Discuss: India and Pakistan -- Back from the Brink?

We should accept and face the reality,no rhetoric.where ever you go through internet you can see,judge your self how indian views,thinks,about Pakistan. they still not digest the existence of Pakistan.there is nothing like aman ki asha.......they starts believing themselves as super power.....their defenve budget,arms procurements ?for whom? China? no never though Deepak kumar declaired that india can fight and win the war both against china,Pakistan simultaneously

I want to draw your attention to a book 'Humanity Amidst Insanity', a co-authorship between one Indian and two Pakistanis, which documents episodes where Muslims rescued Non-Muslims and vice-versa during the gory vivisection of the sub-continent. ON-FICTION: Bridging the gap Reviewed by Syeda Saleha Sunday, 17 Jan, 2010 | 07:48 AM PST | font-size small font-size largefont-sizeprintemail share The partition of India and Pakistan will remain a live subject as long as there is tension between the two countries which is sometimes on hype and other times at a low; at times raising the fear of a nuclear warfare while sometimes reining in the madness and emphasising the need to lasting peace. The book under review is an attempt to cool down the heated atmosphere and find a way for the two nations to live in peace and work for prosperity. If one were to analyse the research conducted since partition to date, they will find that the wounds that were inflicted during the mass migration are still raw and vested interests are hell-bent to reap the crop of hatred and animosity. This is a dangerous trend which will not only affect India and Pakistan, but also destabilise the whole region. The authors of the book have therefore emphasised the need to look at the positive side of the events in order to heal the wounds. Though there were rapes, abductions and murders of the innocents, there were also numerous instances of when humanity prevailed over the insanity. People rescued their neighbours, protected the honour of women and guarded property irrespective of religion and faith. Even clerics belonging to different faiths saved the lives of many people by offering them shelter in temples and mosques. The book includes interviews of those brave people who performed heroic feats at the risk of their own lives. The authors focus on ways to create a congenial atmosphere, look forward and promote friendly relations between the two countries. This, they say, can be done by promoting literature, films and providing media coverage to the humane side of the partition. Another suggestion is to build a memorial-cum-museum at the Wagah border to commemorate the victims of the partition along with the names of the good samaritans who kept the spirit of humanity alive through their brave deeds. Other suggestions include the opening of a peace park, visa free travel for individuals over a certain age and cultural exchanges to help encounter extremism. But the most important step would be to stop the distortion of history which requires drastic changes in the school curriculum in both countries. The book emphasises the need to eliminate the distrust that exists between India and Pakistan and normalise relations as it is vital for peace and prosperity in the entire region. It contains a series of interviews with people from diverse backgrounds who were of various ages at the time of partition. Twelve interviewees belong to the Indian side, out of which seven were directly affected by the riots while five are family members of those affected. Their ages vary from five to 25 years at the time of partition while two were born post-partition. Eleven interviewees are from Pakistan, out of who eight were personally involved. Their ages too range from five years to 25 years at the time of partition while one was born post-partition. The narratives of all these individuals from both sides of the border are illustrative of the bonds of humanity. Since the authors have focused mainly on the partition of Punjab, it provides an opportunity to understand the cultural affinity between Pakistan’s Punjab province and the Indian state of Punjab. The authors conclude that there was one thing in common between all the interviewees — their desire to witness a peaceful relationship between India and Pakistan. The authors fully subscribe to the rational and realistic approach of Aitzaz Ahsan who once said: ‘The Indian may continue to deny the distinctness and the Pakistani may continue to repudiate the commonality, but both — commonality and distinctness are facts. What has to be understood is that the Indo-Pak divide straddle this distinctness and commonality and that we must cherish both.’ Tridivesh Sing Maini is a senior staff writer at the Indian Express. Tahir Malik is a senior journalist, currently chief news editor at Waqat News Channel in Lahore and Ali Farooq Malik is a Lahore-based journalist working with the daily Waqat. Humanity Amidst Insanity: Hope during and after the Indo-Pak partition By Tridivesh Singh Maini, Tahir Malik and Ali Farooq Malik UBS Publishers, India ISBN 978-81-7476-630-4 186pp. Indian Rs295

Any peace attempt is doomed to fail unless the root cause is found and addressed. The root cause is incompetent, fly-in govern and flee leadership of Pakistan which has made the life of common Pakistanis miserable (with no economic development), and misdirects the anger of ordinary pakistanis towards India. Today Pakistan which can be segmented in many different pieces can be united only by the percieved animosity with India.. Under these circumstances any peace initiative shows good prospects at people to people level but are often against odds with the incompetent leadership of Pakistan.. Pakistan should first ask of competent leadership and stable governance (be it whatever form of governance). India and Indians are not their enemies.. We have a huge problem in India tackling poverty and bad governance and we need to focus on it, rather spending huge sums of money on Kashmir and Security which otherwise could be used productively for health, education, economic development etc.. Please DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PULL US INTO THE SPIRALLING DEATH ALLEY that your generals and fly-in leaders are piloting your country towards. They have aligned with whoever they can for money and arms and in the process have prostituted your nation to enrich themselves and their family. Beware, Wake-up and Good Luck

It is a wonderful sentiment and a good goal. I wish it will happen. Though, I think there are some prerequistes. With three wars fought, terrorism, kargil, Kashmir, etc. there is no trust. Plus there are some historical issues that have to be addressed. The Muslim invasion of India was not the best, at least early on in the North. It culminated with the rule of Aurangzeb where I believe, Jizya tax was imposed on Hindus. The creation of the two and then three states (Bangladesh) was violent. There are hardly any Hindus left in Pakistan, a declining Hindu population in Bangladesh and surprisingly very few in Kashmir. I doubt if the present generation of Pakistanis know anything about Hindus. There is a Hindu paranoia that has led to the rise of Hindu fundamentalism. Of course the concept of Umma, Jihad, Kafir, etc. are also bothersome, not just for India, but for the world. Some or many groups of people need to come to the forefront, acknowledge and address these issues. There are plenty of Hindus that condemn Hindu fundamentalism. Hindu Fundamentalism led to the problems of Ayodhya, Godra and yet, even in India, they may pale in terms of the the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Varanasi, etc. Unless, these issues, the Arabization of Pakistan and the dream of an Islamic state based on the Caliphate map are addressed, a simple political solution will not work. If India gives up kashmir, will that resolve the problem? Many have said no. I don't think so either. The partition and the process up to now has been devastating to the Hindu - Muslim relationship and that transcends the national relations. India has a democracy with a large Muslim population, which has checks and balances and there are plenty of Indian Hindus that will fight Hindu fundamentalism. I do not see a similar situation in Pakistan, but I could be wrong. The Dawn newspaper has some columnists that do acknowledge these issues and that may be a start. Hopefully so will the Times Of India and Jang cooperation. It is a chicken and an egg story. Address the past grievances and then resolve the present problems, or do we hope that the past will be forgotten if the present problems are addressed. I am a US citizen, originally from India and may have some biases. Finally, the US has not played a helpful role in terms of India. Hope there is that realization in the US and policy modifications are made. From the time of John Foster Dulles to very recently, the cold war played a huge role in US policies including the creation of the Taliban. Aid to Pakistan without specific "deliverables" will be futile. In some ways, has not Pakistan used US to try and check mate India as opposed to making peace? Then there is the issue of Wahabism.