Winning the battle, losing the war; the US and Pakistan

Matrixx,

You don’t seem to understand the subtle difference between rejecting the Two-Nation Theory (TNT) and advocating “Akhand Bharat”, “Atoot Ang” and other expressions of territorial claims. One does not automatically imply the other. Can you understand this?

Most Indians (apart from the Hindu right wing who don’t speak for the majority of us) reject the Two-Nation Theory because we believe that people of all religions can live together as equals in our country. Our experience over the last 64 years has largely borne out that belief. This *does not mean* that we do not recognise Pakistan’s right to exist as a separate nation or that we want to take it back.

This is a subtle point that you really need to get into your heads. We accept Pakistan’s right to exist and respect it as a sovereign country. Heck, we don’t even mind your hanging on to AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan. We make statements of having the right to ALL of Kashmir for political reasons but on the ground, we believe in maintaining the status quo. You keep what you’ve got and we’ll keep what we’ve got.

So India is no threat to your territorial integrity. All we’re saying is that the Two-Nation Theory cannot be used to claim Kashmir, because being Muslim is not a reason to leave India. You guys think that’s a good enough reason. We don’t. And by “we”, I mean all Indians, including Indian Muslims.

This is the real issue you need to understand. The past effect of the Two-Nation Theory is accepted (the creation of Pakistan), and we don’t seek to reverse it. We just don’t want it applied again in future because we simply don’t believe in it. Our existence as a secular state is us walking the talk, which we have done quite successfully with only a few aberrations.
[Those aberrations are our internal issue and we will pursue justice for them. Even Hindus have not forgotten the atrocities against Sikhs in 1984 and Muslims in 2002, and we will get justice for our fellow citizens one day.]

India is not under any pressure today. We’re doing fine. It is Pakistan that is under enormous pressure. Hence your statement that India needs to pay a price to pursue peace with Pakistan is deluded thinking.

Regards,
Ganesh Prasad

Posted by prasadgc | Report as abusive

 

DEC 21, 2011

12:06 AM EST

Umair said:

>> “maybe you guys need to look at your own “B” before it becomes another “B”. Get it?”
> Ganesh, before that happens, Pakistan will nuke India.

Cool down, Umair. You don’t have to see Indian shadows behind every rock. Your army and Frontier Corps are doing an excellent job of alienating the Baloch even without Indian help. You created Bangladesh by exploiting East Pakistan and refusing to share political power with them. No wonder they wanted out, and Indian intervention was just icing on the cake. You’ve been doing the same with the Baloch. Your own media have documented the tortures and deaths there. Now the Baloch say they’ve reached the point of no return and want out too. Where does India come into this?

If you treat your people well, why would they want out? Men at their worst – Pakistan Army.

Regards,
Ganesh Prasad

Posted by prasadgc | Report as abusive

 

DEC 21, 2011

6:38 AM EST

Poor Umair, while you’re so busy targetting India with your nukes, there are other powers with far more reason to separate Balochistan from Pakistan:http://bit.ly/w51OTk

You’ve made an enemy of the US, so watch your back.

Regards,
Ganesh Prasad

Posted by prasadgc | Report as abusive

 

DEC 21, 2011

11:29 AM EST

Ganesh: “Now the Baloch say they’ve reached the point of no return and want out too. ”

The reason Pakistan needs conflicts in the region is because it is the only way to keep its fragile unity intact. Fissures have been there right from the start – Pashtuns never wanted to be a part of Pakistan. They never recognized the Durand line. Balochistan was simply annexed without their consent. East Pakistan was geographically and otherwise had all the chances to go on its own. In order to engage the Pashtuns, Pakistan sent them into Kashmir and saw to that the conflict never ends. War against the Soviets helped direct all the divisive forces outward towards an infidel enemy. That war got over. After that war got over, Kashmir conflict was revived to keep Pakistan’s unity intact. They managed to pull in ten years that way. War on terror ended up zeroing in on Pakistan itself. Now they have started playing America as the enemy, Taliban as the Islamic saviors etc to milk benefits out of another conflict. India is needed as an enemy for the same reason. If issues can be created inside India, and India is forced to retaliate, that would buy more time to keep the fast drying glue to keep Pakistan united. If they had taken Kashmir in 1948, they would not have settled with that. They would be blaming India for helping Kashmiris fight Pakistan’s integrity and existence and would be sharpening their swords. Pakistani leaders could have worked towards economic prosperity and progress. That would have helped all the diverse regions and groups to stay on. Instead they chose muscle power as the method. This is a dangerous path. One has to keep on running on the treadmill of conflict to survive. If the treadmill stops, the country would fall. Peace scares Pakistan more than anything else. Though they pretend to seek settlement of issues, they will also delay it and dodge it to perpetuate the issue. At some point, things will spiral down into chaos. We are seeing it today with our own eyes.