In recent weeks, here in the UK there has been a lot of discussion and TV broadcasting about India and Pakistan, as this is now the 60th anniversary of their independence from English rule. While this is an understandable reason for celebration and pride (a lot has been achieved by these countries in the past 60 years), there is also a negative vibe with this: as independence became inevitable after 1945, the religious fighting between Hindus and Muslims erupted in India, which led to the founding of several states: India, Pakistan.
I do know only very little about those events, and I was watching several of the programs shown on TV with great curiousity. More than a Million people died in India during those years towards independence. Well, they did not die, but they were killed. And mostly not by the British (well, they did their part of "surpression" of the independence movement), but by their own countrymen. There were stories of Hindus killing their women in a village, for being afraid they would fall "into the hands of Muslims". Muslims hunting Hindus, Hindus hunting Muslims. A shameful end of Ghandi's dream of non-violent resistance, which taints the celebratory mood. Couldn't they just have gotten along with each other, in one single country?
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1 comment:
Humans, unfortunately, enjoy their grievances.
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