Why Have This Train At All?

I found this column by Saeed Naqvi in the Indian Express particularly touching and thought-provoking.

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Step across those lines
Saeed Naqvi
Posted online: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 at 0000 hrs IST
Intimations of mortality is what I would put it down to, this recent procession of friends who have died and whose ashes have had to be immersed in Hardwar or holy rivers elsewhere. Obviously these were Hindus.

A Muslim death, if one can trace down one’s ancestry a few generations, is a rather more territorial affair. An Indian Muslim, if he can help it, likes to be buried in his ‘native’ place. Since Justice Sachar has confirmed Indian Muslims as being a financially embarrassed lot, transporting the deceased from the location of his or her expiry is a huge inconvenience to relatives who are committed to fulfilling the wishes of the dead and of abiding by traditions. This reverie on ashes and graves has been triggered by the terrorist attack on the Samjhauta Express, which transports passengers from Delhi to Lahore and the other way round.

The terminals for this train being Delhi and Lahore creates the impression that it represents some durable system of sustaining people-to-people contact between the two countries. People-to-people, in the Indo-Pak context, would conjure up images of a burgeoning Hindu-Muslim jamboree. This is a huge misunderstanding about the Samjhauta Express, attacked by the terrorists on Sunday night killing almost 70.

Most of those killed were Muslims, both Indians and Pakistanis, returning from relatives in India or travelling to relatives in Pakistan. Some Hindus died too but these were mostly jawans of the Government Railway Protection Force. Their death sheds further light on the Samjhauta Express tragedy.

One of the oozing sores Partition left behind were divided Muslim families. As far as Hindus and Sikhs are concerned the transfer of populations was bloody but total.

The tragedy of Muslims has been of a different order, particularly the Muslims from UP, Bihar and Hyderabad. These families did not migrate en masse. Most were torn apart: parents in India; children in Pakistan. Brothers in India; sisters, married to men with a future on the other side, in Pakistan. An uncle of mine, a captain in the British Indian army actually placed a measuring tape on a map of undivided India to see if Bombay (where he was posted) and Karachi were the same distance from our village of Mustafabad, near Rae Bareli. They were. He moved to Karachi where generals and brigadiers of his acquaintance promised him the moon in the new Islamic state.

Mohajirs (or immigrants) were trapped in all sorts of ironies because this rather ambitious uncle of mine retired and died with no higher rank than that of a major! I am not for a moment suggesting that he would have made it as the army chief had he stayed on in India. The point I am making is that the destination as El Dorado soured as a dream for many Muslims who crossed over. Muslims from the most effete enclaves of India had to make the near impossible adjustment in the hegemonic hold of the energetic Punjabi.

It is largely these Muslims, poor souls, who populated the Samjhauta Express both ways. In a sense it is not a ‘samjhauta’ but a sort of ‘majboori’ or a ‘compulsory’ express. The Monabao-Khokrapar route in Rajasthan-Sindh and the Attari-Wagah train in Punjab have been in operation since soon after Partition, subject to the usual stoppages conditioned by fluctuations in political temperatures between the countries.

Initially, those who had crossed over to Karachi and Hyderabad in Sindh imagined (as did some of the earlier Congress leaders) that Partition was a temporary inconvenience and soon folks would move to and fro like in some imaginary Schengen visa regime. The opposite happened. Attitudes hardened as the two new nation states secured the contours of their distinct nationalisms. The two nations fought several wars, transforming that magical vale of Kashmir into a continuously muffled wail. Since 1989, not so muffled either. It was against this tragic backdrop that the poor on both sides clutched onto the only valuable, they had been left with — relatives on both sides of the border. This is where the Samjhauta Express comes in handy. And now is this thread too being snapped?

There are various categories of people who travel between India and Pakistan. The seminarists, track-two professionals and the rich fly. This costs Rs 15,000. The Delhi-Lahore-Delhi bus costs Rs 900 each way. Both these methods of transport are beyond the means of those for whom relatives are the primary emotional anchor in life — the poorest Muslims on both sides. The Samjhauta fare is Rs 120.

It is these poor lives that have been lost in a macabre incineration of the two coaches.
The Godhra train tragedy had a political consequence. After the tragedy and subsequent mayhem, Narendra Modi won the elections in Gujarat. Before the tragedy, the BJP was routed in UP.

What consequences might one expect from this tragedy? Either the authors of this ghastly act have been so subtle as to leave us all totally baffled. Or, they have been so foolishly transparent as to make their target crystal clear: the Indo-Pak peace process. Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri was to arrive the next day. The pundits, of course, will get down to sequencing — Baghliar, Sir Creek, Siachen, Kashmir, the joint mechanism — each one of them sunk in deep thought.

Time was when one could consider New Delhi-Srinagar, India-Pakistan as one complex of issues. The lens now pans a much wider canvas. Americans are stuck in
Iraq, Afghanistan. Heaven knows what is in store for Iran. Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India is one contiguous belt. Is Indo-Pak peace possible in the midst of such regional volatility?

If this bilateral matter is not extricated from the blazes, then what hope for the great Indian surge? Under this huge canopy of strategic issues is being played out an existential drama in the life of Salma whose husband is buried in her UP village, father in Karachi. Where should she turn for the burial of her sister? And what of those poor constables, escorting the train, who were charred along with the passengers whose security they were supposed to oversee. How could they have escaped when the coaches of the Samjhauta are sealed in Delhi and unsealed in Attari — the quest for security resulting in its exact opposite.

My CONDOLENCE note to the relatives of the deceased ones in this train tragedy.

I know how you feel when you lose your loved one`s ........I also know those innocent people are in peace in heaven.........there is no ointment for your wounds. But, I just wanna share a moment of silence with you in the honor of those who lost their lives for some unknown reasons...................b/c we humans can`t comprehend what`s the reason behind every action?

I wish I could hug all of you personally a, wipe off your tears and could put an ointment of
love on your fresh wounds......

May God give peace to resting souls and your souls. Ameen....

Dear Chowk Staff

Thank you so much for being fair and for supporting unflinching idealism.....
Chowk staff is very intellectual and we should be thankful to chowk staff for giving us a free opportunity to interact and learn from so many learned people around.

Atleast, i have learned so much from all these respectable and intelligent interactors.

#400

Stop acting like a prude. Stop blaming chowk staff for your own deeds. You should be thankful to chowk staff for giving you an ample opportunity to interact with us.

People people people.. Krishna Mohalikuytrewadsfarijhkalyalam is not sick, he is not a pron addict, he is just ugly. Thats really it. When you are as ugly as him, world is your enemy. He looks around and he sees these fair-skinned Muslims who are all taller than 4`11 and he is bitter, at some level he really wished that he was a Muslim but then he woudnt be able to smell like curry all day long cause eventually he would have to use a soap and he thinks he is allergic to that. It really all boils down to his insecurities which stems from his ugliness and short height. No need to take him seriosuly just laugh at him, thats his comfert zone, if you people indulge him in a theological discussions then he becomes antsy and obnoxious which is not good for his therapy.

#405 by Shah2

Particularly when some of these are doctored ... like the Iran stoning preperation photo ..

But he`s sick. No doubt about that.

#401 Krishana Sri devi....
you must be like porno loving voyer looking at despecable pictures...

It does not matter whose pic in the frame is but surely who gloates on it is also sick to the stomach

I eat meat and everything but this story really creeped me out... back home, one of my friends had this muslim neighbor. On the occasion of a muslim festival, they killed a goat. When my friend asked his muslim neighbor why they can`t just kill the goat instead of subjecting it to the worst imaginable torture killing, then came the reply `` bhai saheb...dil ko itni sukhoon milti hai .... ``.

That picture of a Muslim mob killing a Hindu is really creepy... kinda reminds me what will happen in all those lands where muslims will become a majority. All the hindus and sikhs in UK should immediately align with BNP in UK and bring it to power as soon as possible....

Yikes,

Sadists

I am a totally non-practising Hindu, so no great love for that religion..... but Islam really creeps me out.

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts

#397 by abu_safwaan


Here`s some proof that you are a subzero IQ cabbie:

[2) You are forced to worship monkeys, elephants, cow-poop and only God know what else, and every time that single digit IQ of urs kick in...]


[3) After all of these weapons and supposed arsenal that is the result of your nation’s studiousness, I mean ugly people are good students, we do give you that....]


See what I mean? Eh? Cabbie?

:)




[But you have to understand those sister’s of urs have met real men for the first time and they can’t keep their hands off of us...]

All Paki girls I`ve met were very good at BJs.

Hmmm....So they just slap you around. Eh, cabbie? Maybe because they see that you are dumb as a doorpost with no future. :)

The recent stupidity of Chowk`s Admin is beyond comprehension. The unprofessional moderators (a shame to the concept of moderation) are censoring posts from interactors who are just expressing their opinions on the articles or news, whereas posters and imposters who have made Chowk`s interact section a gibberish den aka communication channel are promoted to copy and paste left, right and center. If anything Chowk should censor and remove jargon posted in 377 and 378 -- it should stay where it belongs (unplugged). I guess enlightened moderation is only possible when the moderators have any sensible neurons left to distinguish between jargon and substance.

Very Disappointing!

The difference is not if MohMad was a killer.....it is animal instinct to kill competition......a tiger kills and a hyena kills.....one kill is admired the other scorned....

MohMad was a coward backstabber.....type of a killer.....muslims ape his kanjarpana.......


Salim`s comments about Punjus are right......it is time for introspection......they have evolved into this by thousands of invasions......good punjus were killed by invaders....bootlicker fratercidal were spared.....thus the undesired habits and traits linger on.......

#397 Abu Safwaan

Abey Abu, your intellect is dazzling!

I mean, it truly shows - based on your level of discourse. Also, it goes a long way toward promoting the concept of peace and harmony for all the people of the world in general and the subcontinental natives in particular.

Chowk staff must be commended for their impartial application and enforcement of the guidelines! They are probably trying to make up their minds right now whether they should bump up your interact index to measly 2.0 or whether to push it to its well-deserved 4.0!

It is such a difficult task!

Way to go, bro!

Re: # 395
Krishna MorthyerafsdghjsuytreyuioplkhagfdsaPulyalam,

You can bobble your head all day long and huff & puff to the umpteenth degree and jump up n down like ur Monkey God but all o that still won’t make me responsible for ur miserable existence. There are three things that are causing you this constipation.

1) You are ugly and you are mad at the world for it, I mean its not our fault, have you seen ur parents? What do u expect coming from the mating of that, Brad Pitt? I don’t think so!

2) You are forced to worship monkeys, elephants, cow-poop and only God know what else, and every time that single digit IQ of urs kick in, it dawns some sort of realization of how maddening the whole concept is, because in order to be Hindu without a shadow of doubt, ur IQ really needs to be zero, but since it is in single digits its really a hindrance in ur contentment with ur religion so work on brining that to zero, shouldn’t be hard after all u r hindu so just focus on cow-poop and it’ll come.

3) After all of these weapons and supposed arsenal that is the result of your nation’s studiousness, I mean ugly people are good students, we do give you that, but then again with mug like your’s ain’t getting any love from femininas so books are the only solace, which is good and constructive, so what I was saying was that after all the military arsenal dawood bhai’s name is enuff to make you all pee in ur dhoti’s, cause u see courage comes mostly from balls which we have already established you won’ ever get because of ur fascination with cow-pee instead of beef. So you see the circle is complete, it all comes back to cows, start eating them instead of washing urself with their urine, and that just might be a step in the right direction.

By the way that Cab driver bid doesn’t even make sense, I am not sikh! You can make fun of me by calling me a procrastinator or womanizer or something along those lines, cause we do always get ur better looking “sabjans” on campus and are usually late to turn in our assignments. But you have to understand those sister’s of urs have met real men for the first time and they can’t keep their hands off of us so who has time for the Java project.

#
Believing (or no believing) in God has got some meaning, some reason. But believing, following, spreading and fighting for it, protecting it etc. etc. has no meaning. Religion essentially is interpretation by some human beings and is bound to create havoc if brought out of book!

Not convinced?

Ok. Go to hell! Or make the earth hell!!

Samar

#390 by abu_safwaan

[This is truly comical; we are supposed to defend our religion in front of morons who just took a shower in cow piss.]

You mean, you could ``defend`` your ``religion`` to a non-Hindu aethist?

There is NOTHING you can say to defend a crminal who beheaded 700 UNARMED civilians and sold their INNOCENT and HELPLESS women and children into slavery.

Accept it, abey Mongolian rapist-ki-aulad cab driver :) - accept the fact that you and your family has been hoodwinked by a sex-craved megalomaniac.

[Saji’s were always a clear majority but our forefathers rode their asses for 800 years.]

Some Mongolian might have ridden your great-grandmas` asses :), but MY ancestors never gave in. That`s why I am still Hindu today. And you are a stinking moosla. :D

[GET OVER IT. If your gutless forefathers had a hint of balls they should have snatched the kingdom from muslim rulers.]

We did. It`s the great land called India. :)


[But see Gobhi & bhindi are only going to give you enough energy to be the meek little existence that you were, are and will be. In order to be men you need beef my lil darkies,]

Gobhi and bhindi are good enough to whip your Paki Muslim ass every time. Heh heh heh. :D

Why are you Mooslas such losers? Eh? You cutloos lose to India, lose to Israel, get a whipping in Spain and run for your life, get Daisy Cuttered in your own country, get sodomized in Xinxiang in China, get bent over and abused in Chechnya, in Bosnia...the list is endless. So the allah-dude is not looking out for ya? Whatsup with that? Eh? Cabbie?

Eat some bacon for a change. Oh wait. That would be eating your own kind. THAT`S WHY it is prohibited...Okay...don`t have to eat your own. :) Then lick some more Arab goo.....


Ha ha ha ha..... :)

#388# and above

If they don`t doubt it is always bound to happen. You may not doubt God (Allah or anything) but you must doubt Religion. Doubter of the world, unite! Save the world!!

Samar