Page 8 - Pakistan Link - December 31, 2021

P8 – PAKISTAN LINK – DECEMBER 31, 2021 OPINION
tive,” she responded. that being cruel to their minorities own identity and also reassure those large number of silent servants of Bangladeshi as well as Indian hearts.
“With you, I have learned to is an act of cowardice and a sign of South Asian neighbors who remain goodwill and insaniyat in both our The forebears of many in to-
discover the commonalities of faith moral bankruptcy. It is indicative of highly suspicious of its motivations. countries. There are so many of day’s Pakistan lived in different parts
and the embracing power of human a weak and failed polity. That is why The rediscovery is the first and these, doing the right thing – teach- of today’s India. Why shouldn’t Pak-
bonding. Our discussions on Sufi the early founding fathers, Gandhi most critical step. The next step is ers, doctors, neighbors, humble of- istanis learn more of the histories,
Islam, the teachings of Guru Nanak, and Nehru in India, Jinnah and Li- perhaps the most difficult one for ficials, even policemen, who quietly cultures of those parts?
my time with you teaching the aqat in Pakistan, honored their mi- Hindus and Muslims—to put aside protect the weak, the threatened, the Tipu Sultan, who died in 1799,
courses of the World of Islam and norities and reached out to show our individual egos and confront vulnerable. was fluent in the Kannada language,
Judaism and Islam, all have dem- them support and promised pro- the reality that we have caused deep Let us acknowledge and quietly the language of the state of Karnata-
onstrated the powerful message of tection. The test of civilization will pain to one another. We must ac- honor them. Naming them is not ka, of which the capital is Bangalore,
humanity, equality and justice that always be how a majority treats its knowledge that pain. That can only smart. It will merely attract the at- now called Bengaluru. The Qutb-
underlines each faith. Some of my minority community. happen with honest self-reflection. tention of super-patriots. shahi rulers of Hyderabad in India
fond memories with you include the When Siddhartha was a young If the putrid atmosphere of ha- Today, we know, the mega- were fluent in Telugu.
time you said a prayer at Nankana boy, his father, an ambitious chief tred can be cleared, then the next phone has been seized by merchants It will be an asset, not a crime,
Sahib, when my daughter was born of the warrior caste, attempted to steps become easier: scholars, art- of hate. But decibel levels are not ev- if some in Lahore, Pindi, Multan,
and you sent me a photograph: the train him in martial arts. Siddhar- ists, sports figures, and writers must erything. The murmurs for friend- Quetta, Karachi, or Islamabad learn
time when we walked into a mosque tha categorically rejected war and be invited from across the borders ship, and the quiet entreaties to the Bangla, or Kannada, or Tamil, or
in DC, with our class of American violence of any kind and grew up to to promote mutual understanding Almighty for peace, constitute an- Telugu. It will be of value if some
University students, only to discover become Gautama Buddha. He pro- (and can we please listen to each other real story. In the end, it will in Kolkata, Mumbai and Lucknow
how divides dissolve across faiths, moted Shanti or peace and practiced other without throwing bottles of also be, God willing, a more power- learn Punjabi, Pukhto, Urdu, or
identities, and culture.” ahimsa or non-violence and created ink). Seminars and conferences ful story. Balochi.
The other example is of my a world movement that is with us to- need to be held and political figures Yesterday, India’s Prime Min- The improvements we long for
former undergraduate student. An day. The genocide the Rohingya face invited to take part and learn. Trad- ister commenced himself the con- will probably come in unexpected
American Indian Hindu, when she is by those who have changed the ers and businessmen must work to- struction, in Ayodhya in UP, of a ways. The paths to sanity and recon-
graduated from university in 2014 very teaching of the Lord Buddha. gether for mutual prosperity. None Ram Temple on land where the ciliation may be opened up in sur-
prior to her joining the University Mahatma Gandhi’s genius was of these ideas are new or radical, yet Babri Masjid had stood from the prising ways, perhaps by people we
of Cambridge as a graduate student, to take these concepts from ancient none of them have been fully given 1520s until its illegal demolition in are not thinking of.
she wrote me a scintillating farewell Indian history and promote them so a chance. To cite Mahatma Gandhi, December 1992. Historians have seen many ups
letter. that they became part of social and to bring about change, become the Many claim that in earlier cen- and downs. Right now, India-Paki-
A senior colleague said if a pro- political discourse in South Asia and change. turies a temple had stood on that stan relations are in a pretty deep
fessor gets this kind of letter from later across the world. I am encouraged that beneath spot, and that in remote antiquity ditch, and on the subcontinent, very
a student once in a lifetime, they When India achieved indepen- the bluster and hatred and violence Lord Ram was born on that spot. few influential people urge a climb
should consider themselves fortu- dence in 1947, it had high status there is still humanity. Hindus must Still, India’s Prime Minister back up to level ground.
nate. Here are the last lines: especially among the non-aligned never forget that the Quaid while starting with his hands the building Within their private worlds,
“Thank you, Dr Ahmed, for in- movement; it reflected a mystique protecting a group of Hindus be- of a Hindu shrine in the year 2020 is however, a great many Pakistanis
spiring me. Thank you for encour- precisely because of the concepts of ing attacked by Muslims in Kara- a troubling additional step in India’s and Indians are different. They want
aging me during moments when I Shanti and ahimsa. It is this legacy chi, declared himself, “the Protector journey away from the secular state better relations between their coun-
doubted myself the most, smoothed that is being set aside in such a cava- General of the Hindu community in that was established in 1947, where tries, and between majority and
over the bumps, and told me to stay lier manner over the last years. Pakistan” and in his first speeches to all were equal before the law and be- minority communities within their
true. I will be back to our fig tree Ironically, I see a glimmer of the Constituent Assembly guaran- fore the government. country.
soon, my friend. When I miss you, hope with the coronavirus. It was teed the security and religious free- Other nations too, we all know, Indians and Pakistanis also live
I will meet you between the stanzas the common enemy and it was ter- dom of the minorities in Pakistan; are making troubling journeys. I outside the subcontinent. Look at
of Rumi. I will meet you in autumn rible enough to put the fear of God just as Muslims must never forget must mention the event last month the partnership in the US, the UK,
at Cambridge. I will meet you at into all South Asians. that Mahatma Gandhi gave his life in Turkey when the historic Hagia and Europe between medical ex-
the bottom of a glass of chai. I will My suggestion is to appeal to protecting the rights of the Muslims. Sophia was turned, to the concern of perts of Pakistani origin and of Indi-
meet you in grainy black and white the leaders and thinkers of both For the admirers of the Quaid, as in- many in the world, from a museum an origin. What a delight it has been,
photographs of brown brigadiers. I nations to understand the depth deed I am, we should appreciate that into a mosque. amidst all the Covid anxieties, to see
will meet you in old history books and urgency of the crisis. When the Mahatma addressed Mr Jinnah Ambassador Akbar Ahmed doctors of Pakistani and Indian ori-
about civilization. I will meet you in Indians and Pakistanis look at each with respect as Quaid-i-Azam. speaks of the madness that can gin explaining Covid to Americans!
my prayers. I will meet you in our other they do so through a military- In a few days, both India and touch off a nuclear war. He wants — even as other Pakistanis and In-
eternal pursuit of ilm. I will meet strategic prism; in order to avoid Pakistan will celebrate their inde- “leaders and thinkers of both na- dians explain other complicated
you there. Yours Always and with the madness, they must change the pendence day. What a great occa- tions to understand the depth of the things to Americans.
my Deepest Respect and Gratitude, paradigm and look at each other sion to reflect on the journey made crisis”. Dear Akbar Ahmed Sahib, In wanting to assist others, In-
Shanti and Salaams.” through a moral-humanist-philo- thus far and dream of creating a new you and I and others – the usual dians and Pakistanis may perhaps
There are other examples of sophic prism. The two nations must and better world that strives to cre- suspects — have been saying this for find one another, may get closer,
this spirit of affectionate inclusion: share medical research with the ate true Shanti and its Islamic equiv- more than fifty years. And we’ll keep and rediscover what they have in
Srimati Kamala, the widely ad- pandemic in mind, exchange doc- alent salaam or peace in South Asia. on saying it. common.
mired director of the Gandhi Cen- tors and nurses as goodwill gestures ************ But maybe we should direct our Another truth may be less
ter in Washington, DC, bestowing and immediately tone down politi- Response by Rajmohan Gandhi appeal to everyday people. Let even pleasant for our pride. Today per-
the inaugural Gandhi Peace Award cal and media attacks on each other. to Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, Aug. a small number of ordinary people, sons of Indian and Pakistani origin
on me; Manjula Kumar, celebrated Indians must stop killing defense- 6, 2020 men and women, make up their may feel more confident regarding
Indian director at the Smithsonian less members of the minority. We After tough work as an ad- minds that as long as it lies in their their fundamental human rights if
taking up the challenge of success- are separated for less than a century, ministrator in a demanding area power, there will be no coercion in they live in the US, Canada, and UK,
fully staging my plays with integrity together for a millennium. Love be- in Pakistan, followed by a period our lands. That people will not be rather than in their home countries.
and being taunted for promoting a gets love. Hatred kills. It is time for in diplomacy, Ambassador Akbar punished for their views, their be- I will conclude with a reflection
Muslim author; and the renowned both to seriously consider turning a Ahmed has served for many years as liefs, or for belonging to their reli- on Gandhi, to whom Ambassador
Indian Professor Julius Lipner, a new leaf. In the absence of vaccines, a distinguished professor on a lead- gion, their caste, their poverty, their Ahmed referred, and also on Lord
pillar at Cambridge University, pro- a palliative exercise calculated to ing American campus. dissenting sects. Ram, to whom the ambassador also
viding a glowing blurb for my aca- improve mental health during the He is a scholar who also seeks, The fault is not of governments referred. The Ram of whom Gan-
demic book, Jinnah, Pakistan and pandemic is to reach out to fam- in word and deed, to be a reconciler. alone. Perhaps the greater weakness dhi so often spoke is not identical
Islamic Identity, which was part of ily members and friends. Why not In his works, he recalls images from has been in our societies, in our ap- with the prince born, according to
my Jinnah Quartet which featured neighbors? the past of wisdom and harmony; proaches to one another, or in our believers, in the Ayodhya of remote
the movie Jinnah. It would set the right tone if In- he highlights inspiring elements in lack of approaches to one another. antiquity.
The interactions I have de- dia, which is vastly bigger, took the history, architecture, interfaith rela- Hindu-Muslim mistrust is not To Gandhi, and to many like
scribed are in keeping with the old lead. tionships, and elsewhere. the only mistrust on our common him in India and beyond, Ram or
spirit of the nobility of the Indian My premise is simple. If India I respect him for this. In his talk subcontinent. We divide by sect, we Rama was a loved name for the un-
and Pakistani soul inspired by the is to maintain, in this case, regain, today, however, he has been franker divide by language, by caste, by bi- born, undying, and all-merciful Al-
inclusive sages of the land like Lord its status, it needs to very rapidly about India’s departure from Gan- radari, by tribe, by class, by profes- mighty, called by different names by
Buddha, Asoka, Mahavira and Guru change course. Its leaders should dhi and Nehru than about Pakistan’s sion. We think we know one anoth- anxious human beings all over the
Nanak; and on the Muslim side eschew those with hatred in their departure from Jinnah. er but we don’t. We have opinions world.
Data Ganj Baksh, Shah Abdul Latif, hearts and genocide on their minds; Although he didn’t speak of it about one another; we don’t have To this all-compassionate and
Bulleh Shah, Moinuddin Chishti, they should be inspired by Lord in his talk, I suspect that he is pained knowledge! supreme Almighty, to this Ram, this
Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, and Allama Ram’s righteous path, and noble by the hostility towards dissenters We don’t have friends from Ishwar, this Shiva, this Khuda, this
Iqbal. They embraced all, promoted Buddha’s ahimsa or non-violence, that exists in Pakistan as well. these other circles whom we might Allah, I pray that wisdom, peace,
justice, and abhorred violence. the great Guru Nanak Devji’s mes- We are not here, neither he nor listen to. We don’t even read about courage, and sanity may descend
This is the spirit that inspired sage of love, and the gentle Mahatma I, to condemn, although sadly there them. on the people and leaders of India,
the modern Indian leaders Gan- and his pursuit of Shanti or peace. is so much in both India and Paki- Allow me, as a friend of Paki- Pakistan, and the world.
dhi and Nehru and is in keeping The leaders should rediscover stan to condemn. stan, to say this. When, half a cen- (Dr Akbar Ahmed, Ibn Khal-
with the vision that they had for the great Indian concepts of ahimsa This is not the occasion even tury ago, the Pakistani people lost dun Chair of Islamic Studies, School
India, and Jinnah had for Pakistan. and Shanti as part of their policy. for expressing disappointment that the people of Bangladesh, they also of International Service, American
If anyone doubts Jinnah’s vision for By realigning its position closer to on both sides of our border those lost a fabulous bridge to India, the University, Washington DC, deliv-
Pakistan, they must listen to his first the Gandhian ideal and to its own who should be speaking out against Bengali language. ered this lecture at the ISSI, Islam-
speeches to the Constituent Assem- traditions of humanity going as far coercion and cruelty often remain But that bridge is still there. abad, 6 August 2020. Dr Rajmohan
bly in Karachi in 1947. back as Lord Ram and the Buddha, silent. If he or she learns Bangla today, a Gandhi, Research Professor, Uni-
Conclusion India will have a double advantage; Instead, let us praise those who Punjabi, Pukhto, Sindhi, Baloch or versity of Illinois at Urbana-Cham-
Both nations must understand it will strengthen and reinforce its do speak out. Let us also praise a Urdu-speaking student would enter paign, was the discussant.)
www.PakistanLink.com