An absolutely brilliant article - spot on! This article should be published in every single Indian newspaper so that people all over the nation can get to read it. Keep it up, Swapan.
Bravo! You said it. It is about time Indians learnt that with a dictator you can have only arrangements of convenience, not any agreements founded on integrity.
There was an email doing rounds saying how good the pakis were and I responded to it by sending this message. Read my response and the response I got from my friend who is an Indian. My mail--I will appreciate it very much Pradeep if you could forward my reply to whoever forwarded this mail to you. There is some thing called crocodile tears which we have seen from Mohammed Ghori to Madani. Well if we dont feel like being nice we wont be nice, at least we dont stab you on your back. If you want to be really nice to us for starters stop saying Kashmir belongs to you. My friends response--I originally send this email to rajesh, My name is Sandeep Kapil and i totally disagree with the stance because it is the politics and the politicians who are doing all this mess not the general public like me & you and it is a credit to the pakistani public if they have made an effort to do all these things. The kashmir issue is a long standing one and to make a simplistic statement about them giving it to us etc is not realistic. After 14 years the two countries are trying to at least bring the populations together and we should be trying to be as positive and take the positive aspects out
Its a matter of time before Pakistan shows its true color. Lasting peace will always remain on the horizon, never coming too close because they came into existance hating us. It need complete overhaul of their system and revamping of their military.
Lahore at independence was a city with Muslim minority that was gifted to Pakistan by Nehru That should leave a bad taste in the mouth of any self respecting person.
We Hindus are given to mushy sentimentality. Vajpayees latest statement that Bharat will never go to war against Pakistan, makes me wonder what the people see in him to want to have him as the countrys Prime Minister? The one thing to the BJPs credit is that they went nuclear, but even these weapons have no credibility with Vajpayee as Prime Minster.
What Swapan is saying is exactly what I had pointed out to Bharats policy makers. Pakistan is buying time. Has it got through to leaders thick skulls? No.
It is the mushy sentimentality of Bharats policy makers that has led to the debacle of a sham American policy in which we have been taken for a ride, as indeed any body with half mind and wit to do so has similarly managed.
This leads me to the final point of RSS ideology being the source book that is now guiding Bharat. Hinduvta in its original form had vitality which has been lost in much the same way everything in Bharat degenrates and becomes fossilised. Where is the intellect I wonder?
Swapan DasGupta has hit a home run with his brilliant analysis. We Indians are a gullible people with a short and forgiving memory. That has actually been a virtue in that centuries of islamic cultural raping and british rule did not shatter our psyche. Today we are one of the most vibrant economies because we are not mentally scarred by centuries of oppression. But sadly we have learnt little from history or learnt nothing from our mistakes of the past. To believe that a pschopath like Musharaff really intends to build genuinely good relations with India is taking naivety to unprecedented levels of stupidity. So, they behaved like good hosts during the recent cricket series? That makes them doubly dangerous since deceit is something they practise fluently. Remember Kargil? I would love to send all our peaceniks to J&K for a stint with the Rastriya Rifles so they can taste the warmth and hospitality of our friendly neighbourhood jehadis. Until they are personally affected these Paki lovers that abound our media, Bollywood and political circles will never comprehend the chasm between fiction and cold blooded reality.
it is rather strange that there appears to be more of wishful thinking in this article rather than a sincere wish for peaceful relationship between India and Pakistan. i was right about this all along. Ive met both Indians and Pakistanis in my life and I ve learnt that there is more hatred by Indians towards Pakistan and the Muslims in general rather than the other way around. The hate and the suspicion is so much that people like Swapan Dasgupta do not to even give a chance for a peaceful dialogue between these two countries. What more proof of sincerity can Mr.Musharraf give. He has arrested several leading people of his country at the risk of his own life. He has clamped harshly on the terrorist elements of his country. Sometimes one wonders whose side is he on. How many of her terrorists has India arrested. Innocent minorities,men women and children as young as 6 have been massacred ruthlessly in the most horrific manner aided,abetted,organised and orchestrated by the Hindu political parties like RSS and carried on by the murderous Bajrang dal. are these not terrorists? The people are a disgrace to democracy in the world. Musharraf will definitely talk of Kashmir naturally.
I agree to the editor, India has to be vigilant. History shows that whenever there was a peace process, immediately Pak has done nasty things. so its time to be aware and not just say Hai Pakistan, common we are brothers! thanks, amit.
musharraf is simply following a mixture of opportunism and balancing act.the country has been effectively sold to the americans.there is hardly any development and there is no future for the common people there.it is a matter of time before some islamic fanatics take control of the country.one or two clever people at the top, unelected as they are , will not be able to save the country .
