Prior to coming to Pakistan, my parents lived in a peaceful part of India where there were no religious tensions. However, after listening to the Quaid-e-Azam's speech in the city, all Muslims in my father's government office opted for and set out for Pakistan. While on the way, we saw massacres on both sides of the border. People seemed to have turned into the wildest of animals.
However, a few years after the partition when, during India-Pakistan cricket matches, restrictions at the Wagah border near Lahore were eased, Hindus and Sikhs from nearby Indian towns came to Lahore in large numbers to watch the matches, and were given a wonderful welcome at the camps especially set up for the purpose. The bitterness, even massacres of only a few years back, were forgotten. One wishes and prays for the revival of that atmosphere in the sub-continent and beyond With mutual effort, it could happen.
The situation was bad enough as it is but the re-election of Narindra Modi has made things worse. The best that can be expected at present is a reasonable working relationship between the two countries, provided both are prepared to make fundamental changes in their attitude towards each other. I bet that won’t be easy. However, it would be disastrous to leave things as they are because both countries are nuclear-armed and there is the risk that the nearly daily skirmishes may, in an unguarded moment, spiral out of control and lead to a full-blown war, escalating further into a nuclear conflict. Such a catastrophe could devastate not only both the countries but the entire region and there would be little prospect of recovery anytime soon. In the interest of regional peace and more so in the interest of India and Pakistan, peace initiatives must be made instead of beating war drums.
It is possible to develop a reasonable working relationship with Modi now when he stands trapped through his own drastic measures and could be looking for a way out. Basically, Modi had followed the Israeli model in Kashmir, hoping he will get just as much western backing as Israel did, which is wishful thinking on his part. Still, because of its massive population, India provides a big market for Western products and also serves as an ally against China which is considered a threat to Western civilization. It is because of this that the Western world has not taken any meaningful measures against India despite its illegal and inhuman acts in occupied Kashmir and elsewhere in India.
Pakistan has done all it could do on the diplomatic front to attract world attention to the atrocities committed by the Indian army which has unleashed a reign of terror on the eight million Muslims in occupied Kashmir. However, apart from lip-service, neither the United Nations nor the powerful Western countries, have done anything meaningful to bring relief to the Kashmiris. After all, if the US and its Western allies had any sympathy for the Muslims, they would not have devastated Iraq, Syria and Libya. To add to the tragedy, even some Muslim states which had previously supported the Kashmir cause are now non-committal because of their close business relations with India.
The biggest hurdle to decent relations between India and Pakistan has always been the Kashmir issue. On the one hand, millions of Muslims are being persecuted there and, on the other, the rivers flowing into Pakistan originate there. The two countries have fought a few wars over the Kashmir issue. However, now that these countries are nuclear-armed, another war between would only lead to massive self-destruction and become an obstacle in the rest of the world attaining many of its growth goals.
However, with India unwilling to loosen its grip on Kashmir, the United Nations and powerful world leaders do not seem to be ready to pressurize the Indians to behave. The only possible solution, no matter how repugnant, would then be for Pakistan to accept the line of control as the actual border, subject to significant relief for Muslims in IOK and satisfactory solution of the water issue. It makes no sense to continue crying for the moon and depriving the Muslims of India of relief. Pakistan also needs to make a policy-level decision regarding the possibility of extreme water scarcity and flooding of its lands due to India's water advantage. If a neighbour cannot be changed, at least some way can be found to co-exist with it.
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