History is full of distortions. They are caused by ethnic, religious, tribal, social and cultural mindsets as well as personal whims. However, that is not all. At times national exigencies also intervene and a whole nation becomes a partner in distorting its own history. We ourselves are the best example of such kind. We are doing it for half a century now. It is still to be judged whether we have ever been able to realize our objectives for giving such a nasty treatment to our own history. Our history has become a bag of clichés with tunnel vision to promote a certain kinds of national characteristics whose veracity and promoters’ sincerity both are still to be judged. However, we are not the only one sailing in this boat.

The latest entry is made by Japan which is desperately trying to hide its past so that the nation is saved of the shame of its leaders’ dreadful deeds in the past. As the nation cannot do away with its leaders who have become part of the national psyche thanks numerous myths woven around them, therefore, the history must change its course to accommodate the national requirements.

That has really angered Chinese who are also part of that history. A couple of moths ago Chinese Prime minister hinting at Japan’s effort to doctor its history said, “Only a country that respects history, and takes responsibility for history, can take greater responsibilities in the international community.” That phrase is too good, however, to be left for Japanese alone.

Japan has made seventeen official apologies to China over the last 33 years that include one from the Japanese emperor himself while he visited Beijing in late 1992. Since 1972 when the ties were reestablished, Japan has given very gracious aid to China which runs into billions of dollars (more than 30 billion dollars to be precise) to make up for the unfortunate Chinese loss in men and property. The beautiful Beijing International airport as well as City’s new subway system is the result of Japan’s economic involvement in China.

However, young Chinese still shout death to Japan on the streets of China clamouring “I hate the Japanese,” or “Japanese pigs must die” etc. Money alone cannot coax national pride and honour into submission.

This expression of anger is not misplaced. Japan’s continued ducking of history is not absolutely liked by China. Those who read and know Chinese history they know quite well and understand how they feel. It has its dark patches; very dark. The Rape of Nanjing is the one chapter of China-Japan history that most shudder to read. In 1937 in the old Chinese capital Nanjing, invading Japanese troops butchered tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of Chinese civilians in a month-long orgy of slaughter. Tens of Thousands young Chinese women were forced into sexual slavery as what the Japanese army euphemistically called “comfort women”. History like this is difficult to forget or ignore.

Between December 1937 and March 1938 one of the worst massacres in modern times took place when Japanese troops embarked on a campaign of murder, rape and looting in Nanjing. People present at the scene of murder estimate between 250,000 and 300,000 people were killed, many of them women and children.

The number of women raped are said to be 20,000 and reports also account for non-combatant civilians being hacked to death. An American woman, Minnie Vautrin was at the scene of the crime and kept a diary which has been likened to that of Anne Frank. Her entry for 16 December reads: “There probably is no crime that has not been committed in this city today. Thirty girls were taken from the language school (where she worked) last night, and today I have heard scores of heartbreaking stories of girls who were taken from their homes last night - one of the girls was but 12 years old.”

Later, she wrote: “How many thousands were mowed down by guns or bayoneted, we shall probably never know. For in many cases oil was thrown over their bodies and then they were burned. Charred bodies tell the tales of some of these tragedies. The events of the following ten days are growing dim. But there are certain of them that lifetime will not erase from my memory and the memories of those who have been in Nanjing through this period.”

The experience was so horrible for the diarist that she could not tolerate it and live a normal life herself after all that. She suffered a nervous breakdown in 1940 and returned to the US. There she committed suicide in 1941. All accounts on Nanjing of that time are replete with similar stories of insensitivity, animalism and dire cruelty of Japanese forces.

However, our young Chinese friends need to be reminded that history of every nation has such dark patches. The birth of Pakistan for us, for example, was the most traumatic event in South Asia when hundreds of thousands of people were killed, maimed and looted whereas tens of thousands of women were dishonoured, maltreated and finally killed by Indian hooligans with the active connivance of Indian security forces in 1947.

After four wars on Kashmir and hosts of other problems, we have come back to table to reason them out. The leadership of both countries seems to have learnt that we cannot remain hostage to an old mindset and sustain anguish, revenge, suffering and vengeance as legacy for our generations. We need to leave something constructive, positive and refreshing for coming generations to build their future on; not the substratum of misleading national pride banking on negativity. We did not turned overnight into thoughtful, creative and pragmatic Pakistanis, however, the amount of tolerance, spirit of accommodation, wisdom of adjustment and flexibility of interaction we have displayed through our leadership, speak volumes about the constructive bend to our checkered history.

The young Chinese who express their anger in the streets of China over the ducking of history by Japan do not know the upheavals of their own Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) when humanitarian issues were gravely compromised whereas there is a long list of the victims of that revolution. China is clouding that part of its history denying the dictum of philosophers of such magnitude as Confucius that ‘we learn lessons from our past mistakes.’ The experience of Chinese youth is of the boom times of the 1990s.

They are grateful to Communist Party of China and are deeply patriotic and chauvinistic. The young China should learn that if past is allowed to figure too much in the relationships between two nations then the fate of any relationship is doomed. Constructive engagements between nations get a breather from goodwill, futuristic vision, spirit of accommodation, tolerance, respect to each other’s identity and culture and a little glossing over the bad patches of the past.