A Forgotten Incident

Amit:

You have raised a good point about whether Hindus would be willing to live in a secular state with a Muslim majority.

I dont believe this has ever been put to the test. Since the movement for Pakistan was spearheaded by the MUSLIM League, it was natural for the Hindu minority to associate a religious connotation to that state notwithstanding Jinnah`s secular credentials. Moreover, Jinnah made a number of remarks to stress the differences - ``Hindus worship the cow. We eat it.`` And Pakistan has historically been confused if it was a secular state for Muslims or an Islamic state. So you really cant blame the Hindus for not wanting to take their chances and getting out of Pakistan.

On the other hand, Hindus live quite peacefully as a minority in the Indian Punjab, Goa and a somewhat minority in Kerala.

Re: ALL

I am sorry about the typos and I will e-mail a cleaner copy for Chowk to post up. Hopefully, it should be up soon!

Yes, this is a work of fiction...so just read it and have a good laugh...!

Thanks!

Chill everyone! Its just fiction. FRK should`ve posted a disclaimer that any similarities to real life events are only incidental. Although I disagreed at many points, I found it to be very a refreshing and a thoroughly entertaining story that I had to finish once I started despite it`s length and my lack of time.

FRK apparently has tight grasp on subjects related to the subcontinents, esp. Pakistan. I did mind the typos but I overlooked them just because the story was worth it. Yeah, the subject is old and this story for some may be one too many on the deplorable state of Pakistan and India/Pakistan relations, or their lack there of. But the technical details, knowledge of the subject and the light humor was good enough for me to give it a thumb`s up.

Rehan.

I apologize, but please read ``FRK`` for ``Ras.``

Dream On!

Ras, I think your active imagination can be put to much better use...

So you think Pakistan can seriously start building its own weaponry and navycraft any time soon? After it actually can barely upgrade its textile mills, the marvel of today`s technology? And after borrowing half-working 40s nuclear technology from China to prove its manhood after successful Indian testing?

You mention Arab forces trained by the Pakistan military. Is that why Arabs cannot fight, with all their billions? But you don`t see another Bangladesh coming, though?

Sorry, but you just cracked me up on one of my snow-filled, down days...BTW I think Amit`s point is well taken. With what I see around in Pakistan, it would be hard to say we are any better off than ``those Hindus`` (no disrespect implied.)

I am glad that the war was averted because people were interested in other things (sports, romance etc.). And about the question of national honor that was at stake: National honor is to be found in peace, not in war; in working towards a civilized society, not in buying military weapons or building military weapons.

On Reader Amit`s question of historic differences between Hindus and Muslims: let us stop looking at the rear-view mirror (a very bad habit of many people in the subcontinent) and start looking ahead at the world where all of us (and all our children) will live the rest of our lives.

Khan Saheb,

This was a very funny and interesting article about the absurd state of Indo-Pak relations. However, I do feel that we have some genuine problems that need to be resolved via dialogue. While Pakistanis recognize these problems, most Indians tend to trivialize them and ignore the reality.

Essentially a thousand year old struggle has been going on between Islam and Hinduism to win the soul of the subcontinent. These are two competing ideologies and ways of life. Moreover, the muslim invasions in history have left major psychological problems among both hindus and muslims in their perceptions about each other. The problems in Kashmir etc. are a manifestation of these twisted mindsets on both sides that have developed over centuries. Most hindus talk about secularism but I doubt if any of them would like to live in a muslim majority nation even if it declared itself as a secular nation. Yet they cannot understand it if muslims do not want to live in a hindu majority nation.

It is time that we talk about these things with honesty and candor, since both India and Pakistan are free, sovereign nations. A religious discussion between Islamic and Hindu scholars may also be useful to arrive at a new understanding.

FRK:

Throw in some songs and this could be a script for a low budget Indian/Pakistani fillum.

I caught some really acerbic lines. But overall there were too many typos and disjointed sentences that left behind a certain taste--- the taste of three day old, recycled, reheated, repoured coffee one used to get at intermission at Rex, Rio, Capital or Paradise Cinemas. (Forgive me, but I cannot fathom more than three typos or errors in any article).

Here is one to the proof reader.

regards

Amusing.