‘Na jaane kaun si mitti vatan ki mitti thi’.( We never knew which soil was the soil of our land)
– ‘Hazaar Baar ruke’, from the film Mammo.
‘How many deaths will it take to be noticed that too many people have died?’
– Bob Dylan, Blowing in the Wind.
As long as there will India and Pakistan, this fight will never stop. Too many times has this been said.
More than 2000 people were killed, slaughtered, burnt in all the violence in 2002 in Gujarat. The mainstream in Gujarat is still in denial.
About half a million people died when the subcontinent was torn apart into Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
Bomb blasts continue to claim innumerable lives. People from each side are hurt. The real reasons behind these blasts are still elusive. We all guess: terrorism, creating communal unrest…Perhaps all these are true.
For the Hindu, Muslim and Christian Sikh, Parsi and whatever person of faith caught in the middle it is just a matter of living with dignity, with the ability to practice your faith and go on with your life which matters.
For as long as these borders remain, our psyche will always be divided, although we are not divided in our history, culture and consciousness.
We need to do away with these borders, and let us start dreaming now. Because politicians are people and it is people who create opinion. It is people like us who can put an end to communal violence.
September 10 to September 16th ,2007 is the week to blog for a united India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Voices from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh coming together to say why and how a One State Solution is possible within this subcontinent.Whether and how one State can and should be created.
Here is what you have to do:
Blog about why you want or don’t want an undivided subcontinent.How you think that the creation of One State could solve problems of religious intolerance and security in the subcontinent. And how you think this is possible. What the future holds in store for an undivided subcontinent, what could be possible…
Let us create a coalition to take these voices far and wide. The One State Solution Week. September 10 to 16th, 2007.
This is a collaborative event. If you want to design posters, hand-outs, invites…the more the merrier…
Suggestions and queries welcome.
Let’s make it happen!