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'Conflict must retire at 65'
Indian Muslims: the biggest victims of Indo-Pak conflict? Photo: Reuters/Jayanta Shaw
After independence from the British' our limited resources should have been used to help our poor tormented masses' instead of being diverted to fight wars with each other
By Sapan Kapoor
I recently read that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's maiden visit to Pakistan may not materialise in November this year due to domestic compulsions. I think that would be unfortunate' for the people of Pakistan especially his ancestral village Gah are eagerly waiting for the visit of their "great son". I have no doubt in my mind though that our PM wants to improve relations with Pakistan. Perhaps he is looking for a good reason to make peace with Pakistan and has been able to find none.
I have many for him.
I've always felt and observed that the Indian Muslims have been the biggest victims of Indo-Pak conflict. In fact as our Vice-President Mohamad Hamid Ansari once so rightly said' 'The Partition brought calamity for the Indian Muslims.'
The truth is that even after 65 years since independence' the hangover of Partition still exists in our society. Indian Muslims are looked upon with suspicion and scorn in their own country. Every now and then their patriotism is questioned and they are asked to prove their loyalty towards their India. They are accused of being 'pro-Pakistan' and labeled as traitors' as if loving Pakistan is a sin. As a matter of fact' I also love Pakistan. Will they call me a traitor too?
The truth is that even finding a house in India's cities and towns is difficult for Muslims as Hindu homeowners and property dealers refuse to rent houses and sell property to them in what is seen by many as an 'apartheid housing system'. Forget about the plight of the poor and lower middle class' even the renowned Bollywood actress Shabana Azmi faced difficulties in finding a house in Mumbai. Certainly' being a Muslim is not easy in India.
The plight of Indian Muslim women who marry Pakistanis is even more heartbreaking. Once married to Pakistanis' they are asked to forgo their Indian citizenship and forget their homeland forever. The Indian Muslim woman is suddenly disowned by her own country where she spent her whole life just because she committed the 'unpardonable sin' of marrying a Pakistani. She is asked to stand in long queues as a foreigner for a visa to visit her beloved former homeland to meet her ailing parents.
Can anything else be more atrocious' unfair' unjustified' and cruel than this' that Indians are asked to apply for a visa to visit their own country? Those who devised this cruel visa regime between India and Pakistan should be ashamed of themselves. Which other country in the world tortures and humiliates its own people like this? The Muslims of India are tired of these atrocities that have been going on for the last 65 years. I'm sure the story is same on the other side.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh must know that so much is at stake here. He must listen' as my Indian Muslim friend Ilmana Fasih who is married to a Pakistani said so rightly' to 'the wails of these women and ease the visa process' so that they may also see their parents and families more often.' He must visit Pakistan at the earliest to write a new chapter of fraternal Indo-Pak relations.
I strongly believe that India and Pakistan must make peace with each other and become best friends' especially for the sake of Indian Muslims' who are being punished for no fault of theirs. We must get over the hangover of the partition and ask ourselves what we have achieved from these 65 years of madness? The human and financial cost of this conflict has been tremendous. The irony is that whilst brothers killed their own brothers' the whole world laughed at our idiocy from the distance.
To naysayers and cynics ask how peace is possible between India and Pakistan who have fought three major wars in the last 65 years' I remind them that the world has seen worse cases of hostility. As Prof. Naeem ur Rehman Farooqi' former Pro Vice Chancellor of Allahabad University said in an interview to Aman ki Asha' "Pakistan and India have a bitter history of rivalry' but as a historian I can say that the world has seen worse cases of animosity. France and Germany are shining examples of the worst and the best relationships between neighbours. Look at them today."
Yes indeed. If France and Germany could forget the decades of enmity and make friends with each other for the betterment of their people then why not India and Pakistan? Don't our people deserve peace and prosperity? Are we supposed to tolerate violence and poverty forever?
Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah said that once the partition of India had taken place' its two halves would live in harmony and happiness' that 'Pak-India relationship will be similar to US-Canada'. We must strive to build the fraternal relationship he envisioned for our two beautiful countries' a vision shared by Mahatma Gandhi. I hope that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh' whose love and affection for Pakistan is well known' will make it a reality.
Conflict must retire at 65' to borrow a phrase popularised by the Romancing The Border initiative. It is certainly high time that the conflict between India and Pakistan retired' giving way to peace' love' and friendship. Let's not drag this nonsense on any further' for our people have already suffered a lot. Let's form a South Asian Union on the lines of European Union or any other attractive model and make this region a better place to live in. With benefits like free trade' common currency and easy movement of people' it will be a win-win deal for all of us. Let's do it' India and Pakistan. We owe it to our people.
Aabad rahe tera watan aur khil uthey mera bhi chaman!
Indian Muslims: the biggest victims of Indo-Pak conflict? Photo: Reuters/Jayanta Shaw
After independence from the British' our limited resources should have been used to help our poor tormented masses' instead of being diverted to fight wars with each other
By Sapan Kapoor
I recently read that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's maiden visit to Pakistan may not materialise in November this year due to domestic compulsions. I think that would be unfortunate' for the people of Pakistan especially his ancestral village Gah are eagerly waiting for the visit of their "great son". I have no doubt in my mind though that our PM wants to improve relations with Pakistan. Perhaps he is looking for a good reason to make peace with Pakistan and has been able to find none.
I have many for him.
I've always felt and observed that the Indian Muslims have been the biggest victims of Indo-Pak conflict. In fact as our Vice-President Mohamad Hamid Ansari once so rightly said' 'The Partition brought calamity for the Indian Muslims.'
The truth is that even after 65 years since independence' the hangover of Partition still exists in our society. Indian Muslims are looked upon with suspicion and scorn in their own country. Every now and then their patriotism is questioned and they are asked to prove their loyalty towards their India. They are accused of being 'pro-Pakistan' and labeled as traitors' as if loving Pakistan is a sin. As a matter of fact' I also love Pakistan. Will they call me a traitor too?
The truth is that even finding a house in India's cities and towns is difficult for Muslims as Hindu homeowners and property dealers refuse to rent houses and sell property to them in what is seen by many as an 'apartheid housing system'. Forget about the plight of the poor and lower middle class' even the renowned Bollywood actress Shabana Azmi faced difficulties in finding a house in Mumbai. Certainly' being a Muslim is not easy in India.
The plight of Indian Muslim women who marry Pakistanis is even more heartbreaking. Once married to Pakistanis' they are asked to forgo their Indian citizenship and forget their homeland forever. The Indian Muslim woman is suddenly disowned by her own country where she spent her whole life just because she committed the 'unpardonable sin' of marrying a Pakistani. She is asked to stand in long queues as a foreigner for a visa to visit her beloved former homeland to meet her ailing parents.
Can anything else be more atrocious' unfair' unjustified' and cruel than this' that Indians are asked to apply for a visa to visit their own country? Those who devised this cruel visa regime between India and Pakistan should be ashamed of themselves. Which other country in the world tortures and humiliates its own people like this? The Muslims of India are tired of these atrocities that have been going on for the last 65 years. I'm sure the story is same on the other side.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh must know that so much is at stake here. He must listen' as my Indian Muslim friend Ilmana Fasih who is married to a Pakistani said so rightly' to 'the wails of these women and ease the visa process' so that they may also see their parents and families more often.' He must visit Pakistan at the earliest to write a new chapter of fraternal Indo-Pak relations.
I strongly believe that India and Pakistan must make peace with each other and become best friends' especially for the sake of Indian Muslims' who are being punished for no fault of theirs. We must get over the hangover of the partition and ask ourselves what we have achieved from these 65 years of madness? The human and financial cost of this conflict has been tremendous. The irony is that whilst brothers killed their own brothers' the whole world laughed at our idiocy from the distance.
To naysayers and cynics ask how peace is possible between India and Pakistan who have fought three major wars in the last 65 years' I remind them that the world has seen worse cases of hostility. As Prof. Naeem ur Rehman Farooqi' former Pro Vice Chancellor of Allahabad University said in an interview to Aman ki Asha' "Pakistan and India have a bitter history of rivalry' but as a historian I can say that the world has seen worse cases of animosity. France and Germany are shining examples of the worst and the best relationships between neighbours. Look at them today."
Yes indeed. If France and Germany could forget the decades of enmity and make friends with each other for the betterment of their people then why not India and Pakistan? Don't our people deserve peace and prosperity? Are we supposed to tolerate violence and poverty forever?
Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah said that once the partition of India had taken place' its two halves would live in harmony and happiness' that 'Pak-India relationship will be similar to US-Canada'. We must strive to build the fraternal relationship he envisioned for our two beautiful countries' a vision shared by Mahatma Gandhi. I hope that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh' whose love and affection for Pakistan is well known' will make it a reality.
Conflict must retire at 65' to borrow a phrase popularised by the Romancing The Border initiative. It is certainly high time that the conflict between India and Pakistan retired' giving way to peace' love' and friendship. Let's not drag this nonsense on any further' for our people have already suffered a lot. Let's form a South Asian Union on the lines of European Union or any other attractive model and make this region a better place to live in. With benefits like free trade' common currency and easy movement of people' it will be a win-win deal for all of us. Let's do it' India and Pakistan. We owe it to our people.
Aabad rahe tera watan aur khil uthey mera bhi chaman!
