A Muslim Pope?

#679 MANTO

It would be wrong to presume that anything will finish in the Union. The better word would be carry-forward. If Pakistan will end so will India. Both will end and a new entity will come up.

It is like this. Both the countries have federal structure. Our regional identities are more profound than our national identities. As far as India is concerned(I dont know much about Pakistan system), a common man(for his day to day living) depends on the Central Government in Delhi for only two-three things.. one is railways, second one is post-office, third is telephone(which now is not the case). Rest all of its requirements are met by the State or provincial government. I feel the same structure exists in Pakistan also with some minor deviations here and there. For me what is India--it is my home-state. What is the difference for me between Sindh and Tamilnadu?? Only that I can go to TN freely ,as per my wish, whereas I cant go to Sindh. If you leave aside nationalistic jingoism, nothing much difference it will make to the common people if you merge up the things. The only difference will be that a common man will have much wider area at his disposal, whether he goes there or not is his wish. Given a hypothetical situation that such a Union does exist, then our regional identities will come up. If we meet today, you will call yourself a Pakistani and I will call myself an Indian. In the Union you will call yourself a Punjabi or a Sindhi or a Baloch or a Pathan and I will call myself a UPite or MPite or a Bihari or a Tamilian. Hindus and Muslims identities will have no meaning because no body would feel it that way. Do you feel yourself as a muslim in Pakistan. Or do we feel as Hindus in India. Answer is No.

The problem with the present arrangement is that it restricts our potential. People should be free to move within the subcontinent only then they will come to their real potential. Otherwise a few will gain and the majority will not. And the same is happening in both the countries. The rich and the powerful are gaining tremendously in both the countries because there is no check for them. Powerful Hindus do whatever they want to do in India and powerful Muslims do whatever they want in Pakistan and nobody keeps check on them. Because Muslims in India and Hindus in Pakistan are too weak to stop them.

When all these things are discussed by like-minded people, who have risen above Hindu-Muslim and India-Pakistan mentality(true patriots) then they come to the conclusion that Reunion is the better option so that both the major communities can keep a kind of check on each other. Why?? Because, one`s gain will be another`s loss. Simple natural principle.

The other thing is Jinnah Sahib badly miscalculated the power of democracy. Rather, he did not undestand its power at all. Many people here in India are of the view that in the Undivided India ,Muslims would have been the real kingmakers...or rather, the power surely would have got concentrated in their hands. It is the work of democracy, which we will discuss later. And thats why, now many Mohajirs in Pakistan do clamour for reunion, the Indians(read Hindus) walk away silently. Indian Muslims and Mohajirs have now understood that they go under tremendous loss by partition, while Hindus have realised that they gain by partition. Otherwise, they will have to face a stiff competition from the Muslims in every field.

But for those persons, who are above this Hindu-Muslim business do not care who will win and who will lose. Because they believe in competition and the ``survival of the fittest``.

``We are interested in exposing Gandhiji nothing else.``

Little people. Little dreams...

Aman....funnily enough , its Wagah-border-candle-lighting-peacenik types who talk of reunification with Pakistan. Seriously , who would want `re-unite` with a country of 160 million poor and illiterate Islamic fanatics - as if we haven`t got enough of them already........

amansandhu...

We are interested in exposing Gandhiji nothing else. Ofcourse we know that sane people on both sides will not be interested in undoing partition.

To Peace!

aisha and manto,
relax, reunification is not going to happen. why are you both taking what a few indians are saying on chowk so seriously, believe me even indians dont want reunification, to live in peace, yes.

Okay.

So Arjun- just how many nicks do you operate under??

We are little people but thankfuly honest people..

Just to make Manto happy , I produce a speech by the Right Hon.Towns >>

United States & the Tamil Struggle

2 October 1998

India’s breakup is inevitable

Hon.Edolphus Towns of New York in the House of Representatives
(US Congressional Record - Extensions of Remarks E1878)

[From India-West, Aug. 7, 1998] India may suffer Soviet Fate:Pawar - Pune (PTI) - `The leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Sharad Pawar Aug. 2 expressed the fear that the country might go the erstwhile Soviet Union way unless concerted efforts are taken to strengthen its economy in the wake of international reaction to its carrying out nuclear tests. Pawar was speaking at a function to release a book, ‘‘Hiroshima,’’ by noted Marathi writer D.B. Kher on the after effects of bomb explosion in Japan Aug. 6, 1945. Pawar said though the erstwhile USSR was a nuclear power it collapsed, and added that India should not become over-confident after the Pokhran-II tests`. [see also The Buddha Smiled - Nadesan Satyendra, 12 June 1998 and India & the Tamil Struggle]

Mr. Towns: Mr. Speaker, on August 7, India-West reported that Sharad Pawar, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s Parliament, ‘‘expressed fear that the country might go the erstwhile Soviet Union way.’’ Speaking at a function for the release of a book, Pawar said that although the Soviet Union was a nuclear power, it fell apart. He said that India’s missile tests should not make it overconfident about keeping the country together.

The decline of India is inevitable, Mr. Speaker, for many of the same reasons that doomed the Soviet Union. The fact that a leader of the Indian Parliament is now taking note of it is a significant development. India is a country made of may nations. It has 18 official languages. While it maintains a democratic form of government, the principles of democracy do not seem to apply where the minority nations are concerned.

Tens of thousands of Sikhs, Christian Nagas, Kashmiri Muslims, Dalits, Tamils, Assamese, Manipuris, and others have been murdered by the government, with no apparent difference no matter which party is in power. Currently, there are 17 freedom movements within India’s borders. It looks like Mr. Pawar is on to something. India’s breakup is inevitable. I think I speak for most of us here when I say that I hope it happens in the peaceful way that the Soviet breakup did. Otherwise, there is the risk of another Yugoslavia in South Asia.

It has been American policy to preserve the current artificial stability in South Asia, but let us remember that we pursued a similar policy with regard to the Soviet empire and it collapsed anyway. The best way to preserve stability, democracy, prosperity, freedom, and peace in South Asia is to get on the side of the peaceful, democratic, non violent freedom movements in Khalistan, Kashmir, Nagaland, and the other nations living under Indian rule.

I call on my colleagues to support an internationally supervised plebiscite to settle the future of Punjab, Khalistan by votes, the way that democracies decide issues.

I also call on India to fulfill its obligation to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir as it promised the United Nations it would in 1948. By these steps, India will signal its commitment to a democratic solution rather than a Yugoslavian-style ethnic war.

If it will not commit itself to take these steps, my colleagues can draw their own conclusions— and so can the people of the world. India must not try to settle this issue with more bullets, more genocide, and more nuclear warheads. The time has come to shine the light of freedom on all the people and nations of South Asia.

I thank Dr. Aulakh for bringing this very informative article to my attention and I am placing the article into the RECORD.

Thats the point isn`t Manto.

India gets Thomas Friedman, Pakistan gets Anthony Mitchell (haha).

India has 200 Congressmen in its pocket , Pakistan has Hon.Edolphus Towns.

You are such little people.

Yes he is a good man... and is serving his 12th term apparently... so does it matter if an immigrant like yourself doesn`t know him?

Good thing we bagged one of them atleast.

Let us see...

Hon. Edolphus Towns shows an unusually high interest in India for a small time US minor house represetative. He wants India to be declared a terrorist state , a big friend of the Khalistan monent , Naga moment ,Manipur, Assam, Kashmir freedom ...even spares time for the great cause of liberation of Tamil Nadu from India......

How come I didn`t hear of this guy before...he is some piece of work....

Right on... and what of the 183 member Indian caucus on the hill you fellows have created... OR the people you have on India`s payroll in the US media? Pretty much all the negative propaganda against Pakistan- except that which is reasonable and true- can be traced back to RSS-abroad money.

Its interesting actually....I google searched `Edolphus Towns India`. Reading the stuff this guy has to say about India gives one the impression that Nazi Germany was benign relatively......Obviously some Pakistani lobby probably gave the otherwise little known Congressman some money for his electoral campaign.....

Wait is that what you Indians have been doing say with the Bangladeshi numbers.

Well you see we don`t believe in fluffing up numbers.

Why make it just `300,000 christians killed by Indian govt. in Nagaland` , make it 3,000,000. Sounds even better. Pathetic.

well clearly then you meant to say that .. Ahmadis are doing better than the people of Nagaland who are being butchered by the Indian state for being christians...