B K Karkra
The far-sight and statesmanship of Modi and Sharief has recently opened a window to resume the Indo-Pak parleys over our persisting problems. There have never been any doubts in my mind that the people of Pakistan are our closest kin in the world— most of the Pakistanis are after all the Hindu converts. The bonds of common ancestry, culture, language, ethnicity and history bind us together somewhere deep within, despite the differences in our faith profiles.
My own experience of inter-action with the people of Pakistan of varied strata outside the subcontinent suggests that we not only have many meeting points between us, but also feel emotionally attached to each other in some mysterious manner— maybe we carry some nostalgia of living together for a long while in the recent past. In fact farther we meet closer, we feel to each other. No trace of any hatred or hostility is discernible when we come face to face in the faraway lands. The political leadership of the two countries needs to build the bridges of understanding on this sentiment.
Closure to our homes, however, some vested interests have always made sure that an artificial air of mutual antipathy keeps blowing in the subcontinent. They have managed to keep the cauldrons boiling as peace does not suit them.
We thus see, on one side, the spectacle of a political Pakistan perpetually gunning for India and our country reacting with matching hostility. On the other, we clearly feel vibes on both sides of the border to live peacefully in fraternal embrace. The intellectuals of the two nations are trying to latch on to these straws of the ‘People to People’ contact to remove the ethos of hostility and distrust with an effort at confidence building. During my recent visit to Saudi Arabia, I had an occasion to see firsthand how the people from India and Pakistan react to each other outside the subcontinent.
The Saudi Arabian peninsula to our west, just across the Arabian Sea, is home to many Islamic states. Its flanks to the north and south are washed by the highly strategic Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. Towards the west lie the Mediterranean Sea and the states of Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Kuwait, the Sinai part of Egypt and, of course, the Jewish Israel, created by vacating a country of a nation i.e. Palestine. On its eastern fringe are located Yemen, Bahrain, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and bulging into the Persian Gulf is the state of Qatar. Saudi Arabia, the conscience-keeper of Islam, lies sprawled in the middle of the peninsula, dotted with the two holiest mosques of the Faith. If you move to the tip of the Gulf of Aqaba, you see a wonderful spectacle of the lights from four different countries.
Saudi Arabia is trying to act as a role-model for the Islamic world, of which Pakistan is seen as the sword arm. Pakistan has a considerable presence in the kingdom. A division of the Pakistan army has, in fact, been providing security cover to the royalty here! This makes one feel curious, if anything else also lies buried under the surface here, besides the oil. People here are required to live strictly according to their Book which they believe to be the Allah`s message to man. Thus, you see the streams of devotees flowing dutifully to the mosques five times a day.
The other facet of the land is its oil wealth. The country seems to be floating on a sea of oil. This has made its pockets bulge with petro-dollars. Thus, you see Saudi`s enjoying all the facilities available to the Western world, except, of course, the booze for which the people have to sneak into the foreign embassies or cross over to the states on the periphery where the ethos is a lot more relaxed. Mobiles and computers of all configurations, all sorts of canned juices, cola`s, meats (other than the pork preparations), milks and cereals are available in abundance in its ever proliferating malls. Affluence and austerity seem to go hand in hand here.
The petro-wealth of the land has attracted large communities of expatriates to the country—nearly one third of the population of Saudi Arabia consists of people from outside. I spent around three months here among the Egyptians, Jordanians, Sudanese, Iraqis, Philippinos, Sri Lankans, and Bangladeshis etc and of course, the Indians and Pakistanis. Among them, the expatriates from Pakistan and India appeared to be of one fraternity and always prepared to open their hearts to each other.
Right opposite to our flat lived Dr. Mansur Ali Mughal and his wife, Dr. Rahilla from Islamabad and their three sons, interestingly named Timor, Babar and Humayun. (These children are fairly grown up, so Akbar is apparently not in the coming.) Mansur had served for a while in the Pakistan army. We were thus once face to face with each other in war between our countries and could well have killed each other. But here we were in a friendly or rather a soulful relationship. While once my children serving at the place as paediatric specialists got in trouble at the hands of a Muslim maid from Bangladesh, the Mughals went all out to help them, rising above all communal considerations. They felt that commitment to truth and humanity was above everything else. In fact, this is what religions are all about.
The attitude of other Pakistanis whom I met in this part of the world was equally heartwarming. I was invariably reminded of ‘Munna Bhai`s’ ‘Pyar-ki jhappi’ whenever I got a spontaneous embrace from them. How unfortunate and ironic that back home, we view each other with so much of suspicion. When there is no gulf between us in this land of gulfs, why should there be one in our own subcontinent?
(The author is a Retd Commandant)
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