I have always been fascinated by the
conversation I hear on the streets. The conversations are always animated and
invariably the speaker will speak in a righteous voice, complaining about the
lack of it in those with whom s/he has relationship of some kind. It maybe the
saas-bahu(mother-in-law vs daughter-in-law) conflict or that of the maid-mistress or master-servant or
employer-employee or the young and the old confrontation and everyone will claim to be right and the
other to be wrong. This is true of all of us and when this extends to groups divided
by generational, ideological, religious and class differences, there comes
conflicts leading to violence and aggression. While human beings cannot live lonely
without a fellow- relationship, they forget the simple truth that a
relationship is between two and more and cannot be otherwise.
It was a serendipitous discovery for me when I
came across this quote from Robert Brault: “Sometimes in a relationship, we fail to put
two and two together because we want so much to keep one and one together… Who
among us does not choose to be a little less right to be a little less lonely?”
This quote is most relevant to the whole of humanity and more so to us in India
where we all claim to be more right than all others and others as less right, if
not wholly wrong. Just five minutes of watching the TV debates or reading the
muck on the Twitter is more than enough to expose our eagerness to wear our
righteousness on our tongue to show the wrongness of the other. It is strange
that a majority of these TV analysts who sit cheek by jowl on the rectangular
table on the same side (as the other long side of the table is tenanted solely
to the anchor) keep sparring at each other refusing to accept the two and two
evidence and draw the right conclusions.
This is happening all over the world and this is the starting point of wars, fights, terror attacks, violence and
destruction and untold suffering to a majority of people who have no say in all
matters of right and wrong.
Closer home, the two
main political parties and all the rest owing allegiance to the ruling NDA or
the defeated anti-NDA never agree on two plus two. So the sum gain of GST
reforms or the Land Bill reforms was and is disputed by both-the only
difference is the reversal of those in the Treasury benches and in the
opposition benches in the parliament. The entire argument is not about GST or Land Reforms but on the trivial point whether ”What is sauce for the goose is sauce
for the gander” or “What is sauce for the
goose cannot be sauce for the gander”. We can argue endlessly on this with
reference to the right to block the Parliament and the right to oppose the
reforms. What is right for the BJP is not right for the Congress today just as
what was right for the Congress was not right for the BJP in 2013. The same
extends to Indo-Pak relations where the simmering distrust between the two
countries as to what is right and what is wrong is stretching to deeper and
deeper chasm that is unlikely to be bridged at any time. The Israel-Palestine
relations, the Iran-Iraq conflict which can be termed as Sunni-Shia conflict,
the current violence unleashed by ISIS towards all those perceived as
anti-Caliphate, the civil war in Syria along the Turkish border, the
Russia-Ukraine conflict involving the Turkic ethic groups, Russians and Ukranians,
the South China seas conflict between China, US and its allies in that region…
this list of conflicts is endless and all this is because of the assertiveness
and claims of people of different nations, ideologies, ethnicity and religions
to being right where the “ right “is only towards keeping their flocks (“one plus one”)together excluding the two plus two evidence to solve the
problems.
This manic holding to
what one views as right has divided humanity into irreconcilable groups and
also within those groups into splinter groups and ginger groups throwing the
world out of kilter. There is no such
thing as absolute right and absolute wrong. Every issue has two sides and the
two sides do compete with each other for dominance. The wars of yesteryears
have only proved that the two sides alternate in gaining ascendancy at
different times and thereby perpetuating and escalating the conflict between
two perceived notions of right and wrong.
Rarely has the world witnessed a reconciliation of the two points of
view, the two exceptions in the last decade and a half being the unification of
Germany and the establishment of six independent states that formed the former
Yugoslavia. The current effort of Obama to establish new US--Cuba ties shows
the new thinking in US to encourage and support reform than to impose its policies
on Cuba that will render it a failed state. John Kerry said:”We should not
allow U.S. sanctions to add to the burden of Cuban citizens we seek to help.”
India and Pakistan have witnessed
three wars after the 1947 genocide during the partition. There seems to be
greater escalation of cross border tension in recent times though the people of
the two nations share many things in common
in terms of food, dress, language and even cricket and hockey. While Kashmir is
overtly the bone of contention, the leaders, spokespersons and armed forces indulge in a war of words as
to who is right and who is wrong in the context of daily provocation leading to
cross border sniping. It is naïve to say that we, Indians are morally, ethically
and militarily righteous while all the blame is on Pakistan for the escalation
of tension between the two nations. Pakistan’s claims to similar righteousness
are also twisted and distorted. Both the nations, thanks to the intransigent leadership
are living in a time warp, unable to move from the past era to the present era.
It is worth remembering the great words of President Weizsacker, the first President of United Germany: “All
of us (Germans), whether guilty or not, whether old or young, must accept the
past. We are all affected by the past and liable for it. The young and old
generations must and can help each other to understand why it is vital to keep
alive the memories. It is not a case of coming to terms with the past. That is
not possible. It cannot be subsequently modified or undone. However, anyone who closes his eyes to the past is
blind to the present. Whoever refuses to remember the inhumanity of their
past, is prone to new risks of infection.”
Many of the older generation
belonging to the era of partition have been subjected to inhuman suffering on
both sides of the border between India and Pakistan. Those sufferings cannot be
and should not be forgotten as they serve as grisly and shocking reminders of
inhumanity. If memories of Nazi holocaust have been kept alive and lessons
learnt thereof, the unification of Germany should serve as an example for
humanity to come together. It may be sacrilegious to say that India and
Pakistan should unite in Kashmir. But that is the only wise solution lest both
nations remain in a state of war. Let Kashmir become home to Indians and Pakistanis
and let the two nations contribute in equal measure for the prosperity of
Kashmir and its people. Let it be an Indo-Pak Union that restores Kashmir to
its original glory as the Paradise on Earth. Kashmir should set an example for
the unification of India and Pakistan in that small state. Kashmir should be declared a non-military zone. Except for the
police to maintain law and order, the state should be promoted as a zone of peace with no armed
skirmishes seeking territorial claims. Kashmir should elect its assembly and the
right to vote is for all those who are Kashmiris by birth and those who have at
least a minimum of 10 years continuous living in Kashmir. Indians and Pakistanis outside of
Kashmir should be given permission to promote trade and industry as a joint venture as this would prevent
unethical conflict and competition between
the two nationalities. India and Pakistan with active assent of the people of Kashmir
should keep this Paradise as a world
treasure, jointly preserved by all the three.
Is this utopian solution? No, it is
a pragmatic solution putting all the ugliness of the past behind. It is time
for to move forward. It is time not to press Past Forward, but press Present Forward.
What does this involve? Let us get back to Robert Brault. “Who among us does
not choose to be a little less right to be a little less lonely?” Can we, the
peoples of India and Pakistan choose a little less right to ownership of
Kashmir and live less lonely? As Seneca had stated :
“Soon we shall breathe our last.
Meanwhile, while we live, while we
are among human
beings,
let us cultivate
our humanity.”
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