Lettar phrom Yawn
We can still be good neighboursTHIS is apropos of Tahira Mazhar Ali’s letter and a Pakistani’s response (July 24).Most people who have nostalgia about the ‘good old days’ of undivided India belong to a privileged class.They did not have to suffer discrimination by Hindus like the common man.The above group of people forget that the Quaid did work with Hindu leaders for many years before the parting of the ways, because of Hindu narrow-minded attitude.It is said humorously that the real architects of Pakistan were Ghandi and Patel who could not accept Muslims as equals.The word ‘partition’ is a misnomer in the case of subcontinent. The subcontinent was a melting pot in 1947. It included numerous provinces and hundreds of princely states.Independence from the Empire meant birth of two states and not a partition. One was called Pakistan and the other was called ‘Indian Union’ because the latter was not a federation yet and the fate of hundreds of princely states was undecided.New borders on independence from an empire are quite common all over the world. For example, a whole province of British Cameroon was given to Nigeria in the 1960s because people in Sardauna province had ethnic/religious affiliations with Nigerians. Demise of the Ottoman Empire led to similar situations.Undivided India in 1947 was just an administrative unit in the British Empire.Historically, this unit was not having the same boundaries in previous centuries.For example, MacMohan line and Durand line were recent innovations.The British treated Sri Lanka and Burma (Myanmar) as part of India. Punjab and the NWFP once formed a Sikh empire.For Tahira Mazhar Ali those may be fond memories but for most of us those were unforgettably terrible days, when our dear ones were slaughtered and the survivors expelled from homes in a ghastly wave of ethnic cleansing.She was lucky to be a resident of Lahore. I lived only 30 miles away in Amritsar and witnessed the unimaginable horror of bloodshed.We should be ever grateful to our founding fathers who achieved for us not just a state but a nationhood.Of course, we are now two nations who should become good neighbours. Good neighbours live in their own separate houses. They do not try to demolish walls to try to convert two houses into a single dwelling.
KHALID A
Eat youd dils out PeeAref Narrow minded Hindu Jirga, Curse pee upon Ghandi( never heard of him,) the humourous architect of Bakistan
London UK
2 comments:
Excellent article mullahmahendra,
Pakistan was created by Indians. When the British conveyed their intention to leave, there was a huge celebratory dinner where Ghandi and Patel over ate and were in urgent requirement of a Pakistan. This idea was brought up in the next meeting with Lord Mountbatten, where Jinnah graciously agreed to Ghandi and Patel's demand of a Pakistan for people of India (the need for Pakistan was felt acutely then, due to periodic outbreaks of stomach related illnesses). So in fact, Pakistan came to be, not just because of the Quaid but particularly because of Ghandi and Patel. I lived through the times and saw some narrow minded (and may I add, unclean) Hindoos, who did not want a separate Pakistan, but wanted the entire space to live in. Finally after much sit-in and squat-in protests, (squat-in protests being much more popular than sit-in protests in the subcontinent), we were successful. I witnessed the horror as a ghastly wave of people in the newly formed Pakistan were in a hurry to get out (ventilation technology had not advanced much then) and people outside Pakistan who were waiting for a long time rushed in. We should thank our far sighted forefathers who created a Pakistan, to the great relief of everyone in future generations. Ofcourse, bygones are bygones, and today we should live in Peace as we have come a long way and our Pakistan has gained its own Musharraaf.
Wah Wah mullah Al Konphujee!!!
you are a star NSN reborter
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