Ambassadors are people who lie abroad for the good of their country, said George Bernard Shaw. Shoaib Malik did indeed lie abroad, but for whose good – for the good of his fellow-countrymen? Tiger Woods and Shoaib Malik are known for the games they play and the voyeurism they are adept at. Tiger Woods troubles started after his marriage but Shoaib Malik’s started even before his second marriage. All problems are women-made, seen from a male chauvinistic perspective. And man-made seen in the right perspective.
The pertinent question that comes to every Indian mind is, will this cross-border love douse the fire of cross-border terrorism and quench communal hatred. United India was divided by the politicians for their spoil, as the elder generations would tell you that communal tension was unheard of in India till the 1940s. Then came the subterranean creatures called politicians, who stoked communal passions and partitioned India, accompanied by the bloodiest carnage in history.
If this era of terrorism leads to the unification of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh – even in a loosely-held federation – history could be rewritten as we have learned its lessons. For one, the real power in Pakistan is in the hands of the generals, and presidents and prime ministers are only part of the puppet show. The creation and maintenance of tension between the two countries is the solid rock upon which the bureaucracy of the Pakistani army rests; and this tension is salubrious to the generals’ health. The mullahs and terror gurus are an integral part of the apparatchik of the generals. Across the border, we have our own Taliban of a non-Islamic brand.
Sania-Shoaib honeymoon, if it promotes the unity of hearts across the border, is a symbolic victory of cross-border love, a love of fellow human beings which is the goal of all religions.
No comments:
Post a Comment