How about South Asia going the Api wenuwen api way?
My thoughts are with Wasim Akram, former captain of the Pakistan
cricket team. I read this morning that Wasim Akram’s wife had passed
away after a brief illness, but this is not the only reason why I
remembered him. I remembered Wasim Akram for a remark he made in the
aftermath of the terrorist attack in Mumbai.
In a bloody three-day period in November 2008, Mumbai was virtually
besieged by terrorists and when it was all over, 173 people were dead
and 308 wounded. There was horror expressed from all quarters. Delhi,
naturally, expressed anger and began pointing fingers at Pakistan. There
was denial, naturally, from the Pakistanis, along with pledges to
support India in investigations. There was also one voice of sanity,
that of Wasim Akram.
Akram suggested that India and Pakistan should play a Test match in
Mumbai. That’s not really something that would wipe out terrorism of
course but then neither was that the intent of the suggestion. This is
what Akram said: “Cricket is not on anyone’s mind at the moment, but
after three to four days both countries must take a positive step.
I suggest Pakistan and India play a Test in Mumbai to give the clear
message that we will not give in (to terrorism).”
Media reports at the time indicated that the Indian Government would
cancel the cricket tour of Pakistan scheduled for early 2009. Akram
pointed out that if terrorist attacks hits cricketing relations between
the two countries it would amount to caving into the designs of the
terrorists.
It must be mentioned also that in 1999, Akram captained Pakistan on a
tour of India, the first such tour after a decade, despite threats from
Hindu fundamentalists.
“Cricket means everything in the Sub-continent. It has built bridges
and has averted wars on several occasions. People love and worship
cricket, so it would be a great loss if cricket is halted. I hope it
isn’t,” Akram added.
He was right. Cricket is a healer. In 1996, when Australia and the
West Indies refused to play in Sri Lanka citing safety issues, Indian
and Pakistani played a goodwill game against Sri Lanka in Colombo,
showing solidarity and demonstrating to the world that Australian and
the West Indian fears were unfounded.
Sri Lanka similarly toured Pakistan at a time when no other
test-playing country was willing to go there. They suffered a terrorist
attack but vowed to re-visit. The Subcontinent teams are bitter rivals,
but they do root for each other against other countries.
The sentiment and its logic can extend beyond the boundary line, I
believe. A few days ago I read about some bomb explosion in Bangladesh.
I am acutely aware of what is happening (and not happening) in
Afghanistan and Pakistan.
I read about Indian politics, not just about Kashmir but other places
where horrendous crimes against humanity are perpetrated. And I live in
Sri Lanka, which is a country that lived through and survived three
decades of terrorism.
In short South Asia is a volatile region. ‘Security’ is of top-most
concern to all member states of SAARC. Unfortunately, ‘security’ is an
issue that we have not handled well, each opting to go alone and some
opting for outsiders to dictate how things should be done.
On the pretext of hunting Osama bin-Laden, the USA and its allies
have invaded Afghanistan. They are clearly persuaded by other interests
including accessing oil resources. US troops in our backyard is
something all South Asian nations ought to be worried about.
Historically, though, we have allowed our fears of one another to
persuade us to run to one world power or the other, allowing for an
unhealthy poking of dirty outsider-fingers in our affairs.
Yes, we have a long history of suspecting one another of ill-intent,
but this does not mean that we should or will continue to bite each
other until the end of time.
More seriously, it does not mean we have to ignore the fact that our
‘in-fighting’ has made it possible for people who really don’t give a
damn about the welfare of our people or our strategic or other interests
to plunk themselves in our midst and do the do-as-I-like.
There are troops from some 16 countries ‘fighting’ in Afghanistan
right now. Apart from promises and minor degrees of ‘logistical
support’, South Asia (apart from Pakistan and Afghanistan of course) is
out of the picture. These countries are not there for the love of
democracy or the Afghans or even the Pakistanis, and this is pretty
obvious, considering the untold suffering they’ve caused. Neither are
they really interested or even capable of fighting terrorism. They’ve
overstayed their welcome, are going nowhere in terms of finding Osama
bin-Laden or annihilating the Taliban and it is high time they accepted
defeat and quit the region.
Today, SAARC is at a point when it should redefine the nature of
stated commitment to regional security. This is a time when SAARC must
seriously consider the formation of its own regional security net,
including the deployment of ‘SAARC Security Forces’ (once formed) when
and where necessary.
Shifting paradigms is never easy of course, but for all its flaws and
its over-weighting of India, SAARC exists and is a positive development
in terms of regional cooperation. The limits can be pushed. Always.
The issues that are footnoted or absented can be brought into the
main text. There’s a common history and heritage we can all derive
strength from, a brotherhood that exists and which Wasim Akram
recognized and advocated. I believe it is time.
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