A Visit to Pakistan

A correction: VS Naipaul`s latest book on Islam is called Beyond Belief. His first book on Islam is called Among the Believers.

A highly enjoyable article to read and even more so in the sense of how green the grass appears from the other side of the fence!

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About Pakistani`s having relatives in India, there is a simple explaination. Fewer Hindu`s were left in Pakistan after the partition than Muslims in India. One reason was that there simply were more Muslims in that part of the sub-continent and all of them couldn`t migrate. Most of the Hindu families that migrated, didn`t leave relatives behind.

Another reason could have been that being in Islamabad you must be mingling mostly with Punjabi Pakistanis or Urdu Speaking (Mohajir) Pakistanis, and they would be more likely to have relatives in India, than say Baluchis or Sindhis.

Vinod:

You`ve summed it up so succinctly, ``...preliminary, impetuous. confused and much more.`` If nothing, one cannot but admire the honesty of your expression.

Wish you had elaborated on Actionaid some.

regards

Vinod,

You demonstrate a commendable interest in Pakistan and a desire to develop an understanding of the concerns of many Pakistanis. That is good. Incidentally, much as I would like to accept your ``Full marks to Pakistan!`` where the porter in Lahore had no problem not being paid for carrying your luggage, I think you should know that porters in Lahore and Islamabad airports (perhaps Karachi too) get paid in any case by the airport authorities so what that gentleman walked away from was just the tip that the porters normally expect. So let`s deduct a few marks for that. Anyway, I am glad you enjoyed visiting our country.

Sadaf, may I also point out that many Indian Muslims stayed behind because of choice. The absence of that reason for why there are more Muslims in India than Hindus in Pakistan, irked me a bit, I suppose.

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Impressive article! Very objective and definitely very informative.

I recently returned to Karachi after many years and was quite surprised by the tremendous improvement in the infrastructure of the city. The trip was preceded by a trip to Delhi, where my father`s side of the family resides , and in comparison to Delhi`s infrastructure, Karachi`s was much more developed. This didn`t make much logical sense to me since economically India seems to be far more progressed (opening of markets to foreign investors) than Pakistan and yet I saw a vast discrepancy in the development of the cities. However, your article answered that question for me - for in addition to the Gulf bringing in money there was much money being pumped in due to the Cold War. Makes Sense!

Is there any validity to the statement that illegal money from drugs also represents a substantial part of the Pakistani economy?

Also as one of the other readers suggested I would be very interested in learning more about this agency - ActionAid? What is its function and how long has it been around for? Are there other agencies such as this?

TAhmed321 wrote, ``I think you should know that porters in Lahore and Islamabad

airports (perhaps Karachi too) get paid in any case by the airport authorities so what that gentleman walked away from was

just the tip that the porters normally expect.``.

Mr. T , That was a stingy remark to say the least. I am sure you are one of those passengers who fight with those poor porters for a couple of rupees. And also, they are not paid by the authorities. They actually have to pay them (Rishwat) to get a Qullee Tag!.

....well I earnestly belive that though some of us may look same and may have some roots that intermingle somewhere back in the time line, WE ARE DIFFERENT....and nothing can change...even though we may get flooded by the waves of Zee and Mtv waves.....and that is inevitable...

Kashmir is stingy alright..but I guess those who have benefitted the most have been the armies of respective countries and kashmiries themselves,atleast Pakistani kashmiris are very well off....as far as masses are concerned...it doesnt matter who they are,they suffer and that is inevitable too...

and its a fact that no matter how much beautiful prose we use and how eloquently and euphemistically we put things...the divide will be there,the chasm will remain...inevitable....all that is needed is acceptance!

Hi Vinod,

``...And many of the men were in traditional costume-the shalwar/kameez``.

It is heartening to see that the Pakistan Army is adopting these traditional ways - they are wearing shalwar/kameez and track suits in Kargil.

I guess the track suit is useful when the Indian Army is near and its time to run.

Re: Sharayar

Sir/Madam, What in God`s name are you trying to say. Your message is in poor English and completely unintelligible. Please proof read before submitting messages.

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Re: sharayar #: 11

`` ....well I earnestly belive that though some of us may look same and may have some roots that intermingle somewhere back in the time line, WE ARE DIFFERENT....and nothing can change...``

Since you agree that minor physical differences are inconsequential, how exactly are we different ? Are you more happy, less greedy, less worried about the future of your children, not afraid of death, not bothered about financial security, not jealous of your neighbours, more tolerant of critisism.

Don`t you enjoy the brief moments of silence, occasional fleeting joys. Don`t you smile at a joke.

Does suffering not bring tears to your eyes and a prayer to God.

One can go on ...

The differences which you think are DIFFERENCES, are the most superfical, silly ones. All human beings are psychological photocopies.

You`ve probably never had a hindu/sikh/christian friend or neighbour - like most Pakistanis.

You have picked up these ``DIFFERENCES`` from newspapers, magazines, movies and from the house of your God.

Vinod,

It is my observation that the few Indians and Pakistanis who get a chance to visit the other country always come back with positive memories. I’ve seen this over and over again. My own visit to Bharat was memorable and I came out much more impressed than I’d expected. I remember vivid images of some of the highlights.

Getting the visa was an interesting experience. I’d failed to get it from the US where it’s a relatively painless process. In Islamabad, it was quite an ordeal. The embessy guys were okay, but it was the Pakistani security outside that was a real pain.

Delhi airport was a total shock for which I was not prepared. This was 1992, when Pakistani airports still didn’t have jet ways and one walked on the tarmac and got in a bus to get inside the terminal. So the modern facility at Delhi was impressive. Our local hosts told us that it was the exception not the rule, so we shouldn’t be too impressed. The customs procedure, however, was slow and frustrating. We were later told that the bureaucracy was worse than it’s counterpart in Pakistan. Now that was really hard to imagine.

The taxis and cars in general were abysmal. They were rickety, smoky and under powered. The traffic was as bad as, if not actually more dangerous than (and that is hard to achieve), the traffic in Pakistan. The hotel Maurya was breath taking. No Pakistani hotel, at the time, even came close. New Delhi was very grand and impresive looking because of all the grand style colonial buildings, but old Delhi was worse than Lahore in its squalor. Mirza Ghalib’s grave was in a sadly neglected state. The general irreverence of people towards the historical treasures was disconcerting, though understandable. Its was no different than it is in Pakistan. The openness of atmosphere was refreshing, though our local hosts failed to see it that way.

The trees full of monkeys in rural areas of Rajistan near Jaipur was quite a surprise. I thought the arboreal creatures had been wiped out and that now they were only left in the Himalayan foothills. The very low prices of food and medicine in smaller towns that we plodded through was almost unbelievable. But we realized that the local income made even those prices exorbitant.

The single most memorable thing I saw was the discipline and docility of the people. There was a political procession of some sort in Jaipur. I don’t know what the issues were, as we were mere transients, but the impressive things was the orderliness of the crowd. People had banners in their hands and were marching in protest, shouting slogans. The police were all around in large numbers. This was a common sight for anyone coming from Pakistan, however, the similarity ended there. Unlike the crowds I grew up watching in Pakistan, this crowd was very well behaved. The burned someone’s effigy and shouted very spirited slogans. However, they did not block traffic nor loot shops nor damage public property. This observation left me astonished and I was most impressed. Back in Delhi our local friends tried to down play it and dismissed it, but I persisted in the opinion that no crowd in Pakistan was ever this ‘mature’. I am still impressed.

In the end, I think, it is really more a case of the grass being greener on the other side. Objectively, the differences between our peoples (I don’t say ‘our two’ people – because each side has many ‘peoples’) is rather trivial. When we go across the border it is usually for a very brief time and we are usually expecting the worst, so even ordinary things impress us. At least that is what happened to me.

I think that both countries are like copies of the same picture except that India is in technicolour and Pakistan is in Black & White.

…SR