Day 166

Today I was reading The Times of India in the morning. I was stuck by an irony. On the front page, a news article was there about the recent attack in Srinagar. The media has report of the talk between the terrorists, who attacked a hotel in Srinagar, and their boss in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. And on the second page the paper was having the article about Aman Ki Asha, a peace initiative between India and Pakistan. So, we got the first breach of our friendship. This was the thing about which I was talking about in my last post. I’m not against the peace between the two countries. But is it easy to trust Pakistan after so many infiltrations? I don’t think so. In my view, Pakistan is a country which is not trust worthy. From 1^st January, 2010, the two big media houses of both the countries started the peace plan. But Pakistan sends the terrorists to Srinagar to kill innocent people. What does this means? Is anyone going to answer this? That’s why I told that first of all the Pakistani government has to close all the terrorists camps on its soil, if the Pakistani government is really concerned about the peace and prosperity in the region. But unfortunately for India, Pakistan is still nurturing the dream of weakening India to have dominance over it. So I would like to say that there is no need of having any cultural programme like Aman Ki Asha. What we need to pressurise our government to take action against Pakistan. If America can attack Afghanistan to destroy Al-Qaida, then why can’t India do that? More people have died to India due to this guerrilla war with Pakistan than the people died in the sad tragedy of World Trade Centre. I know that war always destroys both sides but its important now. Every time Pakistan sends terrorists whenever India does something for the peace. There is no need of having more bloodshed now. For the last 62 years we have seen much bloodshed. We need to have break from that. So instead of having cultural programmes, we need to have our armed forces ready for the strike.

Day 165

I know that I’m not writing continuously these days. Actually I was thinking about what to write. Well, I got a theme. Actually it’s about the new cultural programme going to be conducted by The Times of India in collaboration with The Jang Group of Pakistan. The programme is named Aman Ki Asha. A peace project to improve the harmony and peace between the two countries. There are various cultural programmes being arranged to bring the people closer. They are calling it a new chance to the bond of humanity to the citizens of both the country outside the battlefields of politics, terrorism and fundamentalism.

But I don’t think that it’s going to work for us. Indeed both the media publication houses have raised a good question. They have asked that shouldn’t we say no to giving peace a fighting chance? Should we condemn our children, grandchildren and the generations thereafter to a life of strife? Indeed the answer of these questions is no. Any sensible and civilised person would say no. But I want to know whether we are ready for this change? I don’t think so. There are many things which we can’t neglect.

History is full of treachery by Pakistan whenever India has done anything to increase the peace, harmony and friendship. I’m not going far back. Just a decade back. The then Indian Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, took a bus ride across the Wagah border to the Pakistani side. His counterpart, Mr Nawaz Sharif, welcomed him. It was called a good move to reduce the tension. But what we get in return. Kargil War. We haven’t forgotten the Kargil War then we got attack on Indian Parliament in 2001 by the terrorists coming from Pakistan. There had been countless cross fires from Pakistani side to Indian side. And lastly, we have seen terrorists coming to Mumbai and attacking it on 26 November, 2008. I wonder that how can a sensible media house of India like The Times of India forgets this and starts peace programme like Aman Ki Asha? How can it forget the sacrifice of so many Indian soldiers, who died on the border while fighting with the Pakistani army? This is really ridiculous.

If the media house like The Times of India really wants to do something for the country then it should tell the Pakistani government and Pakistani army to be honest in their intentions. I know that it’s really easy to say Hi than to say Sorry but we don’t want to do easier job. We need assurance from the Pakistani side that they won’t do anything else. We need to have trust on them. And trust doesn’t come from having any cultural programmes. Who knows that Pakistani army won’t do anything destructive in India, taking advantage of this Aman Ki Asha? Is there any surety that there will be peace, harmony and prosperity at the both side of the borders? There is no surety.

In my view, if there is any way to increase the trust on Pakistan then there should be commitment from the Pakistani government that they won’t attack India again. They should destroy all the terrorist camps in their territory. They have to refuse giving shelter and security to all anti- India agents. Then only programmes like Aman Ki Asha will work.

Day 164

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