Pakistan and India share a collective history that goes back centuries, yet both countries are guilty of not celebrating it as a shared history.
Let me elaborate. I watched The Legend of Bhagat Singh a while back and a few things struck me.
One, the history of the struggle against the British has always been taught as a two-sided game: there was the Congress, there was the Muslim League and they were the representatives of India. We know nothing of the less-profiled heroes - the likes of ones who were highlighted in this movie. They too are part of both of our countries' histories, but invisible heroes they are! And the weird thing is that the agenda of these less profiled movements was more comprehensive than the ones adopted by either of the main parties. They had one demand right from the beginning: total independence.
Total independence. That would imply complete freedom from the presence of the British and their political structures - the complete aboilation of the colonial structures. In place of mere transfer of political power. But, unfortunately, at the end of the day that is precisely what happened. The colonial structures in the form of the bureaucracy, the political framework and the ruling elite remained wholy intact. And the result is out there, for all of us to see. The poor of both our countries are yet to benefit from the fruits of "freedom". So then was it the lack of sagacity of the top political brass or was it the compulsions of working within the system or was it that the top political brass did not, just, try hard enough? Maybe a combination of all three, but I'm digressing here.
Back to The Legend of Bhagat Singh. There was another thing struck me. In fact, it glared me right in the face as I was watching the movie: majority of the events chronicled in the movie took place in Lahore, my hometown, and yet I had scanty knowledge about them prior to watching the movie! It is almost as if Bhagat Singh, Azad and friends have been erased from the slate of history on this side of the border! I will hazard a guess, as to why it was done. They were not Muslims. Period. And therefore, could not conform to the Two Nation Theory and had to be disposed off. Is it just me, or does anyone else also see the problem here?
So while I was still mulling over this, I came across this article. The author is an Indian lady who accounts her experiences of a visit to Bukhara. The article is worth a read for it narrates the history, the heritage and the myths of bygone days. Days which were shared by both our countries. Yet, we don't remember them like that. By and large it is a Muslim history and therefore, it is either: revered and glorified [knowingly or unknowingly]; or hated for the barbaric kings who brought it to the subcontinent. The collective "Indian" [lets say - the pre-partition Indian identity] element has been purged from this history. Why? Again, was it done owing to the events of '47? Or had we begun demarcating our history even earlier?
So in the light of all that, I want to leave you with this question: how can we work towards reconstructing a shared heritage and history for the subcontinent? For we do share the heritage and history of this area - that is just one more fact of life!