Both India and Pakis
Aparna Pande
Both India and Pakistan stop dead in their tracks when their respective teams are playing against each other. The advertisements in between an Indo- Pak matches, are perhaps costlier than those in between the screening of any World Cup. And if the game being played is cricket, then the excitement knows no bounds. Days before the actual show down, the social media is flooded with posts - some jocular, some mean and some downright unprintable. Sometimes there is even shelling on the borders to celebrate a victory or mourn a loss. I wonder , whether any other sporting rivalry as intense as this one, ever existed.
Talking about the sentiments on my side of the border, they are always negative. With negativism varying from slight annoyance to extreme dislike , we have spectrum of negativity about us. It doesn't seem like a sport.A victory becomes an assertion of greater strength , an expression of vindictive hatred - a revenge for the trauma inflicted. It isn't two teams of great excellence clashing, that causes this rivalry.It becomes, two enemies facing each other in a battlefield. A perusal of the pages on social network , from the other side of the border, also reveals a similar picture. The reaction of the Pakistani hockey team after winning a match against India, corroborates my view.
India and Pakistan- born from the same land mass, more or less the twins, have always been arch rivals. From the time of Independence Pakistan has strived to be an "equal" to its much larger neighbour, in every sense of the word. After independence, both countries have had different trajectories- with India becoming the largest democracy and Pakistan, a state grappling with its problems of extremism. The secession of East Pakistan in 1971 and India's role in it, increased the bad blood between the two countries. Currently , Pakistan is nowhere equal to the much larger and richer India. Hence the sentiment on the other side is understandable. They hate India , as they feel it threatens their existence.
But the hatred in India cannot be understood from the same frame of reference. The reactions after yesterday's cricket match are a disgrace to the nation which boasts of the richest cricket board.While an upstart Pakistan maybe for forgiven , an increasingly ungenerous India, especially in the sporting arena, is a shame. When an Indian audience, of educated and well to do netizens hurls insults on a defeated Pakistani team, it shows that our mindset hasn't changed as much as our fortunes have. India isn't equal to Pakistan- it's much higher than Pakistan , and so is it's moral responsibility. This is not to suggest that issues like Kashmir ought to be resolved with this mentality. But inconsequential issues, like sports should be dealt magnanimously by the Indian audience. They must remember that they reflect India, and it's sporting culture.
Talking about the sentiments on my side of the border, they are always negative. With negativism varying from slight annoyance to extreme dislike , we have spectrum of negativity about us. It doesn't seem like a sport.A victory becomes an assertion of greater strength , an expression of vindictive hatred - a revenge for the trauma inflicted. It isn't two teams of great excellence clashing, that causes this rivalry.It becomes, two enemies facing each other in a battlefield. A perusal of the pages on social network , from the other side of the border, also reveals a similar picture. The reaction of the Pakistani hockey team after winning a match against India, corroborates my view.
India and Pakistan- born from the same land mass, more or less the twins, have always been arch rivals. From the time of Independence Pakistan has strived to be an "equal" to its much larger neighbour, in every sense of the word. After independence, both countries have had different trajectories- with India becoming the largest democracy and Pakistan, a state grappling with its problems of extremism. The secession of East Pakistan in 1971 and India's role in it, increased the bad blood between the two countries. Currently , Pakistan is nowhere equal to the much larger and richer India. Hence the sentiment on the other side is understandable. They hate India , as they feel it threatens their existence.
But the hatred in India cannot be understood from the same frame of reference. The reactions after yesterday's cricket match are a disgrace to the nation which boasts of the richest cricket board.While an upstart Pakistan maybe for forgiven , an increasingly ungenerous India, especially in the sporting arena, is a shame. When an Indian audience, of educated and well to do netizens hurls insults on a defeated Pakistani team, it shows that our mindset hasn't changed as much as our fortunes have. India isn't equal to Pakistan- it's much higher than Pakistan , and so is it's moral responsibility. This is not to suggest that issues like Kashmir ought to be resolved with this mentality. But inconsequential issues, like sports should be dealt magnanimously by the Indian audience. They must remember that they reflect India, and it's sporting culture.
Aparna Pande Email: pandeaparna@ymail.com
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