December 2015

ALI SUKHANVER

‘Where do the stars disappear when the daylight arrives’, I used to ask my mother when I was a little boy of three or four years. And my mother would always smilingly reply, ‘The stars never disappear; they simply come down on the earth and convert into flowers; you are my flower; you are my star’. That was really a very beautiful answer; I realize it now when my mother herself has gone to heaven. After spending almost half a century here in this world of dreams and desires, I feel the most trust-worthy and the most confident relationship is that of a mother and a child. In love of their children, mothers sacrifice all that they have and all that they own; but sometimes mothers have to sacrifice their children too. In Islamic societies such type of sacrifice is known as ‘Shahadat’. In the history of humanity, the 16^th December 2014 would always narrate a strange story of the same type in which mothers of more than 134 innocent children had to bear the sacrifice of their children in the largest interest of their nation and their country. Their innocent children were brutally slaughtered as if they were animals, not human beings. And the most pathetic and unfortunate aspect of this story is that this slaughtering was done in the name of religion.Read More »THE APS TRAGEDY

ALI SUKHANVER

If we blame the whole nation for the misdeeds of a handful of people it is simply injustice. It is true that after Mr. Modi’s coming into government, the extremist elements in the Indian society have become stronger, the incidents of cruelty against the Muslims have increased and one could very easily feel a wave of intolerance against the Muslims in India but it does not mean that the whole of the Indian society must be held responsible for the situation. On the whole the Indian people are peace loving and cordial in nature. They are very much successful in the field of science and technology, education, poetry and film-making. They own a very fertile heritage regarding culture and civilization but a handful of extremist element there is simply damaging the repute and character of the whole of Indian nation. Until unless a strict eye is kept on this extremist element no peace effort between India and her neighboring countries could be successful. Recently India’s Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj came to Pakistan to attend the Heart of Asia Security Conference. Her visit to Pakistan was in fact the first significant engagement between India and Pakistan since the meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and PM Narendra Modi in July at Ufa earlier this year. It is being hoped that this visit of Swaraj would pave way to better relations between Pakistan and India. During her visit she had a meeting with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Islamabad amid efforts by both countries to improve ties. Sources say that she conveyed to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif India’s commitment to ‘good neighbourly relations’. Earlier talking at the ‘Heart of Asia Summit’, she said it was time that India and Pakistan displayed “maturity” in doing business with each other. She added that on India is prepared to move her cooperation at a pace which Pakistan is comfortable with.  Media reports say that the first visit by an Indian foreign minister to Pakistan in three years comes as part of a series of events following a surprise meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif in Paris two weeks ago on the sidelines of the climate change conference. That meeting led to secret talks between the National Security Advisors of both countries in Bangkok last week. Things are no doubt moving to a positive direction but for ‘good neighbourly relations’ the most important thing is to discourage the blame game which has become a hobby of different politicians and media-men in India. Two weeks back the Indian media at once started blaming Pakistan of supporting the freedom fighters in the Indian Occupied Kashmir without any proof. The tradition of dragging Pakistan into Kashmir conflict is very old but after Modi’s coming into power this tradition has become stronger. On one hand Muslim actors, film directors, poets and singers are being victimized in India, on the other hand the blame game with reference to the Indian Occupied Kashmir is also on its bloom. Every day the Indian newspapers are replete with the anti-Pakistan statements of the Indian extremist leaders.Read More »NEW TURNING IN PAK-INDIA RELATIONS