They say... we say...

They say... we say...

Juma Khan Sufi
Peshawar
Monday, April 27, 2009 The News
They say India is our enemy. We say it is a potential friend. They say India has always been after the dismemberment of Pakistan. We say that it is you and your actions which were/are the cause of dismemberment. They say that India fought five wars against us. We say that all the wars (1948, 1965, 1971, Siachen and Kargil) were initiated by you. They say we won all the wars — we say you lost all of them. They say we are part of Middle East. We say you are part of South Asia and Indian sub-continent. They say Urdu and Hindi are two diametrically opposite languages. We say that they are two sister languages feeding on the same stuff. They say the invasion of Mohammad bin Qasim was precursor to the state of Pakistan. We say that you are part and parcel of Maurya, Kushan, Khilji, Lodhi, Mughal and the British Indian dynasties and empires. They say we need a separate identity. We say identity cannot be carved out from the distortion of history. They say danger emanates from the eastern borders. We say the danger emanates from within. They say the Taliban are our assets. We say they are your mortal enemies. They say Hindus and Muslims cannot coexist peacefully. We say they coexisted peacefully for hundreds of years. They say we need strategic depth in Afghanistan to fight against India. We say you need economic depth. They say that the world is after us. We say that even your friends like China and Iran complain about you now. They say that we cannot fight against our own people and the Taliban are our own people. We say that you already fought against your own people in Bengal and Balochistan. They say that Balochistan insurgency is foreign-inspired. We say it is the result of your continuous denial of Baloch rights. They say America is destabilising us with drone attacks. We say that you are impotent to take on your enemies head-on and forbid their incursion into Afghanistan. They say that further increasing the capacity of the security and military establishment can effectively combat all internal and external threats. We say that real democracy and economic power of the country can combat this better. They say we need a nuclear deterrence. We say then what is the need for stationing most of the troops on the eastern borders? They say that you are traitors. We say we are the real patriots. They say we can continue to run with the hares and hunt with the hounds. We say you need a paradigm shift. They say fend for yourselves. We say defend us because we are taxpayers.