ALI SUKHANVER

One of my favourite questions I ask my people is, Are you against the Aman Ki Asha?” Every time, I get the same answer wrapped up in astonishing bewilderment, Who says we are against the Aman Ki Asha? But favouring Aman Ki Asha does not mean selling our ego, self-respect and our basic human rights to India.

The desire of peace is appreciable but not at the cost of ones existence and at the terms of inequality.” Friendly relations with the neighboring countries must be the desire and wish of every Pakistani but as far as India is concerned, the role of India in developing cordial relationship with Pakistan has ever been very suspiciously silent and negatively passive. In the last 66 years, there had been not even a single moment when Pak-India relations could be labeled as cordial and peaceful.

There is always a state of war along the boundaries between the two countries. The Kashmir issue, the Kargil, the Sir Creek, the Indus Water Treaty and the Mumbai Attacks; the list of confronting and conflicting matters is very long. Though Pakistan has ever tried to normalize the situation so many times by giving positive gestures leading to confidence building measures but all its efforts remained futile and fruitless. India has never been desirous of peace and prosperity in Pakistan.

It is a proven fact that most of the separatists in Balochistan and the terrorists in the tribal areas of Pakistan are fully supported and sponsored by India. Even in Karachi, the law enforcement agencies have pointed out the presence of the Indian elements so many times. Instead of making things easier for Pakistan, India is trying to create more obstructions and hurdles by constructing dams on the rivers flowing towards Pakistan. But in spite of all these ‘mischievous activities’ the people of Pakistan went friendship with India if it brings a positive change in its behaviour.

It is also a fact is that India is not the country of only the Hindus; there are millions of Muslims who are the Indian nationals. Some static surveys say that the total number of the Muslims in India is far greater than the whole population of Pakistan. It is also true that the Muslims living in India are leading a miserable life. They are always maltreated, humiliated and degraded as the other minorities in India are but they have no other choice. If the people of Pakistan have sympathy with India; it is just because of their Muslim brothers there. If there were as many Muslims in USA as there are in India and they were leading a life of humiliation and degradation, the people of Pakistan might have the same inclination towards the US.

Another question I usually ask my people is about the presence of US behind the problems, social, political and economic which this nation has been facing since long. In response to my second question, the comments are always the same, very straight forward, very abrupt. ‘Yes-It is the US, the actual root-cause of all our adversity.’ This answer reflects that the people of Pakistan rank both India and America at the same place with a slight variation. There is another side of this story which is more interesting.

The Indian sponsored terrorist in the tribal areas of Pakistan say they are against the government of Pakistan and as well against the Pakistan Army because they both are looking after the American interests in the region. This blame makes the situation more intriguing. The US openly favours and supports Indian stance at every platform whether it is the issue of the Mumbai blasts or the terrorists attack on the Indian Embassy at Kabul. India keeps on creating hurdles for Pakistan by supporting the separatist elements in Balochistan and the terrorist elements in KPK and in the other tribal areas and the terrorists say they are against Pakistan because Pakistan is an ally of US in the war against terrorism. It is such a complicated story that no one has yet been able to get to the conclusion or to reach the solution.

The situation calls for a thorough analysis. When we look at the services and the favours of the US to the Pakistani nation, they are no doubt countless. The US is sponsoring so many projects in Pakistan which are directly linked with the welfare and betterment of the common people in Pakistan. US services for the people of Pakistan in the field of health, education, communication and transport are no doubt worth praising.

The USAID program is one of the most emphatic examples in this context. The USAID has set-up many schools in the far flung areas of Pakistan; so many water-treatment plants have been installed to make possible the supply of clean drinking water and above all are the efforts done for gender equality and women’s empowerment into all of its programming. The target is to increase opportunities for women’s participation in the labor force, expand girls’ access to quality basic education, improve maternal and child health, and promote women’s rights in political, economic, and social realms.

The US is doing a lot for the eradication of Polio virus from Pakistan. In short the list of services provided by the US government to the people of Pakistan is very long but on the other hand it supports and favours India in all of its anti-Pakistan activities. The question arises whether USA is playing a double game in the region?