Stupid Dreams

In school, we had to learn about the history of India. It was a huge headache for me to mug up all the dates and names of all parties, political parties and so on. Needless to say, Jinnah was a villain whereas Nehru, Gandhi, Patel and Bose were heroes. To be honest, I had to write the mains exam to finally have a little more balanced view about the incidents that were taking place at that time.

I had a dream once - that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh would reunite to form a strong country that would be a marvel in the history. Even the Kargil conflict couldn't kill my hopes. I thought that peace was possible, after all. Only the political parties on both sides and the Pakistani military establishment were responsible for the bloodshed that was and is going on. There was scope for cooperation and people would see reason in the end.

No more. The praises showered by even the general public on Mumtaz Qadri, the assassin of the Punjab governor Salman Taseer makes me thank Jinnah for dividing India. I mean, how can you live with guys as block-headed as that? The blasphemy law in Pakistan, interestingly, was the creation of the British rulers to maintain peace between the two communities in the British India. During the time of Gen. Zia ul-Haq, the provisions were made more stringent. The punishment now varies from a fine to death sentence. Though no one has actually been executed, many of the alleged blasphemers have been killed by mobs. And the mob doesn't follow the due process of law, of course. Someone just has to report that the person he intends to destroy has committed blasphemy. The next thing you know is that s/he may be cut into pieces, bullet-sprayed or set to fire. There are, of course, enough financial and other rewards to anyone who helps in the execution of these 'blasphemers'.

I just can't imagine that a section of Kashmiris wants to join a country as hopeless as that. Earlier, while reading about the lawyers' and people's campaign to restore democracy in Pakistan, I thought it still had a chance to redeem itself. However, looking at even the lawyers supporting Qadri and hailing him as a hero, I really doubt if Pakistan can ever become a genuine democracy. After all, if even the governor of one of the richest states of Pakistan had to part with his life for defending what he thought was right, what can anyone else do?