Thread by @shrikanth_krish

I have always been very sceptical of "Akhand Bharat" as an idea

Jinnah's two-nation theory seemed sounder

But if Modi can pull off abrogation of 370/35A, without disturbing peace in medium term - that's a successful small-scale "miniature" experiment of Akhand Bharat

I am sceptical. Though I appreciate the intent.

To my mind there are two Indian civilizations. A Hindu one and a Muslim one. Which is what necessitated the partition (rightly in my view)

But if strong leadership can prove me wrong in Kashmir there is a message there

Can India integrate Kashmir - a Muslim majority region wholly, without any complication.

To the extent that Kashmir becomes just as much a part of Indian civilization and the Indian state as say Karnataka or UP or Orissa, that's a big deal

It shows that notwithstanding all the turmoil in the subcontinent since the Ummayyad conquest of Sindh under Mohammad Ibn Qasim, the Hindu and the Muslim can co-exist.

Not just uneasily as minorities. But in a more sustainable way

Ofcourse this doesn't mean - Akhand Bharat by any means becomes a political possibility

But it will be a miniature test of the idea. An idea that was rejected based on intuitive grounds by all Congressmen in 1947 - both right wing and left wing Congressmen alike

While I see a lot of commentary on H-twitter on 370/35A, I haven't seen people position it explicitly as a "lab experiment" for Akhand Bharat as a concept (though not as something that can be implemented even in the medium term)

Worth exploring this line at least intellectually

In geopolitical terms, if this is pulled off, it is something as momentous in my view, as Thomas Jefferson's gamble of "Louisiana Purchase" in 1803

An executive decision that almost doubled the size of US

The Louisiana Purchase was hotly debated in 1803

The Federalists (Jefferson's politial opponents) opposed it

Many thought Jefferson was hypocritical in agreeing to the purchase, as it was contrary to the perception of Jefferson as a strict constitutionalist and a small govt guy

Post the purchase, United States ceased to be a medium sized country on the eastern seaboard - largely White Anglo Saxon Protestant.

Instead the purchase turned US into an "empire" - a continental power that encompassed cultures and ethnicities very remote from the WASP core

Ofcourse it was a huge gamble. But it paid off

The states that acceded to the Union are now just as American as New York or Pennsylvania or Massacchusetts - the cultural "core" of 18th century Anglo Saxon America

So the Indian Kashmir gamble is definitely on a much smaller scale than that.

Having said that it is still a big deal as Modi operates in a democratic set-up and a greatly constrained international order, unlike Jefferson who enjoyed great freedom and latitude

But in its own little way, it is an attempt to demonstrate that India as a "nation state" can encompass populations that are almost entirely non Hindu, and yet remain peaceful

If it's pulled off successfully, it will go down as Modi's own little Jeffersonian moment