Press Council of India Chairman Justice Markandey Katju says he is confident that India and Pakistan would be a united country in the next 15-20 years. This is second time in two months that he has expressed this wish, blaming also British for the “bogus two nation theory” that divided India. Katju was speaking at the discussion "Fueling Indo-Pak Crisis: Mutilation or the media" at Delhi University. This is quite a far-reaching statement to make in the Indo-Pak context, the countries which have been at loggerheads ever since they were created in 1947, fighting three wars and killing each other on the borders. With conflicting ideas of nationhood at the root of their founding, the two nations have taken divergent trajectories to nation-building, which in turn have only further drifted them apart. In such a scenario, Katju’s idea of a united India-Pakistan only evokes a sense of utopia. And what is always good about utopias is that they are exceedingly feel-good. At the same time, it is always good to pursue utopia of a peaceful world even while we know that utopias never translate into reality.  In the context of India and Pakistan, the primary challenge for the two countries is to live like normal neighbours which is something they have been unable to do over the past  six decades.  In fact, as the recent border skirmishes have once again underlined the two countries remain farthest from even confronting sanely their issues or handling their respective truths. Even sometimes a small incident brings into play a complex play of history, memory and prejudice. Things have gotten only worse over the years with even a statement by a politician in one country exposing raw nerve endings in another. There is now so much vitriol against each other in a substantial section of public life of the both countries - with media playing a role in fanning it  - that it seems unnatural that the two countries could ever be friends. Best thing that can happen to  India and Pakistan under the circumstance is for them to  learn to deal with their troubled relationship with a degree of care, maturity and understanding.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 6 Feb 2013 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 6 Feb 2013 18:30:00 GMT
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