The ‘Aman ki Asha’ gang has woken up from its deep slumber after lyricist Javed Akhtar made headlines for criticising Pakistan for its role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
Akhtar, who had recently been to Lahore to attend the Faiz Festival, had also claimed that there was intolerance on both sides of the border. The vicious cabal, which has been selling the mirage of peace to common Indian citizens, sought to exploit the opportunity.
They suggested that it was time to mend the relations with the hostile neighbouring country and extend the olive branch and help them out ‘in time of crisis’. This despite India being at the receiving end of Pakistan’s nefarious designs from time to time. This ‘time of crisis’ is the unprecedented economic crisis the country is facing where people are rioting over flour. However, despite this, Pakistan has not yet sought help from India and continues its anti-India rhetoric while staying silence on cross-border Islamist terrorism.
Leading the pack of wolves was none other than ‘journalist’ Barkha Dutt. In a tweet, her news portal ‘Mojo Story’ said, “In Pakistan, Bollywood lyricist #javedakhtar was asked to back the message of ‘love & brotherhood’ back to #India to build friendly relations. His reply is viral now.”
#THIS by @Javedakhtarjadu https://t.co/BZRz68SGLE
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) February 21, 2023
Paedophile-accused Hasan Suroor, who happens to be a regular columnist at The Times of India, put the onus on India to improve bilateral ties with Pakistan.
In a propaganda-laden piece, he tried to guilt-trip the Indian government into helping the ‘vulnerable people of Pakistan’, despite the fact that their condition is the result of their own doing.
After all, when their leaders vowed to eat grass in exchange for developing an atomic bomb, the public readily obliged in the hopes of avenging India.
Column | Why India must help Pakistanis in their biggest crisis
— TOI Plus (@TOIPlus) February 21, 2023
Read here: https://t.co/NenfrEtnHv pic.twitter.com/a7aDIY4Ln4
‘Filmmaker’ Vinod Kapri had also hailed Javed Akhtar for supposedly showing the mirror to Pakistan on their own soil. To keep the bait of ‘Aman ki Asha’ rolling, another filmmaker Pooja Bhatt suggested that relationships can be mended only through 2-way initiative.
“For truth to stay alive, there must be two sets of people. One who is ready to speak the truth and the other to listen to it. one is not possible without the other,” she had claimed. Pooja Bhatt also hailed the Pakistanis for their ‘exceptional’ ability to acknowledge the unadulterated truth.
सच को जिंदा रहने के लिए दो तरह के लोगों की जरूरत होती है.. एक सच बोलने वाला और दूसरा सच सुनने वाला.. one is not possible without the other. What most Pakistani citizens are exceptionally capable of,is hearing/acknowledging unadulterated truth. Also,having a laugh at themselves! https://t.co/JxTIY0c00Q
— Pooja Bhatt (@PoojaB1972) February 21, 2023
The troupe by the ‘Aman ki Asha’ brigade into forcing India to come to Pakistan’s rescue is not a new phenomenon. They saw an opportunity and seized it. Even prior to Javed Akhtar’s address at Faiz festival, the groundwork was being laid in all earnest. Many had appealed to PM Modi and EAM Dr Jaishankar to help bail out the ‘neighbour’ as if their bad economic policy decisions were India’s responsibility. There are various international institutions Pakistan could reach out to for financial support where many have strict action against terrorism as primary concern and criteria. Moreover, Pakistan is also on friendly terms with China which has funded many infrastructural projects in the country.
Interestingly, Pakistan has sought no help from India and continues to raise the ‘Kashmir bogey’ in the hopes of getting back at us. Despite economic hardships, PM Shehbaz Sharif had vowed, “Pakistan will continue to lend moral, diplomatic and political support to the Kashmir cause, until its freedom from Indian oppression.” He had flexed Pakistan’s nuclear muscle power against India even as his countrymen riot over food.
Pakistan clearly does not seek peace with India. It has backstabbed us whenever we tried to extend the olive branch. The Kargil War of 1999, the Mumbai terror attack of 2008, the Uri and Pathankot attacks and the Pulwama suicide bombing attacks are a testimony to its sinister agenda. Despite that, there have been the ‘liberal’ lobby from India side who wants to continue exchange with Pakistan, be it films, singers, musicians or cricket. We are made to believe that art and sports should be independent of politics, but why should it if the artists and cricketers do not keep politics away from their sport?
We have seen Pakistani cricketers like Shoaib Akhtar dream about Ghazwa-e-Hind, Islamic conquest of India and other Pakistani players spew venom and hatred on Indians and Hindus. If their cricketers and artists have such clarity in their anti-India stand, why should India live in this make-believe world of MK Gandhi where one has to ‘offer another cheek’ when one is slapped on one.
For a beleaguered nation that clearly did not learn its lesson in the past 76 years, the ‘Aman ki Asha’ facade cannot hide the truth that peace is impossible with Pakistan. India can and should not have any cultural exchange till terror export from Pakistan to India stops.
