Comments on: Watans, Wickets and Walis

By: Anand

Anand — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

To those who read this blog and love cricket, i apologize on behalf of the police and the public of delhi, for yet again showing that we are a city of really bad losers.
sorry. sorry. sorry.

meanwhile, i kept far way from the match yesterday - listening to sporadic commentary on the radio, through the sounds of the qawwali at the dargah of shaikh salim chishti, in fatehpur sikri. rather in the spirit of this posting.

a post in firoz shah kotla soon to be up.

By: Teeth Maestro

Teeth Maestro — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I fully agree with your sentiments on Musharraf this dictator needs to quickly find a respectable exit before some mysterious hand takes it from him. spelt a blow for himself by inviting Zardari back into town

By: Jay

Jay — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Sufi-Dargah and Gurdwara interactions are great, but when the Hindu heritage of Pakistan is promoted, and Hindus, especially displaced Sindhi Hindus, are positively encouraged to visit their sacred places in Pakistan, then we will see some movement. It is remarkable that Hindus are not encouraged and cared for to visit Pakistan in the same way that Sikhs are encouraged to vivit their holy sites in Pakistan. i think the very thought of the Pakistani government encouraging Hindu pilgramage is too much a leap of faith, too raw to the nerves of the Islamic Republic, with its Ghaznavi-Qasim state ideology and ingrained hatred for Hinduism.

By: Jay

Jay — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I agree with most of what you wrote, but was puzzled by this:

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(Do not want to get into the blame game of Kargil, but in the final analysis two were tangoing, as it were.)

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It takes two to tango, but Pakistan was the lead dancer in this instance.

Neverthless, there was never any serious opposition to Musharaff visiting India. India wants to make peace with Pakistan so it can put her to one side and plan for the future, growing its economy, prospering, growing its infrastructure and taking its place in the comity of nations, competing with China, instead of squabbling with its neighbour. The sooner that is done, the better. India has bigger fish to fry.

By: dacoit

dacoit — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Jay: The differential treatment by the Pakistani state of Sikhs and Hindus on the matter of pilgrimage is as you say directly attributable to the dominance of religious nationalism in state ideology. The symbolism of preventing Hindu infiltration on the west side of the border (or LOC), however, is matched by an equally virulent scenario on the east side in which even lifelong citizens of India have to live under the cloud of ISI suspicion. I am not trying to assign blame here, since I think both sides are eminently culpable for maintaining a mutual animosity. If a martial Sikh nationalist politics had so much influence in crafting state ideology in India as Hindutva does, it follows to reason that the tables would be turned.

As for the deadly tango, Pak did lead but the military establishments in both countries took every opportunity to fire round after round at the feet of those actually dancing (soldiers, Kashmiri non-combatant populations, taxpayers) and use the conflict for their own nefarious purposes. There might not have been much state-level opposition in India to this visit, since incoming Congress and outgoing BJP seem to be on the same page (if not the same line) when it comes to trickle-down liberalization, but I was reacting against the justifications cited on several desi blogs for lobbying against the invitation being doled out.