No goodwill expected from India unless until Kashmir issue resolves
It is in the basic instinct of a human being that he or she wants to live in a peaceful environment. Whether a person belongs to stone-age, mediaeval period or modern and contemporary era, he or she always love to spend his/her life in an atmosphere where there is no threat to life, liberty, freedom, honor and property. Almost all the religions of the world also preach peace and ask their followers to create a peace loving surrounding. Whenever there was a threat to peace in any human society, the people of that society either tried to re-establish peace or they migrated to another peaceful region. The story of modern day South Asia including Pakistan and India is no different. Most of the people living in this region are well aware of the fact that health, education and prosperity can only enter to a land, which is peaceful.
Thus they always dream of a peaceful region of theirs. A region where every child goes to school, every patient can have an access to a doctor, every individual can get food, cloth and shelter and everybody can raise their living standards. But unfortunately this dream of many has yet to come true, and South Asia is considered as one of the most troublesome areas of the world. The region is witnessing continuous difficulties over ethnic uprisings, narcotics trafficking and small arms.Bomb blasts, communal, sectarian and ethnic riots, and other terrorist activities are very common in almost all the South Asian countries. Besides it, political unsuitability, poverty, hunger and unsatisfactory state of mind has become part and parcel of South Asian society. The region is perhaps the most deprived region in the world. With one fifth of the worlds population almost half of the people, who are living below poverty level in the world, are living in this part of the globe.However, the biggest threat to peace in South Asia is due to the ever-increasing tension between India and Pakistan. The Jammu and Kashmir region has been a disputed territory and the main bone of contention between India and Pakistan since the two countries gained independence in 1947 and are still not enjoying best of the relations. The question of who should rule there has sparked three major wars and smaller one called the Kargil war.Dispute over the Kashmir region and all other outstanding issues between the two sides have forced the two important countries of the region to consider each other as their arch- rivals. The difference between the two countries is not only on government level but the ill feeling towards the other country can also be seen among the common masses. The attitude of Pakistani and Indian spectators of cricket matches between the two countries can be quoted as an example in this regard. Nuclear tests by both India and Pakistan have further complicated the situation and the region is considered as a nuclear flash point.Many attempts had been made on bilateral level to bridge up the gulf between Pakistan and India.Efforts have been made on regional level to rescue peace in South Asia.
SAARC, which was established in 1985, is still struggling to achieve its goal.United Nations, Human right commissions have also tried to play their role in resolving the issues between India and Pakistan but all in vain.The question arises that if the people of South Asia really want peace then why are the eventsand organizations not moving in the proper direction? The answer to this problem is simple as well as complicated. Actually, different people have different interpretation of the word ‘peace’.
There are few people who believe that if they decide in a meeting or a seminar or a conference that they will enforce peace in a region, they will be able to achieve their goal. But peace can not be achieved unless and until all the people, living in a region, can feel secure and have complete confidence in the people living around them. The basic problem with the people of India and Pakistan is that majority of them do want peace but actually do not have confidence in their counterparts.Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan and Mahatma Gadhi, nonviolent and peace loving leaders were interested in having good and friendly relations with eachother as well as neighboring countries. Jinnah had stated that Pakistan had no aggressive designs against its neighbors. About Indo-Pakistan relations he was of the view that the two nations should forget their past tensions and start a new era of peace and prosperity. He wanted them to be of use for each other and thought that the two countries would be needing a number of things from each other and could help each other morally, materially and politically and thus could raise the prestige and status of both the countries.
He wanted the two countries to develop cordial relations based on the concept of ‘mutual respect and coexistence’ and I repeat ‘mutual respect and coexistence’. Jinnah and Gandhi considered it beneficial for both Pakistan and India to cooperate with each other for the purpose of playing their part in international affairs. Jinnah went to the extent of suggesting that Pakistan and India have defence collaboration both on land and sea against any aggression. He had, infact, pleaded for a common defence policy as early as in April 1947. However, he wanted India to shed the superiority complex and treat Pakistan on an equal footing and also to fully appreciate the realities. He had made it clear that peace could only come to the region if the two countries could resolve their own differences.Jinnah and Gandhi did strive and succeded in making India and Pakistan independent but unfortunately both died or murdered soon after the freedom from British empire. And this is the reason that we have yet not worked according to their plans and desires.I believe had the leaders survived for a little longer time the Kashmir issued would have definitely been solved.Its our badluck that we only celebrate independence day every year with pomp and show, forgetting the bloodshed behind this achievement.Beside that we never realise our duties and to fulfill the unaccomplished work left on people of Pakistan by Quaid-e-Azam.If we start realizing our problems even today, I believe that we can move towards a better tomorrow. The most important thing, which we have to do is to develop an atmosphere where we stop considering each other as our enemy and start trusting each other. This can only be achieved if we accept the political realities from the core of our heart. We also have to stop interference in each other’s internal affairs and have to realize that the security of one cannot be achieved at the expense of the other. Peace should be achieved through joint efforts. Change of hearts on both sides of the border is the need of the hour.Though it is too early to predict anything given the differences between the two countries on a number of issues still its not too late even now.As a neighbouring country, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his letter to PM Imran Khan has already expressed a desire of cordial relations with the people of Pakistan. For this, an atmosphere of trust, devoid of terror and hostility, is imperative. But time will tell whats the truth and whats a story.
The writer is a senior journalistand an IVLP Alumni. She can be reached at farykhan@gmail.com
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