Not since independence has India faced such a terrifying crisis. We stand on the brinkof disaster. For fifty years we managed to avoid it. Now our best efforts might fail.
That's right. For the first time in fifty years there is a real threat of peace breakingout between India and Pakistan. Two rabid peace-mongers, Atal Behari Vajpayee and NawazSharif, stand eyeball to eyeball hugging each other in Lahore.
Those of us old enough to remember still shudder at the memory of this century's greatestpeace-monger. They called him Mahatma Gandhi. He too threatened to march into Pakistan inFebruary 1948 to launch peace between our two countries. A bullet stopped his visit. Thatprevented the outbreak of peace. But today peace clouds once again loom menacingly overthe subcontinent.
Concerned patriots are working nights to compute the damage of impending peace. Oneashen-faced patriot
said, 'It's easy for Atal and Nawaz to recklessly brandish their olive branches! Have theyconsidered the cost of peace? Of the millions thrown out of jobs? Of industries closingdown...?
A saint added bitterly, 'Countless people working for the Sangh parivar and Shiv Sena willhave to close shop. They'll be ruined and jobless! Did the PM think of them when heplanned his mad adventure?'
'Don't forget the Taliban in Pakistan,' a hawala businessman chimed in. 'It will be wipedout too! Peace spares nobody. Neither India nor Pakistan will win!'
'How will we survive a full-scale peace with Pakistan,' a young sainik stammered. 'Ourlifestyles will be destroyed!'
'Even cricket will lose its charm,' his friend added bitterly. 'No dug up pitches, nosnakes-you call that cricket?'
'What about the hard work by experts to create contingency plans for war? Will all that gowaste?' the patriot asked angrily. At this point I interrupted. 'Do you all favour warthen?'
The patriot exploded: 'Are you crazy? Why should we want war? The whole world knows we arenon-aligned! We support neither war nor peace. We simply want an atmosphere of permanenttension to carry on our business and preserve our system. Is that asking for too much?'
The saint tried to console him. 'Don't lose heart, son! Sanity in both countries might yetprevail. Surely digging up cricket pitches and tossing grenades is not enough. It's timefor hard decisions...'