 In spite of the fact that we share so much with each other, India and Pakistan have always been at loggerheads. Unlike the siblings who grow up to love and help each other through troubling times, we’re the estranged half-siblings who gloat at each stumble the other one takes. What we fail to realise is that each of these stumbles hurts the oneself as much as the other one. A weak or unhappy Pakistan is always going to be a problem for India and vice versa.
Political instability, especially, is one of the biggest drivers of cross-border unhappiness. The reason is not difficult to spot - A weak government’s only hope of keeping itself alive is to divert attention to international issues (even when they may be non-existent) and then to either go to war or just generally raise the ante in the int’l arena.
Musharraf, has possibly, done his share of good work for the uplift of Pakistan. I am not a very enlightened person on whether this is all for good or not, but is it not strange that a Pakistan-born top man in India’s establishment and an India-born top man in Pakistan’s establishment can not bring India and Pakistan closer to each other.
In expat communities, it’s the Pakistanis who give company to the Indians and vice versa. We’re the same at heart, and we go back such a long way. A lot of us think how it would be if we had a single cricket team, or a single hockey team.
Distrust can only take you so far. For the amount of money we would have spent on the military, India and Pakistan could have been two very different nations if the same money had gone to development of the masses. We could be two different countries if politicians did not have the neighbour-bashing opportunity to divert our attention from the real issues that face both these countries internally. A lot of our people actually do believe in the evil-ness across the border, but then most others realise we are all humans, and India and Pakistan have too much in common for us to be too different from them. I think we should leave the past behind and move on to bigger issues. A strong and safe neighbour is good for both of us. Imagine, if a lot of the citizens are happy and content and building their own live with their families, then why would be have terrorism and fighting and finger-pointing. These are all gifts of unhappiness and illiteracy. Lets point our magic wands at them. Abhishek Jain manages his own blog by the name of Randomize at http://abyjain.wordpress.com |
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1. Biswajit,
Written by Kashif Khundmiri, on 03-04-2008 14:20
Well, yes, I agree to your suggestion, but rather than UN, we should bring in internal NGO's from both countries to help. People representation is highly need when trying to solve issues like Kashmir which is going on for 60 years now. IPFC's ultimate goal is to help both governments reach an agreement on major issues like Kashmir.
The solution I can think of as a good one is making the LOC the permanent border and removing soldiers upto 90% from Kashmir. This will give the Kashmiris a chance to develop as well as to get out of the fear of being attacked by the militants and by the soldiers themselves (there are many cases where soldiers are involved). |
2. how to resolve the long standing ispute
Written by biswajit pattanayak, on 03-04-2008 11:41
now we must accept that the political forces of both the country don't want to unite both the nations as it serves their very purpose of vote bank. Because of this a common indian sees the kashmir issue as the fault of all pakistanis and vice versa. So what are the ways to resolve this conflict. Can a third party offer better solution for this. Now everyone including me thinks that this is an issue of only two nations ans we only must resolve this without anybody else's help but we must face the truth that the political system representing us doesn't have the courage to resolve this. So in my opinion taking help from UN is not a bad idea. Though the resolution won't come in near future we can definitely see the result in longer term. Then both the countries, instead of spending huge sum of money on military activities, will start looking towards the upliftment of their own people. |
3. Agree but disagree
Written by Kashif Khundmiri, on 03-04-2008 06:28
Abhishek, I agree with the point you brought up in your article but I do disagree with your ending statement.
Illiteracy and unhappiness has never been a cause of problem at the international or at the national level. In fact, the problem is with the educated people who use the uneducated ones to fullfill their desires.
For example, the Congress's decision to pardon all land dues for farmers who own about 2 acres of land. This decision will have a major negative economical impact, but it will create a positive image on the farmers whose dues rae being pardoned. This act, as I can see, was completely done to gain the votes of the majority (about 60% population is in rural areas). This act has nothing to do with the illiterate, as any person including you and me will be happy to have our dues pardoned. Rather its the misuse of power by the Congress party to gain popularity and to gain the support.
We cannot expect from everyone to take the logical decisions and hence we cannot hold them (the illiterate) responsible for the mishaps the country is facing.
Kashif! |
4. hello
Written by thescorpio, on 02-04-2008 21:11
agreed Mr.Jain  |
5. Written by Ashok Jain, on 26-03-2008 01:07
Great thoughts. If I may add - violence begets more violence. An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind. Lets invite each other to be friends regardless of our nation, religion etc etc |
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Comments (5)
