Home Minister Amit Shah addresses the Vitasta Mahotsav organized by the Ministry of Culture as the chief guest in Srinagar

SRINAGAR, JUNE 23: Jhelum is the witness to the highest level of human civilization and Vitasta is a festival to show the true Kashmir to the whole world

This is the same Vitasta which has been witness to many researches in Kashmir for thousands of years, this Jhelum has seen difficult times, the stream of Vitasta has also seen blood, attacks by fanatics, many regime changes and also witnessed the horrific scourge of terrorism

After the removal of Article 370 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, peace is established in J&K, new dimensions of development are being created, institutions of higher education are being built, industries are  being set up and Panchayati Raj  has been established

Under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, Modi has given a vision to all the cultures of the country to move forward with each other through many programs like Kashi Telugu Sangamam, Tamil Saurashtra Sangamam, Kashi Tamil and Vitasta Mahotsav

Only art, culture and history can unite the country and Vitasta Mahotsav is a unique event to unite India

Culture is not made in a year or by one art and genre, culture is made by assimilation of many aspects of human life and our India is one of the very few countries where such stream of culture continuously flows, and we should be proud of this

The specialty of India is our culture of living together with everyone and this Vitasta Mahotsav is the ambassador of spreading this specialty of Kashmir to the whole of India and the world

People who have seen the last 30 -40 years of history of Kashmir, find it a disputed and disturbed region, it is the nature of Kashmir to move forward like an immortal flame despite having many issues

More than 40,000 people were killed by terrorism in Kashmir a few years ago, the same Kashmir is moving forward today by assimilating arts through Vitasta Mahotsav

Hatred towards anyone has not been the history of Kashmir, Kashmir has accepted everyone who comes. Like a playing, jumping and flowing river, the culture of Kashmir always moved ahead and never looked back

Unless we do not use our culture and art in the endeavour of connecting the country, we will not be able to use this unprecedented power of for the benefit of the country