Commentary/Pritish Nandy

India wins another round

Ever since I was a child I have heard people complaining about how useless we are, as compared to Pakistan. The Pakistanis I was told were better than us at cricket, cleverer than us at foreign policy, smarter than us at manipulating the Yanks and getting cheap arms and fighter aircraft at throwaway prices. Many believe that they are even sexier than us. That's why some of our heroines swear by their Pakistani lovers.

Frankly, I have grown up believing that the Pakistanis are stronger, manlier, cleverer, more enterprising than us. Every time we confronted them on the cricket field, someone had a new theory about why they would inevitably outclass us. Even when we won, it would appear to be by default.

Why? I would ask my friends. What's so special about them? After all, I would argue, we belong to the same subcontinent, share the same language and culture, the same history of colonisation, the same freedom struggle. In fact, we both became free on the same day. Why would they have a special edge on us?

Everyone had a different explanation.

One popular theory was that they are tougher, meaner, more aggressive because they eat beef. I have heard this argument a zillion times, from a zillion sources. Beef makes these Mussalmans strong and virile. If I pointed out that all medical opinion stated precisely the opposite, that red meat increased blood pressure and cholesterol levels and tired even young people out, no one was prepared to listen. It is a question of body heat, I was told. Body heat keeps them going. Makes them more virile. That's why we veggies have no sustaining power, our blood is never aboil.

The other theory, equally curious but perhaps slightly more sustainable by history, was that it was their strong and rabid religious fervour that relentlessly drove the Mussalmans to victory. Everything, for them, is a Holy War. That is why they fight to win. Allah is on their side. But why can't we generate such religious fervour? I would argue. Why can't Ram be on our side? Because we are vegetarians, you fool, would be the pat answer. We are too soft. We eat all this ghas pus stuff.

An extension of the same argument is that our gods are too docile. They do not provoke such strong, aggressive feelings in us Hindus. We are not kafir-bashers. We are a gentle, peace loving, god-fearing nation of vegetarians that has, again and again, been attacked and vandalised by foreign invaders. Starting with the Huns and Tartars. Followed by the Greeks and the Mughals. Later, by a gaggle of Europeans led by the Dutch, the Portuguese, the French, and finally the British, who came to set up shop but eventually took over the nation.

The third argument is equally specious but slightly more interesting. We lose on the sportsfield, I was told, because we come from the land of Mahavira and Buddha, Ashoka and Gandhi and, therefore, we have no killer instinct. We.have grown up as losers, with ahinsa and non-violence in our blood. So we can never be aggressive enough. We can never see the other team as the enemy, to be fought back and finished off ruthlessly. This is what holds us back as a nation from realising our true potential. We are not into bodyline. We are not into jihad. We are not into biting off our rival's ears.

Of course, history seems to suggest otherwise. Just as medical science does with beef. Hitler was a veggie: a fact that seems slightly inconsistent with the argument. Also, the fact that just the other day, we saw this huge ahinsak crowd attack the Babri Masjid with a religious fervour that would have done any Khomeini proud. Huge crowds of cheering veggies egged them on. There was no killer instinct missing there. No one seemed to remember that we belonged to the land of Mahavira and Buddha, Ashoka and Gandhi.

But we are not discussing the Babri Masjid here. We are discussing India and Pakistan. How it was dinned into our heads, when we were kids, that the Pakistanis are winners and we are not.

Was it true? Well, there's no evidence to suggest this. In fact, the truth seems quite the opposite. We have never done badly during our skirmishes and the only time we ever really went to war by proxy, over Bangladesh we not only won the war, dismembered Pakistan, installed a government of our choice in what was once East Pakistan, but also crushed the Pakistani army out there and forced it to concede ignominous defeat. We proved conclusively that whatever may be Pakistan's military edge over us, in terms of aircraft, missiles, fire power, training and emotional commitment, we were vastly stronger in real terms.

But that was years back. The old stories are back once again. The same complaints. Why can't we face up to the Pakistani pace bowlers? Why can't we lobby as well as them on Capitol Hill? Why can't we persuade the Yanks to sell us those advanced aircraft that they give the Pakistanis for free? Why can't we make television serials as well as they do? Why can't we keep both the Americans and the Chinese happy, as they do? Why is our hockey team inferior to theirs? Why can we never get their batsmen out before they knock these huge centuries off us?

Frankly, I don't care any more. Let the Pakistanis win all the cricket matches. Let them buy all the Phantom jets they want. Let them get everything they want from the Yanks and the Chinese. Let them win the Olympic gold medal for hockey if they can. Let them produce squash champion after squash champion for as long as they want. As long as we get what we want. Democracy. A free press. A government that does not live off hate and envy. An army that does not interfere with our political life.

Some weeks back, at Wagah, thousands of young Indians from Assam, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram, Punjab turned up for a candle light midnight vigil. Hoping to attract others like them from across the border. They did it last year as well. And the year before. But each time the Pakistani government clamped down. It refused to allow its citizens to respond. This year, it was the same story. Even though we were both celebrating fifty years of freedom. Even though our prime minister had taken a huge political risk to start a dialogue with Nawaz Sharief, one to one.

It was Pakistan's loss. Not ours.

Maybe that is one reason why the whole world is celebrating with us these days. Magazines after magazines have brought out issues on 50 years of Indian democracy. Newspapers put together special supplements. Cities all over the world hosted events. There's a huge party on, which will continue at least for another year and may be till the millennium, if all goes right with us and our economy where, as the prime minister said recently, we hope to set a scorching pace of growth. Ten per cent is the target we have set ourselves. With over $ 30 billion lying in our kitty.

Meanwhile, in Pakistan, the lights are out. Growth has barely touched 3 per cent. The trade gap is $ 3 billion. Over 30 per cent of its 138 million people live in abject poverty, up from under 20 per cent just six years back. Foreign investment has virtually dried up. The party is over. No one anywhere in the world has even noticed the fact that our neighbour too is celebrating its 50 years of Independence.

Why the difference? I would like to believe it's democracy. Free speech. An open society. Give me these any day and let Pakistan have the rest.

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