When a married Anju travels all the way to Pakistan to meet her Facebook friend Nasrullah, and another married woman Seema Haider makes her way to India from Pakistan to be with her lover Sachin, their stories make headlines and India is glued to TV channels to catch up on the latest, juicy titbits of their stories.
Anju and Seema had led nondescript lives thus far, but many celebs and sportsmen from both countries have also developed relationships across the border over the years.
And now, Bollywood actor and BJP MP Sunny Deol’s comment that politics is what creates hatred between India and Pakistan has added another layer to the situation.
At the trailer launch of his Gadar 2 on Wednesday night, Sunny Deol said the people of the two nations don’t want to fight each other. “Kuch le jane ya lene-dene ki baat nahi hoti hai. Baat hoti hai insaniyat ki. Jhagde nahi hone chahiye. Dono taraf utna hi pyar hai, yeh siyasi khel hota hai jo sab nafratein paida karta hai. Aur woh hi aap dekhenge iss film mein bhi. Janta nahi koi chahti ki ek dusre ke sath hum jhagda kare. Aakhir hai toh sab iss hi mitti se (It’s about humaneness, not about taking or giving. There should be no conflict between the two sides. There is love on both sides. It is the political game that creates hatred between India and Pakistan, a theme reflected in this film. Both nations comprise people who seek peace, as we are essentially one.)”
Is Sunny Deol right in his assessment or was it simply a promotion tactic for his movie? Either way, his remark has not gone down well with a section of netizens.
“Sunny Deol is oblivious to the fact that Indian politicians, like others, share wonderful camaraderie with their Pakistani colleagues. I’m personally in touch with many who have wonderful memories of India which they visited as delegates for many conferences,” says K.R. Suresh Reddy, BRS Rajya Sabha member.
He explains that the relationship between the two countries is analysed at the diplomatic level, keeping in mind perceived threats, and this keeps the people of the two nations apart. “But bilateral political exchanges can actually get us closer,” he feels.
We ask Suresh Reddy if he has travelled to Pakistan. “I was invited but could not go due to [Parliament] sessions. But one day, as the situation improves, I will visit the country like everyone else,” he says.
Nabeel Ahmed Wani, an Assistant Commandant with the Border Security Force (BSF) believes that Bollywood has romanticised the whole issue. “These are traps. People don’t have any idea how they are planting agents in India (through real-life love stories),” he says.
Wani, who came into the limelight after he topped the All-India BSF examinations in 2017, points out that Sunny Deol has also done the movie Border. “So he needs a reality check. He wants his movie to run, so he is blaming politicians now. But the fact is, it’s disrespect to all the martyrs who have sacrificed their lives on the border,” feels Wani.
And what about the social message? “A mother of four kids ran away for love (Seema Haider). Is this a good practice? One cannot deny that Bollywood has injected venom in the minds of youth,” Wani responds.
Colonel (Retd) Sunil Kumar Uniyal feels Sunny Deol has “gone berserk with his loose statement” blaming Indian politics for fostering hatred against Pakistan. “He must know that Pakistan is a terrorist haven.
It is a State sponsored by our other hidden adversaries, both militarily and politically, besides traitors inside our own country, who until 2013 had indirect and hidden support from political powers at the Centre for their vested interests and benefit,” alleges Col. Sunil, who is a Defence Procurement Specialist, Project & Contract Management Expert.
“Sunny Deol is just a film actor with no knowledge about our adversaries’ nefarious, malicious and dangerous design to keep our country engaged in proxy war, due to which we have lost so many soldiers and civilians since Independence,” says the retired Indian Army officer.
Komatireddy Vinay Reddy, General Secretary, Congress Party, feels that when it comes to Pakistan, politicians need be magnanimous.
“Why would the people of India and Pakistan hate each other when there is no regular contact or business between the two countries? Animosity is created between countries, religions, castes etc. by vested interests. People should not fall in this trap and instead, have a secular mindset,” he says, adding that it has “become a fashion to criticise one’s own country.”
Bollywood commentator and award-winning author Balaji Vittal says that ever since India fought the first war with Pakistan in 1965, that country has appeared time and again in Bollywood as the villain. “And there were also films like Gadar Ek Prem Katha where they [Pakistanis] were portrayed as being opposed to Indians as a people, not just India as a political adversary,” says Balaji, who is also a public speaker and columnist.
