Humanity before nationality

Whenever Pakistanis talk about ‘Occupied Kashmir’, land encroached by ferocious terror of Indian Army comes to mind


Abdul Majid September 13, 2014

Whenever we Pakistanis talk about ‘Occupied Kashmir’, a land encroached by the ferocious terror of the Indian Army comes to our mind. Keeping aside the issue of whether Kashmir should join Pakistan or India, the recent altruistic show by the Indian Army to save people from the flood-hit areas of Srinagar in India-held Kashmir is quite admirable.

In the present strained relationship, it was a rare neighbourly gesture when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered assistance to his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif to mitigate flood misery. “In this hour of need, I offer any assistance that you may need in the relief efforts that will be undertaken by the government of Pakistan,” said Modi, “Our resources are at your disposal wherever you need them.”

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif thanked him for his benevolence and admired his solidarity for the cause in the face of such adversity. The amiable gesture of both the premiers of the neighbouring states plus the rescue operation of the Indian Army to help the people seems like a ray of hope for untangling the ties between the two nations.

The most highlighted event of the whole rescue operation is the act of the Indian Army to save a Pakistani golf team (not affiliated with Pakistan golf federation) who were visiting Srinagar to take part in the matches organised by the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc). It is a sign that in the time of dire need every individual is prone to committing a humanitarian effort rather than discrimination on the basis of nationality.

Every individual is bound to help a fellow human being or an animal as per the laws of nature. We witness people taking care of animals just because they are living creatures, then how can one deny assistance to another human who shares so many similarities.

The notion of humanity always trumps the difference created by borders. Same has been seen in the salvage mission being carried out by the Indian Army. A total of 20,000 people have been saved from across-the-border flooded areas and there are more to be saved. According to the Indian Army nearly 400,000 people are still waiting for the arrival of their saviours. And I hope and pray that in this time of severe hardship, the victims are given relief.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 13th, 2014.

COMMENTS (2)

vinsin | 10 years ago | Reply

simple some are muslims wheres as others are non-muslims. You can say that some are human whereas others non-human.

Sam | 10 years ago | Reply

Wow - he was very British.

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