This letter is only for the rational, thinking Indian. Everyone else please don’t waste your time.
I’ve been told to refrain from writing my thoughts as there could be “repercussions” but I believe I still live in a democracy where my right to speech has not been curtailed. And what kind of repercussions? Is an Indian going to harm another Indian? I don’t believe that we have fallen that low. Hence this post.
As a retaliation to the Pakistani statement at the UN the Indian contingent came up with a supposedly “bright” idea of in the language of the media, “choking Pakistan,” by cutting off their water supply. The rationalisation? It’s the best way to get them to eliminate terrorism. Before the sheer silliness of the strategy could completely sink in 24 hours later came the other bomb, this time from a political party telling the Pakistani actors to go back to their motherland and Pakistani sportsmen too and that too within 48 hours.Now hold that thought.
Let me tell you another reality. I’m a born Indian. I absolutely love and adore my country. Today, my photographs are being displayed at an Exhibition in Karachi, Pakistan. The proof is attached so you don’t have to go too far. Technically after the announcement of cutting their water supply the Pakistani group should have immediately kept my work and the other Indian gentleman’s work on the side and just gone displaying the talent of other people from across the globe. But the warmth and love that they sent sitting across the border is unparalleled. Again proof attached! A lady who wasn’t even on my friends list ensured I saw my pictures displayed, another friend took photographs of my works just to surprise me. My inspiration for photography is a Pakistani woman. Now after all this do you (and I ask this with the understanding that you are reading this with an analytical mind) still feel that all the people of Pakistan are bad?
Talent has no borders. Talent has no country loyalty. Talent is talent everywhere in the world. A party that hasn’t been able to place it’s foothold on a single seat in the Lok Sabha is now calling the shots instead of the Central Government? Since when has talent become the sacrifice to failing diplomatic relations? Are we as Indians here to employ what the British once did when they said, “Dogs and Indians not allowed?” You may send Fawad Mahira and Ali Zafar back home physically, but what about the fact that they rule the hearts of millions of men and women in India? Can you guarantee their departure will create some kind of remorse in the minds of the Indians. Unfortunately No. You can’t. That’s how you and I need to realise that Artists and Creativity must never ever be mixed with politics and diplomacy. We need to think and work a rational more than an over-emotional framework.
We must at every opportunity make known that as Indians we do not just talk peace we practice those Gandhian values of non violence that we have been teaching generations for years now. Soft power has till now been the single most important connect between the two countries. Indulging in these kind of rivalries is not just killing creativity it is ensuring that we are allowing the wounds to stay open and fester thereby leading to the death of Humanity.And as for choking water supplies, I find it inhuman and un-Indian and hence, stand against that thought. There are ways and means of getting things done. We need to consciously work towards permanent solutions rather than temporary fixes which could lead to a deluge.