My Name is NOT Khan

Today I received a forwarded email letter penned (do we 'finger' emails rather than 'pen' them?) by a Mr. Arindam Bandyopadhyay taking Mr. Shahrukh Khan to task for some of his recent remarks. Much as I did not want to jump into this fray, for some reason this email was the final straw that precipitated the email I sent back to the sender of the forwarded email.

I hesitate to reproduce the forwarded email in full in this blog both for space reasons (my own email is long enough!) but also because I have no wish to get into a copyright argument with anyone. If you wish to read it, please email me and I will happily forward it on. However, I have reproduced below my email (correcting a couple of silly typos). I hope it strikes a chord with whoever reads this.

Open letter to all (please forward as you see fit)

I trust that all who have diligently circulated the well-meaning and well-researched epistle from Shri Arindam Bandyopadhyay (AB) will do the same with this email. If possible, please include AB's original email which is below this one [not in the blog], since that contains links to other information on the web (and following those links and reading the comments below them is a sorry reminder that to use a computer all you need are fingers, a mind is optional).

I hold no brief for Shri Shahrukh Khan (SRK) or, indeed for AB, but just as each of them is entitled to their point of view, I trust that I am entitled to mine.

I followed the link to the DNA India site that contained the remarks made by SRK. On reading the penultimate paragraph I was struck by the language used and I quote it below in full:

Khan felt that the youth should circumvent all that is said about India and Pakistan by the politicians and say, "It (Pakistan) is a great neighbour to have. We are great neighbours, They are good neighbours. Let us love each other."

Read it again, please. If the writing is accurate, and there is no reason to suppose it isn't, what is actually being reported is that SRK is proposing a point of view that is entirely in keeping with that of such enlightened thinkers as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jesus Christ and indeed, with the basic tenets of Hinduism. And for those who have trouble remembering the latter (or dispute my remembrance of them), I recommend the following links:

http://hinduism.about.com/cs/basics/ht/idealhindu.htm [particularly item 12], and

http://gurudeva.org/basics/nineb/ [items 8 and 9, in particular]

Re-read the quoted paragraph. "Khan felt that the youth should... say," that Pakistan is a good neighbour and etc.

It sounds to me as if he is proposing a way forward out of this horrible, miasmic, quagmire that we of the subcontinent have been bequeathed by our ancestors. He is proposing that the youth, the ones who have to live with this going forward, make a breakthrough in solving this dirty problem that has killed millions and continues to poison every step we take towards 'normalising' relations with our neighbours.

It does not appear that SRK is "claiming that [Pakistan] is a great neighbour". Some unintentional misreporting by AB, there. It looks more as if he is trying to employ some positive psychology by getting the youth of this country to start thinking positively about a neighbour that we cannot simply wish away. Much the same appears to be the motivation behind the recent Times of India initiative, Aman ki Asha, to foster friendship between the peoples of India and Pakistan. The reasoning appears to be that we cannot put generations of hatred and enmity behind us in a day, but if we are to do so ultimately, we have to start somewhere. (Btw, wonderful choice of word, that: Asha, hope - that's all we have today.)

It is a geographical fact that we have Pakistan as a neighbour (and arguably the most troublesome one, though businessmen and economists are probably more worried about China and perhaps, rightfully so). We cannot wish that away. We have to live with it. So, sooner or later (probably much later), we are going to have to learn how to co-exist with them. And do so, despite the terrorists and the narrow-minded bigots (on both sides of the border), and the mealy-mouthed politicians, and the trigger-happy revengeful idiots (on both sides of the border). No country has a monopoly on idiocy (though some try very hard to corner the market).

Let us sell our share of idiocy and try to build a bull market in common sense. Please give it a thought.

As Karan Thapar is wont to say (paraphrased), "if you have been, thanks for reading".

sd/-

I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to the death, your right to say it. (attributed to Voltaire)

[And as I write this blog, the TV is on and Karan Thapar is discussing a possible Government response to the Pune blast with a couple of wonderfully articulate policy wonks (I haven't caught their names yet). Is restraint a sign of weakness or strength? The consensus appears to be that a heightened response plays right into the hands of the terrorists and those elements in the Pakistan government that support or sponsor them. Common sense appears to be prevailing. Thank you, whoever.]