Adil Najam
Today is August 15. India’s Independence Day.
ATP sends all Indians sincere and heartfelt Independence Day greetings and the very best wishes.
Here at All Things Pakistan, we have carried a special post on this day every year.
Very consciously, the posts we have carried on this day over the last three years form a trilogy of imagery: our post in 2006 sought to revisit our imagery of our past (here), in 2007 we highlighted the changing imagery of India-Pakistan relations in the present (here), and in 2008 we called upon our readers to re-imagine our visions of the future (here).
We would urge our readers to please revisit these posts if you have a few moments before you read on (click on the three images above, or here, here and here).
In very real ways, it is the image of the past, present and future of our mutual relations that have always and will always define how we view each other. Let me, then, simply repeat excerpts from this trilogy of posts on how I choose to view these images.
Here, then, is just a part of what I wrote three years ago (read full post here):
As a Pakistani I am in debt of Mr. Gandhi for the stand he took in trying to halt the horrible carnage that followed partition. Paying the ultimate price for that stand. My understanding is that the very first time ever that the Pakistan flag officially flew at half-mast was at Gandhi ji’s death. All government offices in Paksitan were closed in mourning of Mr. Gandhi’s death.
Mr. Gandhi probably disliked the idea of Pakistan more than any other Indian political leader; because he could not bear seeing his beloved India divided. On that bit, I disagree with him. But, once the deed was done he also recognized that the death and violence which followed was too high a price to pay for that disagreement. So much so that he was willing to put his own life on the line and go on hunger strike to stop the carnage. For that alone, I will always respect and admire him.”
But we can remain in the past for only that long. My post two years ago revolved around two pictures: young girls with flags of both India and Pakistan painted on their faces. These faces were images of hope and aspiration to me. Hope and aspiration that was worth celebrating. This is part of what I wrote two years ago (read full post here):
My post last year was again based on a particular photograph. Men in uniform – border guards at that – embracing and exchanging mithai. Symbolic it may be, bt how poignantly symbolic. I have updated that picture from the same ceremony at Wagah this year. Here is part of what I wrote one year ago (read full post here):
Tomorrow matters. And actions on both sides of the border today will determine what our tomorrows will look like. Our shared goal must be to create a tomorrow that is peaceful. A tomorrow that is just. A tomorrow that is friendly. A tomorrow that is prosperous. For both of us.”
Today, the fourth time I write this post, my image of the past, by sense of the present and my aspirations for the future remain what they were then. Sincerest Independence Day greetings to India today.
May the best hopes of both Mr. Jinnah and Mr. Gandhi come true for both our nations. May all our futures be good futures.
if balochistan split from pakistan (god forbid) than wed be the ghandis of pakistan..
u have to understand why he was against it..
I won’t greet a nation which is continuously spending heavy resources just to destabilize and disintegrate my motherland…
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Both India and Pakistan are paying a heavy price in the millions lives of lost the poor and hungry every year because of their misguided pursuit of democracy that has perpetuated the worst possible governance in South Asia for decades.
Chinese, on the other hand, have saved millions of lives each year since the revolution that occurred after India and Pakistan became independent. Other East Asians, particularly ASEAN nations of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, have also pulled far ahead of India and Pakistan.
Malnutrition, hunger and disease claims over 2 million children’s lives each year in India.
About one-third of the world’s extremely poor people live in India. More than 450 million Indians exist on less than $1.25 a day, according to the World Bank. It also has a higher proportion of its population living on less than $2 per day than even sub-Saharan Africa. India has about 42% of the population living below the new international poverty line of $1.25 per day. The number of Indian poor also constitute 33% of the global poor, which is pegged at 1.4 billion people, according to a Times of India news report. More than 6 million of those desperately poor Indians live in Mumbai alone, representing about half the residents of the nation’s financial capital. They live in super-sized slums and improvised housing juxtaposed with the shining new skyscrapers that symbolize India’s resurgence. According to the World Bank and the UN Development Program (UNDP), 22% of Pakistan’s population is classified as poor.
According to Asia Children’s Rights report, about 8 million Pakistani children, or 40 percent of the total population of children under the age of 5, suffer from malnutrition. About 63 percent of children between 6 months and 3 years have stunted growth and 42 percent are anemic or underweight. Poor nutrition leaves these children vulnerable to diseases. Pakistan, along with India, is among the few countries of the world where Polio is still endemic. Poor conditions extend to the education sector as well. Over 23 million children in Pakistan have never been to school. The International Labor Organization data shows 3.3 million children, between the ages of 5 and 14 years in Pakistan, are forced to work rather than attend school. A quarter of a million of them work as domestic servants. The most recent United Nations Human Development Report indicates that the youth literacy rate in Pakistan is an abysmal 58 percent, among the lowest in the world. Sexual abuse is another problem. Homelessness of children is quite common. Over 10,000 children below the age of 15 live on the streets and sidewalks of Karachi alone. Many of them are forced to beg for survival. Most of these children say they left home because of domestic violence and family financial problems, according to Edhi Foundation which cares for some of them. According to a report by Amnesty International, there are more than 4,500 juvenile prisoners in Pakistani jails and 66 percent of them are being tried. Juvenile detainees are kept with adults, leaving them vulnerable to sexual and physical abuse.
I support a strong but benevolent dictator (not a saint, but relatively honest) in the mold of General Suharto or Mahathir or Lee Kuan Yu to rule Pakistan with an iron hand for at least 20 years to bring it out of the morass it is in. During this period, we must dismantle the feudal system, industrialize the country and create tens of millions of jobs, rapidly grow the economy, spend heavily on education and healthcare and prepare the ground for eventual democracy with a literate, healthy and autonomous electorate.
Where is such a person likely to come from in Pakistan’s context? Most likely the military. But it could also be civilian like Mahathir who has the support of the military.
Nice Post !
Excellent post. You express these sentiments so well and we share them. Amazing how you have woven the theme of past, present and future over three years. To me, the past is past and the future is all that matters.
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, INDIA!