India Pak need unification
February 7th 2009 01:53
Pakistan is 5000 years old and there was a Harappan civilisation here. How would you like to read that in history books? Well if you look at it from one point of view the political entity that is India was a creation of the British in 1947 and so was Pakistan so why be shocked over such a statement? Simply because we think that the Pakistani is an alien who has grabbed some land from us and colonised it. Nothing could be further from the truth. We all of us are Pakistanis and all Pakistanis are Hindustanis whether they like it our not. I can understand a war between different races and different ethnic groups but when people who speak the same language, have the same customs and traditions and features and like the same food squabble it makes no sense at all. The only explanation for it could be sibling rivalry which has been the basic premise for all historical and political changes in India.
Today the only thing, mind you the only thing that can save Pakistan is for it to come out of its Brezhnev era mindset and outgrow the Cold War as a bad dream and move on. Only reunification with India can save Pakistan.
The idea of a Paksitan was first dreamt about by a poet Sir Mohd Iqbal the man who also wrote Sare jahan sey accha Hindustan Hamara. The British for political reasons and to divide the Indian Army that had won tow world wars for them decided to partition the country. Here Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru (KCSI) who was offered to the Chair of the President of India later had suggested that Congress give up the demand for Purna Swaraj and go in for Dominion Status like Austaralia. It would put an end to the British excuse that the country had to be partitioned for Independence. However this would mean that the British sovereign would be the head of state in India instead of an Indian President. But apart from Gandhiji no one had the same idea. Everyone wanted complete Independence. Gandhi even offered that Jinnah be made Premier of United India.
No one then knew the Jinnah would die soon, had they known so maybe things would have gone differently. Jinnah was the best possible example of a leader who was modern and farsighted but he did not offer the Namaz, he did not forsake pork and he did not refuse wine. Jinnah was a non-practising Muslim and the person least likely to be a Pakistani premier. However fate decided that he should lead Pakistan. While the Maulvis and Maulanas and Imams cried themselves hoarse in Delhi begging people not to leave for Pakistan saying that there would be no one left behind to offer Fatiha on the graves of their dear departed, the British will prevailed and a poets dream took form.
Today Iqbals dream has become a nightmare in which every child carries a grenade and a gun.
Its leading lady Benazir was killed by the militants in Pakistan and this will embolden them to take action against other political leaders with impunity. this operation came about in LTTE fashion like the Sri Lankan Tamil extremists and reminiscent of the manner in which Rajiv Gandhi was killed in India. Emboldened by this act the militants may carry out similar raids against political leaders in poorly policed states of India like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar too. The extremists want control of Pakistan but they will not get it so easily, there will be riots and vendetta and arson and killings in such a heavily armed civilian population. The only solution to terrorism lies in a confederacy between India and Pakistan or the reunification of India the way the two Germanys united. It is time we break the Berlin wall of caste and communal politics that has separated the two countries. Only then will there be an end to the killing.
Today the only thing, mind you the only thing that can save Pakistan is for it to come out of its Brezhnev era mindset and outgrow the Cold War as a bad dream and move on. Only reunification with India can save Pakistan.
The idea of a Paksitan was first dreamt about by a poet Sir Mohd Iqbal the man who also wrote Sare jahan sey accha Hindustan Hamara. The British for political reasons and to divide the Indian Army that had won tow world wars for them decided to partition the country. Here Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru (KCSI) who was offered to the Chair of the President of India later had suggested that Congress give up the demand for Purna Swaraj and go in for Dominion Status like Austaralia. It would put an end to the British excuse that the country had to be partitioned for Independence. However this would mean that the British sovereign would be the head of state in India instead of an Indian President. But apart from Gandhiji no one had the same idea. Everyone wanted complete Independence. Gandhi even offered that Jinnah be made Premier of United India.
No one then knew the Jinnah would die soon, had they known so maybe things would have gone differently. Jinnah was the best possible example of a leader who was modern and farsighted but he did not offer the Namaz, he did not forsake pork and he did not refuse wine. Jinnah was a non-practising Muslim and the person least likely to be a Pakistani premier. However fate decided that he should lead Pakistan. While the Maulvis and Maulanas and Imams cried themselves hoarse in Delhi begging people not to leave for Pakistan saying that there would be no one left behind to offer Fatiha on the graves of their dear departed, the British will prevailed and a poets dream took form.
Today Iqbals dream has become a nightmare in which every child carries a grenade and a gun.
Its leading lady Benazir was killed by the militants in Pakistan and this will embolden them to take action against other political leaders with impunity. this operation came about in LTTE fashion like the Sri Lankan Tamil extremists and reminiscent of the manner in which Rajiv Gandhi was killed in India. Emboldened by this act the militants may carry out similar raids against political leaders in poorly policed states of India like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar too. The extremists want control of Pakistan but they will not get it so easily, there will be riots and vendetta and arson and killings in such a heavily armed civilian population. The only solution to terrorism lies in a confederacy between India and Pakistan or the reunification of India the way the two Germanys united. It is time we break the Berlin wall of caste and communal politics that has separated the two countries. Only then will there be an end to the killing.
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