Yesterday, a friend of mine showed me some stunning pictures he took in East Turkestan or Xinjiang as the Chinese call it. The pics were taken in 2006 and in Kashgar, I saw traces of Old Delhi, traces of Lahore and Kabul. This town would be around 1 and a half hours by flight from Srinagar.
There is a cultural continuity that transcends man-made and disputed borders. Yet, for an Indian to go to Kashgar, he would have to travel all the way from eastern China. Who benefits from hostility between India and China? The corrupt defence ministry officials and army officers, who make a killing off arms deals. They justify spending billions on the basis of having a hostile Pakistan and China.
While I write this, Europeans can move around freely across their continent and they probably laugh at us, Asians, for being so hostile to each other. Sure, the Europeans needed several bloody wars and destruction to get to where they are now. But we can learn from their mistakes and leap-frog this, can't we?
There is a cultural continuity that transcends man-made and disputed borders. Yet, for an Indian to go to Kashgar, he would have to travel all the way from eastern China. Who benefits from hostility between India and China? The corrupt defence ministry officials and army officers, who make a killing off arms deals. They justify spending billions on the basis of having a hostile Pakistan and China.
While I write this, Europeans can move around freely across their continent and they probably laugh at us, Asians, for being so hostile to each other. Sure, the Europeans needed several bloody wars and destruction to get to where they are now. But we can learn from their mistakes and leap-frog this, can't we?
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