On the 61st anniversary of the formation of the Indian republic, my mind started wandering at the events of the last 20 years. Historically Indians have always felt undone and let down by the vagaries of history. From the glory of the Gupta period around 500 AD, our hopes were dashed against the rocks of history accelerated by the fall of the Prithiviraj Chauhan in 1192 at Terain. Since then India has been searching for its lost glory like a hungry, half dead man trapped in a cave of history with nothing but a candle for light. The slaves came and were replaced by the Mughals but India was still searching for its lost glory. There were brief flashes like Light from a passing train, The Maratha's and Tipu but alas it did not last long and finally India passed into the hands of the British. Thanks to India, the British even today don't have to work hard but still are one of the richest in the world. In 1947 the British left but only after dividing India into India and Pakistan(Both West and East: Eventually to be Bangladesh 1971).
Many historians still condemn this action, but today I feel this was the best thing that could have happened to us. Since the times of Alexander The great in the 4th century BC, the 500 Mile mountain ranges that are an extension of the Karakoram have been the bane of India. These mountains running between present day Afghanistan and Pakistan are called the 'Hindukush'- The Slayer of Hindus. This according to Ibn Batuta's accounts is so because of the death of the Hindu Slaves that used to die while being transported across these ranges. The salve trade was very popular here and these were slaves captured by the various raiders that came knocking to India through the Hindukush, just like a Sarkari babu goes on vacation to avail his LTA.
Since 700 AD, there have been three waves of Invasions into India. There was the Arab wave in the 800 AD, followed by the Turkish wave in 1000 AD, the fall of Prithvi Raj Chauhan was during this wave and finally the Mughals in 1526. In many ways the Chinese were responsible in a way for the Arab passage into India. The Chinese T'ang empire fought a famous battle with the Arabs on the banks of the river Tapas in 751 AD. The Chinese lost the battle and hence were prevented from extending their empire into West Asia. This in turn paved the way for the Arab invasion of India. (Chris Butler: The Flow of history http://www.flowofhistory.com)
Post 1947 now not only is it difficult to get through that region, but due to the US intervention in Afghanistan it is virtually impossible. The current situation is nothing to write home about. I am not even sure if there is any difference between the Taliban and current regime, I mean minus the beard they would all look the same to me. The same is the case with Pakistan. Not sure if they are the bad guys or guys stupid enough to get caught in the cross fire between the Taliban and the US. Looking at their performance so far, I would give much more credit to the so called terrorist organizations that they seem to have promoted. They probably achieved what they had to in India thanks to other factors like grace of god and old fashioned luck. Now with India in the position that it is, I feel the British did us a giant favor by creating the buffer I.E Pakistan between us and the Hindukush. So now the ultimate game in Indian Polity would be to continue the status quo.
The sixty years of republic have been spent with a rival Pakistan, whose only interests lay in the destruction of India. In between they found time to win a world cup in cricket and create a few pop stars. Apart from these the state in Pakistan has achieved little. Peace with Pakistan makes little sense anymore. I saw the media release of a concert for peace called 'Aman'. It is supposed to be a peace music concert. Well we have had many such concerts in the past but they are of little use.
In my opinion, let sleeping dogs lie. We have been working with Bangladesh on many levels including providing scholarship to Bangladeshi students for studying in India and helping them set up certain industries there. But our relations with Pakistan have always been bad and this time having a bad relationship suits us.
Instead it is time to move on and to concentrate on these
* Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
* Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
* Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
* Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
* Goal 5: Improve maternal health
* Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
* Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
* Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development
(http://www.undp.org)
These are the Millennium development goals as given by the United Nations and the deadline to achieve them is 2015. Trust me Peace with Pakistan is definitely does not make the list.
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