Am very impressed with your line of thinking here and some other posts you have done and when I see Indians like you making the comments that you do that maybe there is hope for us. You make me feel like containing my effervescence and putting a hand of friend ship out to Indians. But sadly you seem to outnumbered by probably 5 to 1.
You are absolutely and completely wrong.
1. There is hope for us. It will come soon. But it will come after Pakistan has gone through the dramatic changes that she is going through. Until then, we can only hunker down and suffer, because there is no clean way to protect ourselves. There is little for India to do, there is little India can do. I do not accept war as a solution, although it is my considered professional opinion that we will win such a war, quite easily.
2. Your delight and surprise in finding Indians whose thinking you can appreciate is due to lack of exposure. More than three years ago, some of us - quite unconnected with each other, from various walks of life - went to Pakistani sites to find what kind of people would send murderers in to slaughter over a hundred civilians, men, women and children. To our utter astonishment, we found - on All Things Pakistan, and on PakTeaHouse - that Pakistanis were like us, and shared the same views and values. We found it difficult to remain bitter and enraged (although it still hurts intensely) in the light of how they responded to the Bombay massacres, and in the light of the daily carnage that they themselves went through, at the hands of the same savages and animals. On the other side, it was a shock to be told, within a few months of our contributions and interactions, that we were as much members of the family as any Pakistani.
3. We did not set out to win acceptance. We did not try to say things that would be pleasant to hear. On the contrary, we were honest and forthright, perhaps even at times, blunt. Our conclusion was that Pakistanis of the liberal persuasion are among the most honest people on earth. That is what I seek to reflect in my own comments.
4. Out of that interaction, we formed a private mailing list, which has now crossed 13,000 posts. Of the members, half are Pakistani - Punjabis, Pathans and Muhajir - half are Indian - Bengali Hindu, Punjabi Sirdars and Karnataka Muslim. We discuss everything under the Sun, almost, although there was a near-riot when the youngest member posted a video from YouTube of a Pathan film which had an indescribable dance. If I posted it here, I would be banned permanently. The eldest member, slightly older than I, nearly swallowed his tonsils laughing, then gave our young ex-PAF member a thundering scold, finishing by asking where he could see more. The richest of us sends the others books for Christmas.
They think I am a lunatic to be on PDF, even my ex-PAF friend. They don't believe that there are many refugees from PTH lurking among the Pakistani members, even, I have reason to suspect, among the moderators.
5. So as far as being outnumbered is concerned, think again. Look at my statistics. Most of the thanks have been posted by Indians. Of your members, there are a significant number even as I write this who appreciate the point of view I have expressed. We Indian liberal members are not fanboys, nor are we that even more poisonous piece of evil, the Sangh Parivar professional trouble maker. It is they who are outnumbered 5 to 1. They know it, and that is why they scream, instead of speaking in civilised tones.
6. I am exasperated by fanboys of all four sorts - Pakistani, Indian, Chinese and Bangladeshi - and am sad to discover a fourth category, although they did give me enormous fun till I reminded myself of my age, and the unsuitability of teasing young people the way I was doing. As far as you are concerned, Aryan_B, there are times when I want very urgently to kick your backside, but then I think of D_a_n, Bloody Civilian, Adnann and Naveed, and Raza and Yasser and make myself take a deep breath and count to ten. It usually works.
Those of us who think all Pakistanis are identical, or all Indians are identical, or all Chinese or Bangladeshis or Iranians are identical, are idiots beyond redemption. I refuse to waste time on these dimwits. May they be nominated to the TIME list, for all I care. Looks like that list has more than one specimen. I hope you come out of their ranks in time to salvage your sanity, and don't lapse into that lunacy in future.
