Dawood missing: India, Pakistan should not be friends
Dawood Ibrahim is like a bad dream. It feels worse if you remember the dream the following morning. Or else, you move on with the ignorance of morning bliss. Minister of state for home affairs Haribhai Chaudhary reminded us of that nightmare by saying the government couldn’t actually locate him. In unison, we called it an embarrassment. If the truth leaves us red-faced, it was, because the truth is we do not know where Dawood Ibrahim is. All we know is that he is in Pakistan. Pakistan’s high commissioner in Delhi Abdul Basit was quick to latch on to this and got the rare opportunity of calling an Indian minister’s statement correct. The government said its minister was wrong. If Dawood had watched this on TV, he would have found it more entertaining than the film D-Day.
Enemy
Dawood vanished so long ago that we go around with a photo of his youth as the only visual aid. The other proof is Pakistan’s constant denial. According to them, Dawood isn’t there, like Osama bin Laden wasn’t or Mullah Omar isn’t. The world’s most dreaded terrorists have discovered they are welcome in Pakistan, as long as they don’t create trouble there. Dawood is an enemy of India, and by that definition, a friend of Pakistan. Why else would Pakistan allow a notorious gangster to build his home and business in its commercial capital?
The Jamat-ud-Dawah and Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed holds rallies in Pakistan’s capital. Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, the man who carried out the Mumbai attack, is free and will most likely, be seen at those rallies held by the terror professor. Meanwhile, the chief of the Jaish-e-Mohammed Maulana Masood Azhar roams free, like hundreds of dreaded terrorists wanted in many countries. The Americans have found many, eliminated some, snatched others away, and buried Osama in the sea. Meanwhile, India sends dossiers on Dawood that Pakistanis summarily reject. We have sent them dossiers mentioning the Clifton house number, they still have refused to do anything.
Hence, even if the minister of state Chaudhary gave out the Defence Housing Area bungalow number or Margalla Road Islamabad address, it wouldn’t make any difference. As long as Dawood is in Pakistan, he’s protected by the establishment. The US risked its relations with Pakistan by taking out Osama bin Laden. They knew Pakistan wouldn’t hand over Osama easily. For us to take that risk is to risk a war, probably a nuclear one. All we can do is plead before Islamabad or in world bodies, because war, as the rhetoric suggests, is not an option.
Peace
Peace, the other option, isn’t one Pakistan can give serious thought to either. Peace strikes at the very heart of its raison d’etre, the two-nation theory. If we could live together, why did we separate in the first place? Since the faith-based two-nation theory must be kept alive, the establishment has nurtured religion as the guiding force and it has penetrated deep into its core. The peace party says that there’s no other way. The warmongers say that war is the way. Between calls of war and peace, Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s oft-quoted quote gets quoted ad nauseam: “You can choose your friends. You can’t choose your neighbours.” Jesus Christ’s "Love thy neighbour" is the same old rhetoric. The same question returns: Can India and Pakistan be friends? In the black-and-white world of today, the answer tends to be either a “Yes” or a “No”. As if there’s no third option.
India and Pakistan needn’t be friends. Why should your neighbour be your friend as well? A neighbour is a neighbour. A nosy neighbour needn’t get cosy. An insane neighbour mustn’t be allowed into your own home. South Korea has a nasty neighbour. Yet, it has managed to prosper. Taiwan and China have done so. “We can’t prosper without peace” is a tired theory.
The world has changed. Look around you. I do not even know my neighbours. But we manage fine. We often run into each other in the lift lobby and exchange a meaningless smile and go our ways. We don’t share things unless it’s too late in the night. If we run out of salt, we call the grocer and it’s delivered. In cases of emergency, we have intervened in each other’s lives. But that’s that. Our friends are different. I never feel a need to share a drink with my neighbour and I think he feels the same. Because the building has other people living in it; and the residential block too. Our social circles are and continue to remain different.
Fortify
What does one do if one’s neighbour is hell-bent on not settling his domestic disputes and encourages one son to fight another? Well, there’s a lot of noise and your sleep may be affected. Bear with it. If they burn their house down in their fight, there are chances of the flames reaching your doors. Be prepared. Keep fire extinguishers at hand. Change the locks. Fortify your house. Don’t deal with the neighbour. If they come to terms with reality, well and good. If they don’t, well, who cares! And forget the snake that bit you and now hides in his house. You ensure the snake doesn’t re-enter your home and you hope it dies.