COINCIDENTALLY, Iqbal Jafar's and Kuldip Nayar's articles have appeared in your newspaper side by side (Oct 8).

Both have given good advice to their respective communities — Muslim and Hindu.

Mr Jafar in his article, “Muslims of South Asia” has advised Muslims to emerge from a sterile mindset created by a “mismatch of global dreams and local realities”.

Further he has advised the Muslims — especially Indian Muslims — to launch a movement for peace and reconciliation between Hindus and Muslims.

He argued that if the Europeans had given up mutual bloodshed and are now living as good neighbours why cannot we also learn from them in South Asia for the sake of mutual prosperity?

Similarly Kuldip Nayar has advised (mainly the Hindus) not to take the same road of conflict and bloodshed being traversed since independence but look towards a brighter future by harnessing science and technology for the progress of the people of South Asia.

If the Hindus and Muslims wish to avoid colliding into the juggernaut of extremism they will do well to heed carefully the advice of thinkers like Iqbal Jafar and Kuldip Nayar instead of hankering about a glorious past.

Too much time and intellectual energy of South Asian scholars has been wasted on writing on “superiority” of respective cultures.

It is time now to emerge from the mindset of past centuries caused by the mismatch of “global dreams and local realities” referred by the authors.

The question now to be asked is what to do for a better tomorrow?

AZAM ISMAIL

Karachi