Chasing A Chimera

The subject which I am going to tackle with now is a hot favorite among commentators & columnists these days. Most of them are optimistic & euphoric about the Indo-Pak relations in present time and are foreseeing a new dawn at the horizon of Indian subcontinent. Some people are coming out with some innovative proposals like making the Kashmir a neutral sate with India & Pakistan jointly engaged in its defense or converting LoC into soft border. Though all these proposals are refreshing and exciting enough to make peaceniks on both sides of the border dance, I will take them and all the peace process with a pinch of salt. Though I may be termed a pessimist, a non-conformist or at worst a hardliner, I would like to take the stand all this peace process is a useless exercise which will die after some time.

Though I agree that the sentiment here in India is not that of excessive hope which prevailed during the Prime Minister’s journey to Lahore or Agra summit and we are being advised very prudently that instead of getting extremely zealous and emotional we should see the whole process with a realistic & dispassionate view. We are also being informed meticulously about the reasons behind different decisions & incidents and their consequences. However, even then I don’t subscribe to their views.

Today many factors are said to be working for the cause of dramatic shift in the relation & attitudes of both of these south Asian neighbors. Heavy track-two diplomacy, pressure by international community (read US), enlightenment of General Pervez Musharraf about the terror Frankenstein, growing Pariah position of Pakistan, thought transformation of Pakistani citizens, are just some of them. Credibility of Pakistani leadership & establishment is pushed hard. Emotions of and relationships among the common people of both nations are referred to. Hawks & jingoists on both sides are also blamed for the problems.

I do agree that all these factors are into play and they are largely responsible for bringing both the countries to talking table. But these factors are not very dependable and may become redundant in the due course of time. The ongoing peace process may lead to greater economic & cultural cooperation between two countries. It may even lead to Pakistani establishment trying to crack a whip on terrorism. But I fear that it can’t do anything beyond this.

Pakistani govt. can’t do anything more than the efforts to reign in the jehadi elements. And efforts don’t necessarily mean results.
Actually the problem doesn’t lie with the democracy or dictatorship or any particular leader of Pakistan. It is actually a product of a certain kind of mindset. A mindset which is predominant in Pakistan and is personified by mad mullahs spread across the country trying to turn the wheel of time back into the medieval ages when the world was swept across with barbarity in the name of Islam. The same mindset which triggered the exodus of kashmiri pandits from Kashmir valley in late 80s thus setting up an appalling example of ethnic cleansing. The evil mindset which divided India into three separate countries during last century. This mindset goes beyond any aspirations or so-called right of self-determination of kashmiri people. In real the grand design of pan Islamism around the globe is the mindset which creates all the problems between India & Pakistan and is going to throw the spanner on the road to peace.

I do agree that Musharraf could have done a volte-face due to the two assassination attempts on him but I am not sure about the entire Pakistani establishment. Though he is the most powerful person there but things are not fully under his control. Otherwise how the assassination attempts could be carried out in the most militarized and most secure city in Pakistan. Definitely some military elements are working in tandem with jehadis which should come as no surprise to us, after all the religious extremism and Pakistani army entered into a marriage way back during the reign of General Zia ul Haque. This sinister combination has made ISI, army & jehadis synonymous with each other. All of these entities have made India hating and pan Islamic dream their raison d’etre which is impossible for them to abandon.

It is also true that there are some genuinely good, true & peace-loving people in Pakistan but their small minority can hardly do anything. ’The changed mindset of ordinary Pakistani’ is also a specious argument as the older generation there is still a believer in two-nations theory and the younger one is bred on a rich diet of hate-India campaign through school/college and other media.

Acknowledging the character of BJP, it is very hard to imagine that it can work for peace with Pakistan. Though Vajpayee is hailed as a ’Shanti Purush’ willing to travel any distance for peace, I doubt that all this peace initiative and new thaw is nothing more than a poll plank for Lok Sabha elections round the corner. It is just a part of much touted ‘Feel Good’ factor.

Decades back, the last revolutionary Jay Prakash Narayan declared very emphatically “India & Pakistan are not destined to live in peace. Either they will always fight each other or they will exist as a single nation.” These timeless words remind us that the thought of India-Pakistan peace is a chimera and it’s futile to chase it.

A Winter Evening at a Humble Household

Recently I had a chance meeting with the parents of one of my friends. It turned out to be a very memorable experience thus conforming my belief that if you trust your instincts more easily than your logic then you can be assured of great results by sheer luck. As my buddy happens to belong to lower-middle strata of in Indian society in economic terms, his household couldn’t be a favorite sight for materialistic eyes. But it came across as a space, which my eyes were yearning for a long time. The unmistakable simplicity of their living-cum-bedroom just delighted my senses reminding me of ‘Sooraj Ka Satwan Ghoda’. That big bet, that somewhat untidy look of the room & that heart touching ingenuousness of his folks were simply nauseating & nostalgic.

As I climbed the stairs & landed on the first floor of that big house (my pal’s family is one of the few tenants occupying the building) I was uncertain of his presence in the city. I got to their rooms & enquired about him from a kid playing at balcony. Though the child was quick to respond, my friend’s mother (lets call him J from now onwards) out sounded him informing me of J’s presence in a room adjacent to the kitchen where she was with utensils & gas chulha.

I moved forward, stepped into the room & found him welcoming just near the door. I greeted his father who was lying there on a bed covered up to bust with a thin blanket & a sheet. He was wearing a woolen cap & his head was elevated with the help of a pillow & elbow. He signaled towards a chair & asked me to acquire it. I obeyed him after pulling it forward.

Then J told me about the recent operation of his father for the ailment of fissure. His father explained me the malady in general terms that I was quick to catch. Then he told me about his encounters with the medical fraternity over last few days that had started with a fever & ended with an operation. He consulted a surgeon & a physician both while eventually the physician did the surgery (he happens to be the same physician who operated on my armpit last year).

By the time our medical badinage ended, chai, & his mother had placed cookies on a small table. After some formality & amusing reasoning by me, we (me & J) started up with tea. When I asked him about uncle’s he ensured me that his will arrive in moments. And it was true. It was really a matter of moments when I saw his special tea delivered on the table. Special because it contained very less tealeaves & no water making it tastier & more beneficial. One more noticeable thing was its presence in a small steel tumbler while we had ours in cups.

By the time uncle started relishing it, auntie once again came into the room with her share of tea & made space on the same bed where uncle & J’s cousin were resting. Then she probed me about my current occupation & compared it slightly vis-à-vis J where I played myself down. Then uncle appreciated me for being engaged in something productive & not wasting my time idly (which is but half-a –truth).

Then the talks moved on the future plans, marriage & J’s brother who is working in a sleepy town of eastern U.P. We three males discussed about the woes of living in eastern U.P. At this point we made an interesting & lovely discovery that he & I share the same nickname foe home. Then the matter of his marriage came up that they were planning in a couple of years during which they expected him to reach a better position. Uncle told me that one of J’s aunts who suggested & facilitated his brother’s MBA was also advising them to send him to US. I cheered up on this & exhibiting my zeal I asked them optimistically about this. To my great surprise they had declined the proposal fearing that he might alienate form them, stop them loving & ultimately disavow them. But then I argued with them citing the example one of my friends & more. Here auntie gave an example of their close relative who was settled abroad for a long time but didn’t give them much importance in comparison to others.

When she became passionate about this partiality with uncle also joining the song, J expressed his discontent about this mundane matter. But even then we continued it for a while before ending it pleasantly. After this the chat drifted towards a married friend, his life, his wife, his destiny, his studies, his home, his financial stature & his paradoxically low-key marriage. After this, both of us planned to meet a friend who is also visiting the city these days & I asked J to visit me in coming days.

By the time our banter wound up my wristwatch was asking me (somewhat impatiently) to make hurry to the reading room as I could have got some good stuff on Mahatma Gandhi.