We have been set up as two opposing groups. It is a cultural, historical and political phenomenon that is so hard to shake off even if you were born here as a first-generation American.
It seems like the harder India and Pakistan try to get along, the more problems they face. Bitter enemies since around 1947, the people of India and Pakistan have learned to instinctively hate, or at the very least to be suspicious, of one another. Since the countries’ split, they have been fighting over Kashmir, over Bangladesh, over religion and over natural resources.
This Monday, bearing a name meaning alliance and agreement, the Samjhauta Express set out from India to Pakistan only to be attacked with crude terrorist bombs. The death toll stands at 68 and is rising with new searches.
Among the dead were both Hindus and Muslims, Indians and Pakistanis. However, more importantly, a symbol of connection between the two nations was attacked.
This was just days before the leaders of the two countries were coming together for peace talks.
Unfortunately, this was not an isolated incident. Mumbai saw more than 200 people dead last July when local trains were bombed, also prior to peace talks.
And it is difficult to even keep track of the riots generated by the deep and violent divide between the people that shared the same nationality less than 60 years ago.
How much have we changed since then? Is our generation any better equipped to deal with the prejudices handed down by our ancestors? On the surface, everything is rosy and politically correct, but feelings of war-ridden generations or being trapped in riots cannot disappear so easily. Raised far away from the actual conflict, UCLA students who identify themselves with India or Pakistan are more open-minded and easily mix with each other. However, deep-seated matters such as marriage and religion are still an issue in modern homes. Being of Indian descent, this is definitely something I have to deal with.
“I am Indian, but I am a prevalent member of the Pakistani Student Association mostly because, being Muslim, I identify more with them,” said Erum Iqbal, a second-year psychobiology student whose parents are immigrants. “It is more difficult to be enemies when you’ve grown up here. We don’t know how to hate people based on something like that.”
Even in trying to deal with the aftermath of the recent terrorist act, it is difficult for the two countries not to point fingers.
Pakistan claims India did not cooperate with releasing information about the casualties. The Deputy Chairman of their senate even declared his country to be nothing but a victim of Indian nationalization.
India, on the other hand, has not taken due responsibility for the faulty handling of the railway which contributed to the death toll. The peace talks might have occurred on Wednesday, but they did barely any good to either country, or either people
As long as there are borders and nations, the ideas of nationalism and patriotism will remain. And differences of culture will always be connected to how people view themselves and their futures.
Speaking of marriage, Iqbal said: “I am a Muslim girl. I cannot marry a Hindu guy. The religions are just too far apart. I would rather marry someone Pakistani and Muslim than Indian and not.”
For this generation, then, the issue is not one of nationalism but one of religion and culture.
We have come a long way from the instinctive suspicion of one another, but a divide ““ just like between any two different cultures ““ remains.
Who here has not laughed at Canada just for being the land of Mounties and maple syrup?
I doubt that the French and the English ever have or ever will stop indulging in small digs against each other.
India and Pakistan, like all other countries, are made up of individuals who have the choice to conduct themselves according to personal morals, not just the state of the relationship between their nations.
For Indian or Pakistani students at UCLA, since our relationship to these countries is mainly cultural, taking the steps towards amity is much easier and should be more prevalent.
Sometimes, more important than nations are the peace talks between individuals.