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.
Read my post again. The fiefdom of the central govt is the problem, not any particular leader. The ruling class gets privileges bestowed upon them by the govt. I can guarantee you that a Bengali couldn't care less about a Marathi who probably has never seen an Assamese in his life that couldn't understand a word coming out of the mouth of a Punjabi. What keeps a country like that together? Cross-subsidization and central control. Make sure that an Assamese or a Dalit in Bihar or someone in rural Bengal cannot eat, cannot farm, cannot even squat without seeking the approval of the central govt.
This is nothing unique to India. In the US, the right wants more power and control close to home because a govt closest to home is the best governed because it is the most closely scrutinized. No wonder states in India with either natural resources to means to support itself wants to break away from India, whereas states that have nothing like the cross-subsidization.
I could care less how my countrymen think. The only norm in the US is you don't have to subscribe to it.
Yugoslavia is a pipe dream of Marshall Tito. The Muslim majority in various sections of the Balkans would have been a problem anyways - with or without Yugoslavia. At least now we know who to watch over. The only guarantee with a unified Yugoslavia is a perpetual state of civil war, which is present in many parts of India that wants to be free.
"South and North Korea can get together. Then why can’t Pakistan and India unite?"
That's really a poor example.
Of course a billion Indians believe in a unified Yugoslavia. What else can I expect from a billion hungry mouths waiting in line to pick up their ration. If they felt otherwise, the central subsidies will evaporate instantly. Marshall Tito and Nehru were good friends. Tito must have taught his friend well how to keep different groups toe the govt line.
I just didn't take a short trip to India. I have lived there for close to six years. Two years in the seventies during the emergency, two years in the early eighties and two years in the late eighties, not to mention several trip in the nineties. Something always happens to someone in the Gandhi family when I show up. But, I have spent most of my life outside my country. I have lived in East Asia, Africa, and Europe. I have seen enough of the world to know what works and what doesn't and how govt controls its own citizens to perpetuate its own propaganda to keep a few in power.
It may mean very little to a Bengali babu, but I have made it my mission in life to spread freedom wherever I see oppression. That means you need to do more than raise tempest in your tea cup within the cosy confines of Coffee House. Come to think of it most good things in India in the modern era has taken place because of influence of outsiders. You need to go to your closest temple and perform a pooja to thank Warren Hastings, who did more social reform in India since Adi Sankaracharya. Also, just because I am an outsider that doesn't mean I don't know prejudice when I see it. I was in India the day Mrs Gandhi was assassinated. What followed in Delhi and many other parts of India for the next few days was nothing short of ethnic cleansing. I was able to hide two Sikh families in the American and British embassy. I can guarantee you they didn't care what my nationality was. Spending one week in Delhi in the middle of hell changed me forever. Too late my Bengali babu, every oppressed person in the world is my business. If it alters your little universe from Ballygunge to Shyambazar, then you better get used to living with me. I am coming for two months to work in Haldia outside Calcutta. Maybe I will stop by to proselytize.
i smell a paki here.
i am a so called minority in india and believe me i would rather see us get nuked than dismember like yugos.lol by the way stop the wet dream of balkanistaion of india.if and when we go down we will everyone with us.;)lol...inlcuding your beloved pukistan.
There are Muslim fanatics everywhere, including the US. The point is how many of them actually support terrorism. While Arabs (including Christian Arabs) support Palestinian intifada, you will find little support of terrorism among non-Arab Muslims. But, as usual, exceptions are everywhere.
Asoka was the last ruler who supported Buddhism in his later life. Sankaracharya was able to bring a lot of Buddhists back into Hinduism by his vast social reforms.
When did I support such a thing. It is hard to get into a discussion who puts words into your mouth.
Read my posts. The problem with the Indian govt is the fiefdom that it runs. It will bestow favors on some Sikhs to turn against other Sikhs. The Indian govt has preserved the worst of the British Raj.
Rural Bihar was no different than rural Bengal or rural Assam. Unless you go into rural India, you don't get the grip of the central rule in India. India is still run like Tito ran Yugoslavia. You can either reform the Gandhian form of govt, which I thought BJP was going to bring in but they failed. Or, you let states secede. Trust me, different parts of India will be more productive and a lot less corrupt if that happens.
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