Spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev has stirred a fresh debate on the strategic importance of the Siliguri Corridor — the key narrow land link that connects India’s northeastern states with the rest of the country — calling it a “78-year-old anomaly” that should have been addressed decades ago.
Speaking at a satsang in Bengaluru, the founder of the Isha Foundation said the corridor, popularly known as the Chicken’s Neck, was a legacy of India’s 1947 Partition and ought to have been corrected after the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War when India had the authority to do so.
“The Siliguri Corridor is a 78-year-old anomaly created by Bharat’s partition, which should have been corrected in 1971,” Sadhguru said in remarks shared on X. He emphasised that today, with what he described as an “open threat to the nation’s sovereignty,” it is time to “nourish the chicken and allow it to evolve into an elephant.”
The Siliguri Corridor, a stretch of land roughly 22 kilometres wide at its narrowest point, borders Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan. It is crucial for India’s civilian, economic, and defence connectivity with its seven northeastern states. Analysts have long flagged its vulnerability in the event of geopolitical tensions.
While Sadhguru employed metaphorical language to underline his point, he stressed that strategic fragility cannot be the basis for a nation’s security and suggested that decisive measures are needed — even if they carry costs.
He also reflected on the wider ideal of a borderless world, saying it remains an aspirational concept, but warned against overlooking present geopolitical realities.
Sadhguru’s comments come amid occasionally inflammatory rhetoric from some political figures in Bangladesh about the corridor — comments that have reignited strategic discussions within Indian policy circles.