Daily Times

“An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.” The wisdom of Mahatma Gandhi’s words resonate louder than ever today when his country and its neighbour are once again embroiled in a game of revenge, unleashing a narrative of simmering hate and mistrust. The brutal and very unfortunate killing of the Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh in Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore last week invoked an expected but utterly regrettable aftermath in the form of an equally brutal attack on a Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah Ranjay in Jammu, India, resulting in serious head injuries that resulted in a coma. His condition remains critical. The Indian media, after Sarabjit’s death, showed protesters chanting anti-Pakistan slogans, burning Pakistani flags, and threatening dire consequences to Pakistan, while some hyper-nationalist TV anchors echoed the same sentiment. Then came the attack on Sanaullah, which acted as a dampener for the moral high ground India had claimed after the first tragedy. But the need of the moment is to highlight the sane and rational voices of those in the media, society and, of course, government in both Pakistan and India, who preach calm and measured responses to ensure that the outrage does not spill into fermenting more misunderstandings between the two neighbours who have barely recovered from the LoC incident earlier this year. It is highly regrettable that the Sarabjit incident, which was an opportunity for troublemakers to unleash violence on Pakistani prisoners in India, did not result in an immediate response from the authorities to put in place mechanisms to guarantee the protection of jailed Pakistanis. The statement from Mr Farooq Abdullah simply reiterates how the hugely flawed principle of revenge is supported by even those who should know better: two wrongs don’t make a right, and anything supporting the opposite view should be avoided in all circumstances.

The jingoistic and extremist overtones must be dropped by both countries, and the tit-for-tat narrative must be cast aside to formulate a workable policy that would alleviate the misery of many suffering in jails, some even on trumped-up charges. The best outcome of last week’s gory events would be to devise a dialogue that would focus on exchange of prisoners (many of them poor fishermen), immediate release of prisoners at the culmination of their sentences, protection inside prisons, guarantee of rights, facility to interact with lawyers, freedom to appeal, and visitation rights for the family (issuance of visas). Instead of fanning inopportune sentiments of hatred, animosity, a-life-for-a-life, validating ultra-nationalistic, extreme mindsets, let us come together to bring forth a new narrative of humaneness, open-mindedness, generosity of spirit, ability to forgive, ability to look at the long-term good of our peoples, and infuse a spirit of trust, bringing the people on both sides who have much in common together rather than continue to regard one another as enemies, and making Pakistan-India friendship a reality, not just mere lip-synching of mantras of peace that achieve nothing more than mere skimming over issues whose peaceful solution would have far-reaching benefits for the social, political and geo-strategic dynamic of the region. *