Want Peace? Talk To Your Enemy!
By Asad Wahab
09 January, 2013
Countercurrents.org
“ If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies ”.
I came across two pieces of news lately, first was on 7 th January where it said Indian Army Crossed LOC and attacked a Pakistani Check post and killed one soldier and in retaliatory fire they left a gun and a dagger and went back. And a day after that, there was a news that Pakistan Army crossed LOC and attacked Indian patrolling party, and killed two soldiers. It in turns enraged the common citizens and whose anger can be vividly seen on social media from both sides of the border.
It may look like a simple incident to our social media generation, an incident on which they feel that they should show their hatred for the other side and exchange some abuses. But unfortunately they do not know that back in the history, just a few decades ago, same small skirmishes on LOC turned into a 1965 war, luckily there were no nuclear weapons then, but today the situation is different. If these small drops of hatred keep piling up it may one day end up in a kind of situation, the immensity of whose destruction would be unfathomable!
The reason why I am writing is because I want people from both sides to realize that it's time to find solutions. I am not asking to compromise on anything or sit back and join friendship group and bury your hatred for the time being, I want to spill it out once and for all and empty our minds of these hatred then try to work for a ‘Solution' rather ignoring issues and leaving it for our generations to come. It won't be any easy but believe me it would be worth every moment spent on it.
The situation at the moment has ended up in a whole mess, both sides rejects reports from each other and I think it needs think tanks type of bodies or groups of individuals from both sides to sit and aggressively discuss the issues and bring out all the “ Possible Solutions ” of the issues, and then let the governments decide if there is any solution on which both governments can agree. If not there can be more brainstorming and more solutions, and thus at least we could be on out path to solutions.
What happen today is that govt. officials sit together, have tea, enjoy tours, get TA/DA funds and then go back to their respective offices after giving same old statements. The head of the governments hardly have any stakes involved in our respective countries. Manmohan Singh doesn't give a damn, he could go to any country of his choice and enjoy the rest of his life leaving India in same mess, same is the case with President Zardari here. The bitter tuth is that, it's me and you, our brothers and sisters that would die in these attacks and skirmishes.
Today as the young generation, we can't even pressurize the governments properly, they have an easy excuse that they tried their best but “ koi solution nai nikla ” (Couldn't find a solution). So may be, if someone can come up with solutions of the issues and tell the government's k “ yeh lo possible solutions ”(take these possible solutions), and choose whichever you want but end this xyz (water, sir creek, mutual information sharing, media blame game etc) issue at least. And once we are able to do it publically, then would come the test of the honesty of governments on both sides, then only we would be able to know how sincere they actually are, to implement certain solution. We can further categorically discuss how to reach a solution within us, but before that at least we should know if there is anyone interested among common people to reach a solution?( Not to be mixed with joining some peace and harmony building group!, it literally means a solution finding group working like a think tank )
And with all that, since India and Pakistan both have nurtured two very big armies, and they always need a reason for their existence, so it's in their mutual benefit that they keep fighting, so that there may be an excuse for their existence. Otherwise, it would be lame to feed the two giants with so much of budgets while poor's have no clothes to wear and no food to eat and no shelter to live under!
It's a bitter situation, but someone will have to work and think, and use their minds to find solutions. Without solutions we won't be able to move, not even an inch! And solutions can be found, only when two groups(who cares about their people and has stakes involved in respective country) can sit together on one table with preset parameters and strictly one agenda of “figuring out all possible solutions to any given issue”. It would take a lot of time to come up with some solutions, but believe me it would be worth every moment spent on.
Unfortunately no one from both sides has considered promoting a pure cause of "FINDING SOLUTIONS"! It does not need any money to invest in; all it needs is time and intention to do so. Someone will have to stand up and tell the governments and military-industrial complex to stop betting on human lives, for it's us who suffers. We need to do it for the sake of ourselves and the generations to come. It's a now or never, we must keep in mind that despite all peace efforts, one single bullet from either sides can triggers the very same hatred from both sides and end up in another ugly war. And we need to give them “Solutions” to snatch their “Reason” for firing that one bullet.
Asad Wahab, is an occasional writer,an engineer by education, an art lover by passion, a thinker by aptitude and a Pakistani by nationality. He has an interest in Global Conflict Studies and International Politics.
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