Neither side of the Line of Control

It was the first time I was out of India on Independence Day. However it strangely never felt out of place. The only difference was that it was a working day and there were no visible glimpses of the tricolour anywhere. Everything else was the same – people wishing each other, watching the parade on TV and a few commemoratory programmes here and there. A day that re inforces that no matter where we are; we remain at heart proud of our national identities.

NDTV – the news channel that I have an emotional attachment to since I have grown up watching it, had organized what they called – the 'first ever India Pak debate on National television'. Now I had been seeing these adverts on the news channel and had made a mental note not to miss the programme. Little did I realize that I would end up watching the programme live. So when a friend had some invites to participate in the show as an audience I was thrilled. I did enjoy my 2 seconds of fame I must say.

So we left work early to attend the debate. It was at Dubai Media City – an area earmarked for television studios and media companies. The programme was a joint venture between NDTV of India and GEO TV of Pakistan. Though we live in the most modern city of the Middle East – Dubai, the scene was very much like home. And I did come to realize that we – Indians and Pakistanis are so similar in our way of thinking and operating. No wonder the expats here refer to us as ‘people from the sub-continent’. The young and yuppie say ‘sub-conners’

Here are some reasons that me feel so strongly at home.
For starters they give us a wrong map. That made us go round and round in circles a few times, make a few frantic phone calls and then land at ‘Infinity’ studio fashionably late. So heaving and huffing and braving the ferocious afternoon sun we entered the studio violently wiping our sweaty brows. And to our pleasant surprise the show had not started yet. Nor were there any signs of starting in the next few minutes. And then they seated us in the audience after making us embark and disembark the benches a few times. So after some much needed exercise we finally took charge of our seated positions. Then the panelists arrived suitably late as usual to assert their importance. The anchors were desperately trying to put things in place. It was like thriving in chaos.

Then it finally took off. The panel was distinguished. Pakistan and India were equally represented. 2 anchors from each side – Dr. Shahid Masoud of GEO TV Barkha Dutt of NDTV. 2 politicians from each side – Sheikh Rasheed, the railway minister of Pakistan and Dr. Farookh Abdullah, the ex chief minister of Kashmir. 2 ex Army generals from each side – Gen. Mirza Aslam Baig and Gen. Shankar Roy Choudhary. 2 journalists from each side – Mushahid Hussain and MJ Akbar of Statesman. Shabani Azmi also did appear through video conferencing from Delhi. The debate was called – Freedom at Midnight – The first ever Indo-Pak debate on National Television. They made it so dramatic it was almost like an event in history being created.

The debate began in a very casual manner sans all the stagy interjections and heralding musical jingles. They went on talking about Kashmir this and Kashmir that, often pointing fingers at each other. And do we all not realize that some 6 people trying to discuss an issue not resolved for 60 years can only be a publicity stunt? It was interesting to watch nevertheless.

Some of the defining moments that were not aired were – Barkha Dutt calling Sheikh Rasheed – the Laloo Prasad of Pakistan not once but thrice; a woman in the audience making a vehement statement that Jinnah made a ‘stupid’ move and Sheikh Rasheed being accused of harbouring a militant training camp which he outrightly denied.

Then I asked them a question that was conveniently swept under the carpet. As a young Indian I have seen the Kashmir issue ever since I was born. It is like flogging a dead horse. Can’t we ever see beyond Kashmir? What about Trade and Commerce between the 2 countries? Imagine the synergies we can bring, the amount of jobs we can create and the poverty we can eliminate.

Here in the Middle East money talks the loudest. Sometimes that’s not a bad thing. Money or profits is not a dirty word here. People from various cultures often work hand in hand. There is no deadlock when we meet people from any country. There is something at least remotely common to talk about or break the ice.

The Mc Donald Arch theory says that no 2 countries with the McDonald’s arch can go to war because they advocate free trade; if the 2 countries were to build trade and commerce to such an extent that they were dependable on each other peace would prevail. If we were to make both sides so highly reliable on bilateral trade we would see eye to eye. We would then have a burning desire for peace. A desire to bring about a lasting solution.

There must be someone profiting from keep the issue alive. Someone is making hay. That someone is the politician who garners his vote bank by keeping people divided; by keeping 2 armies suffer the severities of Siachen glacier for an avoidable reason; by inflicting terrorism on innocent people who don’t deserve the agony; squashing millions of dreams and livelihoods and destroying nature’s sublime beauty with bare hands.

A few days later I also attended a concert where the star of the show was Atif Aslam, an upcoming Pakistani singer who is also making waves in Bollywood. Being an ardent admirer of his music and voice this was one event I simply could not miss. The crowd was of course Indians and Pakistanis or people from the ‘Sub- Con’. And when it comes to coming together to have some fun nobody seems to care two hoots about which side of the border you belong,religious or political background or something as trifling as that. In my workplace we are 70 people from 29 different nationalities. The aim is to work together for the benefit of everyone. Its time we think beyond these mundane barriers and look at the bigger picture. That bigger picture is humanity itself.

Javed Akhtar has put it very aptly -

Panchi nadiya pavan ke jhonke
Koi sarhad na unhe roke
Sarhad insaano ke liye hain
Socho tumne aur maine
Kya paaya insaan hoke ?

(Birds, rivers and the wind
No border stops them
Borders are only meant for human beings
What have we gained being human beings then?)