‘Aman Ki Aasha’ …ka Full stop!

This is a useless post. I do not say this to grab your eyeballs. This is indeed one of the most inconsequential posts I have written. It will have no significance in your life after you have read it. And neither will it reach close to affect the change that it intends to. Yet I write it. Why you ask? I have been on a self-imposed exile from this blog of mine for a few weeks, concentrating more towards my cricket writings for a sports website. So, what forces me to come out of my sabbatical and write this post?

Oh it’s the usual anger and helplessness that most of us Indians feel every now and then you see. It came from the Hyderabad bomb blasts a few days back which ripped through the city and took more than a dozen lives with it. As an Indian it disturbed me again, made me feel helpless and made me want to do something. Sadly, with my usual limitations, I can only write to express my views and hence I do that once again.

I don’t know how many times I have seen this similar kind of news in my short life span and how many more will I live to see. I guess that day is not far when we get up in the morning and our father asks us, “What’s new on the news today son?”, and we casually reply, “Oh another bomb blast in Mumbai father, taking 50 lives with it. Can you please pass me the toast?” Yes, that day is not far I presume, given the weak-kneed way our Government deals with the situation and the way our society’s mindset is.  Oh yes, our society too is equally to blame. How? Ahh...Good question.

Anger is good, but remember war is the last discourse. That would come later; first let us start by changing small little things about ourselves. We all know pretty well which country is behind these blasts. We all know who plans it, who lives to see us die a thousand deaths every day and yet each one us ignores it in a way. Today I shall not talk about our impotent government and the way we should go about tackling the terror outfits in our country. I want to discuss something way smaller, but something whose ramifications are equally damaging. I want to bring a full stop to this fake bonhomie we have with our neighbour, bring an end to this despicable ‘Aman ki Aasha’. Before we even progress on this war on terror; we have to understand one thing. Friendship with Pakistan is NOT HAPPINING. It will NEVER happen. No matter how hard our pseudo-intellectuals like Barkha Dutts yell it, it will never transpire.

The usual argument against my point is the same; “friendship is the only way forward”, “we should not let entertainment and sports get affected by all this” and other similar arguments. Hmm...Interesting. I wonder what these people would say if the head of their son would have been ripped off in one of these blasts. I doubt they would be clamouring for friendship then. All they would want is blood; that of the enemy. And Pakistan is our enemy. PERIOD. It is foolish to live in a delusional world and deny this fact. Their raison d’être is to see India bleed profusely, and they are succeeding mightily at this. And what do we do? Welcome pests from their country in our land, let them earn their bread here and feel happy from within that we are participating in this ‘Aman’ and ‘shaanti’. How nice. Fuck you. Yes, fuck you. I will not ask for any pardon on the language that I used; this deserves it.

It makes my blood boil in rage to see scum from their country coming here and participating in shows and events, smiling and talking about friendship. I do not care how talented they are. We have enough talent in our country to take care of our entertainment. I find it an insult to the memory of the dead soldiers and the innumerable innocent lives we have lost all these years when we embrace such vermin from across the border. Agreed that these people might not be directly involved in conspiring against us, but I DO NOT CARE. We cannot let them come to our land and enjoy the luxuries from our country when ‘their’ people are constantly making us bleed. If they care so much about ‘Aman’ and ‘shaanti’, ask ‘your’ ISI and other politicians to change first.

Let me talk about two of the most pivotal points which is linked with this bullshit called ‘Aman ki Aasha- sports and entertainment.

Sports:  Since it is my favourite subject let me explore this a little first. Aamir Sohail, Wasim Akram, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Waqar Younis and many of their clan come to mind first. What is common in all these? They have all been known to make anti-India statements back in the safe confines of their country regularly. Yet we so dearly love to invite them in our land and play against them or provide them their livelihood through other means. Because sports after all ‘should not come in between politics' isn’t it? It bridges boundaries and blah blah blah. Fuck you again. I don’t care how talented a Wasim Akram is; he is a scumbag who merrily earns his bread from India and then goes back to his hiding place to enjoy with the ones who make us bleed. While at one place bombs rip through our cities and at the other place we enjoy seeing the Akrams and the Shoaib Akhtars participating in chat shows and even dance programmes! I have not even started on this sly and shrewd Javed Miandad. This piece of parasite is actually a relative of the terrorist Dawood Ibrahim and yet he receives a red-carpet welcome in our country from our media folks and the Govt. without him willing to disclose the whereabouts of his 'bhaaijaan'. Tell me just how spineless are we? I would rather prefer playing against a team like Zimbabwe than see the faces of these Pakistanis playing here with us on our soil.

Entertainment: Ahh. The one that affects us the most isn’t it? Atif Aslam, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Adnan Sami, Ali Zafar, Veena Malik and many more like them are regulars in our country. “Such talent these people have!” many of you will exclaim. Many of us will scream in agony if we even ‘think’ to halt their entry to our soil. Fuck you again and again and again. It is because of vermin like Mahesh Bhatt, the Barkha Dutts and the likes that we get to see so much praise and acclaim for these ‘artists’ from our neighbouring land. Many top stars from Bollywood, whose name I wouldn’t take here, are also equally responsible in promoting this so-called ‘Friendship with Pakistan’ message. Understand one thing; these artists will NEVER EVER consider us as their own. They earn their bread from here, go back to their country and laugh at our stupidity. Oh yes, I am certain they do. We have more than enough artists in our country to suffice our entertainment needs; we do not need insects from Pakistan to erode our country further.

I am not even starting on politics as blaming the politicians in this situation is the easiest thing to do. But the issue of ‘Aman ki Aasha’ has to be resolved.  The other day, I went through my mobile phone’s playlist and deleted all the songs that had Pakistani singer’s names in it. It is a very small and inconsequential thing to do but I have started this war from within. What purpose would it solve you ask? Like I had said in my earlier lines, war is the last discourse. It is not the question of who wins it. War will hurt us too in many ways. But the least that we, the citizens of this country, can do is start the war within each of us. It is true that dialogue is the ideal way out. But you cannot engage Pakistan in dialogue. They only know one language and that is of blood. Friendship with Pakistan as I said will NEVER HAPPEN. It is not happening in this lifetime. We have to accept that fact and learn to live and tackle it.

All of us cannot take AK-47 s on our shoulders and stand at the border to fight with the ISI and the terrorists. But we can contribute in this war too if we are smart. We can hurt Pakistan economically. They are dependent on us in more ways than one. Shun them all out. Boycott their sportspersons and artists forever. Stop watching any programmes that has any Pakistani in it. Raise your voice against this issue, take out candle light vigils, share Facebook upates and let everyone know about this. It might not make a huge difference but it will affect them, it will hurt them, and it might make them suffer. And that is what I want to do. I WANT TO HURT THEM BAD.

Remember the families that have been ripped apart in all these terror attacks; all because of the country that lives to dream for our downfall. By preaching ‘aman’ with them we are insulting those families. The least we can do is stop singing this delusional friendship song with Pakistan. They teach their children that India is your enemy; and that is a FACT. The chapters of their history textbooks scream out loud that India is their number one foe; this too is a FACT. Yet we live in our own pseudo-intellectual world and keep repeating the ‘friendship with Pakistan is the only way out’ statement. Agreed that not all in their country might think like that, (especially their artists and sports-persons you might say) but I don’t care about the others. I know them as one and it shall remain the truth. Either you ask your country to change or stop coming to ours. You represent them and we shall not entertain you. Simple. True that we cannot be like them; no one is asking you to be. But extending the hand of friendship with someone who hates you from the core of their hearts day in and day out is sheer stupidity. Pakistan and its ‘avaam’ are laughing at us today; laughing at our impotency and foolishness.

Come out of your deep slumber people and wake up to the reality facing us with glaring eyes. I implore you. It might be a useless exercise in the end, but I shall try in the way I can. We have to be responsible and united as a society now. We have to take a stand. Raise your voice people. The time has come for all us to make a choice between what is RIGHT and what is EASY.