As always - my views are my own. My specific answer to IG's question "Wouldn't ANY Indian author asked to write on Pakistan at 60 tend to compare Pakistan with his own country? Note the operative word "any" in the question.
I believe that if I am asked to write about Pakistan, i would write about Pakistan and compare it with whatever was relevant, if comparison was necessary at all. That comparison would not automatically mean a comparison with India. I believe that Pakistan should be given what the founders of Pakistan wanted and what many Pakistanis want i.e the freedom to be "Not Indian" They have spent a lot of time and effort in trying move way from being whatever they defined as being Indian, and I believe this continuous clubbing and comparison with India either causes needless insecurity, or a false sense of security for Pakistanis depending on what parameter is being compared. The first thing to do with Pakistan (IMVHO) is to start believing that six decades (or even five) is a long enough period to create millions of people educated and indoctrinated to believe that they belong to a separate, unique identity distinct from India. A huge majority of Pakistanis are under 50 years of age, and more than 50% being under 34 years. Zia ul Haq started forced Islamization of education after 1973, and Pakistanis have been given a version of history and a worldview that Indians have not been taught. An Indian writing about Sri Lanka or Nepal does not necessarily dwell at length with comparisons. Why should that be done with Pakistan? However - most Indians do not know much about Pakistan, and tend to look back at 1947 and extrapolate merely because they were in one unit 60 years ago. The need to dwell so much on India-Pakistan comparisons probably stems from this. shiv On Thursday 23 Aug 2007 3:53 pm, ashok _ wrote: > On 8/23/07, shiv sastry wrote: > > On Thursday 23 Aug 2007 6:21 am, Indrajit Gupta wrote: > > > Wouldn't any Indian author asked to write on Pakistan at 60 tend to > > > > compare > > > > > Pakistan with his own country? > > > > No IG. Not necessarily. At least, I don't think so. > > > > shiv > > I think it would be quite impossible not to make a comparison, since the > very creation of pakistan is tied to the partition, so there was a tangible > before (part of a bigger entity), and an after (as an independent > state).... If you were going to write Bosnia, it would be quite natural to > compare it with Yugoslavia of which it was a part of as a different > nation... > > I wonder if you have seen the Jinnah biopic movie (with christoper "count > dracula" lee as Jinnah.....) ? > While the Gandhi film essentially focuses on Gandhi vs the British, the > Jinnah film is about a freedom movement where the struggle is on two > fronts.... one against the british, and one for fighting for a new islamic > homeland.....
