As the situation between India and Pakistan is only tensing up further, with surgical strikes being carried out, Pakistani artistes being asked to go back, an Army veteran has written why he thinks sending the artists home will not bring peace.
Major Gaurav Arya says that the reason to send Pakistani artistes back home should be for the nation to show their solidarity for the soldiers fighting on the borders.
While many have voiced their opinion on social media, saying that it was wrong to send Pakistani artistes home, and most likely these are the very same people who also cheer the loudest when India hits a six during a match against Pakistan.
Will sending Pakistani artists back, stopping cricket and business with Pakistan actually end terror from Pakistan? No, it most certainly will not.
Arya says that while it is easy to say from a distance that people support their soldiers and the cause of peace, people also continue to enjoy matches and movies with Pakistanis in them, pretending like there is nothing wrong between the nations.
Why should the soldier alone bear the burden of the war? Is it his personal war to fight with the Pakistani soldiers or is he doing it for the one billion people of this nation?
The point Arya is trying to drive home is that why should a soldier continue to sacrifice his life when people are not ready to stand in solidarity with them in opposing the hostile nation they are fighting against.
Patriotism and sacrifice is not the sole responsibility of the soldier.
A status or photo on social media in mourning and memoriam after a soldier’s death will not affect him and neither will it matter to him if the latest Bollywood song is being crooned by an Indian or a Pakistani.
But the fact that Indians are sending back the “others” while they are fighting them on the border, might resonate with them a feeling of solidarity – that the nation is standing behind them and their life will not be lost in vain.
No, sending a Pakistani artiste back or not playing a cricket match against them will not bring peace, not even remotely. But it might make a soldier feel that his sacrifices do matter to his country.
Read the full letter here
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