Partitioned !

Ties severed, movements restricted, communications broken and the problems manifold. Freedom is imprisoned and humanity is suffocating. 

Enslaved by a beast, a mother lay in wait for over a hundred years to give birth to two beautiful babies she carried in her womb. Each day, she fed them with thoughts of a future filled with love and hope. She made them dream of liberation and eternal happiness. Most of all, she taught them tolerance. 

But life never gives what one wants. And so were the twins born. 

Heads detached. And bloody.

The bleeding has not stopped even after over half a century and each passing day, it only gets worse. These are the times when you go back and ask did the partition really achieve what it set out to. 

First, let's go back a few years to know what really happened. 

The idea of partition was first proposed by a poet, a Allama Iqbal, who in his presidential address to a Muslim convention in the year 1930, demanded the creation of a separate nation for the minority, fearing suppression at the hands of another religion. 

Were his suspicions founded? Partly yes!

British India was not a forward society like Modern India. It was ruthlessly conventional and wrongfully orthodox in some of its practices. Untouchability and caste-ism were commonplace and rationality was still just a word. Those were the times when some of the castes within the same religion were considered inferior to certain others. Those were the times when men were denied their rights because they were on the wrong shore of the river. 

And those were the times, Islam was treated like one of these castes. 

Like many others, Muslims were treated like second-class citizens and like any other times, a writer fought for their rights. 

But do his reasons stop there and were his intentions pure? Well, Sir Allama(not sarcastic, he was knighted) was a budding politician in the late twenties when he raised his voice for the minority. He had just won a seat in the Punjab assembly and was trying to make a name for himself in politics when he saw a disparity in the Indian National Congress. He realised that the party was dominated by Hindu leaders.

Did he see that as a hurdle? That might not be very easy to answer, but I will leave it to your good judgement.

Anyway, not many welcomed his idea right way. There were men within his own community who were staunch opposers of the two nation theory. Even the great Muhammad Ali Jinnah stayed a sceptic for a long time and it took the poet ten years to convince the man to join him. 

So, the motive behind the demand of a new nation was to ensure that Muslim are not violated in anyway by their Hindu brothers. But was this the reason behind British agreeing to this?

Well, no. Because they did not care. 

During the seven years between 1940 and 1947, the two nation theory gained approval among the masses and at time of independence, it had grown a hatred in the minds of men towards each other. Love and hope that were once sown had grown into hostility. Civil war was looming. To avoid it, leaders who opposed splitting the country agreed to it and a plan was drawn under the directions of Lord Mountbatten.

So the two nations, one the land of Indus and the other the land of the pure were born out of the fear of a civil war. 

Has this split ensured smooth ride for the brothers?

A family feud never ends with the splitting of wealth, in this case territory, people, culture and traditions. It always goes on and on generation after generation till the family is entirely wiped out. In that sense, partition has not disappointed us. 

Over the years, many wars have been fought, some in the name of territory and others in the name of religion. Many men have fallen on both the sides of the border and many widowed, the victims of aggression. Wealth has been lost on weapons over welfare. Non-cooperation has led to economic downfall. Failure to watch each other's back has opened doors to terrorism. And distrust has ensured that there is always tension in the neighbourhood. 

All of these, though are seemingly unsuspicious, has gradually corrupted the mind of ordinary men. Hatred for the other country has slowly been sown in the souls. 

And after sixty-five years of separation  this enmity and loathing has gotten to a stage were simple acts of humanity are now out of reach. 

And how have the countries dealt with this ill will?
They have
1) Butchered men from the other side mercilessly
2) Forbid access to each others territory and culture 
3) Remained unrelentingly unhelpful to each other, even at times of crisis
4) Pulled each others leg economically and emotionally

When all others neighbours  are burying their differences to stride alongside the marching world, the two brothers have been brawling over every petty thing and in the process have started to lag behind the rest. And if not mended soon, they will make another Israel-Palestine or worse North Korea-South Korea

So, what is the way out of this?
As in any relationship, the responsibility rests on both the parties involved. 
Each country must
1) Open tourism to each other
2) Establish/restore trade links 
3) Exchange intelligence information to combat terrorism together
4) Bury differences and help each other when in need. 

But most of all, tolerate. 

The odds may be stacked against it. The fate may never favour it. But when many men dream of the same thing, one of them might live to see it turn into a reality. 

We were partitioned. Not to die. But to live!