by B. R. GOWANI
BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha at the Pakistan wedding of Osman-ul-Haq, the grandson of General Zia-ul-Haq, and Misha Sadiq. Zia’s daughter Zain Zia, standing next to Sinha, regards him as her elder brother. PHOTO/Daily Mail
“Shatrughan Sinha refuses to hate Pakistan”
In early January, in the cross-border raids on the Pakistan/India border, both countries lost a few soldiers. These kind of incidents have happened in the past too. This time, however, the Indian media, in its rating race, created such an uproar over the killings that it was obvious that it didn’t give a damn about any objectivity and can derail the peace process, progressing at a snail’s pace, between the two neighbors.
The above title is from the Times of India reporter Subhash K. Jha‘s interview of Indian actor and politician Shatrughan Sinha. The title is followed by the following paragraph:
“‘Let’s talk peace,’ says Shatrughan Sinha who refuses to hate Pakistan”
In the first week of January, Sinha had visited Pakistan to attend late Zia-ul-Haq’s grandson’s wedding. Military dictator Zia’s family and Sinha has been friends since the 1980s. In the interview, Jha is implying that Sinha shouldn’t have attended the wedding, when he puts his question in these words:
“You’ve just returned from attending a wedding in Islamabad? Rather politically incorrect, considering two of our jawaans were shot and mutilated by elements across the border, no?”
In the interview, it is clear that Sinha acknowledges the uneasy relationship between India and Pakistan and is “grieved and shocked” by the killing. He also clarified that he went to Pakistan as a private citizen and not as a politician. There would have been nothing wrong even if he had visited as a politician. Meetings and dialogues are mostly good to reduce tension and to promote relations.
What is wrong is Jha’s hawkish reasoning that the killing of two Indian soldiers by a few Pakistani soldiers should be retaliated by hating over 180 million Pakistanis. After all, what is Pakistan? Its people.
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com