Yet, over the years, I have made a deliberate choice to censor myself on anything touching India–Pakistan, Kashmir, or Hindu–Muslim relations. I have realised that this is not merely a terrain where my imagination falters; it is a landscape so charged, so mired in inherited righteousness, that every step feels suspect.
I have rarely encountered scholars who can illuminate these subjects without the tint of patriotism clouding their gaze. The best of Pakistani and Indian scholars will ultimately write with a tinted lens. It's human psychology. It's the curse of patriotism. Each side, inevitably, marshals its own grievances, its own mythologies, polishing them into moral justifications. Both nations, both peoples, find comfort in narratives that claim superiority. Both see the other as a tinderbox waiting to ignite. Pakistan points to Hindutva and RSS; India responds with Osama bin Laden, the ISI, Jaish, Kashmir Militancy and an entire litany of familiar names. South Asians are just not ready to sit and talk.
Perhaps the truth is simply too complex to be distilled into a play or an essay. In my views, some wounds should be left unhealed. Because to probe too deeply might reveal an ugliness we are not prepared to confront, an ugliness that neither art nor argument can soften.
I do think that if we do not have dialogue we will instead have an ecosystem where the worst elements on both sides are spreading misconceptions and hatred of the other.
Would value seeing this play. Partition to me has had a devastating effect on all of South Asia. It has left the Muslims in India vulnerable, it has not helped other minorities in India, and Pakistan has not thrived. If it had been one nation no man such as Modi would ever have been elected, Kashmiri would have been a non issue and the nation would have prospered.
From a Pakistani perspective, Partition was a net positive--despite the terrible way it was implemented that led to much ethnic cleansing. I say this as someone whose ancestors had to flee Amritsar. Pakistanis now have a sovereign state of our own where we can govern ourselves in accordance with Islam and with our own culture. We don't have to live on the sufferance of the Hindu majority.
Rising Hindutva in India has revealed that unfortunately most Hindus (or at least a substantial section of them) despise Muslims. Most Pakistani Muslims also don't really care for Hindus. It's better that we have our own countries. I do feel for India's Muslim minority though. It is not pleasant being treated as second class citizens.
I wish for a future in which India and Pakistan can live in peace with mutual respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity. We don't have to like each other but we should at least be able to live as normal neighbors.
Ah, you make me want to see the play. Thank you for writing about it. However, as we already noted that it is difficult to manage a debate on this topic on the internet because of emotions and strong opinions involved. However, if life permits, an offline discussion on this topic with sustained sanity is the best exchange possible between the two sides.
You're absolutely right. I've been a part of some internet forums where discussions of such topics tend to degenerate very quickly (not always though). Nationalism is strong on both sides.
I appreciate the sentiments here.
Yet, over the years, I have made a deliberate choice to censor myself on anything touching India–Pakistan, Kashmir, or Hindu–Muslim relations. I have realised that this is not merely a terrain where my imagination falters; it is a landscape so charged, so mired in inherited righteousness, that every step feels suspect.
I have rarely encountered scholars who can illuminate these subjects without the tint of patriotism clouding their gaze. The best of Pakistani and Indian scholars will ultimately write with a tinted lens. It's human psychology. It's the curse of patriotism. Each side, inevitably, marshals its own grievances, its own mythologies, polishing them into moral justifications. Both nations, both peoples, find comfort in narratives that claim superiority. Both see the other as a tinderbox waiting to ignite. Pakistan points to Hindutva and RSS; India responds with Osama bin Laden, the ISI, Jaish, Kashmir Militancy and an entire litany of familiar names. South Asians are just not ready to sit and talk.
Perhaps the truth is simply too complex to be distilled into a play or an essay. In my views, some wounds should be left unhealed. Because to probe too deeply might reveal an ugliness we are not prepared to confront, an ugliness that neither art nor argument can soften.
Thanks for your comment.
I do think that if we do not have dialogue we will instead have an ecosystem where the worst elements on both sides are spreading misconceptions and hatred of the other.
You can read some of my thinking here:
https://kabiraltaf.substack.com/p/what-being-a-centre-left-pakistani
Also, I read in your bio that you’re from UP? My daadi was from Agra and some of her relatives still live there.
Yes. UP it is! 🙏
I look forward to reading it!
Here is something I wrote about Qurratulain Hyder:
https://kabiraltaf.substack.com/p/lucknows-composite-culture-and-its
Would value seeing this play. Partition to me has had a devastating effect on all of South Asia. It has left the Muslims in India vulnerable, it has not helped other minorities in India, and Pakistan has not thrived. If it had been one nation no man such as Modi would ever have been elected, Kashmiri would have been a non issue and the nation would have prospered.
Thanks for your comment.
From a Pakistani perspective, Partition was a net positive--despite the terrible way it was implemented that led to much ethnic cleansing. I say this as someone whose ancestors had to flee Amritsar. Pakistanis now have a sovereign state of our own where we can govern ourselves in accordance with Islam and with our own culture. We don't have to live on the sufferance of the Hindu majority.
Rising Hindutva in India has revealed that unfortunately most Hindus (or at least a substantial section of them) despise Muslims. Most Pakistani Muslims also don't really care for Hindus. It's better that we have our own countries. I do feel for India's Muslim minority though. It is not pleasant being treated as second class citizens.
I wish for a future in which India and Pakistan can live in peace with mutual respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity. We don't have to like each other but we should at least be able to live as normal neighbors.
Ah, you make me want to see the play. Thank you for writing about it. However, as we already noted that it is difficult to manage a debate on this topic on the internet because of emotions and strong opinions involved. However, if life permits, an offline discussion on this topic with sustained sanity is the best exchange possible between the two sides.
You're absolutely right. I've been a part of some internet forums where discussions of such topics tend to degenerate very quickly (not always though). Nationalism is strong on both sides.
Do read this post as well:
https://kabiraltaf.substack.com/p/in-defense-of-south-asia