Concept of Purity-India and Pakistan
This is the tale of two nations separated at birth almost 60 years ago. the two nations were from the same parenthood, entwined in family relationships whose roots went back centuries. There was bond of blood that was built over 3000 years has a recorded and proved history. There have been bonds of culture, food and language, music, shared heroes etc.They were like brothers in a Bollywood tragedy who were separated at birth and subsequent accidental misfortunes . The only difference is unlike in the move the brothers have kept pulling themselves further apart from each other. When these brothers went to far away lands, people mistook one for the another. They looked so much alike that when bad events happened on the eleventh day of September, the brothers were suspected with equal measure , without discrimination and with equal disdain. Pakistanis and Indians are now inextricably linked in a world of fear and suspicion.
Pakistan for the uninitiated means "land of the pure" and India was named after the river " Indus" , which flows most of its course in Pakistan bringing water and resources to the "Sapta Sindhu" delta of Pakistan. This delta is the breadbasket of Pakistan , a food giver to its people. While pakistan's food source is nurtured by a river that named its arch enemy, Indian civilization has its most prehistoric evidence of its culture at the Mohenjo Daro, Harappa in today's Pakistan.
In this piece, I would like to focus first on the concept of purity that has historically driven peoples to commit the most gruesome acts of cruelty and genocide. This drive for purity of genes, purity of breed and the search of an unpolluted pedigree has been the nature of man to distinguish one another. Although, this serves a purpose of elimination of prospective partners and mates in the animal kingdom, its extension in the human world , as vehicle to distinguish, historically has led to bloodshed or pure genocide. Hitler used it to devastating effect in the search for purity of the Aryan race and the mass murder of Jews. In a similar way in this context Pakistan was born with an idea of a "land of the pure "..i.e purity of its thought, its blood, its pedigree of purity and its existence. In this path it has systematically, official estimates do not exist, eliminated its Hindu, Sindhi and Christian minority. Pakistan did not stop at that but the interpretation of purity was extended beyond the difference of religions to differences among a single religious group, that led to killings between Sunnis/Shias,kafirs or deserters-basically Muslim immigrants from India and finally the Bengali Muslims in the early 70 s that eventually led to the separation of Pakistan. Here one should note that Bangladesh , the new nation, is an Islamic state but for Pakistans' puritans it was not Islamic enough.
/>The reality of modern world is such that this very concept of purity is flawed. Peoples, countries, religion places do not remain pure forever. Human beings are the most successful species on this planet because of the concept of adulteration and impurity. Even genetic scientists have scientifically proven that consequetive generation of inbreeding among communities in an effort to maintain purity leads to birth defects and weaker genes. This is the essential difference that has kept the two brothers at birth from reconciling again with each other. If Pakistan can be called the "land of the pure", India essentially is the land of the impure. An impurity that arises from the sheer diversity of its peoples, thoughts, ideas, culture , food and places. This impurity is what has made India a realistic concept than Pakistan,whose core foundation is on a belief that is against human behavior in the modern world. The concept of identity is also inextricably linked to this idea of purity and when people exist in a multitude of identities then the concept of a pure state or land is impratical.I would not doubt that the people who founded Pakistan were not aware of this but politics is not effective in being a assimilator of people with different identities. Politics and Politicians thrive in a paradigm that promotes division and dissimilation in human societies. It is easier to cannonize people at other who are different than them for their misfortunes.
Indians should not feel highfalutin about this incidental concept of Pakistan because despite pedigree of good thoughts that India was blessed at its birth , its democracy has been marred with deceiful manipulation of its masses by its elite politicians. I suspect Raj Thackeraj without having any meaningful understanding of Philosophy exploited this in his favor by dividing the unemployed youth of Maharashtra by aligning them in a fight against the migrants. The irony is that the Thackeray themselves are migrants from the state of MP and proves the debate over outsiders menaningless.
When Narendra Modi VHP and the BJP called Gujaratis to embark on the path to anhilate the "Muslims" by leaving the path of "Gandhigiri" as he spoke at a rally in Gujarat "We will shown them what happens when we leave Gandhigiri", he is asking them to abandon the impure existence and purify the state of its Muslims. Almost always and every time politics and politicans are completely responsible to stoke the anger and create division by using this path of purity. George Bush famously called all non-believers and non- aligned nations as "those who are against us" and the other or believers "those with us".
Congress government, Rajiv Gandhi and the Gandhi Dynasty put this concept to good use in their more than 30 years of rule including the Sikh riots of 84 in Delhi after the assassination of Indira Gandhi. Rajiv Gandhi famously said " When a big tree falls the earth shakes" in a response to the government pogram of genocide unleashed with help of Youth Congress leaders in Delhi.
Despite these events , India and Indians continue to support and nuture the concept of impurity. This impurity is why India exists in all its splendor and it is why many human histories from around the globe has existed in its people and continue today and well into the furture. As Indians we should strive to understand this impurity , to not divide ourselves but to enjoy its beauty, its rewards and comprehend India beauty in its impurity.
Pakistan for the uninitiated means "land of the pure" and India was named after the river " Indus" , which flows most of its course in Pakistan bringing water and resources to the "Sapta Sindhu" delta of Pakistan. This delta is the breadbasket of Pakistan , a food giver to its people. While pakistan's food source is nurtured by a river that named its arch enemy, Indian civilization has its most prehistoric evidence of its culture at the Mohenjo Daro, Harappa in today's Pakistan.
In this piece, I would like to focus first on the concept of purity that has historically driven peoples to commit the most gruesome acts of cruelty and genocide. This drive for purity of genes, purity of breed and the search of an unpolluted pedigree has been the nature of man to distinguish one another. Although, this serves a purpose of elimination of prospective partners and mates in the animal kingdom, its extension in the human world , as vehicle to distinguish, historically has led to bloodshed or pure genocide. Hitler used it to devastating effect in the search for purity of the Aryan race and the mass murder of Jews. In a similar way in this context Pakistan was born with an idea of a "land of the pure "..i.e purity of its thought, its blood, its pedigree of purity and its existence. In this path it has systematically, official estimates do not exist, eliminated its Hindu, Sindhi and Christian minority. Pakistan did not stop at that but the interpretation of purity was extended beyond the difference of religions to differences among a single religious group, that led to killings between Sunnis/Shias,kafirs or deserters-basically Muslim immigrants from India and finally the Bengali Muslims in the early 70 s that eventually led to the separation of Pakistan. Here one should note that Bangladesh , the new nation, is an Islamic state but for Pakistans' puritans it was not Islamic enough.
/>The reality of modern world is such that this very concept of purity is flawed. Peoples, countries, religion places do not remain pure forever. Human beings are the most successful species on this planet because of the concept of adulteration and impurity. Even genetic scientists have scientifically proven that consequetive generation of inbreeding among communities in an effort to maintain purity leads to birth defects and weaker genes. This is the essential difference that has kept the two brothers at birth from reconciling again with each other. If Pakistan can be called the "land of the pure", India essentially is the land of the impure. An impurity that arises from the sheer diversity of its peoples, thoughts, ideas, culture , food and places. This impurity is what has made India a realistic concept than Pakistan,whose core foundation is on a belief that is against human behavior in the modern world. The concept of identity is also inextricably linked to this idea of purity and when people exist in a multitude of identities then the concept of a pure state or land is impratical.I would not doubt that the people who founded Pakistan were not aware of this but politics is not effective in being a assimilator of people with different identities. Politics and Politicians thrive in a paradigm that promotes division and dissimilation in human societies. It is easier to cannonize people at other who are different than them for their misfortunes.
Indians should not feel highfalutin about this incidental concept of Pakistan because despite pedigree of good thoughts that India was blessed at its birth , its democracy has been marred with deceiful manipulation of its masses by its elite politicians. I suspect Raj Thackeraj without having any meaningful understanding of Philosophy exploited this in his favor by dividing the unemployed youth of Maharashtra by aligning them in a fight against the migrants. The irony is that the Thackeray themselves are migrants from the state of MP and proves the debate over outsiders menaningless.
When Narendra Modi VHP and the BJP called Gujaratis to embark on the path to anhilate the "Muslims" by leaving the path of "Gandhigiri" as he spoke at a rally in Gujarat "We will shown them what happens when we leave Gandhigiri", he is asking them to abandon the impure existence and purify the state of its Muslims. Almost always and every time politics and politicans are completely responsible to stoke the anger and create division by using this path of purity. George Bush famously called all non-believers and non- aligned nations as "those who are against us" and the other or believers "those with us".
Congress government, Rajiv Gandhi and the Gandhi Dynasty put this concept to good use in their more than 30 years of rule including the Sikh riots of 84 in Delhi after the assassination of Indira Gandhi. Rajiv Gandhi famously said " When a big tree falls the earth shakes" in a response to the government pogram of genocide unleashed with help of Youth Congress leaders in Delhi.
Despite these events , India and Indians continue to support and nuture the concept of impurity. This impurity is why India exists in all its splendor and it is why many human histories from around the globe has existed in its people and continue today and well into the furture. As Indians we should strive to understand this impurity , to not divide ourselves but to enjoy its beauty, its rewards and comprehend India beauty in its impurity.
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