While the news that Osama bin laden was killed by US Navy Seals broke worldwide, in India, it had a different emphasis. Yes, Osama was killed, but that was only a byline to the big story – “Pakistan was harboring Osama bin laden.” You see in India, the only good news is news that paints their neighbors to the west in a bad light and this was really good news!
For the last several days, newspapers and TV news shows have showcased and validated what every Indian already “knew” – that Pakistan is a terrorist state. Every broadcast and article highlights this and I have yet to see an opportunity lost in conversation or correspondence to reinforce it. It has become a national obsession.
The Indian dislike for Pakistan, and the visceral hate with which the Pakistanis reciprocate, is not without history. Since the 15th of August 1947 when the partition of India was made official by the creation of the Dominion of Pakistan, Indians and Pakistanis alike have shared this contempt. Maybe it is because they are so alike that they have kept this distain, but it has had serious consequences over the last 60 years including the uprooting of 25 million people as each religion, Hindu and Muslim, resettled in their newly formed, respective countries. In the years that followed, there were mass killings on both sides, an on-going argument over Kashmir and 4 open wars in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999. Most recently, on November 26, 2008 the Taj Hotel was attacked in Mumbai by Islamic militants that are widely believed to still be hiding in Pakistan.
Since the Mumbai attack, Indians have been screaming to the world that Pakistan has been harboring terrorist. The recent events have only served to validate these allegations and India is now clamoring for full revenge. While the world celebrates the death of the number 1 terrorist, one should be keeping a weather eye out for how these two nuclear-armed adversaries deal with this news, as the results could be disastrous.
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