On India and Pakistan

There are three groups in India which are obsessed with friendship with Pakistan. The first group comprises elderly people born in that part before partition and who are nostalgic about Lahore havelis, halwa and mujra. The second group comprises Bollywood actors, directors and assorted outfits who look at Pakistan as a big market. Dawood Ibrahim’s gang has financed many of these useful idiots. The third group comprises bleeding heart liberals who hold candle light vigils and who cannot imagine India doing well without its ‘younger brother’ taken care of. All three have been proved wrong a hundred times but they unfortunately play an important role in moulding opinion. — R Vaidyanathan