Re: We are the problem
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i lost my huge comment that i posted so i will be succinct. I was initiallygoing to start a positive indian and Pakistani thread with positivecontrbutions of Indians and Pakistanis and ways to think forward and actuallydiscover those positive stories of collaborative work that does not reach themedia. However i don’t know if it would be that much an active thread so maybelater. I don’t know if it would eventually turn into an argumentative threadeven if the intention started out positive. India and Pakistan share a lotof cultural, geographical and historical ties which are passed on with eachgeneration and cannot ever be fully erased which is why there will always bepeople for peace because there will always be people who want to know the otherside. I have a Pakistani friend on skype who lives in a conservative area ofPakistan and he is always curious about India. His parents don’t really encourage it but he asks me questions and sendsme information on pre-partition Pakistan. I have numerous friends from Lahore and Karachi who tell me they see no difference between Indians and Pakistanis. Everyday an estimated thousandsof Pakistanis and Indians form friendships. This generation, in their 20s,which has yet to come to power is less combative than others which livedthrough wars. The next friendliest is probably those who lived during partitionin peaceful times and remember pre-partition era fondly. The superficialromantic thoughts are not just an abstract idea but it is reality. I have comeacross Pakistanis living in Pakistan i have met online and they see meas family or friends at the very least and they are always quick to pointout similarities. Sometimes it is the Indians and Pakistanis living overseaswho are more bigoted. Subcontinental people, in general, are veryemotional and they can be stirred to think in a particular direction. This isnot something someone thinking just rationally as wedo in the West can understand. You can give a rousing speech onIndia-Pakistani similarities, the positive interaction betweencommunities and make a whole crowd think of friendship or you can draw onbloodshed in history and make people hate each other. In the hands of goodpoliticians India-Pakistan could have been a different story. We can’t changethe past but we can change the future. I don’t think the politicians orgovernments can be good friends but I think change starts from the grassrootslevels. If there are proxy wars being affected , how does that affect thecommon person? Do we have any say in these proxy wars? Then why should we paythe consequences for it? I agree maybe the Indian and Pakistani living in Indiaor Pakistan may always have some mistrust for the other but it doesn’thave to be this way especially if they live overseas. I’m sure governmentsfight proxy wars not just with other countries but within their own countrywhen they want to get rid of opposition. I’m not saying we should forget aboutthe past history which is negative and we should all be friends. At least wecan talk about the positive aspects, why does that have to be omitted fromhistory? Is it because it will make the enemy seem more “human”? Irealise there are some Pakistanis and Indians who would never want to befriends with each other but not all are the same. I wouldn’t want to forcefriendship but at least they can remain indifferent or neutral or if they wantto hate they can hate without as long as it does not negatively impact others.For example if some people disagree with Bollywood they don’t want to watch it,why be vocal for it to be banned and deprive others who want to watch it. Ifsome people in India don’t want Pakistani artists to come to India, thenthey should not go to concerts etc but why deprive others who want to listento good music. People should know that the governments are notalways friendly and maybe harming each other but why should they transfer that hateonto common people and ban things. It’s not just entertainment industry, itsartists, writers, sportspeople, business people, students (there are a fewexchange programs that between India and Pakistan) and professionals that havefriendly relations. Does that mean all that should be affected becausegovernments have negative relations? I agree in part with you but at the sametime i don’t think superficial romantic measures are delusional. I guess it’sall about perspective. An Indian living in Delhi or overseas and a Pakistaniliving in Karachi or UK will think differently to Indians and Pakistanis livingclose to the border etc. A week ago I met an elderly woman from Lahore whosefather had taught in Delhi where I am from. We bonded over that and she wassurprised i knew so much about Lahore, in particular the famous saying. I toldher Pakistan also had my cultural heritage and there were manyamazing things about Pakistan the world knows little of. She agreed andshe wished things were like how they were back in the 60s. She said manymonuments are not being maintained such as Lahore fort and Badshahi mosque. Ireassured her by saying that Nawaz Sharif is Punjabi and he willdefinitely take care of it. She told her daughter about me and thenext day when she came to visit she gave me a hug and said i should visitLahore to see the places i’m interested in. Sure we can’t all have thesesuperficial delusions and I am sure my reasons would not work for people whodon’t want interaction with the other side but at the same time interactionbetween Indians-Pakistanis can have that effect. A lot of that is bound tohappen with the internet. At the same time we can’t stop a small boygrowing up in Dera Ghazi Khan of dreaming to visit the Taj Mahalbuilt or a young girl from Rajasthan, whose ancestors migratedfrom Sindh in Pakistan, dreaming to visit the tomb of ShahbazQalandar, A sufi mystic revered by both Muslims and Hindus, inSehwan, Sindh. Or the fact the root word India came from Indus river or thatthe word “Hindu” originated from Indus river which flows throughPakistan. The histories of both countries are linked in many ways. Evenpoliticians who simultaneously may promote hate through their governments canget wrapped up in this. How else do we explain Manmohan Singh’s hometownvillagers celebrating his victory and treating him as a son of the soil and himreciprocating by helping them with electricity and warm water to the localmosque in his village. Blogs & Commentary | The Express Tribune](Blogs & Commentary | The Express Tribune) Orhow Nawaz Sharif’s village in Indian Punjab celebrated his victoryand how he has helped some of the villagers who knew his father with jobs inDubai. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-05-12/india/39203006_1_pml-n-mian-mohammad-sharif-sharif-family Orhow the people of Peshawar who belong to the street where Dilip Kumar, SRK’sfamily and Raj Kapoor’s family are from are from celebrate this factand are proud of them. Or how Gulzar, a famous poet withroots in Pakistan, visited his home village recently to great fanfare andwas so overwhelmed with meeting long lost friends and his memories of hishometown he had to leave early. Or the love Yash Chopra had for hishometown of Lahore which resulted in blockbuster Veer Zaara. While this all mightseem irrelevant it shows that along with the negatives of the partition thereis lot of emotion and links which have not yet been broken and there willalways be this romanticism in the subcontinent. Online there are a fewIndian entertainment forums like India-forum.com where Pakistani serials arediscussed and there are a number of Pakistani members where friendships betweenIndians-Pakistanis blossom like gs. http://www.india-forums.com/forum_topics.asp?FID=56.There was even a Pakistani Independence day recently. http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=3700204 Theway forward is through economic prosperity and education. If every person inIndia, Pakistan had a job, had food, was educated and not living in poverty fewwould get swayed by hatred. I think you will find this forum debateinteresting. It’s based on a mixture of Indian and Pakistani businesspeoplecoming to Pakistan and discussing with Pakistani students how the way forwardis through economic prosperity. The partition had many atrocities and bloodshed but there were also many tales of humanity with people from opposing communities risking their life to save others. You may also find this an interesting read. http://ipfc.info/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=106
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