PENSIEVE:A letter to Mrs Sonia Gandhi —Farrukh Khan Pitafi

Pakistan has so many issues of its own that a majority of the country cannot afford the luxury of hating its neighbours. In their heart of hearts, even our critics of India also know that, one day, peace has to be built between the two countries

Respected Sonia ji,

I hope this letter finds you well. I write to express my frustration at the failure of the peace process between our two great nations. Recently, when the Indian Minister for External Affairs, S M Krishna, visited Pakistan, like many others I was hoping that finally courage would be shown to bring the peace process back on track but, alas, it could not be. On the contrary, hawks on both sides of the border now appear to be winning.

Madam, I am not an India hater. As a citizen of Pakistan, I have always madly loved my country and, at the same time, I have never failed to admire India’s democratic accomplishments. My childhood and youth have been spent under the perpetual threat of open war between the two countries. Indeed, when our nations were not at war with each other, our mutual Cold War was so intense that it would have shamed the one between the USSR and the US. While war always brings with it destruction, a cold war too has its own demons like impoverishment and the squandering of valuable public money. Now that I am a father, I want my children to breathe in an environment of true peace and harmony. Is that asking for too much?

I know you are not the prime minister or president of India, even though you would have proven to be the best by far. Yet you have tremendous influence over your own party’s government and, as a national leader, your people look up to you for inspiration. You most certainly can play a very crucial role in building bridges between the two countries.

I know it is not easy to forget the Mumbai carnage but believe me, my country faces such acts of butchery every other day. I am sure the terrorists would not have been so eager to slaughter us if our state apparatus was not in pursuit of them. To expect from a country, which is in an existential war against the forces of darkness, that it can prevent every benighted assault on its neighbours or friends is asking for too much. However, the silver lining is that if we succeed in this monumental struggle against extremism, our neighbours will be free of any such threat. This is exactly where we need you.

The enemies of civilisation that are attacking my nation like locusts draw their power from an environment of mistrust and hate. The grand narrative that has, unfortunately, evolved throughout our history, blames India for most of our woes. We want to change this narrative but, in this current state of affairs, it is not an easy thing to do. I am afraid that if the hawks are allowed to prevail, matters may worsen further.

In my country, democracy is already under duress. And, unfortunately, the impression we are getting in Pakistan is that India does not want to engage with a democratic government here through dialogue. If this impression is allowed to strengthen it will be most tragic. I can understand if New Delhi resists international pressure but to actively ignore the wishes of its own people is hardly good politics. You will remember, ma’am, that just before the last elections, Manmohan ji had expressed a desire to build lasting peace with Islamabad and also revealed that, during Pervez Musharraf’s time, the Kashmir issue had almost been resolved. It is my impression that this desire was so radically different from the BJP’s stated stance that people voted again for your party, even in a time of recession.

Many claim that real peace was only possible in the Musharraf-BJP era when the hawks were in sway on both sides. However, what is not often mentioned is that, while the rulers of that time would have encountered less opposition in building peace, by nature they were less germane to any such efforts. Frankly, expecting that from the two sides that brought India and Pakistan so close to a nuclear war over Kargil is not quite realistic. In truth, if there ever was an opportune time for peace, this is it. Let us not spoil this golden chance.

It is true that neither the US nor any other power can actually force India to resume the peace process. And even if someone could pressure India, would the outcome ever be worth calling genuine peace? I think not. And the Indian government, I understand, is under severe pressure from the hardliners not to resume the dialogue process. I know it is not easy to move beyond the Mumbai attacks but here are my two cents worth on the matter. The Pakistani government would have been in a far better position to either stop the attacks or then to go after the terrorists responsible for the ghastly acts had the composite dialogue mechanism still been in place and delivering. Candidly speaking, Pakistan has so many issues of its own that a majority of the country cannot afford the luxury of hating its neighbours. In their heart of hearts, even our critics of India also know that, one day, peace has to be built between the two countries.

It is often argued that India is the main reason why Pakistan has not been able to evolve into a stable democracy. The argument goes like this: Indian refusal to accept the reality of Pakistan’s creation was the first existential threat to the nascent state. And since this threat was only too powerful, this country had to build a considerably bigger security infrastructure. And, given the relative weight of the new defence establishment, it was only a matter of time before the military dictators seized control. I do not know what to make of this theory but I have never been able to satisfactorily refute it. It is time that people like me, who believe in real peace, find more convincing arguments against the cynics.

Respected ma’am, the absence of a stable democracy in Pakistan is the reason why extremists were allowed to grow in Pakistan. Today, there is a democratic government in Islamabad. If the democratic process continues, I am sure the country will grow in pluralism and extremists will find no place to hide. However, there is need to stress one point here. India too has its own brand of hardliners. You will also have to give no audience to them. India and Pakistan have tried to destroy each other but the two countries still exist. Let us come to terms with this reality and build peace.

Best regards,

A patriotic and peace-loving Pakistani

The writer is an independent columnist and a talk show host. He can be reached at farukh@gmail.com