This story first appeared in GorakhaPatra
The recent violence in the Manipur State in India and the attack on Christian minorities in Faisalabad district of Pakistan, are unpleasant but important reminder in August of 2023. August is actually the time to wish friends and families in India and Pakistan Happy Independence Day. The 14th of August is marked as a double day of liberation as the Indian sub-continent fought for Independence from the British rule and the Muslim Indians subsequently rearmed to fight for their separate nation Pakistan.
The Mountbatten Plan created an Independent Muslim nation by separating Pakistan (West and East) from India. Later, in 1971, East Pakistan achieved its own Independence by separating from Pakistan and renaming itself as Bangladesh. This divide and rule policy of the British and the partition of the Indian Sub-continent has created three beautiful countries but a never-ending struggle for the families of the three nations, especially between India and Pakistan, who have been separated, in many cases never to meet.
Unrealistic scene
At a time when it is imperative for South Asian countries to explore ways of combatting the adverse effects of climate change and the post-COVID poverty, a film Gadar 2 has recently been released which highlights the prejudices and misunderstandings of these two countries in a macho-style but unrealistic rescue of a son by a father from the clutches of the Pakistani army in Pakistan. Bollywood films are sources of entertainment all over South Asia. Unfortunately, although Gadar 2 was released in the month of August when India and Pakistan celebrated Independence Day, instead of spreading love it is mostly likely to spread hate.
While Gadar 1 was a story of love of a Sikh Indian and a Muslim Pakistani with a lovely note to the continuity of love between the two countries, Gadar 2 failed in taking the love story forward to the next generation. It has landed up becoming a tale of hatred between India and Pakistan that could spark a feeling of animosity among the youth of both the countries. “Children are taught about the hatred and rivalry between the two religions, while stories of shared brotherhood rarely make it to the mainstream”, writes Sara Arshad, a poet and writer based in Lahore, Pakistan, in Southasiamonitor.
The beautiful love story of two generations of Indian and Pakistani people ended in a blood bath between the two religions, both of which have foundations in love and generosity. Two scenes where Bhagvad Geeta and Koran are given as choices by a general in Pakistan and a truck driver in India lead towards killings. This scene should have been avoided at all cost. Scenes like these succeed in creating adrenalin rush of revenge for people of the other religion and country among the youth and brings back memories among elders who want to forget the pain they went through.
While both countries love each other’s food, music, dance and people to some extent, the never-ending political rivalry mainly fuelled by religious majority seems to divide the two nations wider and wider. Urvashi Butalia, a feminist publisher and writer based in Delhi writes in Sapan News that Dr Vinod Mubayi, a retired eminent scientist based in New York, stresses on the need for more dialogue and people-to-people contact between the countries of the region, especially India and Pakistan.
However, when pictorial scenes of hatred like the one shown by Gadar 2 becomes box office hits, it will not be an exaggeration that an adverse impact could befall especially among the youth of the two countries and the two religions. This is counterproductive. Even after 75 years of independence of the Indian subcontinent from the British, the region has sparks of violence related to communal, religious and minority rights issues. Most of the times the victims and survivors never get justice, while the political, communal and religious leaders take mileage of the people’ sentiments and achieve their goals, which are based on the wishes of a handful of powerful individuals.
Regarding the violence in Manipur, three well known women from the North East who have contributed to their society and profession including Dr. Syeda Hameed, Jarjum G and Angela Rangad write in the Wire “The most striking expression cutting across both the Kukis and Meitei people we interacted with, regardless of their situation, was their unequivocal assertion that the present regime both at the Centre and in the state are clearly and solely responsible for the continued violence and complete anarchy in the state.”
Violence
Since May Manipur has been attracting the attention of the world when the news of three women paraded naked became viral. While giving his Independence Day speech Narendra Modi mentioned that the situation in Manipur was improving but the three women who visited the state in August 3 gave their report of how the situation is far from improving. Abdullah Zahid with Beena Sarwar write in Sapan News that 16 August 2023 is a chilling reminder of how religion continues to be misused in Pakistan.
A quarrel between two parties leading to accusations of ‘blasphemy’ amplified through mosque loudspeakers, followed by violence. Churches were attacked in Jaranwala town in Faisalabad district in Punjab Province of Pakistan where the largest population of the Pakistani Christians live. They are the second largest minorities in Pakistan after the Hindus. Such a mishap happened leading to 36 churches and about 800 homes were vandalised. Such violence within countries and the region could be enhanced more with movies like Gadar 2, which needs to be prevented at all cost.