@balu Religion if we talk about it is going back in both countries… Pak and India are now beginning to understand the value of the separation of state and religion. To me sabre rattling will continue but war? i doubt it..if there are billions of hawks in India and Pak why did mush have to resign and why did congress win your elections? Two very big change pointers towards progression of thought

@J.Kactuz Actually the radicals have nothing on their side but their own blind faith. Historically Hindus and Muslims have lived together in the su continent in peace for 100′s of years and intermarried and there were not a lot of issues of hatred before partition…the mughals were regarded as invaders but in time they married many Hindus and assimilated, the most famous queen of the mughal era was jodha bai…Akbars hindu wife. So that’s history and as far as Pak being taken over in 2 years??? people have been saying that here as well but i do no think Pak will be taken over by anyone frankly. in fact it is in India’s benefit that Pak is not over run because then there will be nothing separating them from the hordes.
Lol at the p.s thats essentially true!!

@ Terry dood…I never looked down upon any Indian in college life neither do i agree with the fact of religion being the dividing force, even now there are more Muslims in India then in Pak and if you speak to them most are very happy there. Plus we were in college a good 9-10 years ago terry a very different world then it is now. As far as i can tell living in Karachi the Indian and Pak people, atleast the educated ones have accepted the basic fact that it is politicians not general pubic which wants war. Plus you are a prime example of intermarriage yourself man, so look at your own life and its success

IT IS so interesting how close the Pakistanis and Indians are in so many ways – except one. That one thing is a big thing – so big that it cannot be bridged.

I don’t like Islam so you can guess where my sympathies are. I think that it is up to Muslims to change. Even with the many problems these last 62 years, India still treat its minorities much better that Pakistan (what few are left!). War is unthinkable but not impossible. There are many people (more in Pakistan than India) that feel it is their destiny. These people think this way because of their religion, which is becoming more radical. The Pakistan government has made some progress in the war against the Taliban in these last 2 months, but my opinion is that in the long run the fundamentalist jihadis will take over Pakistan. I give it two years, max.

Understand that the radicals have history and religion on their side. The radicals will win because Pakistan is built upon a religious ideal and the radicals understand this. The good people of Pakistan, like you, will have to choose, and either way you lose.

I hope I am wrong, but probably not.

Take care,

Kactuz

PS: There is a well known American rightwing nut named Couter that said something about this. It is mean-spirited but there is some truth in it. She said: “Pakistanis are just Indians that continue to serve their Arab masters.”

PS: There should be Ind-Pak cricket team vs Rest of the world match. Guess who will win… =D

Totally agree with this; As all of us who went to study abroad found out, we made friends very easily with our Indian college mates. And despite being back and being separated by the dividing line are still great friends.

even when the war of words was taking place post-Mumbai shooting, and both sides were at each others throats, my indian friend and i chose not to discuss the subject.
we wanted our friendship to not fall victim to the politics that run between our two countries. we chose to stay in a bubble for those stressful days, and when something would effect me, a friend from delhi would ORDER me to not watch their news.