Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman quoted a Kashmiri poet’s couplet in her Budget 2020 speech.

In keeping with tradition, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recited poetry — this time, a verse in Kashmiri — as she presented the Budget 2020 in Parliament Saturday. The verse in Kashmiri was significant given that the government in August last year revoked the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution.

The verse was from a poem by renowned Kashmiri poet Dinanath Kaul Nadim, a Sahitya Akademy award winner, from his famous work “Myon Vatan” (My Motherland). Born in Srinagar in 1916, Nadim has written poems in Urdu, Hindi, English and Kashmiri. Nadim who died in 1988 was at the centre of Kashmir’s progressive movement, especially in the 1930s, 40s and 50s.

“Humara watan khilte hue Shalimar bagh jaise, humara watan Dal Lake mein khilte hue kamal jaisa, nau jawanon ke garam khoon jaisa, mera watan tera watan, humara watan, duniya ka sabse pyara watan.. (Our nation is like Shalimar Bagh, our nation is like the lotus in the Dal Lake, our nation is like the energy of the youth, my nation your nation, our nation, the most adorable nation in the world,” she recited as she translated the poem.

As she was reciting the verse, there were shouts of ‘Farooq Abdullah’ from an MP from the Opposition benches. National Conference president and Srinagar MP Abdullah is in detention since August 2019. His son Omar Abdullah and Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti are also in detention.

Pandit Dinanath Kaul Nadim. (Source: ikashmir.net)

This is not the first time Sithraman quoted poetry while announcing the budget. In 2019, she had made references to Chanakya Niti Sutra— “Karya purusha karena lakshyam sampadyate” which translates to “determined human efforts can ensure that a task is completed”.

While presenting her maiden Budget last year, she had also used several noteworthy phrases — most of which were in Hindi. From Nayi soch ka Bharat to Mazboot desh, Sitharaman quotes was met with a roaring approval as members sitting in the treasury benches thumped their desks.