Growing up in India, the story of the nation's
valiant struggle against the oppressive British was a constant reminder via schoolbooks,
movies, comics and television. The portraits of Gandhi and Nehru adorned every
office, dominating and making sure you never forgot the sacrifices made.
Politicians dressed like freedom fighters channeled the past for votes and legitimacy.
But what was brushed aside as a footnote, was the horrors of partition - a
holocaust that claimed the lives of millions.
And so, in part because of these horrors, India and
Pakistan remain enemies, amassing nuclear weapons and armies and living on the
verge of mutual destruction. Every now and then there are glimpses of
reconciliation, but they are fleeting. A terrorist attack on Indian soil
orchestrated by groups within Pakistan, reignite tensions. When it subsides,
disagreements over Kashmir flare up. The Pakistani establishment often blames
the Indian intelligence services for the chaos in their country and India
blames theirs. This cycle has been in motion for decades and there are no signs
of it ending.
When discussing the two nations, it is important to
shed light on the trajectories they took since their formation. India evolved
into a functioning democracy with a robust and diverse social fabric. The armed
forces are under the firm control of the civilian government, which is elected
every five years by a largely free and fair election. Pakistan on the other
hand, has spent a large portion of its existence under military dictatorship. Today
the army is a dominating force that sets the agenda, always waiting in the
wings with a threat of a coup. The clerics, appeased and empowered in the
80s, have more power than before and practice it with relative impunity.
Terrorism in the name of Islam is not only eating away Pakistan’s core, but is
also being used as a proxy to spread chaos across the border. Many known
convicted terrorists roam free in Pakistan under the protection of powerful
entities. India's "public enemy" Dawood Ibrahim leads a life of
luxury in Karachi. As a result Pakistan's civil society pays a heavy price as
journalists and free thinkers are harassed or killed and minorities are
oppressed and cleansed.
While Pakistan is in a state of free fall, lately India
seems to be becoming less tolerant in its diversity of opinion.
Two recent events seem to have hit a nerve in
India, which have created a firestorm, where people's loyalties are being
questioned based on their opinion. The gulf between the left and right has
gotten wider and what is emerging is a disturbing and unhealthy form of
nationalism that threatens India's democracy.
The killing of a young militant commander of the
terrorist group Hizbul-Mujahedin, was seen as a major breakthrough for the
Indian armed forces, who have policed the troubled region of Kashmir with an
iron hand, for more than thirty years. When thousands spilled into the streets
at Burhan Wani's funeral it was a shock to many. As his body was paraded
through the streets, it was clear he was a hero to many and not just a slain
terrorist. This soon led to clashes with the armed forces and scenes
reminiscent of Palestinians throwing stones at the mighty Israeli army were all
over television screens. The unrest in Kashmir prompted the Pakistani Prime
Minister to praise the slain terrorist as a "young leader", irking
India.
On a September morning, a few miles from the
Pakistani border, in a town called Uri in Kashmir, an Indian army base was
attacked by a band of terrorists. Several hours later, four militants and
eighteen Indian soldiers were dead. India directly blamed Pakistan for this
attack and launched "surgical strikes" against militant bases within
Pakistani territory. Pakistan denied any involvement in the Uri attack, and
said there was no evidence India could provide to prove otherwise, and said it
was a revenge attack in response to the violence in Kashmir. They also said
India had not carried out any strikes within their territory they could
corroborate. The tension between the nations escalated further. The Indian
armed forces were put on a war footing, villages along the border were
evacuated and the media went into a state of frenzy.
When the dead soldiers and their wailing family
members were displayed on Indian television, emotions began to run high. Politicians
and media pundits began to whip up patriotism and jingoism. The case to go to
war was being made between talking points. Anyone who did not pay their overt
respect to the dead soldiers and not take part in the patriotic fervor, were
portrayed as traitors. Politicians openly used the death of the soldiers to
further their agenda, and an open call was in place to ban anything and
everything belonging to the enemy state.
The broadcast of all Indian television programs
were suspended inside Pakistan. A prominent Bollywood film was threatened from
being released because it had a Pakistani actor in its cast. A right wing
political party called for a boycott and an association of theater owners
refused to screen the film. So the director in an emotional public plea, apologized
and vowed never to cast a Pakistani every again. The director was also asked to
donate a large sum of money to an army welfare fund as reparations for his
misdeed. A complaint was lodged against the organizers of the Mumbai Film
Festival for screening a Pakistani film. There was a heightened aversion for
everything Pakistani or Indian on either side of the border.
In the past the enmity between the countries, was
tempered by civil engagement in the arts, sports and science. Acknowledging
that Indians and Pakistanis are the same people sharing the same heritage only
divided by history and politics.
My first interaction with a Pakistani happened when
I moved to New York City in 1996. He was my taxi driver. We spoke the same
language and could relate to each other on many levels. When in a sign of
camaraderie he refused to accept payment from me, the brotherhood was even more
evident. Over the years I have found friendship in many Pakistanis for obvious
reasons. Late last year, I was approached by two Pakistani producers to direct
a film about a remarkable man named, Abdus Salam. I was surprised how little I
knew of this man, who was born in my country of birth in 1926. The more I found
out, the more his life’s story intrigued me. I soon realized that as the first
Muslim Nobel laureate, Abdus Salam was a national treasure whose life needed renewed
attention, especially in the present times.
When I started work on the project with my
Pakistani producers, I found many things in common with them. We unequivocally
agreed how ludicrous, unnecessary, painful and demoralizing the divide between
the nations is. It hinders so much that can be beneficial to both. We faced
some of the inconvenience first hand while making this film. Even though I am a
US citizen, I was not granted a visa by the Pakistani government to film there,
for being of Indian origin. The Pakistani officials were annoyed that my
producers could not find a native to direct the film. While filming in London
we met many Pakistanis who were married to Indians and could not visit their
families because of visa restrictions. The human toll the separation takes is
significant and damaging enough in every sense of the word.
It is almost a year now since I started work on
this film. While this is a biography of a Nobel scientist, it largely deals
with an aspect of his life, when he was exiled from his own country for belonging
to the Ahmadiyya community. The Ahmadiyyas, a sect within Islam, were declared
non-Muslim by the dominant Sunni clerics, and the Pakistani constitution
drafted an amendment to this effect in 1974. Since then they are treated as second-class
citizens in their own country prompting many to leave. Abdus Salam was one of
the most prominent of them.
Many in Pakistani civil society are disturbed and
deeply worried about the spread of extremism that is eating away at their
social fabric. They are as much victims of terrorism as Indians are across the
border. A recent film titled Among the Believers, made by an Indian and a Pakistani exposes the true
nature of this cancer and therefore has been banned in Pakistan. My film
exposes the heavy price people and nations pay when intolerance overruns
humanity. When a man like Abdus Salam should be celebrated and his legacy used
to encourage science and learning, he is vilified, maligned and discarded in
his own country.
At the moment, with the way things are, I am
concerned if our film will be shown in either of the countries. Not because of
the subject matter, but because of the origins of its makers. It is what it is.
