Mahmood Shaam’s open letter to BJP’s Tarun Vijay

Respected Mr. Tarun Vijay

Ex-member Rajya Sabha

Current member BJP, National Executive Salutations

First and foremost, many congratulations to you that the people of India have again elected your party for five years giving it the right and authority to make decisions that affect their destiny. The decision of the masses is never without reason. The performance of the past five years may have appeared successful to them and hence they reposed their trust in the leadership of Mr. Narender Modi for the next five years also. But because of the events of the past concerns over the next five years have alleviated on this side of the border in Pakistan,. This success is being viewed as dangerous for the peace and stability in Pakistan. The learned class here say that secularism has been bid a permanent goodbye and our religious class thinks that Hindu supremacy will be encouraged to thrive and grow even more.

I would like to convey all these concerns through you to the BJP leadership. You are a member of the National Executive and among the 111 leaders who legislate the policies of the BJP. In this office, you sit across the party leadership comprising of Mr. Narender Modi and Mr. Amit Shah.

Pakistan is also surrounded by a specific extremist religious class. But the masses in Pakistan have not handed over the reins of the country to a religious extremist party, nor have they given the mandate to political extremists.

You are desirous of peace, harmony and friendship between India and Pakistan and this is why I address you. You may remember that before the trip of President Musharraf in July 2001, the Daily Jang and weekly Panchajanya, we spearheaded a historic initiative to let the masses of both our countries determine the agenda of the meeting of the leadership of the two countries. The people from both the countries participated with great enthusiasm but the Agra talks failed and this is why the ceremony for the prize-winners of this initiative has not been conducted to date.

It is so terribly unfortunate that the conditions and state of affairs of South Asia deteriorate so rapidly. I now write this letter because my generation is entering its eighth decade. We are anxious for we don’t know if we will ever be able to see permanent peace and improvement in the lives of the people of Pakistan, India and other countries in this region in our lifetime.

The third decade of the 21st century is about to start. There is peace all over the world. Progress is being made. People are finding comforts through research, innovation and education. It is only South Asia where there is conflict. Relatives and friends cannot sit together even in events of great sorrow and happiness. It is very difficult to get a visa and if at all, that too for a few cities. Conditions in the last five years have specifically deteriorated and have been worse than other times.

News of acts of violence against Muslims and other lower-caste Hindus have come to light every now and then. These viral videos have splashed the electronic and social media. After this the common analysis was that BJP would not get the mandate this time around. But the reality is that Mr. Narendar Modi has been given an even bigger mandate than before. This is the decision of the largest democracy on earth and this is why it is worthy of respect. What are the reasons for this? Is this a mandate for the BJP or is it for Mr. Narendar Modi as an individual? This cannot be analysedfrom across the border. It is said Mr. Modi is a leader who is much bigger than the party itself.

Without doubt India’s new generation is weary of the conventional politics of the Congress. It is for this reason, prince and princesses could therefore not win even their ancestral seats. The young-blooded, Rahul Gandi, wistfully yearned for the position occupied by his great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru, his grandmother, Indhra Gandi, and his father Rajiv Gandhi.

Maybe the middle class in India consider Mr. Modi, who has paved his own path, as their ideal; he is someone who through his struggles has ascended from a tea-maker to the highest position of Prime Minister in India. This is a positive thought, but what is not clear is that why Hindutva or Hindu nationalism was thought to be higher resource to achieve this and why it was necessary to fan religious extremism. Have we deliberately ignored the grave consequences of taking this route? Instead of unifying all the different inhabitants of India, and believers of different religions, why was the unity of only the Hindu aristocracy given more importance? The famous weekly Time magazine has labelled Mr. Modi as the ‘Divider-in-Chief’. In certain circles, it was felt that in this manner, India is being split into pieces, but politically this policy and effort to unify the Hindu majority bore fruit and assigned the BJP a large mandate. But the even larger majority, comprising of millions of Muslims, Sikhs, Jain and other lower-caste hindus are now feeling insecure and threatened. The fundamental meaning of a democracy is that all individuals are equal. From this divisive positioning, India’s image as a large democracy with a secular society has been injured.

Instead of redressing the grievance of the Kashmiri youth to gain their rights, there is a perception that the section 35/A of article 370 of the Indian constitution is being abolished which will cause even further unrest in Kashmir. The world demands that the Kashmiris be allowed to ascertain and decide their own identity. These steps are detrimental to the establishment of peace not only in India but across the world.

Now if history has given your party another chance, this is yet another opportunity to serve humanity not only in India but establish peace at a global level. For someone who aspires and dreams to be a world leader should express affection for humanity across the board and for this the first important step will be to take a step towards settling disputes with your neighbouring states. This is your opportunity to prove that your party is truly worthy of the mandate of a reckonable economy and a populous democracy.

I urge you to use this heavy mandate not only for the stability of the Hindu aristocracy but for the betterment and prosperity of all the people of this region and give peace a chance to spread the message of love and unity. For thousands of years, South Asia has been the cradle of cultures, civilizations and higher human values. This region has an abundance of natural resources. The larger portion of the demographics are made up by young, talented, hardworking people.

Both Pakistan and India possess nuclear power and they should be economic powers as well. No country can become powerful by keeping its neighbours weak.

You and the esteemed members of the National Executive need to hand-on-heart think of how long blood will continue to spill and for how long will humanity be ignored on the borders of South Asian and other parts of the country. How long will millions of people live below the poverty line.

You and other members of the party also need to realize that Pakistan is a reality. Its borders have been reinforced by the blood of countless selfless civilians and brave soldiers. Pakistan has a strong defence and the armed forces are prepared thwart any act of aggression. But why should one even have to resort to or think of aggression in the 21st century? More than 1.8 billion people inhabit both the countries and the South Asian region. Their destiny is not a saga of ongoing tragedies and conspiracies. If we can resolve the basic issues and resort to establishing relationships based on facts instead of emotions, the whole world will pay tribute to us.

Pakistan desires peace and prosperity in the region. Let us get together once again to unify the masses for peace and love. Let us knock on the conscience of the people to awaken higher values of humanity and once again ask the masses and the people of South Asia what roadmap they propose for the next five years. Your venerated thoughts on all of these ideas will be keenly awaited.