Pakistan and Bangladesh - two neigbouring countries - we are so identical, we speak the same langauge, have the same culture, have the same social values, the same history (till 1947). Why then have these nations moved on such divergent arcs over the last six decades? Multi-religious, multi-ethnic, secular, democratic India of one billion people is an idea that belongs to the future; one dimensional, one religion follower Pakistan & Bangladesh, largely goverened by military and Islamic fundamentalists - is regressing back to medivial times.
1947, August 15 - India was declared an independent nation by the Queen - my parents family did not know whether they should be happy or sad. The Britishers did what they successfully have been doing all over the world - DIVIDE AND RULE - divided India into two nations on basis of religion - INDIA and PAKISTAN, resulting in world's largest and painful exodus. The religious fury and violence that it unleashed caused the deaths of some 2 million Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus. An estimated 12 to 15 million people were forcibly transferred between the two countries leaving them homeless, atleast 75,000 women were raped. The trauma incurred in the process has been profound - it impacted my parents and my family - they walked miles to cross the newly created borders by the Queen - transported from huge mansions to a refugee camp, from a life of plenty to an uncertain livelihood where one morsel was a question. The streets were filled with slaughtered bodies, vultures feasted, blood flowed freely down the drains - horrific tales of murder, loot and human tragedy that I hear from my parents and grandparents. A research stated that the partition of India ranks as one of the 10 greatest tragedies in human history... Afterall Britishers and the Queen granted India's most coveted prize - India's freedom and it came with a price - a divided shattered country.
The wheel of time does not stop for anyone - neither did it stop for Indians. India was reborn, the country recovered and so did my family. My grandparents moved from the refugee camp to one room house to large houses, though the mansion of unpartitioned India had to be forgotten..and after six decades, I live in a India which is flourishing with 8% GDP growth, twelfth largest economy in the world by market exchange rates and the fourth largest in the world by GDP, measured on a purchasing power parity. Yes - I agree that India is slowly drifting from an agriculturist - socialist economy to a more capitalistic economy, fast loosing our core values behind and adopting the Wild West. I also agree India has a long long way to go - 27% of us are below the poverty line. Lack of adequate infrastructure, Bureaucracy and corruption remain our challenges. Our forward growth is occasionally hampered by backward forces. But still there is a future for 1 billion of us..and the future is bright!
But where are our neighbours - Pakistan & Bangladesh heading to? For six decades, people in these nations have not been able to decide between military dictatorship and civilian rule.. Politics and policies conceding space to fundamentalist "mullahs" ..Islam became the ideology of the state but instead of accepting good things of Islam - the country turned towards adoption of "jihad" as state policy. Pakistan during Afgan war was funded by American and Saudi govts and soon became the breeding grounds of armed bands, And then comes in 9/11 and America wakes up from the slumber - they realize that there is a country called Afganistan and Pakistan and there is someone called Osama Bin Laden. They realize the Osama they funded and trained as a CIA agent to fight against the Soviets had now attacked their own land..American leadership promises its people - "we will capture Osama and likes"...But all in vain so far!
Today the instability and jihadi policies have become such a huge concern for India and Indians - we never know when these "eccentric" people enter our land through the "Queen's" created borders and in the name of jihad pump bullets into us. I was very close of one of the bomb explosions sites in Bombay some years back and I know how it feels - anxiety, anger, charged emotions - and though I donot want to but I end up saying DAMN PAKISTAN - though I know six decades back it was my land, my ancestors lived there...BUT.. Thankfully my ancestors crossed borders and came to India in 1947 - they struggled for us - to give us a better life...
A question that always crosses my mind - After 9/11: what is Pakistan's army fighting against fellow Muslims in the WAR AGAINST TERRORISM? Unconfirmed reports say Pakistan might have a much larger base for terrorists than Afghanistan. It may have got late - I hope another catastrophic tragedy like 9/11 is not repeated to wake up our world leaders! Afterall nothing happens to them - it is me, you - we the people on the road across the globe who are affected. WAKE UP before the world gets broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls.
2 comments:
extremely well written post, my dear! u should submit it to one of the papers. very well written indeed.
Newspapers and me are distant dreams in this lifetime :)
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