- Sadhguru urged expansion of the 22 km wide Chicken Neck linking northeast India
- He called the Siliguri Corridor a 78-year-old anomaly from the 1947 Partition
- Sadhguru cited missed opportunities after the 1971 war to correct the narrow land link
The thin strip of land popularly known as "Chicken's Neck" that connects the northeast region with the rest of India should be expanded, Isha Foundation's Sadhguru said at an event.
The Chicken's Neck which is about 22 km at its widest point borders Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation that is increasingly becoming hostile towards India and Hindus.
Sadhguru called the narrow link to the northeast region a "78-year-old anomaly that Bharat failed to correct in 1971," the year India liberated Bangladesh from Pakistan's grip with a decisive military victory.
"Siliguri Corridor is a 78-year-old anomaly created by Bharat's partition, which should have been corrected in 1971. Now that there is an open threat to the nation's sovereignty, it is time to nourish the chicken and allow it to evolve into an elephant," Sadhguru said at the event in Bengaluru on Sunday.
While he did not name who is threatening India's sovereignty, the Chicken's Neck for a long time has been a big topic for military analysts due to its proximity with China and Bangladesh.
He pointed to "missed opportunities" following the 1971 Liberation War.
"Maybe in 1946-47 we didn't have the authority to do that, but in '72 we had the authority, we did not do that. Now this Chicken's Neck, that people have started talking about, it's time we nourish this Chicken's Neck… so that it evolves quickly into an elephant," he said.
He said fragility cannot be the foundation for Bharat's territorial integrity.
"Nations cannot be made by being a chicken. It has to grow into an elephant. Maybe it needs nourishment. Maybe it needs some steroids. Whatever is needed, we must do… anything that we try to do has costs, has a price to pay always," Sadhguru added.
In a global context, he said a borderless world is an aspiration, but it cannot be imposed prematurely.
"It would have been wonderful if there were no nations in the world, no borders in the world… but we are still at that level of existence. Suddenly we cannot imagine tomorrow we're going to embrace everybody and live wonderfully. That is foolish thinking right now."
Sadhguru has on multiple occasions in the past spoken publicly about the developments in Bangladesh, particularly raising concerns over repeated incidents of violence against Hindu minorities and the destruction of temples.
As an alternative to any vulnerability in the Chicken's Neck, India has been developing the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project that goes from West Bengal's Kolkata to Mizoram's Aizawl via Myanmar. However, the instability in Myanmar means slow progress due to non-state armed actors running the show in areas where the junta is weak.
Many research reports have alleged some of these armed groups have been using their location advantage as a leverage to advance their ethnocentric agenda.
