Arundhati Roy’s packed lecture to Lahore’s literature conscious elite got me thinking: What do I have in common with an idealist like her?

While she believes in a sort of moral humanism, I have always been inspired simply by secular modernity. She admits that she is suspicious of flags and patriotism, I on the other hand am immensely proud of my country and its flag. While she abhors development like the building of big dams for example, I consider them essential to poverty alleviation in South Asia. She is an outspoken critic of the free-market and globalization, I its biggest supporter. On the face of it, an idealist like her can’t have anything in common with me.

But there is a meeting point: Peace in South Asia. This has been a distant dream, one that might as well be the real raison de etre of Pakistan’s creation. However this has not come to pass. What was distant seems even more so in the shadow of the nuclear weapons that both our nations have foolishly amassed. My firm belief is that the road to peace lies through the fertile field of democracy. Yet I am also aware that it was a popularly elected government in India that carried out the first nuclear bomb test in 1974. It was an elected government in Pakistan that responded by initiating a nuclear program of its own. The shameless display of the weapons of mass destruction and mass murder was repeated in 1998 by elected governments in both countries. One can argue in Pakistan’s defense that we had no option but to match India’s nuclear-ism. I don’t subscribe to such fanciful views for I don’t believe going nuclear was the right thing to do. The world knew we had the capability, but we could have set a magnificent precedent for the future generations by not spiraling into tit for tat. The right thing to do then was also in our best National interest.

Then came the blunder called Kargil. Again it was a democratically elected civilian government which sanctioned such an ill-advised move. While Vajpayee took that famous Bus-trip to Minar-e-Pakistan, our brilliant strategists stabbed him in the back by provoking a war in Kashmir. Not only was it a horrible move on our part, but it robbed Pakistan of any moral upper hand it might have had serving as a readily available stick for India to beat the legitimate Kashmir cause with. It served to strengthen the right wing Hindu government of India.

It seems to me that the republic days and national days in both countries have become a day to celebrate such wonderful things as nuclear bombs, and military capabilities. This is truer in Pakistan than India. Gone are the days of ‘Sohni Dharti’ and ‘chand meri zameen’. Today we speak of being an atomic power in our songs. We speak of the bravery of our bold armed forces that have let us down every chance they got. It is now norm to see an American made F 16 zip through as a symbol of national pride in a patriotic music video. Is it any wonder that whenever our soldier-president meets a foreign dignitary he does so in uniform. His whole worldview is warped. Heads of states in full military uniform no longer have the appeal they used to in the 19th century. The man who is now confined to oil paintings in our Islamic Republic’s great halls must be spinning in his grave at the uniformed president’s repeated references to him.

At least Zia had some sense of shame. He didn’t visit Jinnah’s mausoleum during 11 years of his rule. Let us remind ourselves of the real role of a military: To defend our frontiers, a job they have done patchily at best.

The three speakers from India at the ‘Peace and Freedom’ seminar, Mr. N Ram of Hindu Group, Mr. Shehkar Gupta and of course Arundhati Roy gave the Pakistanis a glimpse of what free-thinking is. They launched an unflinching attack on everything wrong with their own country starting with its rulers, its nuclear program, its militaristic ambitions, the human rights violations in Kashmir, and the shabby treatment of minorities. When they return to India, they probably won’t be kidnapped and charged with treason and sedition. While appreciating their frank and candid self-criticism, we Pakistanis should take a leaf out of their book and appreciate the forces of intellectual and political dissent who serve in the long run to make Pakistan’s democracy stronger. And that will in turn lead to a lasting peace in South Asia.