Saood Qaseem

Imagine the idea of the European Union taking root in the Indian Subcontinent – a place where people could move freely across borders with minimal hindrance. How it would alter the lives of the people who belong to this region; people who already share so much in terms of culture, languages and history. Thousands of families that are currently scattered across borders could have access to their relatives without fretting about ‘official’ permissions. The time and resources that this would save could be allocated so much more usefully in other areas.
An open border would also encourage free trade agreements which, in turn, would enhance business volumes and harvest greater profits. Precious resources are currently being wasted in long-winded bureaucratic procedures. Trade barriers such as tariffs and embargoes restrict trade volumes, causing losses worth billions of dollars to the countries’ respective economies. And so we have a scenario where the people of the Subcontinent are having to source products present in their own neighbourhoods from around the world; a process that involves major carbon emissions into the earth’s atmosphere and is contributing to global warming (cited by experts as a major cause of the floods that ravaged Pakistan in 2010).
The combined power of the markets of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh would far surpass China, giving a bargaining advantage to these countries and help in winning multi-lateral trade agreements. ‘Big is Beautiful’ still holds true for consumer markets. A free flow would also create more jobs and increase per capita income. Workers would not have to move to far-flung places in search of jobs – it would be as simple as knocking on a neighbour’s door. The opportunity to exchange skills and ideas would only add to our collective strength and would help us realise the synergies that are currently not being exploited.
With all these obvious benefits, it seems senseless to be deliberately depriving ourselves of options that would only make the quality of life better for the people of our country. The enormous amounts we currently spend on defence are crippling our ability to move forward. And the instability we live with due to a constant threat of war or aggression from our neighbours is keeping us from realising our true potential. Yes, there is Kashmir, and there is water, and there is a history of suspicion, grievances and conflict that cannot just be wished away. But building trust has to start somewhere, and where better to start than with direct interaction between our people?
Given the turbulent history of our region, my thoughts may sound like fantasies to some. For long we have harboured an attitude that deems the current status quo as the only available option. But examples from the rest of the world prove that a new era is in fact possible. The Germans and the French fought each other just half a century ago (World War II), but today they both belong to the European Union. The difference in this example and our own reality is that France and Germany have realised what we have yet to accept:
‘War is a game where both sides lose’.
We all started this
A journey that begins
For dawn
A hope that was going to be born
Having captains with us
To help us in crux
We had cattle and flocks
In a bloody storm
Hair filled with dust
And
And a heart nearly to burst
But still
All of us were
Aiming for the horizon
With briskly flesh
And thoughts in mesh
then suddenly
Those trusting captains and leaders
Changed their direction
Only thing left
was oblivion
Breathing with utmost desire became
Painful
Ache became fateful
We tried to move faster
But feet were numbed!
Amid the throttling
Dead bodies
Each careless footstep
Spatter the blood on
Our rep
With the wheeze that became choking
And the whisper
Now revolting
And then
Captains evaded from our gaze
Leaving us in a mist of daze
We had no specs
And sans strength
then
The night arrived
And planned to rule us
Famished, voided and denuded
We were such ill-fated.
Now darkness became deep and stretched
So much that we forgot our features
and the
Sounds that was once heard
But
Suddenly
The shout of a bleeding
In the pool of dying men
Startled everyone
His obscure words
Informed us
that his
Shriek of joy
Witnessed something
In the sky
Darkness died
And sun recognized!