A Requiem for the Lost Humanity .

                                                        

                                                          A Requiem for the Lost Humanity

The Uri revenge is over. A zillion words have been used by writers and commentators, politicians and twitterati extolling the PM for the ‘surgical strikes’ by Indian army on the terrorist camps. The chest thumping that started on the morning after the destruction of seven terrorist camps continues unabated. Even high up officials including the Defence and Home minster have been unsparing in humiliating Pakistan with their acerbic comments. For once even the opposition has lauded the efforts of the army in carrying out precision strikes on terrorists, accounting for the death of 38 of them. The lionizing of NSA for such a daring attack with orchestrated hysteria over the isolation of Pak by other countries is mindlessly provoking the opponent who has been mauled badly both militarily and internationally. It is rather a childish and immature glee we seem to display to humiliate a defeated opponent who has been an unfriendly and hostile neighbor. The high decibel chest thumping has already provoked a wounded Markhor( wild goat- the national animal of Pakistan) and the retaliation has started in Baramullah. All talk about strategic restraint has been given the go-by in the wake of the Indian army’s bungee jump from the helicopter and the precision shooting of the terrorist camps.  Watching those pictures, one had to pinch oneself hard to confirm that this was not a Bollywood/Hollywood flick, not a hollow but a hallowed reality. We salute the Indian soldiers as saluting these brave hearts is the only means of expressing our gratitude and veneration. But to convert the moment of glory to a moment of gloat is to indulge in unbecoming exultation. The MNS wanting to take a leap over others in its display of patriotism has started a hue and cry for deporting Pakistani artists from India as a retributive action sparking  a debate between ‘they’ and ‘we’ as though we are meting out retributive justice to the artists from across the Western border for the gruesome action of the terrorists.

Nothing has changed since the Uri massacre of our eighteen soldiers and before that the killing of nearly eight defence personnel in Pathankot.  If it is not Uri or Pathankot, it is Baramulla as is happening now. If there is anything, it is only an increase in incursions across the LOC with an aim to avenge Indian army’s decimation of seven terrorist camps- a covert acknowledgement of the Pakistan army’s support to them. Otherwise, why should Pakistan escalate the war tempo today and even threaten us with the N-word? Pakistan should have thanked India for killing the terrorists when it keeps claiming that it has been a victim of terrorism.

 Let us face facts. Who benefits by these long drawn skirmishes across the border? How many young lives have been lost and how many more will be added to the list? It does not matter whether those who have lost their lives belong to Pakistan or India, whether they belong to the Jihadi groups or to the armed forces  or other petty division in the name of religion.  We have become hollowmen, “Shape without form, shade without colour,
 paralysed force, gesture without motion”, sightless and soundless, but with empty dried voices shouting  meaningless  jingoistic slogans  with no concern for the hundreds of lives lost. 

I wish we ask ourselves the question, what do we gain by such cries of victory, when our own soldiers have lost their lives?  Will revenge killing put a stop to further massacre? Can a wounded snake be expected to rest quiet without waiting for the appropriate time to fang its teeth? Can deporting a few artists back to Pakistan stifle the war frenzy, whipped by the media and the warmongers?  The Indian army had successfully carried out such surgical strikes silently  in the past  and had taken the wind off the opponents who could not own their defeat. Neitherthe people of  Pakistan nor of  India would like an escalation of war and if that is not  to happen, the armed battle should not be turned into a verbal battle.  The people of Pakistan are just like us who would not like bloodshed, but friendly relationship. Their families will not like to lose their sons just like our famlies. It is a few hard boiled leaders in Pakistan who brain wash their young men (and women) to regard Indians as the destroyers of Pakistan and Islam.  So do some thoughtless persons in India bay for Pakistani blood. Our PM was wise and gracious to appeal to the Pakistani citizens not to fight against us, but to join us in the fight against poverty, but his words were lost in the din created by media and his own partymen asking for a revenge strike. The PM’s statesman-like appeal would have worked wonders if he had reprimanded the media and our irresponsible leaders for making continuous statements about Pakistan’s isolation and humiliation.

After nearly seven decades of vitriolic hatred and acrimony, it is now time to promote a citizen to citizen initiative between the two nations as a counter to the war dialogue that is turning people into frenzied mobs. Sports, culture, trade, artists and writers should take centre stage to stand as a bulwark against violence and inhumanity. Instead of deporting the Pakistan artists, let them  join our artists and raise their voices against  enmity that is not real, but artificially   created by war mongering leaders and generals. The only religion to respect is the religion of Man. If we lose faith in that fundamental religion, all our adherences to the different religions we are born into have no meaning.  Just like the Berliners, let us strive for people to people contact. Since both the nations share some degree of sameness in respect of music, food, dress and language, we can showcase to the world how  to minimize differences and maximize commonalities. Our films are a hit in Pakistan; their TV serials resonate in all Indian homes. Music knows no border and culture transcends all shadow lines erected in our minds. There should be exchange of scholars, writers, intellectuals and academicians for  free flow of thoughts and ideas. Sounds utopian, no doubt. But therein lies hope for our survival. The Bible  says: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick; but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” Let us hope we recognize our responsibility to be human and in the discharge of that responsibility show restraint even at the hour of glory. Greatness consists not in never falling, but in raising others who have fallen down. That act of generosity, nobility and humilitythrough people's movements is sure to win back for us our lost humanity.

The Uri revenge is over. A zillion words have been used by writers and commentators, politicians and twitterati extolling the PM for the ‘surgical strikes’ by Indian army on the terrorist camps. The chest thumping that started on the morning after the destruction of seven terrorist camps continues unabated. Even high up officials including the Defence and Home minster have been unsparing in humiliating Pakistan with their acerbic comments. For once even the opposition has lauded the efforts of the army in carrying out precision strikes on terrorists, accounting for the death of 38 of them. The lionizing of NSA for such a daring attack with orchestrated hysteria over the isolation of Pak by other countries is mindlessly provoking the opponent who has been mauled badly both militarily and internationally. It is rather a childish and immature glee we seem to display to humiliate a defeated opponent who has been an unfriendly and hostile neighbor. The high decibel chest thumping has already provoked a wounded Markhor( wild goat- the national animal of Pakistan) and the retaliation has started in Baramullah. All talk about strategic restraint has been given the go-by in the wake of the Indian army’s bungee jump from the helicopter and the precision shooting of the terrorist camps.  Watching those pictures, one had to pinch oneself hard to confirm that this was not a Bollywood/Hollywood flick, not a hollow but a hallowed reality. We salute the Indian soldiers as saluting these brave hearts is the only means of expressing our gratitude and veneration. But to convert the moment of glory to a moment of gloat is to indulge in unbecoming exultation. The MNS wanting to take a leap over others in its display of patriotism has started a hue and cry for deporting Pakistani artists from India as a retributive action sparking  a debate between ‘they’ and ‘we’ as though we are meting out retributive justice to the artists from across the Western border for the gruesome action of the terrorists.

Nothing has changed since the Uri massacre of our eighteen soldiers and before that the killing of nearly eight defence personnel in Pathankot.  If it is not Uri or Pathankot, it is Baramulla as is happening now. If there is anything, it is only an increase in incursions across the LOC with an aim to avenge Indian army’s decimation of seven terrorist camps- a covert acknowledgement of the Pakistan army’s support to them. Otherwise, why should Pakistan escalate the war tempo today and even threaten us with the N-word? Pakistan should have thanked India for killing the terrorists when it keeps claiming that it has been a victim of terrorism.

 Let us face facts. Who benefits by these long drawn skirmishes across the border? How many young lives have been lost and how many more will be added to the list? It does not matter whether those who have lost their lives belong to Pakistan or India, whether they belong to the Jihadi groups or to the armed forces  or other petty division in the name of religion.  We have become hollowmen, “Shape without form, shade without colour,
 paralysed force, gesture without motion”, sightless and soundless, but with empty dried voices shouting  meaningless  jingoistic slogans  with no concern for the hundreds of lives lost. 

I wish we ask ourselves the question, what do we gain by such cries of victory, when our own soldiers have lost their lives?  Will revenge killing put a stop to further massacre? Can a wounded snake be expected to rest quiet without waiting for the appropriate time to fang its teeth? Can deporting a few artists back to Pakistan stifle the war frenzy, whipped by the media and the warmongers?  The Indian army had successfully carried out such surgical strikes silently  in the past  and had taken the wind off the opponents who could not own their defeat. Neitherthe people of  Pakistan nor of  India would like an escalation of war and if that is not  to happen, the armed battle should not be turned into a verbal battle.  The people of Pakistan are just like us who would not like bloodshed, but friendly relationship. Their families will not like to lose their sons just like our famlies. It is a few hard boiled leaders in Pakistan who brain wash their young men (and women) to regard Indians as the destroyers of Pakistan and Islam.  So do some thoughtless persons in India bay for Pakistani blood. Our PM was wise and gracious to appeal to the Pakistani citizens not to fight against us, but to join us in the fight against poverty, but his words were lost in the din created by media and his own partymen asking for a revenge strike. The PM’s statesman-like appeal would have worked wonders if he had reprimanded the media and our irresponsible leaders for making continuous statements about Pakistan’s isolation and humiliation.

After nearly seven decades of vitriolic hatred and acrimony, it is now time to promote a citizen to citizen initiative between the two nations as a counter to the war dialogue that is turning people into frenzied mobs. Sports, culture, trade, artists and writers should take centre stage to stand as a bulwark against violence and inhumanity. Instead of deporting the Pakistan artists, let them  join our artists and raise their voices against  enmity that is not real, but artificially   created by war mongering leaders and generals. The only religion to respect is the religion of Man. If we lose faith in that fundamental religion, all our adherences to the different religions we are born into have no meaning.  Just like the Berliners, let us strive for people to people contact. Since both the nations share some degree of sameness in respect of music, food, dress and language, we can showcase to the world how                        to minimize differences and maximize commonalities. Our films are a hit in Pakistan; their TV serials resonate in all Indian homes. Music knows no border and culture transcends all shadow lines erected in our minds. There should be exchange of scholars, writers, intellectuals and academicians for  free flow of thoughts and ideas. Sounds utopian, no doubt. But therein lies hope for our survival. The Bible  says: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick; but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” Let us hope we recognize our responsibility to be human and in the discharge of that responsibility show restraint even at the hour of glory. Greatness consists not in never falling, but in raising others who have fallen down. That act of generosity, nobility and humility is sure to win back for us our lost humanity.