Posted on 03/12/2005 11:47:16 PM PST by nickcarraway
Despite on-field rivalry, the game of cricket is proving to be a great unifier. Almost a religion in both India and Pakistan, the fans of the game have had the opportunity to cross the border and mingle with each other in recent times. That has resulted in a certain bonhomie and fellow feeling among the people of the two nations, who have traditionally seen each other as enemies. In Mohali for the first of the three Tests between India and Pakistan, the visitors from across the border are not only talking about peace and amity, but are also expressing wishes about a possible unification of the two countries. And for most of them, India is looking like a haven in all spheres of life — political, social and economic.
A resident of Lahore, Mr Khaakzadah M Anwar Kamal came to India just out of curiosity. “The match is just an excuse to get the visa. I have dreamt of visiting India since 1996,” he said. And he has been astounded by the freedom of movement that women enjoy and he freedom of expression and worship that he has witnessed here. He claimed that in Pakistan Christians are the most unappreciated minority.
“Only after General Pervez Musharraf condemned violence against them that they are holding their heads high.” “I wish the border between the two countries disappears and we can all be one family. I want to go back and tell my people that India is not the land of kafirs but a land of grace and courtesy.”
Mohammed Asif said though he initially came only for the cricket matches, after reaching India he has realised that a lot can happen between the two countries. “The Berlin Wall can come down. South and North Korea can get together. Then why can’t Pakistan and India unite?” The slogan “Cricket to ek bahana hai, hamein dillon ko milana hai” (Cricket is only an excuse. We are here to unite hearts) has captured the minds of people of both the countries here.
For some Pakistanis, India’s economic condition is a great attraction. Mr Adul Karim and his wife Salma, wants to own a house in Chandigarh. ”You know, the domestic rate of electricity in Pakistan is Rs 7 per unit, whereas in India it is mush less. You have to shell out around Rs 4 lakh to own a Maruti car in Pakistan, but here you can get it for around Rs 2.2 lakh.” Even magazines and newspapers are much more expensive. Fond as they are of Bollywood, people of Pakistan have to shell out nearly Rs 100 for a film magazine that costs around Rs 30 in India.
Muslims are years behind the rest of the worlds religions when it comes to living in peace with others. Almost all sympathize with some form of terrorism. Find me a Muslim who is against both al-qaeda and the targeted killing of innocent Israeli women and children. The Majority of Muslims support terrorism in some form. Many of the ones who are against al-qaeda will still support groups like Hamas who target and kill innocent civilians. Facts are facts. Islam is not a religion of peace.
India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh were one country before the Brits divided us in 1947 on the premise that Muslims and Hindus could not live in peace together. We have proved them wrong. India now has a Muslim President and the President of Pakistan was born in India. If the two Germanys could unite, if the two Koreas want to unite, what is wrong with the fragments of undivided India wanting to unite.
We are one people, we look the same, we dress the same, and we speak the same language.
Here's to reunification of the Indian subcontinent--the best bet against terrorism.
PS. Muslims have more freedom in India than in any other Islamic country. You even come across Muslim atheists in India--something unthinkable elsewhere.
You are wrong on both counts. I can find plenty of Muslims who are opposed to both AlQueda and Hamas and Palestinians. You just need to look outside the Arab world.
I thought this was interesting:
http://sify.com/news/othernews/fullstory.php?id=13692416
Not true. Most Arabs, yes. But there are plenty of Christian Arabs who side with Palestinians as well. There are tons of non-Arab Muslims in the world who don't want either.
Thank God for the Brits to have the courage to divide India. An un-divided India would have been a huge headache for minorities everywhere. They say about a million people died during the India-Pakistan division. If they hadn't more than 10 times would have been dead. India and Pakistan are much better off separate. In fact, I wouldn't even mind seeing ten different countries carved out of India.
India is a giant Yugoslavia. Different parts of India should separate into different countries based on culture and language.
You know what-you are a disgusting,sadistic lout.
I will side with the oppressed any day of the week. If that makes me sadistic, I wear that honor with pride.
Ok-go & side with the "oppressed" in Iraq.
Oops,Poor OBL is also oppressed.
I do side with the oppressed in Iraq. I am glad that they are finally free. Although I was opposed to the war, I am glad that good has come out of it.
India will not be truly free as long as the Nehru-Gandhi clan keeps a strangle-hold on all Indians. Their Machiavellian politics is so dark age. I was hopeful that maybe things will change under the BJP, although I was afraid of its RSS wing.
I cannot speak for all of India, but if what I have seen in Bihar is any indication of how things are in the Plains then I truly feel sorry for the dalits and the under privleged. The true power base of the oppressing class in Bihar and UP is the federal govt. The ruling class in those areas control all federally distributed goodies, notably food through the rationing system that much of rural India depends on. Once we can decentralize these states, the Brahmin class will fall on its knees.
I will tell you one more thing about the ruling class in India which still today send shiver through my spine. I was in Delhi on October 31, 1984 - enough said.
& Ur thinking that India will not change.I live in India & have seen the changes around me.I don't need a lecture from an outsider who believes that the dismemberment of Yugoslavia was a good thing.
If you dont mind just a little bit of blood bath.......... then carving you up wont be such a bad idea either huh? Whad do you say?
Err..... buddy. The state government in Bihar is a party of the Dalits and the party is one of India's most corrupt. The party lead by Laloo Prasad Yadav (who is champions the cause of the "Backward Casts") is the ruling mafia. It is the "dalits" who elect their nemesis.
You are the only person in the world who thinks that the dismemberment of Yugoslavia is a bad thing. Let me in on a fact that you may not know if you were educated by Nehru pro-Soviet propaganda. Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro - were all independent before the Soviets "unified" them. After the Soviet Union was gone, people simply went their own way. The Czechs and the Slovaks left without a shot. Yugoslavia would have been fine if it wasn't for Milosevic.
Just because you live in India, that doesn't mean you speak for most Indians. Take a trip into the rural areas of Bihar and Bengal and see how many of your fellow Indians share your feelings. Just because you are an Indian, that doesn't mean I cannot speak for those who would rather be free from Indian fiefdom. India wants to run a modern economy with dark age policies. They have preserved the worst aspects of the British raj, and have invented a few of their own.
You missed my whole point. I don't care what political party you belong to, the federal govt is still a fiefdom which will bestow privileges to the ones who agree with their politics. When the MPs go to Delhi they simply become political pawns in that power struggle. Their position in Delhi gives them political power and control. I have even known candidates who oppose these MPs shot dead in broad daylight. The federal govt has a strangle-hold over rural India and these politicians have figured out how to stay in power once they get to Delhi. The poison is the fiefdom of the federal govt, which is not going anywhere given the socialist nature of India.
And who or what exactly do you mean by "ruling class"? I live in India and so far never heard of the any such thing. And I will tell you one more thing, the 'dalits' hold immense political power. They reason why they have still remained backward is not because "ruling class"(whatever you mean by that) has exploited them but because their corrupt "so-called-dalit-leaders" have failed them.
You sound like a stinking commie talking about class struggle.
Boy, that could be a sticky wicket.
Sorry,but I assume you don't know about the majority Freeper's opinions on the breakup of Yugoslavia.The formation of Muslim majority states in the Balkans has already started causing problems for the rest of the world.You have any clue about the money that GCC nations pump into those new countries & where the money trail leads???Ive lived in the Middle East & know the vicious propaganda that was unleashed not against Slobo,but against Christian Serbs.
Ive been to most parts of India & I have a much better idea of how my countrymen think given that I do read a lot of newspapers which are by no means pro-government.How many Indians said they want to be free from India's fiefdom??You have no idea of how your own countrymen think,let alone how Indians think.
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