Why I don’t agree with #ModipunishesPak

The gloves are off. Its time for payback. We will not lie down and take a beating. Their blood for our blood. #ModipunishesPak

These are some of the musings you would have encountered if you switched on your TV, or went through a couple of news articles, or on social media yesterday.

Most of it were attempts to make us believe that the use of force should be supported by words of foolishness.  After switching on a popular news channel, I was left wondering whether this is the diatribe of a man possessed with revenge, or a man who believes that violence is the only form of gumption. Because these are the only interpretations that such a rhetoric offers. This rhetoric, which unfortunately, is the rhetoric that many of us are contributing to the chime of,  describes the morally bankrupt nature of our response to yesterday’s surgical attacks on terrorist units beyond the Line of Control. It is here I must lay stress to the word, response, for it is our response to the attacks carried out by the nation’s finest, that is disturbing.
First, I admit, with unequivocal support, that the Indian army has long had its strength undermined by attempts of backchannel diplomacy, failed attempts at negotiation and a lingering weakness in pursuing military action. I concede that attacks like the one at Uri justifiably anger the people to want some form of retribution.

And internally, we are aware that our history with Pakistan is littered by their indiscretions (whether state sponsored, organized by splinter terrorist cells or any other organisation), across the LOC, and even into the mainland. Our losses, mourned by the entire nation – is a huge reminder of why our war on terror of any kind is non-negotiable.

However, and this is where the agreement ends – I will not be able to say that I support the jingoism that is spread across the media, political circles, social media users and Indian citizens at large, following what is being touted as a “show of strength”. Blood thirsty calls for war, only make me more convinced that we are disillusioned by the desire of Pakistani bloodshed, as compared to long term peace and cross border cooperation, not to mention confused as to who our real enemies are.

How we react to this strategic move by the army, describes why India must question itself on the nature of its relationship with Pakistan.

As a citizen of India, an educated and non-political character, my thoughts are often not aligned with the nationalists who find it necessary to showcase their sickening and warped form of masculinity through war cry, or make mind-numbingly foolish statements that invoke the use of nuclear weapons and callous comparisons about Pakistan’s inferiority in all respects when compared to us.

And this is where our reflection must begin, beyond the gains for political mileage.

Understanding the Indo-Pak relations involves a deep myriad of complexities, but there are ways to keep it simple. The first of which, is its historical origins. It is important for us to see where the genesis for this conflict began.

As is well known,  the division of India into India and Pakistan is at the core- a product of the two-nation theory propagated by the British. Retired Supreme Court Justice Katju, had an interesting take. On his blog, he writes that until the 1857 revolt, Hindu and Muslims stood side by side, and that their unified revolt scared the wits of the British. It is here that the origins of the well documented “Divide and Rule” policy took foot.

“The British collector would secretly call the Hindu Pandit, pay him money, and tell him to speak against Muslims, and similarly he would secretly call the Maulvi, pay him money, and tell him to speak against Hindus. This communal poison was injected into our body politic year after year and decade after decade.”

He further chronicles, that various measures of the British, to keep us divided, like the Minto-Morley reforms, were a British ploy to keep India underdeveloped and fragmented along the seams. Sind, Balochistan, Punjab and NWFP, part of independent Pakistan, are but a part of historical India under Mughal rule.

I have had friends who have cast dubious looks at me for reading Justice Katju’s blog, and taking him seriously, for many of his ideas were rather radical, but I believe in the essence of his story.

However, none of them dispute that our history is intertwined, divided only by an imperialistic nation looking to make maximum gains out of its rule. No amount of politically motivated talk can take away from what were long periods of harmony and peace that existed between Hindus and Muslims before the turn of the 20th century.

My own intention with this blog post, is to begin to think over what went wrong, and how it came to this stage. There are no easy solutions- for before that, we must first change our mindset. It would be foolish of us to use a broad brush to label all people of Pakistan as terrorists, and all terrorists as Pakistani.

We must keep in mind, India and Pakistan have been divided on the wrong basis of religion, and until we can make this non important issue as trivial as it really is, we will not have peace.
Finally, and ironically, I feel it apt that I use a quote to describe the situation today, that once united us against a common enemy.
“An eye for an eye, will only make the whole world blind.”