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The rediscovery of India-Pakistan
Indians and Pakistanis view each other unfavourably, but the Pakistani sentiment is “more intense”.
The writer is a consultant and a freelance writer based in New Delhi, where she writes for Business Standard and blogs for The Times of India
Recently, a survey by the US-based “fact tank”, the Pew Research Centre, released soon after the signature on a more open visa regime between India and Pakistan in early September, has found that Indians and Pakistanis actually view each other unfavourably, but that the Pakistani sentiment is “more intense”.
It seems that 72 per cent of Pakistanis view India unfavourably — of which 57 per cent viewed India as a very serious threat — while 59 per cent Indians believe Pakistan is a very serious threat to India. According to Pew, for the Indians surveyed, Pakistan is a greater threat than even the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Wow. The Pew findings are more or less borne out of a poll carried out by The Economic Times, one of India’s largest newspapers, a couple of days after the Islamabad signature on the visa regime, also in early September. This poll found that about 72 per cent of Indians feel that the visa regime is going to have little or no impact on the bilateral relationship; Pakistan continued to be perceived in unfavourable terms.
Is anybody surprised by these findings? Distraught? Amazed? I would personally doubt it very much, especially as several visits to Pakistan have confirmed that, actually, both our nations — peoples — actually don’t know each other very much. Because we speak similar languages (Hindu/Urdu), listen to some of the same music and watch some of the same movies, a vocal sections of Indians and Pakistanis often make the mistake of saying, “Oh, we are mirror images of each other!”
Not at all. India and Pakistan may have been carved from the same mother country, but the sooner we get used to the idea that we have had completely different histories, cannot compare our presents and are likely to have totally varied destinies, the sooner we will come to understand the need for a ‘normal’ relationship.
The trick is to look at each other not as enemies or as friends, but as neighbours with whom we must keep a semblance of good cheer, so that we come to the other’s aid and protection when the other needs it. Moreover, let us stop reacting too much — if some want to light candles at Wagah every August 15, that should be their prerogative. The ability to be critical of each other — or have special relationships, as the case may be — cannot depend on our national identities, or the colour of the flag that we fly. Indians and Pakistanis seek each other — or don’t — in third countries for a variety of reasons, so let’s extend that privilege and courtesy to each other, too.
That is why the rising ensemble of voices in Pakistan asking whether Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is going to visit before the end of this year interests me so much. If the Pew Research/The Economic Times poll is correct, then why would Pakistan be so keen on the Indian PM? The answer, in my opinion, lies in a sort of self-vindication mechanism: if the Indian PM doesn’t come to Pakistan, goes the argument in the mind of the ‘average Pakistani’ (be warned: there is no such thing), then he’s no friend of Pakistan and we are “right” in disliking the country he represents. If he does come, well, he will be treated like everybody else … the special relationship still rests with China.
That’s why the need for us to get to know each other better, to get the edges off our likes and dislikes, to ask if we can be better neighbours and only then be friends. Pakistanis seem surprised when Indians cheer their cricket team against Australia. In fact, I find it surprising that they’re surprised. And here’s why: first of all, Pakistan is part of the subcontinent, which automatically ranks it above any other country in the world. Secondly, the choice is clear if the opponent is Australia … I remember the time Arjuna Ranatunga ticked off Shane Warne because Warne shouted at Ranatunga for not being able to run because he was so fat. Ranatunga pointed out to Warne that his wife or his coach had never complained, so what was his problem? It helped that the Sri Lankans won that particular match against the Aussies.
Hopefully, the new visa regime will allow ordinary Indians and Pakistanis to travel to each other’s countries, which will further hasten the understanding of each other’s sensitivities and compulsions, as well as the discovery of the shades of grey in the black-and-white picture that dominates the bilateral picture today.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 22nd, 2012.
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Reader Comments (26)
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Jyoti, You are wasting your time, I am afraid. Just like other Indians, You try to give Lollipop to the majority of readers and pretend that with this an ordinary Pakistani will forget the Tyranny and Genocide that Indian Forces imposed upon the kashmiri Brothers, then you are living in utter ignorance. Do not create false Icons to hide behind, they will not last more until India addresses the Core Issue due to which Pakistan and India are enemies. And this is not because of Pakistan, It is because of India. So, Pakistanis are not going to trade this off Just as the entire West could not kill the Palestinian Movement in spite of their Billions of dollar, Wars and tortures of the Palestinians, They could not kill neither the issue nor the spirit of it. It is still alive and it will settle in it’s JUST way. Just Like Palestine, Kashmir is the second Palestine in Asia and sooner or later it , too, will be settled in it’s JUST way. Therefore, These cosmetic surgeries and Lollipop articles will not drag the nation from its cause. Better address the cause . If you will not, then I am afraid we will remain on the same path in Pakistan and regardless of whatever VISA changes you make, very little is going to change because people see how their brothers and sisters are being slaughtered on the Other side of Kashmir. Once for all, Let’s talk truth to each other. Our Position is clear, Should not yours be too? Have courage!!
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It is a very pragmatic Op Ed and very timely as well. Apart from all these polls, it is my personal experience that those who are most prejudiced are the ones never visited the other side of the border. When I first visited India on a business trip in 1993-94 I had mixed feelings before the trip. Once I landed in Delhi and went to Agra and other places, In fact in those days Taj Mahal would close at 7 PM. However, I stayed there because there is a mosque which has the exception and watched the Taj at moon light! I felt that I belong there. I could not see any hatred or worry about my safety and security.
Let the borders be open, let the bridges be built and the walls of hatred would come down slowly but surely. I am already looking forward to my next trip to India soon.
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Great article. I agree, the first thing India and Pakistan need to realize that Indian civilization and Islamic ideology have very little in common. True, the ancestors of almost all Pakistanis, from Jinnah to Iqbal, belonged to Indic religions, but that’s history. We should treat each other as neighbours and its good to be civilized to neighbours and not conspire against them or hate them.
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Ms.Malhotra: What exactly is your point?
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Both countries cannot run foreign policies based on polls. Unless there is an alternative, the present course is in the right direction and I believe it will continue regardless of whoever is in power in both countries.
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@Mir Jan Baloch:
If you want to make yourself miserable you can do so irrespective whether the issue is Palestine, Kashmir or any other issue. It will be very myopic on your part that you are unable to see the existential issues facing the country and the contradictions tearing it apart. Who introduced the dimension of violence is debatable, you are not suggesting more violence to snatch it I hope. Parts of Kashmir have already been illegally ceded to China without the consent of Kashmiri people so moral preaching should be avoided.
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i cannot believe that i actually read this whole article….kudos!!!
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the more you shout kashmir and move one step forward remember that you are actually moving one step backwards to stone age.
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This article is based on : “——Recently, a survey by the US-based “fact tank”, the Pew Research Centre, released soon after the signature on a more open visa regime between India and Pakistan in early September, has found that Indians and Pakistanis actually view each other unfavourably, but that the Pakistani sentiment is “more intense”.—”
~~~but , don’t you think that India and Pakistan should have their OWN think-tanks and surveys.
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@Mirza:
I hope your journey was comfortable. But most of the Pakistanis are crazy. We are very happy by the Partition. Even Bangladesh is also very happy after their partition. Please leave us alone, for Gods sake.
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@Mir Jan Baloch:
Only coz Kashmiris are Muslims they are your brothers, is that so ??
Better to stay away from jerks like you….
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We know why India and America giving us Lollipop, it’s all about Afghan wealth of $3,000,000,000,000 and may be much more who knows.Recommend
@Mirza: “…Let the borders be open, let the bridges be built and the walls of hatred would come down slowly but surely. I am already looking forward to my next trip to India soon….”
Except for people in the left wing fringes in India, nobody wants enhanced contact with Pakistanis on Indian soil. This is not hate – just a unanimous feeling of deep in-compatibility at a societal level.
To remove hate – get a grip on your curriculum, your mullahs and your emotions vis-a-vis your religion. Make legislation that will prevent your mullahs from indulging in hate speech. Make legislation that prevent any Muslim from saying that other religions/philosophies/prophets are false.
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Finally. An Indian who says we’re not the same people. Been waiting for that one for quite some time.
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@Abreez: – “We know why India and America giving us Lollipop, it’s all about Afghan wealth of $3,000,000,000,000 and may be much more who knows.” – To extract $3 trillion dollar worth of mineral requires an investment in infrastructure of over $50,000,000,000 and then there is the cost of extraction, processing plant, machinery, etc. Who is going to invest $100,000,000,000 of his money in an unstable country with such a high sovereign risk. There are a lot of minerals in Africa, South America and Mangolia and businesses who invest want to make sure that their capital is secure which is not the case in Afghanistan. Your conspiracy theory therefore goes out the window.
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Indo-Pak relationship is a relation between two brothers who are in love with a very beautiful woman (Sub-continent). We don’t believe that India’s involvement in Pakistan’s internal affairs after ’47 and particularly within ’65 to ’71 created Bangladesh, it was just quick the process of creation of Bangladesh. At the same time we don’t believe that Pakistan support to any group or groups of freedom fighters in India can and will create any independent state or states within India, it will just quick the process of creation of independent state or states within India.Recommend
@Mirza:
More power to folks like you! May your tribe grow!
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@A Pakistani: that was news to me that Indians say we are the same people (as the Pakistanis)! This might be for the crowd in Delhi and some Punjabis, but who in south India, east India, west India would say we are the same people? heck, until recently, many Indians did not consider other Indians as the same people. Don’t you think the Punjabis have perhaps more in common with Pakistani Punjabis than, let’s say, Malayalees or Tamils etc. BTW, I used to live in the US and travel there quite often, and am surprised how many Pakistanis introduce themselves these days as South Asians!
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@Mir Jan Baloch, you speak of the “slaughter” by India of your so-called “brothers and sisters in Kashmir” — you conveniently forget how YOU your country is doing exactly that in Balochistan and Karachi, and goodness knows where else… knowing this duplicity is why nobody in the world not even your so-called “all-weather friend” called China does not support you in any of these so called “core issues” you speak of. And now even the government and main opposition parties have abandoned you! The military brass also does not raise a whimper. The few that are left that support it all they can do is burn a few cars and explode a few bombs (killing your own citizens as a result!)
In short, address your own internal issues like the slaughter of the Baloch, Sindhis, Hazaras etc. first before preaching to others! Recommend
Jyoti madam i am not sure if you aware that 6 people have died on the outskirts of Delhi owing to protests against desecration of Quran in Ghaziabad.
http://twocircles.net/2012sep15/six_die_muslimpolice_clash.html
Crux of matter is that we are having hard time controlling our own Yahoos so please don’t invite more from aboard.Recommend
“India and Pakistan may have been carved from the same mother country, but the sooner we get used to the idea that we have had completely different histories, cannot compare our presents and are likely to have totally varied destinies, the sooner we will come to understand the need for a ‘normal’ relationship.“
FINALLY! FINALLY! FINALLY, the Indians get it! We are NOT Indians. Before the British came into power, we were many times part of Afghanistan and Central Asia and many times part of India and earlier, even part of the united Muslim Arab World.
Pakistani ethnic groups are Balochs (my ethnic group), Pashtuns, Sindhis, Punjabis, Hindkos, Seraikis, Hazaras, Potoharis, Gilgitis, and Baltistanis. India does not have any of this ethnic group except Punjabis. BUT BUT BUT, Punjabis in India are SIKHS and Punjabis in Pakistan are MUSLIMS and religion plays a BIG part in our lives. Moreover, Sikhs are only 3% of India’s population.
We don’t want bad relations with India but please don’t compare the two.
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@Khalid,
Majority of Punjabis in India are Hindus. They are spread all over India. 90% of Bollywood Punjabi heroes, directors, producers are Punjabi Hindus and not Punjabi sikhs. However, India civilization and ideology of all Indic religions that are born out of Hinduism, from Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism is very different from Islamic ideology from Saudi Arabia.
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“Not at all. India and Pakistan may have been carved from the same mother country…”
The sooner Indians get it through their head that there is no mother country that was divided the sooner they can let go of their behind-ache and hatred. Then it won’t matter if you light candles or burn flags at Wagah.
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@Babloo:
If the Punjabis in India are majority Hindus as you say, then, there is even more cultural difference. In fact, then, there is a DRASTIC difference.
No offense to any religion or ethnic group, but, honestly, if India can realize that we are different and that the borders are to be respected, I believe the two countries can move on. We want a peace relation with India. The Kashmir issue can be resolved peacefully in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people (Hindus and Muslim Kashmiris).
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Before the British came to power, the official language of the region that now makes Pakistan was Farsi. All Moghul paintings and messages are in Farsi. Urdu was promoted by the British.
Had the Quaid and the political elite realized this and used Farsi as the official and national language, whatever India’s cultural influence is seen today in Pakistan, would not have been there. Balochs and Pashtuns already use languages that are closer to Farsi than the subcontinent’s language. The Punjabis have already dumped their language for Urdu and had Farsi been the national language, they would have done it even faster. The poet Allama Iqbal has most of his poetry in Farsi.
Influence from Iran and Afghanistan would have wiped out whatever Indian there is in us.
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@Khalid Bugti:
But then your Muslim identity did not work with Bengalis. Also i bet a Sindhi Hindu and Sindhi Muslim will have more in common than Sindhi muslim and Punjabi muslim. After 1947 tell me how many Muslims South of Vindhyas in India moved to Pakistan due to their Muslim identity. Also i assume by your logic Mohajirs in Pakistan will have more in common with people in UP/Bihar than the ethnic groups you are talking about. Lots of us do not subscribe to the idea that we are different hence we cannot live together, because beneath the surface we all have differences and we are better off trying to find commonality and celebrate our differences.
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