must have a grassroots level engagement process, wherein citizens of these states have the establishment’s direct ears, with a TAT (Turn Around Time) based closure of issues; and it should be an agency, which is not our Army or the Police (the people of these two States have become suspect to their approach). This focused agency should have the people on one side and the various other Central and State agencies on the other. This grassroots agency’s remit is to resolve grievances of the people of the State-their real customers. These kind of SOPs help in gaining citizens’ confidence, which goes a long way in weeding out the rot within.

Drugs, as well as suspicious activities can be turned in, making our Intelligence setup that much more hands-on. Since it is the locals within which terror hides…and dark activities spread. This time the local people’s response to the dastardly Pahalgam act has been far more heartening…as also the State leadership response. This will go a long way, where measures beneficial to the country, takes primacy over political opportunism and jingoism.

I am sure our experienced leadership and bureaucracy are definitely going to lay out a proper sustainable approach going forward. Punjab and J&K are too critical for us to be caught sleeping.