Peace activists in Pakistan and India are
attempting desperately to be heard above the din raised by warmongers -
elitist by all counts and claiming to be patriotic as well - in the
wake of the Mumbai carnage. Jingoism is in the air - be it from
so-called nationalists (posing as analysts on television) advocating a
nuclear attack for the defense of their country, or the man on the
street. Be they from Pakistan or India, they speak of war with great
abandon as if it is child's play. For the electronic media it is a race
for sensationalism.
We've forfeited the rights to our own tragedies. As the carnage in
Mumbai raged on, day after horrible day, our 24-hour news channels
informed us that we were watching "India's 9/11." And like actors in a
Bollywood rip-off of an old Hollywood film, we're expected to play our
parts and say our lines, even though we know it's all been said and
done before.
As tension in the region builds, U.S.
A few
months ago, trucks loaded with goods crossed a border. All over the
world, this kind of thing happens every day, but not here. October
marked the first time in 60 years that Indian trucks loaded with apples
and walnuts traveled to Pakistan. The trucks returned carrying a
shipment of Pakistani rice and raisins.
Around the same time, India and Pakistan increased the number of
goods the two nations could trade from just 13 to nearly 2,000. They
opened new freight train lines and refurbished custom houses in
anticipation of vigorous cross border trade.
Every brutal massacre of defenceless innocents must draw from us a kindred horror, whether it is Hiroshima 1945, Deir Yassin 1948, Sharpeville 1960, Halabja 1988, New York 2001, Gujarat 2002, or Haditha 2005. But each also bears the imprints of its place and time and we must commemorate them accordingly.
Right now,
while the horror of the attacks in Mumbai is reverberating around the world and
tensions between India and Pakistan are mounting,
there is a crucial move that President-elect Obama could make to chart a
positive course forward. Obama should renounce the "war on terror."
This Joint Statement was released to the press simultaneously in Pakistan and India on November 30 2008.
We are deeply shocked and horrified at the bloody
mayhem in Mumbai, which has claimed more than a hundred and ninty lives
and caused grievous injuries to several hundred people, besides sending
a wave of panic and terror across South Asia and beyond. We convey our
profound feelings of sorrow and sympathies to the grieving families of
the unfortunate victims of this heinous crime and express our
solidarity with them.
I first came to know of the Mumbai terrorist attacks on Wednesday
afternoon through an e-mail from the folks at the South Asian
Journalists Association. Initial reports that some people had been
injured quickly turned into at least eighty dead (the current tally is
close to 200). My first worry was about my brother and his family, who
live in Mumbai. A call that night confirmed that they were fine and
safely at home when the terrorist onslaught started.
Condoleezza Rice is off to India this week, to "stand in solidarity with the Indian people " in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.
The Bush administration says it shares the horror and pain of the Indian people. In fact, it shares a good deal more than that.
The New York Times Editorial Page, today, on poor U.S./Latin American relations:
[T]he Bush administration did enormous damage to American credibility throughout much of the region when it blessed what turned out to be a failed coup against Mr. Chávez.
Indeed it did. But what the Times fails to mention, and is apparently eager to erase, is that "the Bush administration" was far from alone in blessing that coup attempt:
Indian commandos freed hostages from Mumbai's Taj Mahal hotel today
but faced continued resistance in other parts of the city from Islamist
militants still holding between 50 and 200 of hostages and demanding
the release of extremists held in Indian jails.
The commandos
stormed two buildings in the late afternoon, seizing the lobby of the
Oberoi hotel and taking positions around a tower block where a number
of militants were believed to be holed up. Indian television reported
that some hostages were freed from the Oberoi.
