Trump and
Kashmir: a 1,500-year-old issue
I am amazed
at the astonishment of these pundits who are turning their heads in
astonishment at President Donald Trump’s latest statement on the Kashmir
dispute, asking each other whether Trump really said the same thing about the
India-Pakistan tension in response to a reporter’s question on the presidential
plane Air Force One.
‘India and
Pakistan, as everyone knows, are very close. They have been fighting over
Kashmir for thousands of years. The Kashmir dispute is thousands of years old,
maybe even older. Yesterday (Tuesday) more than thirty people were killed
there. It was very bad. There has been tension on their borders for fifteen
hundred years, but I know the leaders on both sides. They will resolve this
issue one way or the other. There is a lot of tension at the moment, but it has
always been there.’
Surely in a
few hours or a day and a half, some clarifying statement will be issued from
the White House that Mr. President did not mean this or that. His words are
being taken out of context, etc., etc.
Till then we
will keep on saying to ourselves how can this happen. Why would the head of the
only superpower be so ignorant of world politics, current affairs and
geography? That too, a leader whose single sentence caused trillions of dollars
to sink in the stock markets around the world just a few days ago.
No, man, we
are the fools. Actually, brother Trump has a very sharp sense of humor. He was
mocking India and Pakistan, saying that they are habitual quarrelers. It is
foolish to get in their way. We will deal with each other ourselves as before.
But if
Brother Trump can say in the recent past that immigrants in Ohio are eating the
dogs and cats of the local people, if he can ask Denmark for what price they
will sell Greenland or we will take it by force, or that Covid is nothing but a
trick of medical scientists, or that the deterioration of the global
environment is just the propaganda of a handful of so-called experts, or that I
consider Canada to be the ninety-first province of the United States and Justin
Trudeau is its governor.
Or that the
easy solution to Gaza is for all the Palestinians to leave so that billions of
dollars can be invested in promoting tourism in this beautiful strip, or that
President Zelensky can buy peace for Ukraine by handing over 20% of Russia's
territory and 50% of its mineral wealth to the United States, then what is
wrong with that?
Or Trump's
idea that every country and region in the world, including China and the
European Union, is making a fool of the United States and riding on its back,
etc.
If the above
thoughts do not seem funny to you, then why raise the question of weighing
President Trump's valuable thoughts on Pakistan-India tension in the scale of
satire or seriousness? Some envious people are even saying that Trump's
presence in the White House is actually a deep satire on the American system.
Isn't it
necessary for the king to be as good at history, geography and political
knowledge as fencing and horse riding? Aren't a paid aide and an advisor
minister enough for this job? The king can have other important tasks,
including keeping an eye on the affairs of the state. According to Ibn-e-Insha,
"Would you prefer to be Akbar by remaining illiterate or to be his nine
jewels by reading and writing?"
Why only
target Trump's knowledge? President Gerald Ford, during his 1976 presidential
debate with his opponent, Jimmy Carter, was not convinced that Poland, like
other countries in Eastern Europe, was part of the Soviet sphere of influence.
Reagan's
Vice President Don Quayle believed that people living in Latin America spoke
Latin. The satirists of America had launched a whole movement of 'Bushism' on
the 'amazing'
geopolitical,
political and linguistic knowledge of George Bush Jr.
As an
example, one of his famous quotes is 'I have warm relations with all the
leaders of the Gulf, including President Mubarak (Egypt), Crown Prince Abdullah
(Saudi Arabia) and the King of Jordan'. (Washington, May 29, 2003).
Didn't you
see that former President Joe Biden twice showed great anger and outrage in
October 2023 over the news that Hamas beheaded forty children during an attack
on southern Israel. Later, a White House spokesman had to say that these were
unconfirmed reports, but President Biden referred to this “incident” once again
a few months later.
If our beloved
former President Zia-ul-Haq could have praised the scientific efforts to
generate electricity from giants at a science and technology conference in
Islamabad. If former Prime Minister Imran Khan could have connected the borders
of Germany and Japan.
If the
respected Mahagyani Modi ji, in his first term, had Ganesh ji undergo plastic
surgery millions of years ago at the Indian Science Academy conference in
Mumbai, and then, in another place, by correcting historical facts, made
Alexander the Great and Porus fight on the banks of the Ganges, then why can’t
Trump think that the Pakistan-India dispute over Kashmir is 1500 years old?
His
unparalleled historical awareness is the basis of his friendship with my
neighbor Abdullah Panwale. Once, he also told me that in the meeting in March
1940 where the Pakistan resolution was presented, Quaid-e-Azam and Allama Iqbal
were sitting side by side on the stage.
I dared to
correct that Abdullah Bhai Iqbal had passed away two years ago. Abdullah Bhai,
full of confidence, while making a paste of katha on a betel leaf with a stick,
without raising his eyes, said, "He must have passed away, but Iqbal Sahib
was sitting on the stage. I have seen the picture myself."
One may
think anything about Abdullah Bhai's knowledge and virtue, but fortunately
Abdullah Bhai is not the king of any powerful country. Otherwise, millions of
lives could have become paste of katha on the betel leaf of the planet.
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