Monday, September 26, 2016

A Polemical Love - Letter to Mr Nawaz Sharif and other citizens of Pakistan


I would have possibly performed a more useful task if I have been more polemical or vitriolic in this missive (or the blog). I am thinking of this letter writing exercise addressing to Pakistani citizens – most of whom do not know me at all - at a time when the tension between India and Pakistan is at its height. Probably it all started about 40 years back when your country started ‘cross border’ strategy – we call it terrorism – to avenge your defeat on Bangladesh front.


In the last two decades or so, India is estimated to have lost about 25,000 soldiers and citizens. In the meantime, in the name of democracy in India – we developed a sickness – a growing tendency to defame our own government, own police and military men and in short – our own country. This jiongoism of self-criticism became associated with modern liberalism. In the meantime, in a wider scale – the so called appeasement of minorities in our own country – especially Muslims - have assumed an even more dominant role than most observers a generation ago would have thought about.

In the process, even showing softness towards your country – that is Pakistan - became a vote bank issue – a tool to garner Muslim votes in India. 

Faced with such unashamed glorification of a style to defame own religion and culture, “Our Indianness” almost withdrew into itself. Mocking at majority in India became a fashion. For some newspapers in Kolkata it became a style statement. Hence your envoy’s voice --- blatantly against my own country – has become a flier news story. 
blogger Dev

However, over the years your political establishment in tandem with the military worked to a plan. You seemed to be enjoying every time a ‘kafir’ soldier was killed or beheaded!

And the moment a general mood was being prepared for harsh steps against your country – we had candle light marchers, editorials and Left-Congress-socialists variety of politicians. 
Some like Marxist doyen Jyoti Basu rejoiced in calling our Hindu brethren “barbarous” and chose to look the other way when perpetrators were the other lot and even from your country. 

The “human rights bogey” was raised at wrong moments and we had several other instruments to mock at ourselves.
But while your political class and military dragged your polity to a jingoism – wherein anti-India rhetoric became a tonic for survival, as citizens you all lost the track of your democratic polity. So the blame has to be accounted one day.

In the meantime, we had given ourselves a political thought and a leadership that made a fine combination of Hindu chauvinism, nationalism, anti-Islam and anti-Pakistan rhetoric. This was certainly our creation – like the speeches of ‘Mia Musharraf’ variety in 2002 and to an extent this also has to do with the passivity of Pakistanis.
You gave a free hand to your political-military leadership to breed “snakes” in the backyards and thus the rest is history. Can you really deny Pakistani complexity vis-à-vis the rise of Taliban cult and other forms of terrorism? These have only – and that unfortunately - also left your country bleeding number of times.

In 1997, your present Prime Minister Mr Sharif (I always thought he remained a ‘gentleman’ as the Urdu word suggests) made a promise to work for peace with India. There was a huge mandate in his favour and we could also hope for a break. May be your PM wants to deliver. Some of us had doubts. Your military power brokers had other intentions.

Our doubts were proved right when your military intervened and first you gave the sub-continent the ‘Kargil conflict’ and later the coup from Gen Pervez Musharaf.  

Mr Sharif had to flee. He has again came back to the political forefront even as in the meantime you lost Benazir Bhutto.
Today your country’s economy is in doldrum and even Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani during a visit to Delhi said, your country Pakistan has turned into a nation that "celebrates every single episode of its own defeat" as victory and "every single intelligence failure is regarded as a confirmation of conspiracy theory".
Now, our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made an attempt to establish a dialogue with the citizens of Pakistan and urged you all to examine where did you go wrong in giving a freehand to your political class. They worked out on the unholy nexus with the military establishment and created the monster of terror around.


What’s the roadmap ahead then?

Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also reminded you of your “Indian roots”. This may sound irritating to most of you as you have lived all these years to hate ‘kafirs’. Hindu religion and the country India – both have grown as a result of thousands years of evolution. We had origins in Aryan foundation and also lived with the codified theories of Vedas and Upanishads. But it is true the richness of our civilization would not have been possible without the role of Islam.

The ‘Pakistan’ you created certainly had its roots in Indian values and civilization. It is high time – you all look back – and re-examine the history – last 70 years – you have dedicated in creating and exporting terrorism to bleed us.

Certainly, Pakistan as a country presents a paradoxical case. The hatred you lived on has reduced the country – you so affectionately named ‘holy- homeland’ – today is almost a “failed state”. The byword of your co-existence with terrorism is sheeer obstinacy. It is like the case of an unsuccessful painter who had all the potentials to shine with his art but created a ground only to end up as a failed imposture. 



Islam in India – a multi-lingual nation with multi-faith – arrived as a ‘phoren’ influence and only represented a culture of Monotheism.
It gathered immense respect. Sufism even became a part of rural characteristic. But the success was limited. Despite converting millions into Islam, the country has remained essentially Hindu – both in numbers and spirit and also superstitions. The fact that Hindus remained Hindus – notwithstanding Christianity and Islam – is only a proof that Monotheism also divides people – tears them apart. Look at both the countries today. We know it. You must also know it.  

Your’s Blogger
Nirendra Dev 

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