Indo-Pak friendship: The phoenix without wings
Arts and sports have played an immense role in propagating peace across the world. Artists, philanthropists and sports celebrities have often proved to be the only people to have tried to change the status quo of the hostile relations between many countries such as India and Pakistan. Whether we talk about candlelight vigil at Wagah-Attari border, participation of Pakistani sportsmen in Indian Premiere League (IPL) or artists traveling across the border to share their work with people residing in both the countries, their efforts to develop the camaraderie between millions of estranged Indians and Pakistanis is endless and many a time beyond belief.
However, it is extremely unfortunate that the aforementioned people are always the first to be singled out whenever the tensions between India and Pakistan intensify. Last week nine Pakistani players, who were to participate in Hockey India League (HIL), were sent back home because of the mounting tensions at the Line of Control (LoC).It is also being speculated that Pakistan’s women cricket team may not be able to participate in the upcoming World Cup because of the tragic events which resulted in untimely deaths of Indian and Pakistani soldiers. Indian politicians, enraged with the situation, urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take strictest action against Pakistani authorities. Some even demanded for “10 heads from Pakistan” for the alleged beheading of an Indian soldier whereas others speculated that certain radical elements were behind the execution.
Although what happened at the LoC can only be described as deplorable and detestable, however, acts of a certain individual or group should not be taken as cue to blame all Pakistanis as most of them bear no ill will towards Indians.
Sujal Tirpal, an Indian from Mumbai said, “It is most unfortunate that many people in India still consider all Pakistanis to be terrorists. It is a common phenomenon especially in North India where people refuse to believe that Pakistanis can see Indians or India progressing. What most of us fail to realize is that when we stereotype people on the basis of their nationalities, we become prejudiced and offensive in our own thoughts.”
He went on to add that, “People who possess such feelings and thoughts for fellow human beings, be it Pakistanis or Indians, can easily resort to the most evil means and kill indiscriminately without any remorse. If the educated people are unable to understand the difference between innocent Pakistanis, who play no part in jeopardizing the existence of India, and savage militants then we all should just crawl back to our caves.”
However, some Pakistanis and Indians differ from Tirpal’s opinions and believe that if an attack is launched from either side of the border then showing mercy towards any individual is considered against the basic rules of patriotism.
An Indian from Delhi on condition of anonymity said, “I completely agree with the ideology of Shiv Sena and it is our responsibility as Indians to keep Pakistanis away from India. They have never been one of our well-wishers. They attacked us in 1965, 1971, 1999, 2001 and then again in 2008. Sometimes they kill our soldiers and on other occasions they kill innocent civilians. I strongly believe that most Pakistanis are not peace loving and are always plotting against Indians or India.”
“Pakistan’s army, rulers and general public are all against India. We have suffered immensely over the past several decades because of their hidden vendetta against our state. I don’t want Pakistanisportsmen, artists, businessmen or politicians coming to our country and ruining our peace,” he added.
Reciprocating equally to the hostile sentiments of the aforementioned individual Salman Abbasi, a Pakistani from Lahore said, “instead of harping on and on about peace and what good it will bring to the South-Asian region, we all should just accept the fact that India and Pakistan can never become friendly nations. We are poles apart and I think we should break all ties with them because they keep on blaming Pakistan for everything that goes wrong on their border or in their country without having the decency to share any substantial evidence with us. They have been blaming us for over six decades now and I really do not think that they are interested in moving on to build better relations with us.”
Listening to all the negative comments I just could not stop thinking about why is it so difficult for us to believe that India and Pakistan can put the past behind and embark on a journey of healthy relations? Why is it unfathomable for many of us that we truly belong to the same race and are exactly similar in many ways? Is Indian blood any different for Pakistani blood? Why is it so easy for us to give up on each other without even thinking twice?
I refuse to believe that majority of Indians and Pakistanis endorse some of the negative feedback that I received. I know that most of us have positive feelings towards each other and stand united on various fronts. My thoughts were positively reinforced when I read a news report about Indian women protesting against the killings of Shia Muslims in Quetta. Simultaneously my views were once again proven true when young students from India and Pakistan met in New Delhi and vowed to spread peace.
Had armed forces and politicians from both sides of the border acted as gracefully and prudently as other civilians, the situation could have been controlled. It is important for all of us to understand that the people responsible for all the bloodshed do so to serve their own personal interests. They are neither friends of Pakistan nor foes of India. Their only motivation is power and money and by falling into their trap, every time they fuel violence, we just make their task easier. Although it is very difficult to control emotions over the loss of innocent lives, however, by giving rise to situations which may result in further loss of human lives, we prove to be irresponsible. Unless we give peace real chance, radical elements will continue to capitalize on our sentiments and turn us against each other.
The writer is a Reporter at Dawn.com
@Faiza: I have seen some of the articles which clearly shows that you are inviting racist people to say whatever they want and non racist to calm/clarify/stop them. And you are doing so to get your good rating in the market. If not then you have carry on comments to bloggers…
Dear Faiza, Thank you very much for your appearance in Dawn after long time.
The India Pakistan relation is very complex one. It is not confined at the boarder. A learned Professor of Delhi’s prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University, Amitabh Mattoo has summed-up India Pakistan relation in a recent article in Hindustan Times. To quote Professor Mattoo, “The India-Pakistan relationship is — and has been — about everything that matters: history, memory, prejudice, territory, identity, religion, sovereignty, ideology, insecurity, trust, betrayal and much more.”
So it is futile to identify some ifs and butt & opinions of the few people to understand the relation between two countries. It is a well known fact that the division of these two countries were made on the notion of different nation and religious belief of the two major communities, Hindu and Muslims.
This deep rooted psychological division between the two will never be reconciled. If we want to live in peace we have to accept the reality of this psychological division and should made a chatter of understanding which will be the binding factor for both the countries.
As per as India is concerned, the only issue I can foresee is terrorism. Indian public, barring the few, are very much concerned about the growing Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan and its continuous support to the separatist element in Kashmir & covert policy of influencing Indian Muslims.
Pakistan’s main concern is Kashmir and it is uncompromisable for India. So what is the best option?
I think the best options are the 5 principles laid down below.
1. Pakistan should stop all types of facilitation to terrorist groups who are fanning violence in
Kashmir & inside India
2. Let India deals with the separatist element in Kashmir & settle the issue as per constitution of India.
3. India should respect Pakistan’s demand on Siachen, Sir.Creek & different disputes relating to the river water of various rivers that flows to Pakistan from Indian.
4. Both India & Pakistan carefully & gradually maximize trade, cultural & human relation.
5. Both India & Pakistan must address the real problems of the minorities living either side
of the border and up lift them.Since India is much bigger country in respect of geography, population, economy & diversity, India must give some trade & economic concession to Pakistan.
Pakistan got what it wanted from her mother country. Still they couldn’t live in peace and keep on creating difficulties for India.Whenever they want War India give them War and when they get tired of War and asking for Peace India obliged to give Peace.Its high time Pakistan decide what they exactly want ? Re-unification ? In that case I would not like India to entertain Pakistan.
Sorry, nobody in Pakistan wants re-unification with India. Please stop day dreaming
nobody knows abouts the negetive effects of nuclear war yet ,as people suffer generation to generation….and DNA get infects by radioactive elements and it affects everything.including air,water, soil, food…. our people r highly uneducated they even dont know what is a nuclear bomb, then how they will bear a N war……
it is extrmemly shame on our people that they have negative thinking for each other, but it seems that terrorism is a big issue for India and Pak is victim of terrorism too but still both r unable to control it. terrorists are responsible for peace sabotage….only poor people suffer everytime, never a politician sufffer…..i think only youth can resolve these issue
Ms. Mirza:
If you are looking for the reasons “why Indian and Pakistani do not get along? I ask you look no further. Here are few reasons and hope it will solve your puzzle.
1.Indian history from 9th century to 1947 is full of atrocities committed by invaders which happen to be muslims.
2, Islamic rule in India converted poor non-muslims to Islam by force.
3. Pakistani Jihadits still believe that they can defeat Indian army after loosing three wars
4. And,because the tenets of Islamic interpretation
Many of them think that Allah will help them in defeating the infidels of India.
The idea of peace between India and Pakistan is laughable. Its a myth and anyone who believes anything will change is whistling Dixie. With an unbridled population growth in Pakistan, there are thousands of young men with no marketable education and skill sets, who are excellent cannon fodder for the jihadis. And jihadis hold on the Pakistani nation is just intensifying. An open conflict is only a matter of time and Indians are under no illusion. Only our secular bleeding heart politicians in the Congress and on the left believe in this myth of peace with Pakistan. The average Indian has no interest in this idea and no faith in these pipe dreams.
So in your view what is the alternative for India with regard to Pakistan? You want a WAR with Pakistan – Mr. Jag Nathan?
India also has its fair share of “young men with no marketable education”. That argument, on its own is without merit.
Jag:
I am an Indian and consider myself very patriotic. So please be civil and do not resort to foul and uncivilized language. This is a forum for educated and civilized people.
I feel for my fellow Indians and employe about 50 people in India and do my best to give back to my country. But I also believe in the Universal goodness of most civilized humans. I believe there are peace loving Pakistnis (the silent majority) and there are some lunatic fringe elements (the ones that make a lot of noise and trouble). The same holds true in India – Majority of Indians want peace and friendship but we have the hardliners. I suggest we build bridges with the peace loving pakistanis and sideline the lunatic fringe. The majority of pakistanis stand to loose the most and so do the majority of Indians if we keep fighting with each other.
We all agree that the killing of Indians by the Pak based militants is outrageous but thats all the more reason we do our best to sideline the loonies on both sides. We are one people separated by historical burden caused by Nehru and Jinnah with the connivance of the British. I live in the US and some of my best friends are Pakistanis. I can trust them with my life any day and so do they.
So wake up and smell the Coffee.. the world is not as bad as you think it is.. unless you are wearing colored glasses .. the number of soldiers killed due to sub standard clothing and equipment is a lot more than the soldiers killed in border skirmishes. And the number of people killed by mob violence and lack of medicines and food is many times more than the ones killed by the Terrorists.
Hope that helps put things in perspective. Jai Hind
I’m surprised at how poor most people’s English is. Their comments make them look uneducated and ill-informed.
Speaking english is not equal to educated person. Very average people work in call centres with good command of english, in bangalore ever autowallas speak good english. Wheras I with doctors degree from reputed college has average english.
1.India & Pakistan are both ‘Garib’.
2.India & Pakistan are both ‘nuclear powers’.
3.India & Pakistan both have to depend on ‘Angrez’ to adapt new technologies.
4.Why speak of war?
5.Speak of Bijli, Pani,Naukri,Ghar!!!!
I think let us fight for our daily roti and sr.no.’5′ than do business of ‘Angrez’ weapons(Read swedish,Belgian,american weapon factories).
I think it is Pakistan who has to sort out so many things before we can even think of having friendly relations between the two countries. I strongly believe that the Partition of India on the basis of religion was one of the gravest mistakes of centuries. It was done long time ago, and we are over it. It can’t be undone. We have to let the bygones be bygones. It is water under a bridge. But it is amusing for an observer like me to see Pakistan STILL struggling with its identity. It is an Islamic republic, but is closest to the communist China, who officially has no religion. It is an ally of the US at the same time it is allowing the US to attack its own people with Drone. It has weak economy and is significantly dependent on outside help. It has no friendly relations with any of its neighbours. The civilian government is corrupt and ineffective. The army controls the foreign relations. There is no point you and us discussing peace, if the Pakistani Army doesn’t want it.
Excellent post – very logical.
Well, its taken both countries 66 years to get to this stage, yet they consider themselves as enemies. We probably are only 2 countries on this earth who claim to be world’s powers, weapons wise, education wise, yet here we are. Thing is these countries will never be friends, no matter how much they try because there are elements on both sides who just simply wont let this happen, so its better they both sideline eachother. You your way and we our way seem to be best way, atleast in this no one will get hurt, for how long innocents will pay the price for something which have nothing to do with them. having said that i am not against the friendship of these 2 countries, but it simply wont happen. It has taken 66 years years to kill eachothers soldiers on LOC. May be just leave eachother alone, get on with it, but who cares, there are bigger interests involved here.
I sincerely feel that the improvement of relationships in not really that hard to conceive. I cannot speak from Pakistan’s standpoint but from India’s standpoint – (a) stop supporting cross-border terrorism – people like Hafiz Sayeed, Lakhvi etc. are destroying the ambitions of millions by creating this hatred on both sides of the border (b) Get over Kashmir – let’s take the current status and come to an agreement on LOC as the border and ACCEPT it as the border. By these simple acts Pakistan will win hearts and minds of common Indian people (not just the ones who comment on this website and carry iPads) and at that point the politicians cannot do anything. IF we are one people then we have to ACT like ONE people…. unless we are NOT so…and we want to let politicians and armies to fleece this issue.
Really u believe Pak is world power education wise???
Pakistanis are known to be hyperbolic about their achievements.