Shaista Fatima/ New Delhi

"Jai Hind is my idea of the new India", said General (Ex) Zameeruddin Shah, former Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), at the India Today conclave here on Friday. 

He said that "Jai Hind" is a greeting adopted by the armed forces that have no caste, colour, creed, or religion. "It (Army) only has country and that for him is the appropriate term for defining the kaleidoscopic vision of India India."

He described India as inclusive, diverse, equitable, and affirmative. 

He said, "affirmative action has long been displaced by appeasement, which has several pot lines. Affirmative action is when you pull up somebody, appeasement is when you expect something in return. So, If the appeasement of the minority is incorrect can the appeasement of the majority be condoned".

He said that since his family follows the Sufi order of Islam they were often frowned upon by the Muslim community but, "during my term with the Indian army I never faced any communalism, I have never been affected by communalism and I am proud of it as well".

"Unity in diversity is a core value of forces," says former Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen (Retd) Zameer Uddin Shah.@zoomshah #IndiaTodayConcalve #Conclave23 pic.twitter.com/AGbsznHHNx

— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) March 17, 2023

He raised concern about the implications of social media in which people can remain anonymous and enjoy a sense of freedom and misuse it. "Social media both fake and otherwise has fanged the winds of suspicion and discrimination, but just like a gust of wind cannot uproot a strong, grounded bamboo tree, similarly, Indian roots just like the bamboo tree are firm, strong, and flexible and they hold their loyalty to the constitution and it derives its culture from it."

Referring to the external attacks on India, he said, "We have witnessed when mechanisms are thrust upon our country, the list is endless, we’ll be pushed and pulled. We are a work in progress. The unity in diversity."

He said that the world has seen Muslims killing Muslims and, "as a responsible nation, India had to intervene which eventually led to 1971 (war) and till date, the historians call it the only just war." He was speaking about the treatment of Pakistan prisoners of war in India which was done strictly under the Geneva Convention.

Smriti Irani, Shashi Tharoor, Aatishi, General Zameeruddin Shah

He says that India has always been pushed and pulled into the world order. "We are a work in progress, our very strength is the unity in diversity, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, and Parsis are the fingers of the hand and just like if a finger gets hurt the hand gets affected. Similarly, the harm done to one community affects the whole nation."

He said, "the world awaits the music of India, the world is one."