On September 18, India's High Commissioner Dr TCA Raghavan addressed a gathering of the English Speaking Union of Pakistan in Karachi. Quite appropriately, his speech focused on 'Current trend in Indo-Pak Relations', and its contents were widely covered by the print media.
While referring to the tension between the two countries he said "Two questions dominate my mind when I think of the Indo-Pakistan relationship. What if the Kargil Operation had not happened? And what if the Mumbai attack had not happened?" What the High Commissioner (holding a PhD degree in Modern History) overlooked were several other "ifs" - what if India had not invaded Kashmir in 1948, what if India had conducted the UN mandated plebiscite in Kashmir, what if India had not invaded East Pakistan in 1971, what if the Babri Mosque had not been decimated, and what if India had not consistently opposed Pakistan at every global forum?
What was surprising was the fact that none in that gathering (including the media) asked him about any of these glaring "what ifs". But the High Commissioner must be commended for admitting that tensions can be reduced only by peoples' (not politicians') interaction.
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