By Justice Markandey Katju
When I was a Judge in Allahabad High Court ( 1991-2004 ) I heard dozens of cases of Pakistanis who had come to India who on a short term ( usually one month ) visa, and were served deportation orders for deporting them to Pakistan, when their visas expired but they did not go back. They filed writ petitions against these orders, which came up before me. In all such cases I passed this order “ Until further orders the petitioner will not be deported from India “.
These Pakistanis were old people who had migrated from UP in India to Pakistan after Partition of 1947. When they migrated they were young people, who left India either because of religious feelings, or because of a sense of insecurity. They had left behind many relatives and friends in India, and now that they were old and passions had subsided they wanted to spend the evening of their lives in the place they had grown up in, and with their relatives and friends in India. The graves of their forefathers were here, and they wanted to be buried next to these graves when they died.
In view of the hostile relations between India and Pakistan it is difficult for Pakistanis to get an Indian visa ( after the recent Indo-Pak hostilities they have been stopped altogether ). And even when granted, it was usually for a very short term of about one month, and with all kinds of restrictions e.g. that one can visit only one city, report to the nearest police station every week, etc.
So these petitioners who appeared before me had come on one month visas for visiting some city in UP like Allahabad, Kanpur, Agra, Benares, etc. When that one month period was over, and still they did not leave, they were served deportation orders, which they challenged.
As I mentioned above, I stayed all such deportation notices till further orders.
Now the Allahabad High Court has a heavy pendency of cases ( about 10 lacs or 1 million ). Consequently, a case heard on a certain day usually comes up for the next hearing after 4-5 years. So the result of my orders in these cases was that by judicial orders I converted one month visas into 4-5 years visas. Why did I do this ? Now that the matter is old I can reveal the real reason.
I regard, and have always regarded, India and Pakistan as one country. I regard Partition of 1947 as a a British swindle, and I believe that one day Pakistan will reunite with India, from which it has only been temporarily and artificially separated. We share the same culture, look like each other, and were one since Mughal times.
So I regard all Pakistanis as Indians. And therefore I regarded these petitioners as Indians. So how can an Indian be deported from India ?
Of course I did not say this in my orders, but this was the real reason.
The great Urdu poet Munawwar Rana has written a long poem called ‘Muhajirnama’ about the anguish and nostalgia of many muhajirs who had migrated from India to Pakistan at the time of partition, and who remember the land where they were born and grew up. In particular, I remember the lines in that poem relating to my home town Allahabad ( where I lived for 58 out of my 77 years ) :
“ Gale milti hui nadiyaan, gale milte hue mausam
Allahabad ka kaisa nazaara chhod aaye hain
Kal ek amrood waale se kehna pad gaya mujhko
Jahaan se aaye hain is phal ki bagiya chhod aaye hain
Kuch der tak to woh takta raha mujhe, phir bola
Woh sangam ka ilaaqa chhut gaya, ya chhod aaye hain ?
Abhi hum sonch mein gum the ki usse kya kaha jaaye
Hamaare aansuon ne raaz khola chhod aaye hain “
I also remember the lines relating to Lucknow, where I was born :
“ Moharram mein hamaara Lucknow Iran lagta tha
Madad maula Husainabad rota chhod aaye hain “
Or these lines :
“ Bhateejee ab saleeqe se dupatta odhti hogi
Wahi jisko jhoole mein humakta chhod aaye hain “
It must have been these feelings which made these petitioners stay over after expiry of their one month visa.
Why do I say that India and Pakistan ( and Bangladesh ) are really one country ? Because we share the same culture. Why do I say that we share the same culture ?
Because culture is largely based on language, not on religion. In large parts of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh a common language Hindustani ( called Hindi in India, and Urdu in Pakistan ) is spoken, if not as a first language then as a second language. That is what unites us. I speak to many Pakistani friends on whatsapp in Hindustani.
We were one for 500 years since the time of the great Mughal Emperor Akbar, whom I call the real Father of the Indian subcontinent, not Gandhi and Jinnah, who were really British agents
What is Pakistan ? It is Punjab, Sind, Balochistan and KP. These were all part of India since the time of Moghul Emperor Akbar.
Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis living abroad socialise and intermingle as if no Partition ever took place,
Partition in 1947 was a British swindle, based on the bogus two nation theory, using Gandhi and Jinnah as their main agents. It was the biggest tragedy of India in our 5000 year old known history.
It is high time Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis know the truth. Unless we reunite we will never be able transform our subcontinent into a modern industrial giant ( for which we have all the potential with our huge pool of bright engineers, scientists and immense natural resources ), which transformation alone can abolish the curses which have plagued us for centuries–massive poverty, massive unemployment, appalling level of child malnutrition ( every second child in our subcontinent is malnourished, according to Global Hunger Index ), almost total lack of proper healthcare and good education for ourmasses, etc but will waste our precious resources in hostility with each other.
Of late, a great change has come about in the mindsets of a large number of Pakistanis. Let me explain.
I am a well wisher of Pakistanis, and want them to have decent and prosperous lives. I have often said that 95% Pakistanis are good people, just as 95% Indians are good people, 95% Hindus are good people, just as 95% Muslims are good people.
At the same time, I have consistently and repeatedly said that Partition of 1947 was a British swindle on the basis of the bogus two nation theory, and its purpose was to keep our people backward and semi-feudal, so that united India does not emerge as a modern industrial giant, like China ( for which it has all the potential ) and thus become a big rival to Western industry. I regard Pakistan ( and Bangladesh ) as part of India, with which it will inevitably reunite one day under a secular government, though that will take time.
Earlier when I used to say this, almost every Pakistani would respond by hurling the choicest abuses, invectives, vituperations, fulmination, and insults on me.
Today that is no longer so. I now see a sea change among a large number of Pakistanis, who do not feel offended when I say this. I talk with a lot of Pakistanis on whatsapp, and many now agree with me. How has this metamorphosis come about ?
I attribute it to three reasons.
(1) Truth has great power ( satya mein badi shakti hoti hai ). As Victor Hugo said ” There is one thing more powerful than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come ”. The idea that India and Pakistan ( and Bangladesh ) are really one nation and are bound to reunite one day under a secular government, is an idea whose time has come.
When I first mooted the idea of reunification, many people scoffed at me, and said I was day dreaming. But the same was said of Mazzini when he put forward the idea of Italian unification ( Risorgimento ) something which was later achieved by Garibaldi and Cavour in 1861. German unification was achieved under Bismarck in 1871.
Some people object that much water has flown after 1947, and hence reunification of India now is not feasible. But German reunification was achieved in 1990 after a separation of 45 years. Vietnam was reunited in 1975 after 30 years. China has still not given up its claim over Taiwan.
Others object that there is too much religious fanaticism, and so we cannot unite. But as I have pointed out in my article “The Truth about Pakistan” ( see online ), there was no communal fanaticism or bigotry before 1857 ( see also online ‘History in the service of Imperialism’ by BN Pande ). Before 1857 Hindus and Muslims used to live amicably like brothers and sisters, help each other, and participate in each others festivals. It was only after 1857 that the seeds of communalism were artificially injected into our body politic by the British policy of divide and rule, which led to Partition. So communalism is an artificially-created phenomenon, and can easily be suppressed by a strong secular government.
Of course, reunification will not be achieved easily or immediately. It will take time, maybe 15-20 years. The Western powers who divided us will not allow us to reunite easily, for they do not want another modern industrial giant like China as an industrial rival (one China has created enough headaches for them). But reunite we must if we wish to escape from poverty, hunger, etc.
The main problems of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are the same — massive poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, lack of healthcare and good education, etc. If we reunite, we can pool in our resources and overcome these problems in 15-20 years. We can save much of the billions of dollars we spend annually on purchasing arms abroad, and use it for our people’s welfare.
We were befooled by the British into thinking we are enemies, but how much longer must we remain befooled? How much longer must blood flow between us ?
After reunification, which in my opinion is bound to happen since we are really one nation, we must rapidly industrialise on a gigantic scale. That alone can solve our country’s huge socio-economic problems, and give our people a high standard of living and decent lives.
As stated above, when I expressed the above ideas many years ago, many people ( both in India and Pakistan ) ridiculed me and sneered and jeered at me, saying that I was the only one in the world holding such views. I replied that they should examine whether my ideas are correct or not, and not go by the fact that no one till now has ever expressed them. It often happens that one man alone is correct, and the rest of the world is wrong.
I gave the example of Copernicus who in 1543 said that it is the earth which goes around the sun ( the heliocentric theory ) and not the sun which goes around the earth ( the geocentric theory ) of the Bible and the ancient Greek thinker Ptolemy ) which was believed by the whole world at that time. Today everyone agrees with Copernicus.
If there were no new ideas in the world there would be no progress. So the charge against me that I express novel ideas is specious
(2) Abraham Lincoln said ” You can fool some people all the time, and all people for some time, but you cannot fool all people all the time ”. We have been fooled enough for too long a time
(3) Historical experience shows that wisdom dawns on most people only when life becomes unbearable to them in the prevailing situation.
Life for most Indians and Pakistanis has become unbearable because of the terrible socio-economic conditions now prevailing, with massive unemployment, skyrocketing prices of food and other essential commodities, highly inflated electricity bills, water shortage, etc. Without this situation, truth would never have dawned on Indians and Pakistanis.
A great change has now come about in Pakistan. Pakistanis, who were earlier hostile to me, and pooh poohed and ridiculed my idea of Indian reunification, now realise I am their well wisher, and stand for the truth. I want them to have good lives, but they will never have them until and unless we undo the fraudulent Partition, and reunite under a secular government led by modern minded leaders determined to rapidly industrialize the country and raise the standard of living of the people, and give them decent lives.
We have been befooled for 78 years since 1947. For how much longer must we remain befooled ? It is high time now to reunite.
Some people ask what will be the practical steps for Indian reunification ? My answer is : presently we have only to spread the idea that we must reunite, and for that I have created an organization called the Indian Reunification Association or IRA ( see online ). Later, when the idea of reunification is widespread ( as it is bound to be, since it is based on truth ), people will use their creativity and find out ways and means of peaceful and voluntary reunification.
Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge of Indian Supreme Court
6 August 2025
Source: countercurrents.org