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Education and the Nazim http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2004-05/04/article01.shtml

Pakistan To Re-Write Anti-India, Hindus Curricula


The minister said the aim was to ``bring objectivity and truth to our books rather than hate material or terror tales.``

By Asif Farooqi, IOL Correspondent

ISLAMABAD, May 4 (IslamOnline.net) – Pakistan is set to re-write curricula taught at state-run schools, which contain anti-India and anti-Hindu material.

``We are doing it with a conviction, and that is, to bring objectivity and truth to our books rather than hate material or terror tales,`` Pakistani Education minister Zubeda Jalal has told IslamOnline.net.

``There is a certain degree of misstatement of facts related to for example how our country came into being, which needs to be ratified,`` she added.

The minister said the review of curricula is done regularly, denying reports that the county has given in to any ``foreign pressures``.

The government has already set up a committee, headed by the education minister, to review the curricula taught at various levels, especially those books which relate with history, religion and social sciences.

Now the government has moved to ``make the history books more realistic``.

``The material being taught at our schools fills the hearts and minds of the students with hatred against Hindus. It gives a wrong picture of the independence movement,`` says A.H. Nayyar, a scholar whose curricula proposals are being considered by Jalal’s committee.

Nayyar believes that the changes in the books were made in the period of General Zia Ul Haq in the eighties, accusing Zia of bringing intolerance and religious-based hatred in the curriculum of students.

``According to our books, Hindus of India are to be blamed for the bloodshed and genocide of Muslims in the subcontinent at the time of partition,`` Nayyar said, adding that this was not the whole truth and needed to be rectified.

External Pressure

But there are many who believe the government is amending the curricula, bowing to international pressure.

``The same changes which are now objectionable were made in the syllabus on the instructions from the U.S.,`` argues professor Dushka Saiyid, the head of the history department in Quaid e Azam University.

She said the changes were only made to toe the U.S. line because the U.S. government wanted to omit subjects like ``jihad``.

``How can you do away with Islamic heroes and concept of Jihad and Shahadat from the syllabus of the country where people actually have faith in them?`` Saiyid wondered.

She said it is a fact that Hindus played politics against Muslims under the British mandate.

``There were problems between Hindus and Muslims at that time as there are problems now.``

Pakistan and Indian had fought three wars since independence in 1947, two of them over Muslim-majority Himalayan region of Kashmir.

Their armies routinely exchange fire along the 750 kilometer (465 miles) Line of Control, which divides Kashmir between both countries, and their 230 kilometer (143 mile) international border.

On May 2, 2003, they restored full diplomatic ties to settle half a century of disputes ``for the economic and social betterment of their peoples.

The jerky start to peace moves led to the resumption of a bi-weekly bus service and the restoration of full diplomatic links.

Both countries agreed last February to a ‘roadmap’ of four-month discussions on disputes including the issue of Kashmir.

Khamosh Pani Breaks a Long Silence You can see more of Anupam and Kiron Kher on American TV in ER. Kiron is also in Shahrukh latest flick ``Main Hoon Na``.

If the likes of Aishwarya Rai and A R Rahman are making their presence felt in films and music can the small screen in the US be left far behind? Kiron and Anupam Kher are going to do an appearance in the hit medical saga ER . ``We are going to play Parminder Nagra`s ( Bend It Like Beckham heroine) parents. As yet, we don`t know if we`d be required for one episode or two.

We`ll be leaving for the US in July and the episodes will be telecast next season,`` says Kiron.

Created and produced by best-selling author Michael Crichton, the series centres on medical personnel in the emergency room of a Chicago hospital.

The Khers were offered ER after they turned down another sitcom, Never Mind Nirvana.

``While Anupam was in England, his agent got in touch with him and Uma Da Cunha called me for a reading here,`` recalls Kiron. Soon after the couple landed in the US for performances of the play Kuch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai and after meeting with NBC officials, they were offered the parts.

``That`s when we started developing cold feet. We were required to sign a contract saying that we`d be shooting for eight months a year for the next six-and-a-half years. Both Anupam and I have too many commitments here.

We couldn`t just pack and leave. Also, I can`t imagine not living in Mumbai for so long,`` she says.

From Jinnah to Jamali http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2004-05/04/article01.shtml

Pakistan To Re-Write Anti-India, Hindus Curricula


The minister said the aim was to ``bring objectivity and truth to our books rather than hate material or terror tales.``

By Asif Farooqi, IOL Correspondent

ISLAMABAD, May 4 (IslamOnline.net) – Pakistan is set to re-write curricula taught at state-run schools, which contain anti-India and anti-Hindu material.

``We are doing it with a conviction, and that is, to bring objectivity and truth to our books rather than hate material or terror tales,`` Pakistani Education minister Zubeda Jalal has told IslamOnline.net.

``There is a certain degree of misstatement of facts related to for example how our country came into being, which needs to be ratified,`` she added.

The minister said the review of curricula is done regularly, denying reports that the county has given in to any ``foreign pressures``.

The government has already set up a committee, headed by the education minister, to review the curricula taught at various levels, especially those books which relate with history, religion and social sciences.

Now the government has moved to ``make the history books more realistic``.

``The material being taught at our schools fills the hearts and minds of the students with hatred against Hindus. It gives a wrong picture of the independence movement,`` says A.H. Nayyar, a scholar whose curricula proposals are being considered by Jalal’s committee.

Nayyar believes that the changes in the books were made in the period of General Zia Ul Haq in the eighties, accusing Zia of bringing intolerance and religious-based hatred in the curriculum of students.

``According to our books, Hindus of India are to be blamed for the bloodshed and genocide of Muslims in the subcontinent at the time of partition,`` Nayyar said, adding that this was not the whole truth and needed to be rectified.

External Pressure

But there are many who believe the government is amending the curricula, bowing to international pressure.

``The same changes which are now objectionable were made in the syllabus on the instructions from the U.S.,`` argues professor Dushka Saiyid, the head of the history department in Quaid e Azam University.

She said the changes were only made to toe the U.S. line because the U.S. government wanted to omit subjects like ``jihad``.

``How can you do away with Islamic heroes and concept of Jihad and Shahadat from the syllabus of the country where people actually have faith in them?`` Saiyid wondered.

She said it is a fact that Hindus played politics against Muslims under the British mandate.

``There were problems between Hindus and Muslims at that time as there are problems now.``

Pakistan and Indian had fought three wars since independence in 1947, two of them over Muslim-majority Himalayan region of Kashmir.

Their armies routinely exchange fire along the 750 kilometer (465 miles) Line of Control, which divides Kashmir between both countries, and their 230 kilometer (143 mile) international border.

On May 2, 2003, they restored full diplomatic ties to settle half a century of disputes ``for the economic and social betterment of their peoples.

The jerky start to peace moves led to the resumption of a bi-weekly bus service and the restoration of full diplomatic links.

Both countries agreed last February to a ‘roadmap’ of four-month discussions on disputes including the issue of Kashmir.

Haraam Bombay Hooray for Bollywood, at Bombay Dreams
By Harry Haun
30 Apr 2004

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/85926.html

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/reviews/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000502241

Bombay Dreams


By Frank Scheck

Bottom line: Bollywood comes to Broadway, with mixed results. (Broadway Theatre, New York Runs indefinitely)

Hewing all too closely to the spirit of the Bollywood films that inspired it, this new musical produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber demonstrates that the charms of one artistic genre don`t necessarily translate effectively to another. ``Bombay Dreams`` has been a long-running hit in London`s West End, though that city`s huge Asian population has no doubt been a large component of its success. Now arriving on Broadway in a version with a retooled book courtesy of the white-hot Thomas Meehan (``The Producers,`` ``Hairspray``), it looks to face a rockier road.

Meehan and Meera Syal`s formulaic and cliche-ridden book admittedly does recall in style and themes any number of its Bollywood influences. It details the rags-to-riches story of the young, handsome and coiffure-obsessed Akaash (Manu Narayan), who aspires to dreams of Bollywood movie stardom both for personal ambition and to make enough money to prevent his slum neighborhood from demolition. He finds his opportunity through a chance encounter with a beautiful aspiring director, Priya (Anisha Nagarajan), who`s working on a beauty pageant being produced by her father, Madan (Marvin L. Ishmael). When Akaash prevents the pageant from being derailed by angry protesters through an exuberant song and dance, he attracts the attention of diva-like movie star Rani (Ayesha Dharker), who taps the unknown to appear with her in her new film ``Diamonds in the Rough.``

Needless to say, Akaash soon becomes a major star, as well as Rani`s lover, in the process succumbing to his newfound glitzy lifestyle and abandoning his friends and family, including his beloved elderly grandmother, Shanti (Madhur Jaffrey), and Sweetie (Sriram Ganesan), the eunuch who has always loved him. It won`t be any great revelation to disclose that by the evening`s end the hero has rediscovered his values, found true love and rescued his neighborhood from the wrecking ball.

Like so many Bollywood films, the show freely and dizzyingly combines comedy, melodrama and lavish musical numbers, and at times the sheer bizarre excessiveness of it all delivers a giddy charge. The group song-and-dance numbers, amplified to deafening levels, are performed with a rousing energy that, at least for some members of the audience, is bound to be infectious. Certainly, it`s hard to stay still during such razzle-dazzle songs as ``Salaa`m Bombay`` and the irresistible ``Shakalaka Baby,`` and the production number with a geyser drenching the cast has to be seen to be believed.

Unfortunately, the score by A R Rahman, a veteran Bollywood composer with more than 50 films to his credit, does tend to become repetitious and is least effective with its standard-issue ballads. The energetic choreography -- co-credited to Anthony Van Laast (``Mamma Mia``) and Bollywood veteran Farah Khan -- isn`t exactly revelatory, but it does successfully emulate its cinematic inspirations. Ultimately, the glitzy musical numbers are unable to compensate for the stupidity of the dialogue and characterizations -- whatever Meehan was hired to accomplish here, he hasn`t -- with the result that ``Bombay Dreams`` feels as much a missed opportunity here as it was in London.

Director Steven Pimlott keeps the lavish production moving on all cylinders, bringing the fast-paced proceedings in at under 2 1/2 hours. The all-Asian cast works mightily hard, to varying effect: Narayan doesn`t fully convey the charisma necessary to convince us of his character`s instant stardom, and newcomer Nagarajan, a young NYU student, is rather bland as Priya. But Dharker, repeating her London role, is delicious fun as the bitchy Rani; film veteran Jaffrey (``Shakespeare Wallah,`` ``Cotton Mary``) is touchingly dignified as the granny; and Ganesan, as the transsexual Sweetie, manages to overcome the stereotypical aspects of his role.

With the exception of its overdone, compressed slum setting that looks like something out of ``Cats,`` Mark Thompson`s set designs are visually inventive, and his lavish, colorful costumes are consistently dazzling.

Bombay Dreams
An Andrew Lloyd Webber production
Presented by Waxman Williams Entertainment and TGA Entertainment in association with Denise Rich and Ralph Williams and SP & AD Prods.

Credits:
Music: A R Rahman
Lyrics: Don Black
Book: Meera Syal, Thomas Meehan
Director: Steven Pimlott
Choreographer: Anthony Van Laast, Farah Khan
Set and costume designer: Mark Thompson
Sound designer: Mick Potter
Lighting designer: Hugh Vanstone
Cast:
Akaash: Manu Narayan
Priya: Anisha Nagarajan
Shanti: Madhur Jaffrey
Rani: Ayesha Dharker
Sweetie: Sriram Ganesan
Madan: Marvin L. Ishmael
Vikram: Deep Katdare

My Pakistan Diary: The Feudal http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_3-5-2004_pg3_1

‘Ungrateful Indian guests’

There is lot of anger in the columns of the Pakistani press about the ‘ungrateful’ Indians who came to watch cricket in Pakistan. All this is being attributed to a special issue by one of India’s weekly magazines which carried a story detailing the lives and activities of Pakistan’s upper crust. It appears that the journalists who wrote up the issue were more interested in the moral well-being of Pakistani society than in watching cricket and enjoying the extraordinary hospitality shown them here or even in comparing it with moral standards in their own country.

The popular press in Lahore has gone to town over the story. One editorial has reprimanded all those who welcomed the Indians and has abused a local hostess-writer. The magma of hatred, barely controlled by our India-haters, has come pouring out. The earlier rumours that most Indians came to Lahore, not to watch cricket but to sell goods, including gold, in Lahore’s black market have been recycled for fresh use. It was propagated at the time of the cricket series that Indian cricket-lovers had sold contraband goods worth Rs 3 billion, including ashes of cremated bodies for the sorcerers of Pakistan! Now of course the story has given more ammunition to the cleric in Pakistan to not only call for taking to task the morally bankrupt upper society but put a stop to people-to-people contact between India and Pakistan. The mullahs are already calling for ‘kowras’ (whip-lashings) on the backsides of those who thought of staging a cricket series with India and those who opened their hearts to the visiting Indians and offered them hospitality.

An ARY TV channel discussion Friday focussed on relations with India and the audience supported peace with India but said ‘no’ to cultural relations with it. The average Pakistani is infuriated by the story, its pictures blazoned on the first pages of the Urdu newspapers. Of course one has to be careful and not get carried away. The story is not representative of all the opinion in the Indian press. It would be wrong to ignore the positive and well-meaning articles written by Indian journalists and mount a collective attack from the Pakistani press on the basis of just one such story. That would be a major distortion of reality. And it would defeat the purpose of bringing Indians and Pakistanis together in order to ease the more complicated government-to-government relations. But it is appropriate to examine the psyche that presides over the factories of prejudice and hatred on both sides of the border.

What has been repeated in the story is an old pitfall that the Indians need to avoid while visiting Pakistan. At the behavioural level, it starts with surprise. (This also happens to many Americans and Europeans visiting Pakistan for the first time.) Instead of seeing a fundamentalist society beating up women for not wearing the veil and sending ‘wine-drinkers’ to jail like the Taliban, they see people living more or less like Indians back home where too some ‘dry’ states drink themselves silly without being punished. But the trouble with the critical Indian is that, unwittingly, he/she puts on the mantle of the unforgiving, sanctimonious Pakistani moaning about his sinning compatriots. He refuses to change his pre-formed view of Pakistani society. He is actually resentful that his definition of Pakistan is challenged by reality. He is always more comfortable with his own definition of the ‘other’ in life because that indirectly defines his own identity.

We in Pakistan should not fall to the easy temptation of retaliating against this attitude. Being in denial will not dissociate from us our Dionysian side, the not-so-controllable creative aspect of a putatively ideological society. What happens in Lahore and Karachi happens in New Delhi and Dhaka too. There is no dearth of negative piety-opinion in Pakistan about the sleazy goings-on in the Indian entertainment world. But we would be wrong if we concocted something like this about the goings-on in Bombay or Delhi. That would be a small thing to do. Let us ask our Indian guests to accept our reality the same way we are ready to accept theirs.

The truth of the matter is that 99 percent of the people on both sides have lived less-than-satisfactory lives in the last half century because India and Pakistan have cared more for fighting useless wars than for the well-being of their masses. Leaving the chattering classes aside for a while, there is no denying that both peoples would like the two states to live in peace and, if possible, in a cooperative, mutually profitable mode. The governments in New Delhi and Islamabad are on the verge of achieving the kind of bilateral relationship that the world wants for them. Let us not help the spoilers on both sides to win the day by derailing this process in a fit of anger. We have seen what such emotions and outlook have wrought during the wasted years of Indo-Pak hostility. *

Train to Pakistan 2004: The Tribute The kaleidoscope that is India


How come there are no articles in Chowk on ``Indian ELections``, often dubbed as ``The Greatest Show on Earth``.

An Indian in Pakistan Salute Pakistan for once

Team India has covered itself and the nation with great glory. Never has victory on the field of sport tasted so sweet in recent years as it did last week when Saurav Ganguly`s boys clinched the Test series as convincingly as they had earlier done the limited overs one day series. Defeating Pakistan in Pakistan has a super-special cache attached to it. Starved of wins in recent matches against other cricketing nations, India`s all-round triumph over Pakistan in all departments of the game was a singular feat which the lovers of the game will cherish for a long time. After all, it is not every day that you get to play Pakistan in Pakistan. The latest tour came after a gap of 14 long years. And as every fan of the game knows that it almost got cancelled at the very last moment due to security concerns about our team.

In the end, the Prime Minister`s intervention saved it. And his homily to the team on the eve of its departure for Karachi was, `match bhi jeeto, dil bhi jeeto`. Nobody on either side of the Radcliffe Line can deny that our heroes have fulfilled the assigned task, having won the matches as well as the hearts of the people in the subcontinent. Most remarkable feature of the series was that it was played in an atmosphere of great gamesmanship and goodwill.

You could not have expected Pakistani spectators to cheer a Sachin Tendulkar or a Virender Sehwag when they blasted their Shoib Akhtars and Mohammed Samis to smithereens till you actually saw it on your small screens. Yes, it was real. Audiences in Pakistan had matured enough to admire the genius of our players. And it is hoped that our people too would reciprocate the gesture as and when Inzamum-ul-Haq`s boys come calling for the reverse series sometime later this year. The point is that the insulation of the game from the corrosive virus of the embittered sub-continental relations can only enrich the sport and bring glory to the players be it a Shoib Akhtar or a Virender Sehwag.

The series spawned a welcome spin-off insofar as it opened a window to a sizable number of Indians who could visit the neighboring country for watching the matches. The restrictions hitherto in place which barred travel to either country by the peoples of the two countries were lifted, albeit temporarily for the duration of the series (though it is everyone`s wish that these would go permanently facilitating hassle-free travel to and from Pakistan). And without exception every Indian who went to Pakistan for the series came back bearing nothing but goodwill towards that country. Given the long and embittered history of Indo-Pak relations it was extraordinarily heart-warming to find ordinary Indians and VIPs alike praising their hosts for their hospitality and good spiritedness. Oft-heard account from Indians about shopkeepers and restaurateurs not accepting money for goods and foods bought only underlined the goodwill that ordinary Pakistanis displayed on this tour for the visitors.

At another level, the virtual red-carpet treatment for Indians held a deeper meaning in that the peoples of the two countries, fed up with more than half a century of bitter acrimony, during which time they had fought three indecisive wars over Kashmir, wanted to get on with their lives without being held back by the hatreds and jingoism that had periodically bedeviled the relations between the two nations. The two peoples knew there was much that united them even though they had very often allowed their politicians and generals to superimpose their selfish agenda of hate and enmity on them.

War, when both nations are self-avowedly armed with the horrendous nuclear arsenal, not even as an option of the last resort is available to Pakistan for imposing its own solution on this country for Kashmir. Yes, the world at large recognises that for Pakistan Kashmir is a disputed territory, but now more than at any time before it is also recognised by the same world that war will not resolve that dispute.

That may be why Pakistan and India have slowly but steadily returned to the negotiating table. And that is where they should stay till they are able to thrash out a compromise. The general mood of celebration witnessed in Pakistan was a measure of relief ordinary Pakistanis felt that their leaders were now talking to Indians rather than talking down at them. Kashmir is not going to wipe out the widespread poverty, ignorance and illiteracy of ordinary Pakistanis. But if their leaders move away from their obsession with Kashmir and try to divert a part of the resources from their arsenal of war, which necessarily includes its humongous army, for social and economic betterment of their people, there could still be hope for the people in that blighted nation.

Otherwise, jehadis of various Islamic varieties who lurk behind the bushes now will soon replace these leaders and drag Pakistan into the dark ages. The present rulers, therefore, have a huge stake in pursuing peace with this country. India is able and ready to go more than half way to shake Pakistan`s extended hand of friendship. The outcome of such a handshake could be as sweet for the two leaderships as the recent tryst of the two teams on the cricket ground proved for the two peoples. Pakistanis lost the two series but their exemplary conduct on and off the field won millions of Indian hearts. Ultimately, that is a far more fulfilling achievement, isn`t it?

http://www.samachar.com/features/190404-editorial.html

History’s Greatest Series Salute Pakistan for once

Team India has covered itself and the nation with great glory. Never has victory on the field of sport tasted so sweet in recent years as it did last week when Saurav Ganguly`s boys clinched the Test series as convincingly as they had earlier done the limited overs one day series. Defeating Pakistan in Pakistan has a super-special cache attached to it. Starved of wins in recent matches against other cricketing nations, India`s all-round triumph over Pakistan in all departments of the game was a singular feat which the lovers of the game will cherish for a long time. After all, it is not every day that you get to play Pakistan in Pakistan. The latest tour came after a gap of 14 long years. And as every fan of the game knows that it almost got cancelled at the very last moment due to security concerns about our team.

In the end, the Prime Minister`s intervention saved it. And his homily to the team on the eve of its departure for Karachi was, `match bhi jeeto, dil bhi jeeto`. Nobody on either side of the Radcliffe Line can deny that our heroes have fulfilled the assigned task, having won the matches as well as the hearts of the people in the subcontinent. Most remarkable feature of the series was that it was played in an atmosphere of great gamesmanship and goodwill.

You could not have expected Pakistani spectators to cheer a Sachin Tendulkar or a Virender Sehwag when they blasted their Shoib Akhtars and Mohammed Samis to smithereens till you actually saw it on your small screens. Yes, it was real. Audiences in Pakistan had matured enough to admire the genius of our players. And it is hoped that our people too would reciprocate the gesture as and when Inzamum-ul-Haq`s boys come calling for the reverse series sometime later this year. The point is that the insulation of the game from the corrosive virus of the embittered sub-continental relations can only enrich the sport and bring glory to the players be it a Shoib Akhtar or a Virender Sehwag.

The series spawned a welcome spin-off insofar as it opened a window to a sizable number of Indians who could visit the neighboring country for watching the matches. The restrictions hitherto in place which barred travel to either country by the peoples of the two countries were lifted, albeit temporarily for the duration of the series (though it is everyone`s wish that these would go permanently facilitating hassle-free travel to and from Pakistan). And without exception every Indian who went to Pakistan for the series came back bearing nothing but goodwill towards that country. Given the long and embittered history of Indo-Pak relations it was extraordinarily heart-warming to find ordinary Indians and VIPs alike praising their hosts for their hospitality and good spiritedness. Oft-heard account from Indians about shopkeepers and restaurateurs not accepting money for goods and foods bought only underlined the goodwill that ordinary Pakistanis displayed on this tour for the visitors.

At another level, the virtual red-carpet treatment for Indians held a deeper meaning in that the peoples of the two countries, fed up with more than half a century of bitter acrimony, during which time they had fought three indecisive wars over Kashmir, wanted to get on with their lives without being held back by the hatreds and jingoism that had periodically bedeviled the relations between the two nations. The two peoples knew there was much that united them even though they had very often allowed their politicians and generals to superimpose their selfish agenda of hate and enmity on them.

War, when both nations are self-avowedly armed with the horrendous nuclear arsenal, not even as an option of the last resort is available to Pakistan for imposing its own solution on this country for Kashmir. Yes, the world at large recognises that for Pakistan Kashmir is a disputed territory, but now more than at any time before it is also recognised by the same world that war will not resolve that dispute.

That may be why Pakistan and India have slowly but steadily returned to the negotiating table. And that is where they should stay till they are able to thrash out a compromise. The general mood of celebration witnessed in Pakistan was a measure of relief ordinary Pakistanis felt that their leaders were now talking to Indians rather than talking down at them. Kashmir is not going to wipe out the widespread poverty, ignorance and illiteracy of ordinary Pakistanis. But if their leaders move away from their obsession with Kashmir and try to divert a part of the resources from their arsenal of war, which necessarily includes its humongous army, for social and economic betterment of their people, there could still be hope for the people in that blighted nation.

Otherwise, jehadis of various Islamic varieties who lurk behind the bushes now will soon replace these leaders and drag Pakistan into the dark ages. The present rulers, therefore, have a huge stake in pursuing peace with this country. India is able and ready to go more than half way to shake Pakistan`s extended hand of friendship. The outcome of such a handshake could be as sweet for the two leaderships as the recent tryst of the two teams on the cricket ground proved for the two peoples. Pakistanis lost the two series but their exemplary conduct on and off the field won millions of Indian hearts. Ultimately, that is a far more fulfilling achievement, isn`t it?

http://www.samachar.com/features/190404-editorial.html

An Indian in Pakistan Beyond ‘sarson ka saga’ —Jyoti Malhotra

Indeed, one of the wonderful consequences of the cricket has been a creative reordering of the subcontinent’s map in the mind’s eye, in defiance of the prescribed schools of thought since Partition

The best part about the recently concluded cricket — apart from that classic Peshawar gem about “Balaji, jara dheere chalo...!’’ — is that the establishments in both India and Pakistan were, at least for the moment, forced to swallow their barely-concealed distaste for ‘the people.’ You know the know-it-all type, so smooth and urbane that you would have to scrape the exterior quite a bit before the core issue reveals itself.

No, not Kashmir, that’s almost too easy — sometimes. The real problem in New Delhi and Islamabad is that the power structures in both nations demand an unquestioning, unswerving obedience from the home crowd, especially when it’s about the other side. Even as we speak, they’re straightening their suits and refocusing on the life after cricket. Having spent the last 50-odd years painstakingly defining differences, they’re not going to simply allow an upsurge of cross-border feeling to mend a few fences.

In Pakistan, the power centre is both blatant and pervasive, usually distinguished by the colour of its uniform, though not necessarily. It flaunts its power, from parliament to the press. It hardly brooks any opposition. In India, the ‘anti-people’ crowd is far more insidious. It also exists in the corrupted connections between the political class and the bureaucracy. Mostly, it lacks the courage to think differently. It smiles greasily, condescendingly, at those who dare to dream.

Just look, then, at the Peshawaris singing a Bollywood paean in praise of the Telugu lad from faraway Andhra Pradesh. Or Lahore’s girls cheering for Rahul Dravid, the Maharashtrian who lives in Bangalore. Or Rawalpindi’s press pundits, refusing to pan Zaheer Khan, the boy from Srirampur, Maharashtra, who when asked about Bal Thackeray, self-consciously pointed out he was a ‘nice man.’

All these ‘people’ in all these cities didn’t seek permission from their local henchmen to check out the visiting Indians in their own, indiscreet manner. They must have at first tripped over the alphabet soup of tongue-twisting names, castes, ethnic groups and religions, laughing self-consciously as they jostled with complex consonants and accidental onomatopoeia. And as we gorged on all the news from Pakistan over the last month, we wondered, thunderstruck, how all those fair and lovely apparitions from Lahore were able to overcome the North-South divide and focus on the talent pool beyond the sarson ka saag of Punjab and, indeed, even beyond the Vindhyas. Into ‘idli and sambhar’ territory, monsoon magic, the anathema of vegetarianism, and outsourcing — even the idea of India.

Indeed, one of the wonderful consequences of the cricket has been a creative reordering of the subcontinent’s map in the mind’s eye, in defiance of the prescribed schools of thought since Partition. If Lahore was witness to some of the most emotive scenes between Hindus and Muslims, the cynical could still put this down to the ‘Punjabiyat’ that has persisted despite the decades. But when Multan, on the other side of the Thar desert and Rawalpindi, the last stop before great game territory, opened up their hearts and minds to Gujarat and Haryana and Maharashtra and Karnataka, they indicated they were willing to look at the shades of grey that grew from the inherited anarchy of the subcontinent. Since when was black-and-white the colour code, anyway?

What a far cry from all those intellectualised Pakistanis, who barely a month before the cricket, were so put out when visiting Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh told a Lahori audience that ‘it was the British’ who had created all the problems between the two Punjabs and that ‘the line’ between the two provinces should really be erased. What a furore that very innocent remark caused in the op-eds of influence!

Poor Amarinder, so out of touch with his mass base at home, probably thought he would win a kudos or two by blaming the common ‘foreign hand’, in this case the British, for the common ills of Punjab. For all his misguided sense of camaraderie, he was roundly castigated as the ‘big brother’(India) who was unwilling to accept that the ‘younger brother’ (Pakistan) did not want to return to the fold of the paternalistic happy family. Urdu and English journalists fulminated with some passion about ‘Indians, who never wanted to learn anything.’ From there, it was a short extrapolation to India, which had never accepted the finality of Partition.

It would have been funny, if it wasn’t so tragic. All those Pakistanis claiming to speak for their national interest had completely missed the point. It didn’t help that the political class as well as the pro-BJP bureaucracy in New Delhi wagged an oh-so-amused finger at the Congressman from Punjab. That’s what he deserved, they seemed to say, for trying to pretend that people on both sides of the border — especially, Punjab — still understood each other in ways Punjabis and Kannadigas would never do.

In retrospect, Amarinder’s failed visit can be explained as one, even if it came a few weeks before, that missed the historical moment. The cricket, on the other hand, created history. It’s now over. But life can never be the same again.

Jyoti Malhotra is a Senior Editor at the ‘Indian Expres’ newspaper in New Delhi. She wrote this for Daily Times

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_19-4-2004_pg3_7

Jehad and The Curriculum People and politics of manipulation —Razi Azmi

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_6-4-2004_pg3_2


One sparrow does not a spring make. The Indian cricket tour would soon have passed into history, into oblivion, and the Pakistani hate squad will be back at their favourite game scoring points at India’s expense

The Indian press is in raptures over the reception Indians have received from the Pakistani people during their current cricket tour. Indian reporters, commentators and visitors are going overboard in praising the friendliness of Pakistanis and decrying their own past ‘misperceptions’. They are both right and wrong: right about the cordiality and sincerity of their current reception, but wrong about their supposed misperceptions.

So overwhelmed are the Indians with the amity on display that they are engaging in a certain degree of self-flagellation. It’s alright to be thrilled with the present euphoria, but let it not conceal the fact that Pakistanis harbour serious misperceptions about India, bordering on Indophobia. And it’s hardly their fault. They have been nurtured on a sustained, systematic anti-Indian campaign at every phase of their lives, from primary school or madrassah to college, through books, newspapers, radio, television and speeches from podiums and pulpits.

Left to themselves and their own devices, people everywhere are a fine bunch, with the same aspirations, hopes and fears, and Pakistanis are no exception. But just as many a normal marriage in our part of the world founders and collapses on the interference of the mother-in-law, so also relations between these two countries — that are inextricably linked by ties of blood, language, culture, history and geography — have been poisoned by politicians, generals and religious zealots in the pursuit of votes, funds and a putative state ideology.

Official Pakistan likes to emphasise our ties to the Arab world and dissociate us from India to such an extent that most Pakistanis would be surprised to hear that there are more Muslims in India than the combined population of Arab Muslims. And think of how many Indians are of Pakistani origin and Pakistanis of Indian origin. Not so long ago, the Indian High Commissioner in UK (Kuldip Nayyar) could not help commenting to his Pakistani counterpart (Shehryar Khan) that while he (Nayyar) was a ‘Pakistani’ now representing India, the latter was an ‘Indian’ now officiating for Pakistan.

Politicians by definition are guided by nothing more substantial or lofty than the desire to win the next election, no matter what it takes. Their methods vary, but by far the most dangerous is to sow the seeds of suspicion against minorities and neighbouring countries. It gets damn deadly when religion is brought into the fray, fanning the worst instincts in people, inciting hate. The result often is violence, riot and war.

The stability and social harmony that prevails in Western democratic countries makes them safe havens for the oppressed of the Third World and lands of opportunity for its aspiring. It has also been noted that democracies don’t get embroiled in wars against one another. For one, citizens of democratic societies also happen to have an enlightened education as opposed to dogmatic and ideology-based teaching. Secondly, in free societies demagogues and hate-mongers are easily exposed with the help of an independent and enlightened press and kept in check by a powerful judiciary. Last but not least, social and international harmony in democratic societies derives from their secular polity, where religion does not mix with, let alone drive, politics.

Strategic and geopolitical factors have now compelled the Pakistani authorities to allow the Indian cricket tour of Pakistan to conclude successfully and on a happy note. And this being a country where the press still takes its cue from the government, the manipulators of public opinion and hate-mongers have been temporarily put to grass. Which has given the Pakistani public somewhat of a free rein vis-à-vis the Indian cricket tour. And they have shown that they have nothing but goodwill for their neighbours, who are human just like themselves, with the same aspirations, pastimes and foibles.

It is important that we don’t lose sight of human foibles in this happy hour. The public’s foibles, on the one hand, and, on the other, the ambitions of politicians and religious zealots, feed on and nourish each other as if in a symbiotic relationship. Lest their current silence be misunderstood for a change of heart, it must be said that our Indophobes have only made a tactical retreat. Once the tour and the euphoria are over, they are sure to return with a vengeance.

The perspicacious amongst us did not need a Charles Darwin to discover that human beings have evolved from animals. You only have to witness a riot or see mob ‘justice’ to begin to believe in the theory of evolution. Indeed, during mob violence and riots, the behaviour of what would otherwise be regarded as normal samples of the human species is so abhorrent and revolting that one even wonders whether some are not actually undergoing reverse evolution from man to beast.

Among the most recent and ghastly reminders of ‘human bestiality’ is the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. In a murderous frenzy spread over one hundred days, Hutus massacred 800,000 Tutsis, which makes for an average of eight thousand killed every day for over three months! Srebrenica has deservedly earned international infamy (especially in Muslim countries, because the victims were Bosnian Muslims and the perpetrators Christian Serbs), but Rwanda translates into one Srebrenica per day, every day, for over three months! Doubtless, the killing mobs were whipped into a frenzy by the Hutu politicians, but can the people shirk their responsibility, the hundreds or thousands of Hutus who actually ran amok, machetes in hand, looking for their next Tutsi victim, man, woman or child, old or young?

But why go that far? The subcontinent has had more than its fair share of religious, ethnic and sectarian violence and wars — a sad testimony to the ability of the few to manipulate the many.

Reverting to Indo-Pakistani relations, a recent SDPI report entitled The Subtle Subversion has drawn attention to the mindset of exclusivity, hate and ‘holy war’ that is disseminated through our textbooks. In fact, as far as references to Hinduism, Hindu historical figures and Indian history are concerned, our media in general and textbooks in particular are not even subtle in their misrepresentations, distortions and sheer negative propaganda.

The chorus of condemnation of this report in the Urdu press and by the fatwa-wielding class is already a precursor of things to come once the Indian cricket tour is over. Not surprising that our so-called ‘secular’ politicians of the Mian & BB brands will either remain silent or, more likely, ally themselves with the obscurantists and Indophobes for narrow tactical gains.

One sparrow does not a spring make. The Indian cricket tour would soon have passed into history, into oblivion, and the Pakistani hate squad will be back at their favourite game, playing with the public’s gullibility, scoring points at India’s expense.

The author, a former academic with a doctorate in modern history, is now a freelance writer and columnist

Open Letter To Dina Wadia http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_6-4-2004_pg3_2

Pakistan: A land of Indo-phobes

So overwhelmed are the Indians with the amity on display that they are engaging in a certain degree of self-flagellation. It’s alright to be thrilled with the present euphoria, but let it not conceal the fact that Pakistanis harbour serious misperceptions about India, bordering on Indophobia. And it’s hardly their fault. They have been nurtured on a sustained, systematic anti-Indian campaign at every phase of their lives, from primary school or madrassah to college, through books, newspapers, radio, television and speeches from podiums and pulpits.

Left to themselves and their own devices, people everywhere are a fine bunch, with the same aspirations, hopes and fears, and Pakistanis are no exception. But just as many a normal marriage in our part of the world founders and collapses on the interference of the mother-in-law, so also relations between these two countries — that are inextricably linked by ties of blood, language, culture, history and geography — have been poisoned by politicians, generals and religious zealots in the pursuit of votes, funds and a putative state ideology.

Official Pakistan likes to emphasise our ties to the Arab world and dissociate us from India to such an extent that most Pakistanis would be surprised to hear that there are more Muslims in India than the combined population of Arab Muslims. And think of how many Indians are of Pakistani origin and Pakistanis of Indian origin. Not so long ago, the Indian High Commissioner in UK (Kuldip Nayyar) could not help commenting to his Pakistani counterpart (Shehryar Khan) that while he (Nayyar) was a ‘Pakistani’ now representing India, the latter was an ‘Indian’ now officiating for Pakistan.
Reverting to Indo-Pakistani relations, a recent SDPI report entitled The Subtle Subversion has drawn attention to the mindset of exclusivity, hate and ‘holy war’ that is disseminated through our textbooks. In fact, as far as references to Hinduism, Hindu historical figures and Indian history are concerned, our media in general and textbooks in particular are not even subtle in their misrepresentations, distortions and sheer negative propaganda.

The chorus of condemnation of this report in the Urdu press and by the fatwa-wielding class is already a precursor of things to come once the Indian cricket tour is over. Not surprising that our so-called ‘secular’ politicians of the Mian & BB brands will either remain silent or, more likely, ally themselves with the obscurantists and Indophobes for narrow tactical gains.

Alliance of Religious Leaders http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_6-4-2004_pg3_2

Pakistan: A land of Indo-phobes

So overwhelmed are the Indians with the amity on display that they are engaging in a certain degree of self-flagellation. It’s alright to be thrilled with the present euphoria, but let it not conceal the fact that Pakistanis harbour serious misperceptions about India, bordering on Indophobia. And it’s hardly their fault. They have been nurtured on a sustained, systematic anti-Indian campaign at every phase of their lives, from primary school or madrassah to college, through books, newspapers, radio, television and speeches from podiums and pulpits.

Left to themselves and their own devices, people everywhere are a fine bunch, with the same aspirations, hopes and fears, and Pakistanis are no exception. But just as many a normal marriage in our part of the world founders and collapses on the interference of the mother-in-law, so also relations between these two countries — that are inextricably linked by ties of blood, language, culture, history and geography — have been poisoned by politicians, generals and religious zealots in the pursuit of votes, funds and a putative state ideology.

Official Pakistan likes to emphasise our ties to the Arab world and dissociate us from India to such an extent that most Pakistanis would be surprised to hear that there are more Muslims in India than the combined population of Arab Muslims. And think of how many Indians are of Pakistani origin and Pakistanis of Indian origin. Not so long ago, the Indian High Commissioner in UK (Kuldip Nayyar) could not help commenting to his Pakistani counterpart (Shehryar Khan) that while he (Nayyar) was a ‘Pakistani’ now representing India, the latter was an ‘Indian’ now officiating for Pakistan.
Reverting to Indo-Pakistani relations, a recent SDPI report entitled The Subtle Subversion has drawn attention to the mindset of exclusivity, hate and ‘holy war’ that is disseminated through our textbooks. In fact, as far as references to Hinduism, Hindu historical figures and Indian history are concerned, our media in general and textbooks in particular are not even subtle in their misrepresentations, distortions and sheer negative propaganda.

The chorus of condemnation of this report in the Urdu press and by the fatwa-wielding class is already a precursor of things to come once the Indian cricket tour is over. Not surprising that our so-called ‘secular’ politicians of the Mian & BB brands will either remain silent or, more likely, ally themselves with the obscurantists and Indophobes for narrow tactical gains.

India-Pakistan: Friends on Visa http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_6-4-2004_pg3_2

Pakistan: A land of Indo-phobes

So overwhelmed are the Indians with the amity on display that they are engaging in a certain degree of self-flagellation. It’s alright to be thrilled with the present euphoria, but let it not conceal the fact that Pakistanis harbour serious misperceptions about India, bordering on Indophobia. And it’s hardly their fault. They have been nurtured on a sustained, systematic anti-Indian campaign at every phase of their lives, from primary school or madrassah to college, through books, newspapers, radio, television and speeches from podiums and pulpits.

Left to themselves and their own devices, people everywhere are a fine bunch, with the same aspirations, hopes and fears, and Pakistanis are no exception. But just as many a normal marriage in our part of the world founders and collapses on the interference of the mother-in-law, so also relations between these two countries — that are inextricably linked by ties of blood, language, culture, history and geography — have been poisoned by politicians, generals and religious zealots in the pursuit of votes, funds and a putative state ideology.

Official Pakistan likes to emphasise our ties to the Arab world and dissociate us from India to such an extent that most Pakistanis would be surprised to hear that there are more Muslims in India than the combined population of Arab Muslims. And think of how many Indians are of Pakistani origin and Pakistanis of Indian origin. Not so long ago, the Indian High Commissioner in UK (Kuldip Nayyar) could not help commenting to his Pakistani counterpart (Shehryar Khan) that while he (Nayyar) was a ‘Pakistani’ now representing India, the latter was an ‘Indian’ now officiating for Pakistan.
Reverting to Indo-Pakistani relations, a recent SDPI report entitled The Subtle Subversion has drawn attention to the mindset of exclusivity, hate and ‘holy war’ that is disseminated through our textbooks. In fact, as far as references to Hinduism, Hindu historical figures and Indian history are concerned, our media in general and textbooks in particular are not even subtle in their misrepresentations, distortions and sheer negative propaganda.

The chorus of condemnation of this report in the Urdu press and by the fatwa-wielding class is already a precursor of things to come once the Indian cricket tour is over. Not surprising that our so-called ‘secular’ politicians of the Mian & BB brands will either remain silent or, more likely, ally themselves with the obscurantists and Indophobes for narrow tactical gains.

Build Bridges, Not Bombs http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_6-4-2004_pg3_2

Pakistan: A land of Indo-phobes

So overwhelmed are the Indians with the amity on display that they are engaging in a certain degree of self-flagellation. It’s alright to be thrilled with the present euphoria, but let it not conceal the fact that Pakistanis harbour serious misperceptions about India, bordering on Indophobia. And it’s hardly their fault. They have been nurtured on a sustained, systematic anti-Indian campaign at every phase of their lives, from primary school or madrassah to college, through books, newspapers, radio, television and speeches from podiums and pulpits.

Left to themselves and their own devices, people everywhere are a fine bunch, with the same aspirations, hopes and fears, and Pakistanis are no exception. But just as many a normal marriage in our part of the world founders and collapses on the interference of the mother-in-law, so also relations between these two countries — that are inextricably linked by ties of blood, language, culture, history and geography — have been poisoned by politicians, generals and religious zealots in the pursuit of votes, funds and a putative state ideology.

Official Pakistan likes to emphasise our ties to the Arab world and dissociate us from India to such an extent that most Pakistanis would be surprised to hear that there are more Muslims in India than the combined population of Arab Muslims. And think of how many Indians are of Pakistani origin and Pakistanis of Indian origin. Not so long ago, the Indian High Commissioner in UK (Kuldip Nayyar) could not help commenting to his Pakistani counterpart (Shehryar Khan) that while he (Nayyar) was a ‘Pakistani’ now representing India, the latter was an ‘Indian’ now officiating for Pakistan.
Reverting to Indo-Pakistani relations, a recent SDPI report entitled The Subtle Subversion has drawn attention to the mindset of exclusivity, hate and ‘holy war’ that is disseminated through our textbooks. In fact, as far as references to Hinduism, Hindu historical figures and Indian history are concerned, our media in general and textbooks in particular are not even subtle in their misrepresentations, distortions and sheer negative propaganda.

The chorus of condemnation of this report in the Urdu press and by the fatwa-wielding class is already a precursor of things to come once the Indian cricket tour is over. Not surprising that our so-called ‘secular’ politicians of the Mian & BB brands will either remain silent or, more likely, ally themselves with the obscurantists and Indophobes for narrow tactical gains.

Open Letter To Dina Wadia People and politics of manipulation —Razi Azmi

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_6-4-2004_pg3_2


One sparrow does not a spring make. The Indian cricket tour would soon have passed into history, into oblivion, and the Pakistani hate squad will be back at their favourite game scoring points at India’s expense

The Indian press is in raptures over the reception Indians have received from the Pakistani people during their current cricket tour. Indian reporters, commentators and visitors are going overboard in praising the friendliness of Pakistanis and decrying their own past ‘misperceptions’. They are both right and wrong: right about the cordiality and sincerity of their current reception, but wrong about their supposed misperceptions.

So overwhelmed are the Indians with the amity on display that they are engaging in a certain degree of self-flagellation. It’s alright to be thrilled with the present euphoria, but let it not conceal the fact that Pakistanis harbour serious misperceptions about India, bordering on Indophobia. And it’s hardly their fault. They have been nurtured on a sustained, systematic anti-Indian campaign at every phase of their lives, from primary school or madrassah to college, through books, newspapers, radio, television and speeches from podiums and pulpits.

Left to themselves and their own devices, people everywhere are a fine bunch, with the same aspirations, hopes and fears, and Pakistanis are no exception. But just as many a normal marriage in our part of the world founders and collapses on the interference of the mother-in-law, so also relations between these two countries — that are inextricably linked by ties of blood, language, culture, history and geography — have been poisoned by politicians, generals and religious zealots in the pursuit of votes, funds and a putative state ideology.

Official Pakistan likes to emphasise our ties to the Arab world and dissociate us from India to such an extent that most Pakistanis would be surprised to hear that there are more Muslims in India than the combined population of Arab Muslims. And think of how many Indians are of Pakistani origin and Pakistanis of Indian origin. Not so long ago, the Indian High Commissioner in UK (Kuldip Nayyar) could not help commenting to his Pakistani counterpart (Shehryar Khan) that while he (Nayyar) was a ‘Pakistani’ now representing India, the latter was an ‘Indian’ now officiating for Pakistan.

Politicians by definition are guided by nothing more substantial or lofty than the desire to win the next election, no matter what it takes. Their methods vary, but by far the most dangerous is to sow the seeds of suspicion against minorities and neighbouring countries. It gets damn deadly when religion is brought into the fray, fanning the worst instincts in people, inciting hate. The result often is violence, riot and war.

The stability and social harmony that prevails in Western democratic countries makes them safe havens for the oppressed of the Third World and lands of opportunity for its aspiring. It has also been noted that democracies don’t get embroiled in wars against one another. For one, citizens of democratic societies also happen to have an enlightened education as opposed to dogmatic and ideology-based teaching. Secondly, in free societies demagogues and hate-mongers are easily exposed with the help of an independent and enlightened press and kept in check by a powerful judiciary. Last but not least, social and international harmony in democratic societies derives from their secular polity, where religion does not mix with, let alone drive, politics.

Strategic and geopolitical factors have now compelled the Pakistani authorities to allow the Indian cricket tour of Pakistan to conclude successfully and on a happy note. And this being a country where the press still takes its cue from the government, the manipulators of public opinion and hate-mongers have been temporarily put to grass. Which has given the Pakistani public somewhat of a free rein vis-à-vis the Indian cricket tour. And they have shown that they have nothing but goodwill for their neighbours, who are human just like themselves, with the same aspirations, pastimes and foibles.

It is important that we don’t lose sight of human foibles in this happy hour. The public’s foibles, on the one hand, and, on the other, the ambitions of politicians and religious zealots, feed on and nourish each other as if in a symbiotic relationship. Lest their current silence be misunderstood for a change of heart, it must be said that our Indophobes have only made a tactical retreat. Once the tour and the euphoria are over, they are sure to return with a vengeance.

The perspicacious amongst us did not need a Charles Darwin to discover that human beings have evolved from animals. You only have to witness a riot or see mob ‘justice’ to begin to believe in the theory of evolution. Indeed, during mob violence and riots, the behaviour of what would otherwise be regarded as normal samples of the human species is so abhorrent and revolting that one even wonders whether some are not actually undergoing reverse evolution from man to beast.

Among the most recent and ghastly reminders of ‘human bestiality’ is the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. In a murderous frenzy spread over one hundred days, Hutus massacred 800,000 Tutsis, which makes for an average of eight thousand killed every day for over three months! Srebrenica has deservedly earned international infamy (especially in Muslim countries, because the victims were Bosnian Muslims and the perpetrators Christian Serbs), but Rwanda translates into one Srebrenica per day, every day, for over three months! Doubtless, the killing mobs were whipped into a frenzy by the Hutu politicians, but can the people shirk their responsibility, the hundreds or thousands of Hutus who actually ran amok, machetes in hand, looking for their next Tutsi victim, man, woman or child, old or young?

But why go that far? The subcontinent has had more than its fair share of religious, ethnic and sectarian violence and wars — a sad testimony to the ability of the few to manipulate the many.

Reverting to Indo-Pakistani relations, a recent SDPI report entitled The Subtle Subversion has drawn attention to the mindset of exclusivity, hate and ‘holy war’ that is disseminated through our textbooks. In fact, as far as references to Hinduism, Hindu historical figures and Indian history are concerned, our media in general and textbooks in particular are not even subtle in their misrepresentations, distortions and sheer negative propaganda.

The chorus of condemnation of this report in the Urdu press and by the fatwa-wielding class is already a precursor of things to come once the Indian cricket tour is over. Not surprising that our so-called ‘secular’ politicians of the Mian & BB brands will either remain silent or, more likely, ally themselves with the obscurantists and Indophobes for narrow tactical gains.

One sparrow does not a spring make. The Indian cricket tour would soon have passed into history, into oblivion, and the Pakistani hate squad will be back at their favourite game, playing with the public’s gullibility, scoring points at India’s expense.

The author, a former academic with a doctorate in modern history, is now a freelance writer and columnist

Let Cricket Inspire India and Pakistan People and politics of manipulation —Razi Azmi

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_6-4-2004_pg3_2


One sparrow does not a spring make. The Indian cricket tour would soon have passed into history, into oblivion, and the Pakistani hate squad will be back at their favourite game scoring points at India’s expense

The Indian press is in raptures over the reception Indians have received from the Pakistani people during their current cricket tour. Indian reporters, commentators and visitors are going overboard in praising the friendliness of Pakistanis and decrying their own past ‘misperceptions’. They are both right and wrong: right about the cordiality and sincerity of their current reception, but wrong about their supposed misperceptions.

So overwhelmed are the Indians with the amity on display that they are engaging in a certain degree of self-flagellation. It’s alright to be thrilled with the present euphoria, but let it not conceal the fact that Pakistanis harbour serious misperceptions about India, bordering on Indophobia. And it’s hardly their fault. They have been nurtured on a sustained, systematic anti-Indian campaign at every phase of their lives, from primary school or madrassah to college, through books, newspapers, radio, television and speeches from podiums and pulpits.

Left to themselves and their own devices, people everywhere are a fine bunch, with the same aspirations, hopes and fears, and Pakistanis are no exception. But just as many a normal marriage in our part of the world founders and collapses on the interference of the mother-in-law, so also relations between these two countries — that are inextricably linked by ties of blood, language, culture, history and geography — have been poisoned by politicians, generals and religious zealots in the pursuit of votes, funds and a putative state ideology.

Official Pakistan likes to emphasise our ties to the Arab world and dissociate us from India to such an extent that most Pakistanis would be surprised to hear that there are more Muslims in India than the combined population of Arab Muslims. And think of how many Indians are of Pakistani origin and Pakistanis of Indian origin. Not so long ago, the Indian High Commissioner in UK (Kuldip Nayyar) could not help commenting to his Pakistani counterpart (Shehryar Khan) that while he (Nayyar) was a ‘Pakistani’ now representing India, the latter was an ‘Indian’ now officiating for Pakistan.

Politicians by definition are guided by nothing more substantial or lofty than the desire to win the next election, no matter what it takes. Their methods vary, but by far the most dangerous is to sow the seeds of suspicion against minorities and neighbouring countries. It gets damn deadly when religion is brought into the fray, fanning the worst instincts in people, inciting hate. The result often is violence, riot and war.

The stability and social harmony that prevails in Western democratic countries makes them safe havens for the oppressed of the Third World and lands of opportunity for its aspiring. It has also been noted that democracies don’t get embroiled in wars against one another. For one, citizens of democratic societies also happen to have an enlightened education as opposed to dogmatic and ideology-based teaching. Secondly, in free societies demagogues and hate-mongers are easily exposed with the help of an independent and enlightened press and kept in check by a powerful judiciary. Last but not least, social and international harmony in democratic societies derives from their secular polity, where religion does not mix with, let alone drive, politics.

Strategic and geopolitical factors have now compelled the Pakistani authorities to allow the Indian cricket tour of Pakistan to conclude successfully and on a happy note. And this being a country where the press still takes its cue from the government, the manipulators of public opinion and hate-mongers have been temporarily put to grass. Which has given the Pakistani public somewhat of a free rein vis-à-vis the Indian cricket tour. And they have shown that they have nothing but goodwill for their neighbours, who are human just like themselves, with the same aspirations, pastimes and foibles.

It is important that we don’t lose sight of human foibles in this happy hour. The public’s foibles, on the one hand, and, on the other, the ambitions of politicians and religious zealots, feed on and nourish each other as if in a symbiotic relationship. Lest their current silence be misunderstood for a change of heart, it must be said that our Indophobes have only made a tactical retreat. Once the tour and the euphoria are over, they are sure to return with a vengeance.

The perspicacious amongst us did not need a Charles Darwin to discover that human beings have evolved from animals. You only have to witness a riot or see mob ‘justice’ to begin to believe in the theory of evolution. Indeed, during mob violence and riots, the behaviour of what would otherwise be regarded as normal samples of the human species is so abhorrent and revolting that one even wonders whether some are not actually undergoing reverse evolution from man to beast.

Among the most recent and ghastly reminders of ‘human bestiality’ is the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. In a murderous frenzy spread over one hundred days, Hutus massacred 800,000 Tutsis, which makes for an average of eight thousand killed every day for over three months! Srebrenica has deservedly earned international infamy (especially in Muslim countries, because the victims were Bosnian Muslims and the perpetrators Christian Serbs), but Rwanda translates into one Srebrenica per day, every day, for over three months! Doubtless, the killing mobs were whipped into a frenzy by the Hutu politicians, but can the people shirk their responsibility, the hundreds or thousands of Hutus who actually ran amok, machetes in hand, looking for their next Tutsi victim, man, woman or child, old or young?

But why go that far? The subcontinent has had more than its fair share of religious, ethnic and sectarian violence and wars — a sad testimony to the ability of the few to manipulate the many.

Reverting to Indo-Pakistani relations, a recent SDPI report entitled The Subtle Subversion has drawn attention to the mindset of exclusivity, hate and ‘holy war’ that is disseminated through our textbooks. In fact, as far as references to Hinduism, Hindu historical figures and Indian history are concerned, our media in general and textbooks in particular are not even subtle in their misrepresentations, distortions and sheer negative propaganda.

The chorus of condemnation of this report in the Urdu press and by the fatwa-wielding class is already a precursor of things to come once the Indian cricket tour is over. Not surprising that our so-called ‘secular’ politicians of the Mian & BB brands will either remain silent or, more likely, ally themselves with the obscurantists and Indophobes for narrow tactical gains.

One sparrow does not a spring make. The Indian cricket tour would soon have passed into history, into oblivion, and the Pakistani hate squad will be back at their favourite game, playing with the public’s gullibility, scoring points at India’s expense.

The author, a former academic with a doctorate in modern history, is now a freelance writer and columnist