Aijaz Zaka Syed
I HAVE always had a thing for Pakistani soaps. I love them for their superb storytelling and performances and their exquisite Urdu. And not just me, the whole of India instantly fell in love with them when Zindagi TV started airing them some three years ago. Soaps like Hamsafar and Zindagi Gulzar Hai became a national obsession with audiences across India compulsively following leading stars Fawad Khan, Mahira Khan and Sanam Saeed. The stars even landed themselves big Bollywood projects.
What makes this a true phenomenon is the fact that India and Pakistan have been at loggerheads for the better part of 70 years when they parted ways. They have fought three wars over the Himalayan paradise of Kashmir, not to mention frequent fireworks along the long border.
To be fair to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, contrary to all apprehensions, he started his engagement with Pakistan on a positive note. Inviting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other SAARC leaders to his inauguration was arguably a diplomatic masterstroke. However, it wasn’t long before he started hardening his posture on the neighbor, in sync with the traditional policy of the BJP.
After a brief honeymoon period, punctuated by fantastic photo ops in Delhi and Lahore, things between the neighbors have unraveled quickly.
Following the attacks on Indian military bases in Pathankot, Punjab and Uri in Kashmir, blamed on Pakistan-based militants, Modi launched an all-out, full-frontal attack on Pakistan. One obvious victim of the rising tensions between the subcontinental twins has been the people-to-people equation and cultural exchange. Zindagi has scrapped all Pakistani dramas and now runs only desi soaps just like any other network.
On a larger scale, Bollywood has decided to ban all Pakistani artists including the immensely popular Fawad and Mahira Khan. Hindutva groups have threatened to burn down cinemas for screening films featuring Pakistani artists.
Karan Johar’s much awaited blockbuster Aye Dil Hai Mushkil starring superstar Ranbir Kapoor and, yes, Fawad Khan, ran into rough weather with Hindutva groups issuing threats against the film and filmmaker. Uncertainty prevailed over the film’s release for weeks until Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis “mediated” between the filmmaker and groups like Shiv Sena and its cousin MNS.
As a “compromise” Johar was persuaded to “donate” Rs 50 million to the Indian Army relief fund, a proposition that many did not like condemning it as ‘politicization’ of the army. And yes, Johar also suitably changed the narrative of Aye Dil…, which was meant to have been an India-Pakistan love story.
The filmmaker decided to replace Lahore with Lucknow the last minute. The elaborate Punjabi wedding celebrations amid the regulation song and dance rituals looked absurd in a Lucknow setting, the city known for its high culture and cuisine. No one seemed to notice or care though.
Besides, considering the high political stakes involved in the fast deteriorating India-Pakistan ties, it was a minor issue. India has blamed Pakistan-based militant groups for the audacious attack on the Uri military base in Kashmir in September, which killed 19 soldiers. Vowing to avenge the killings, the government came out all guns blazing, unleashing a blistering offensive against Pakistan on several fronts.
Within days of Uri, India claimed to have carried out “surgical strikes” inside the Pakistani side of Kashmir, inflicting “significant losses” on the enemy. In a controversial speech, Modi drew parallels with Israeli strikes against Palestinians. He has repeatedly vowed to “isolate” Pakistan internationally, projecting it as the “source” of all evil and “mothership of terror.” Indian media loudly cheered the ‘strikes’ calling them a masterstroke, defying the notion of nuclear deterrence.
The fact that Pakistan vehemently contested the claim insisting that what transpired was little more than a routine exchange of fire across the Line of Control seemed to make little difference.
It did seem to target two birds with one stone — diverting the media spotlight from the unrest in Kashmir and inflating the image of Modi and his party, helping it land the prize catch of Uttar Pradesh where elections are due next month.
But if Modi thought the new aggressive posturing would put an end to militant attacks and all the troubles along the border, he seems to have failed in his objective. Over the past few weeks there has been a spurt in clashes and exchange of fire along the border. Also, there have been more Uri-like attacks by Kashmiri militants.
Since the much trumpeted strikes, more Indian soldiers have been killed in Pakistani firing. There have been casualties on Pakistani side as well, not to mention the incalculable price the civilian population along the border on both sides has paid.
What is most disturbing about this whole business is the increasing danger of this conflict and frequent fireworks along the LoC eventually leading to a bigger confrontation. Governments, military establishments and political elites on both sides have a cavalier attitude toward a nuclear conflict.
Pundits and television warriors openly talk of a nuclear showdown and the so-called first and second nuclear strikes, as if they were discussing Diwali fireworks and as if anyone could really win a nuclear war. Where is it all going to end? What would it take for India and Pakistan to sit across the table and resolve all their issues like responsible adults?
Instead of addressing the concerns and grievances of the Kashmiris and bringing down tensions along the border, the neighbors have been spending billions of dollars in efforts to destroy each other.
US President Bill Clinton once called South Asia “the most dangerous place on earth”. Today, it looks even more dangerous and volatile, if possible. Away from the attention of the global media and the world community, the neighbors are hurtling towards the precipice.
With India, Pakistan and China, which all share common borders and have a long history of conflicts over territory and have gone to devastating wars, all boasting hundreds of nuclear weapons, the region has evolved into a dangerous theater of war. Amid rising tempers all around and unscrupulous politicians forever looking for shortest route to glory, a nuclear exchange — by accident or by design — not only looks like a possibility, it may only be a matter of time.
— Aijaz Zaka Syed is an award-winning journalist. Email: aijaz.syed@hotmail.com
