Dear All,
My column in TOI today on Indo-Pak peace, posted here. Do read, would love to know your thoughts. Also read the comments left on this blog, which often tend to be very interesting and insightful as well.
Regards,
Chetan
Dear All,
My column in TOI today on Indo-Pak peace, posted here. Do read, would love to know your thoughts. Also read the comments left on this blog, which often tend to be very interesting and insightful as well.
Regards,
Chetan
well written! u wrote from ur soul!
very good dream! every Indians dream!
can we bring revolution(democracy) in pakisthan?
bhai,they r our own family.. lazy buggers!
my view: there r two points to catalyst the peace process!
dismantle pakisthani punjabi dominated army!!
& remove north Indians from the negotiating table( they have seen it! hate factor is more in their blood! )
forgive me for writing rudely! me to belongs to CB family;)
let us pray – all is well
Awesome article … nicely done
plz unblock me on twitter
Loved the article and the message.
Especially the end note of the song “All we are saying is give peace a chance.”
Hi Chetan,
I liked the article. You have mentioned it very wellb
Channelise the libido, save the youth http://iitashish.blogspot.com/2010/02/channelise-libido-save-youth.html
The defense budget savings you refer to in building an economic case towards peace is a notional saving assuming talking peace would bring down defense budgets… this has never happened in the history of both the countries, irrespective of the communicative stage of the two countries.
We both battle a common enemy; terrorism; it’s a different point that India believes it’s the state sponsored terrorism. So long as this belief holds, there is little merit in talking peace with the same govt machinery, which sponsors attacks such as Mumbai attacks (There is evidence of govt support to the terror attack at Mumbai according to Indian Home Minister; even otherwise ISI and Pak govt are not naive enough to let pass a convoy of terrorists in a jetty to India)
I think a better economic reason could be looking Pakistan as a market, which both TOI and JUNG realize, and hence the spends towards marketing each other in their respective countries.
Statesmen bigger than politicians such as Vajpayee have failed to inspire peace in pakistan which as a nation is a failed nation. The only redemption can come to them through it’s own people. So long as they keep on electing leaders like Zardari, there’s little hope and chance for peace to prevail.
I am all for peace too but when did we attack Pak in any way so as a nation we have been at peace (irrespective of the no. of people who die in terrorists attack)probably because of the nuclear deterrent and attacking Pak would potentially create an even more unstable Pakistan (Look at Afghanistan and Iraq), so peace is required to have a more stable Pak which is in our interests.
Chetan, while reading first part I felt you are trying to avoid clashes with some “not so political” political establishments in our country, then as always your hard work at IIM reflected in the form of calculation, but after that I can’t agree with you, as you should understand that peace with Pakistan is simply not possible, and some how I feel that even you understands it but hiding it, and if not lemme try to make a not so valid point
In all types of trainings and education in pakistan it is taught to them that India is a Hindu nation, so basics of our relation is not correct and it is very unlikely that it can be corrected in near future, secondly most powerful establishment of pakistan i.e army is anti India, and they are so because they have huge shares in business in pakistan and they controls them by creating a fear from India,thirdly china is using pakistan and it won’t let it slip so easily that too after investing so heavily in projects like Gawadar,karakoram highway and IPC pipeline, there is always a skepticism in pakistan over role of India in afghanistan, and they will find it really hard to let go taliban from there hand, about nuclear issue I would say that firing a missile doesn’t means that it will hit the target, there is a defense mechanism against that too, we have to spend on defense not just because of Pakistan, but also because of China, and you must be knowing about diplomacy and it’s role and I feel you can understand the role of military strength in diplomacy else country like UK which has no enemy, needs a huge military power, and spend so much money on defense. so I find your logic quite flawed. However if you wish to clear some of my misconceptions you are welcome. But at the end I would say peace is the best option and wat you wanted to say was absolutely correct. all the best keep it up
Hi Chetan,
I liked the article…I too want to see peace between these two nations..and i am all for it …but my comment just refers to my thoughts…. i just wonders is there another “Chetan Bhagat” on the Pak side…who think the same….i know you recently had a meeting with a writer from Pak…can you share some thoughts from his side…how do people believe on the other side. Bcoz merely making attempts from one side can never make a difference.. even though i know its a joint effort but we need to see the other side of the coin as well..Aman ki asha will surely become aman ki ashes if the attempt is single sided…
Also it would be great to hear the comments from the other side…does ppl have same beliefs or is it just Indians who are more towards it…i know there may be ppl like us on the other side but we need to know….
Peace wid pakis is the most irratonal thing in todays scenario… how can one trust them after knowing their past record… we will keep harbouring on “aman ki asha” – the peace mission n they … as usual will indulge in cross border firing violating ceasefire..promoting terrorism… MOREOVER PAKIS cant be trusted with their nuclear power NEVER EVER. You are absolutely right PEACE – a desire to live and let live but Can you trust pakistan on this … they only want to live themselves but not us .. not anyone
Sorry Bro. The broad outline of Peace is good, but we’ve done and suffered enough by making constant overtures. Peace is always a 50-50 effort of two sides, not 1. Kargil, 26/11, the attack on the parliament, our movies not being shown in theaters in Pak, our artistes are not welcome- no visas, their school books propagating hate against India etc, etc. Dude, this is just not on. Once, just once, why don’t we have some pre-conditions for talks?
We all agree, peace is the best thing that can happen, but not at a high cost for us. Read up on Niccolo Macchiavelli’s The Prince. It describes how a prince/ruler/government should behave to succeed. Whilst all of it might not be relevant to today’s world, a lot of it is very, very relevant.
Hi,
Good article.ever since my childhood from from ‘Bus to Lahore’ by vajpayejee to present offer to peace processes.How long can we be tolerent to these impenetrable curs who are like parasites to our nation?
we should be ashamed for our politicians too for their pre and post campaigning speeches. What about their speech on recovering all accounts that are at Swiss bank? what about their actions on IT recovery from our so called politicians and tycoons? power came… money came… now play the blame game.
Regards
Hi Chetan,
By stating that peace with Pakistan does not mean love you have in one line defined what our goal vis a vis Pakistan should be while addressing at the same time the visceral reaction that Pakistan evokes in all Indians.I think this has been understood clearly by successive Indian governments and the mandarins in the Indian foreign office.One can fault them however for not conveying this to the public with the clarity that you have.The billion dollar question is how does one achieve this given the many vested interests that exist in Pakistan?
Very well written article…
We need peace not because we love Pakistan but we love India and we can’t see astronomical spendings on defence while millions of Indians do not get their meals due to poverty , thousands of families have excluded pulses from diet due to inflation…with the fact that India or Pakistan they can’t overpower each other as nuclear weapons are with both.
So peace can help us grow because we must focus our efforts on more productive concerns.
Well said Dada(big brother in Bengali)!
Peace is the only solution for all the conflicts between the two boundaries!
I hope people who are opposing any kind relation with Pakistan start thinking again after reading your article.
nice article but hypothesis with hypothetical confidence levels of calculations.Media abstain may be a better route as all forms of reporting irrespective of any category of news is with politics and terrorism which does no good to our thoughts or our lives
Chetan,the column u have written on the pease issue b/w India and Pakistan is truly what most of the youngsters of my country think but i would also like to point out that you are triyng and being highly diplomatic and binaric at the same time i wonder how you manage it all the time u have certainly echoed our thoughts.
Hi Chetan !
A factually correct well written article ! but before we compare the amt of money that is spent on defense or golden quadrilateral ,we need to introspect & undertsand the fact that who do we elect to spend that money. A set of leaders who spend crores of money in making flower arrangement for just a state ministers meeting(KARNATAKA) or governors who transform the governor house into brotheral?…or leaders who spend crores of money in making state of art…personnel statues..or people who are not capable of finding out any name other than one of the late gandhi’s for every new landmark (sea-link) that is being made…Do you expect such people will be worrying abt teh defense expenditure ?
Undoubtably peace has a great economic value but, before everything,we need a through change in our system of governence..
ttp://takshila-vidushi-speaks.blogspot.com/2010_02_01_archive.html
vry nice
Hey Mr.CB,
I would start by the rude truth “No one gets everything!” Though peace with PAK is good to hear it didnt happen, it isnt happening, and for some good reason it wont happen. Sorry for my pessimistic thinking.
I admire the home work you did to know the defence expenditure of India. To remind you PAK isnt the only troubling neihbour we have. Chini Bhai (China)is just above our head. If not for PAK we need to defend from China as well. Just as we were thinking about peace with Pak, they took Kashmir from us, China too helped and got its share (Aksai Chin). Would you say Peace with China too ?
Why we should not make peace with Pakistan for one simple reason, they don’t need peace. They need Guns and Battle,even if we dont like we need to live that way only. We made Shimla peace, they attacked the next year. We send Lahore bus, they attacked Kargil. We send Samjauha Express, they come in that same train to attack Delhi. We just took our eyes of Coast, they attacked Mumbai. Aman ki Asha will not be fulfilled, and I pray it doesn’t, coz they take that an oppurtunity and plot bombs that kills my innocent brethern
-Rajesh
Hey CB,
Why dont we invade PAK and make them understant we need peace at all cost
Hey.How much they Paid you for publicizing 3 idiots
Hey.Instead of writing join politics in near future.PEOPLE WILL DEFINITELY LISTEN.AND power prevails more than words.
well written… i agree that peace is the only way forward… but ur view that money should be diverted frm defense to development makes sense bcoz of our massive poverty.. but for offering peace we have to become superpowerful with respect to pakistan.. only then their army will find some sense n bend in diplomatic discussions.. for that to happen we must privatise our arms manufacturing system.. just like what china,usa,russia,israel etc. has done.. then we dont have to buy those latest but highly over-priced weapons frm other countries..and we do need superior arms bcoz of our threat to china.. for that we should privatise our arms production system.. which will in process save millions of dollars which wont be req. in buying foreign arms.. and can be diverted to developmental projects.
sir,
kindly write about ur Jabalpur experience in ur blog. it would definitely add to boost up the spirits of ur jabalpurites fans….and to maintain the euphoria ever since u visited.
Kudos to ur thoughts, u wrote it very well!! However, it is easier said than done. There are lot of hurdles, which would obligate to initiate a momentum like this, from our leadership. After-all, this is how they are & they want it to be.
Anyways, we only can wish of things getting better, but cannot do something for that better!! The reason being, the moment you raise ur voice, u go in peace…. by none other than our owns.
The apathy is so strong that people who want peace just work on 9 to 5 jobs, do some shopping and go to sleep. The rest are on the LOC trying to save the other rest. There can be no ‘forever’ peace.
u r amazing person who write amazing books 4 amazing readers…
Not too sure whether CB reads our comments? But still I want to express!!
The article is good. Very simple but crisp in idea. I thank him for redefining peace. It may perhaps be useful for the ones who still misinterpret peace with love!
By the way what is the difference between ceasefire and peace? Aren’t both the same? If yes then India has done enough from its part.
Borders are never positive. Differences in currency value are never good.
Border and currency difference are the biggest enemy to the peace. I strongly believe that it is impossible to restore peace unless worked at a world level. Now it is 2010 which puts us approx 4610 years ahead of the Mohenjo-Daro civilization. So how can we act foolishly when alone in India we are annually producing 7000+ PhDs?
The term “peace” must have been politically created. And it will last till the time ego is present within bureaucracy. The existence of ego in the bureaucrats is as old as the bureaucracy itself. In fact ego must have created bureaucracy. But point to note here is that both are created by humans. Hence it can only be corrected by humans. Any way who else we can expect?
Irony of the story is that human life span is insufficient to solve these issues. Even Gandhi and Lincoln failed to restore complete peace! So what can a common man do? It’s only the suffering which comes into our account. We live to witness the never ending foul play of bureaucrats and ego.
Issues such as Pakistan, Gaza, Al-Qaeda or Israel are never going to end. Gracefully we should leave it for our great^ (infinity) grand children. As they also deserve their part of enjoyment!
From my part I am not going to waste my life. I have put forward my steps for teaching poor students, motivating labors and enlightening the minds of the beggars. These steps could be smaller but are valid. Cant do more than this!
I request all to understand that peace is our basic human right. Fight for it. And please don’t stop your breath till the time you get it!
Great work Chetan…something all Indians wish of..
Mansi
hi chetan sir,
i am first time writing any blog, well fristly i will like to congratulate and thanks for your Novels and then i wanna explain you my story if you are interested to write another novel
I read ur article its really meaningful…
Chetan Sir,
I am calling you ‘Sir’ because you are an IITian and I am from REC, Bhopal. TO say ‘Sir’ to you is justified. Sir, may be that this is not the place to write what I am trying to write here, but Still I hope that you would read and give your comment.
Sir, I have done Civil Engineering from REC, Bhopal in 1997, have worked for 10 years with NHPC and for past 2 years in EIL, New Delhi. But I have never been a Civil Engineer by heart, but a very soft, delicate and thoughtful Poet. I have not gone in the field of writing long stories but have passion to write Prose and short Poetries. In Hindi, I have written many Kavitas, Ghazals by heart and of lengths.
Not because I seek any help from you, but because I know that a person of your calibre can really tell me rightly, if I write really good; I am writing below some of my own written 8-10 lines. If you can please spare your most valuable 5 minutes to read these lines and give me your (really invaluable, for me) comments over them, I will be ever grateful to you Sir. These go as :
Phir ek baar bhula hai Karn ko Kunti ne,
Phir ek baar Kaikeyi ne maanga hai Ram ko Vanvaas
aur phir ek baar vivash huwe hain Pandav,
Chhal ka shikaar ban, raajya chhodne aur jaane ko adwaitwaas
Ye jhooth ka mithak kabhi tootata kyon nahin,
Satya ye naalaayak kabhi jeetata kyon nahin,
Sabhi sirf nek hon, bhale hon, aisa ho sakta kyon nahin,
Kab tak haran hoga maa Seeta ka, Raavan kab tak karega attahaas,
‘Yada-yada hi dharmasya….’ phir kyon kaha gaya shaashtron mein,
Baar-baar main janam lunga, kyon kaha Paarth-Sarathi ne,
Kitne hi Bhasmaasur, kitne hi Kans roz khade hanste samaaj mein,
deen-heen sa rota Maanav, phir bhi chamatkaar ki usko aas..,
Hey Ram, abki na jao Vanwaas ko tum,
Maryaada Purushottam, apne Maanav ki madad ko daude chale aao tum,
Mata Kunti abki na tajna apne hi ank ke pratham-paatra ko tum,
Bahut Janmaashtami man chuki, Hey Shri Krishna abki khud aao tum,
Tumhaari ore dekhkar rote hain deen-vivash sab jan-parijan,
Bahut andhkaar hai phail chuka, ab tum sab mil karo prakaash.
Phir ek baar bhula hai Karn ko Kunti ne,
Phir ek baar Kaikeyi ne maanga hai Ram ko Vanvaas ….!
Chetan Sir, I know it is not easy for you to respond to everybody like me. And I request you to not to respond me either. But, only if you feel that I have also written really like ‘everybody’. If you feel that I have written something different and that too differently, just acknowledge me. Your acknowledgement would be more than someone else’s blessings for me.
insightful article.Defence in Pakistan indulge in civilian jobs too like taking up contracts and other R&B works and holds high regard with the people over there but it is also a sign of Pakistan being a failed state.Army is a huge organisation in Pak and no clearcut demarcation is seen between forces and civilians unlike in India which makes it difficult to cut the budget and moreover ARMY is one of the biggest employer!
its an awesome experience to read your article.. well wrote, well thought, well compiled.. Bravo!!
hi chetan….
i js luv the way u write,and also the way u think…keep it up…
i wish more n more peole read ur articles…i’l definitely make a change in attitude of peopl,who r against peace and harmony….
Peace can only happen if the Pakistani people will realize by themselves that what ever they are doing is wrong,its not good for their own country and people , they are not going to achieve anything with all this scrap and if they spent the same amount of resources for the development of their country where this country can reach?But the question is who will make them to realize this??and what time will it take for them for this reformation??
They need a strong leader,democracy,education,and peaceful time to even think about peace.Right now they don’t have anything.They have military ruling them and we don’t know who (which countries) r ruling this military.50% of theirs population is below poverty line and uneducated.from educated population 50% r brain washed and wrongly educated , that is even worse then being uneducated.how can we think such country to think of moral issues??
as a neighbor ya we can help them out but the problems are
1) If India will say its a day they will think it must be night right now.their minds are set like that.
2) we have thousands of problems to solve within our own country..
3) trust??
These are all the questions to answer and problems to solve…but ya the solution is only one that is peace … but we don’t know when ?? who ?? and where ?? of this solution
Some very good thoughts there! But expecting Democracy in Pakistan is like asking USA to start minding its own business. IT JUST WON’T HAPPEN. The formula that every Democratic Party in Pakistan ever uses, to come to power is – “We will fight for Kashmir”. Our Government will tame India..Blah blah. You will agree that every country has its own DNA. A country that was born out of hatred and that has not changed in the last 50-60 years does not know what it must be like to have peace. Their anti social elements have no other business…if peace with India prevails then they will go out of business.
Secondly, you have gone into the economic aspects of the Defense Budget of both the countries. Pakistan does not have to worry because they are using US donations to fight against India. Musharraf has already admitted this on national television few months back. But coming back to your point, the cost of around $40 billion dollars is according to me a very very conservative figure. What about cost of human lives that both the nations have lost, and will continue to lose. How much are you going to value those lives at? The opportunity cost of losing one’s limbs, or parents or youth…it’s too goddamn costly to put a value!
If India can take care of its own democracy first, ensure that the borders are sealed – not just on the western side but also the eastern side, use the best equipments for its defense, without compromising procurement deals, then I think we can atleast hope to continue our normal lives.
I live in Hyderabad and from what I have heard from one of my local drivers here, “Hyd Old city” is home to hundreds of kids who lost their families in Gujarat riots. He said, these kids are all potential human bombs being raised for an occasion. How is our great Indian democracy going to help in preventing these bombs from going off…when it could not prevent the riots itself?.
As I began Chetan – All very good thoughts. But to me they seem nothing more than a farfetched dream. I know it’s not the most positive way to look at things, but as the old saying goes – That’s the way the cookie Crumbles
Money. Is not the end game. Get it mate.
Offence, many a time is the best defence and hence best guarantor of peace. Look at the reaction of media and government after 26/11 and relative peace. Compare that with earlier period.
As long as the enemy knows there is a price to pay for its folly and as long as it knows it cannot win, there will be peace.
Hi chetan, my 2 cents…i feel these initiatives like ‘aman ki asha’ also need 2 b balanced wth responsible reporting by media. A lot of Pak bashing goes on and on just because it sells. Positive instances like for instance a story of 2 friends separated by border get buried somewhere in a corner. Media should walk its talk and just not hope for results without actually doing something which ‘contributes’ in the real sense of the word.
the main thing in ur article was importance of pakistan’s peace for india.
must say it was a detailed article.
must read 4 thakray family…..oops!
hey chetan uncle,
u wrote nicely(well i am a damn little chick 2 judge)
bt i actuallly don’t c any point on writin ovr indo-pak stuff!
cuz evry time sum1 writes, he’s read, appreciated, & iz den forgotten again in a couple of dayz. den wat d hell is d meanin ovr writin abt dis stuff?
will d govt. do anything on reading ur article?
will d ministers change dere policies on readin ur article?
will d youth stand against riots in kashmir aftr readin ur article?
if nothin will happen, den y?tell mje y do v write such articles?
to aware people dat d indo-pak rivalry iz still alive?????????
Man u rock….bdw nyc article…..but i personal feel kya kuch badla hai jo badlega….yeh desh jaisa tha waisa hich rahega n its ol our fault u 9 v morons select those beauraucratz na well we ‘d think sensibly while voting at least na to carve out a new future of the peaceful india….ma dream india…..JAI HIND
Well written Sir, admire your writting skills.
Cheers!!
Wonderfull article.
Would luv seeing that day when India can actually concentrate on the resources we have in our prosperity and not on wars with other nations..
hey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!it was awesome
pls write something about shiv sena!!!!!!!!
i think all those guys are big fools and demolishers!!!!!!!!!
Hey chetan, read the column and it was pretty good. I liked the initiative you guys have taken. I am also someone who wants to see peace between us and them, have written a short story too “Woh Pakistani Hai”.
It was really commendable that you joined hands with TOI for Aman Ki Aasha campaign. And had a chat with Hanif Mohammad.
