The sad reality of Indo-Pak relations
The inimitable Khalid Hasan writes with veiled frustration:
“….the last six decades of India-Pakistan relations have proved the “step-by-step” approach to be a dismal failure. Whereas what is needed is a quantum jump, what New Delhi and Islamabad have opted for is a slow belly crawl. At the rate at which they are going, it will take a hundred years to get to where they say they want to be.
Ahmed Faraz wrote: Faraz sehn-e-chaman mein bahar ka mausum: Na Faiz dekh sakay thay, na hum hi daikhain gey (Faraz, the coming of spring in our little garden, Faiz did not live to see, nor will we).
For once, I hope and pray Ahmed Faraz is wrong.
Indeed, we all hope that Faraz Saheb is wrong this time.
April 3rd, 2008
in
Journalism, All My Posts, Indo Pak peace |
April 3rd, 2008 at 5:05 pm
It was very heartening to read Mr. Zardari’s statement at http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Foreign_Trade/India_Pakistan_should_focus_on_trade_ties_Asif_Ali_Zardari/articleshow/2829122.cms
I agree with Mr. Zardari that both countries should work on giving trade ties a boost. As it is, there already exists a considerable volume of trade routed indirectly through places like Dubai and Singapore and the lifting of restrictions by both governments should provide a fillip to newer transactions as well.
Bilateral trade, when the figures go past a few billion dollars, can be a major source of motivation for the politicians of both countries to work hard at solving all political issues at the earliest possible, I believe, besides building up strong public opinion in that direction.
April 5th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
Sidhu : Hate between India + Pakistan is a 25 Billion Dollar Business ! If you have peace… that much of business is lost ! I am sure you read the story of 2 cats (with a loaf of bread) and the monkey… A wedge was driven between the 2 communities… (Hindu Pani v/s. Musalman Pani… Malich… Shuddhi-Sangathan… .. leading to Tabligh-Tanzim.. etc.). There is a history. Lala Lajpat Rai, Bhai Paramanand and V.D. Savarkar were the first exponents of the 2-nation theory… they wanted to get RID of muslim-majority areas ! Each wanted to grow according to his own civilisational lights ! Now the “Un-Requitted Desire” of both parties/communities/nations has been fulfilled. Islam is glowing as ever… Hinduism is glowing as ever. There never was any threat. The issue was political. The issue was %…. the issue was top-jobs… and thats it. Now we have entered a stage where JOBS are not the only spoils of the State ! A new look is needed… but this will be detrimental to estabilshed Hate Shops like RSS and the Mullah. They are afraid of the feeble plant of LOVE… cuz they thrive on Hate.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
The hate-shops thrive because their services sell.
My point is that when it becomes clear to a sizeable number of people in both countries that peace between India and Pakistan can provide rozi-roti, or, rather, when a sizeable number of people become dependent for their rozi-roti on lasting peace between India and Pakistan, the demand for the services of the hate-shops is more than likely to diminish.