Pakistan figures very largely in India’s national agendas; the country evokes some very sharp reactions from us, the hoi polloi as well. But the reverse is probably even truer… there is a lot of evidence to support the hypothesis that Pakistan is obsessed with India. Experts believe that it is this obsession that our neighbour has with us which fuels the Pakistani nuclear programme, their foreign policy and much else besides. Pakistan is obsessed with India for a whole lot of reasons:
Sibling rivalry
Ever since partition, Pakistan as a young nation has felt the need to justify its existence. It always felt the need to prove itself to India; a country it probably still views as a hostile sibling if not inimical parent.
It’s a competition….
….But really there is no competition. Though Pakistan may feel compelled to compete, in most spheres Indians have it better. India is more progressive, more prosperous, more democratic, and more stable than Pakistan.
We won two wars against them
No matter what spin the Pakistanis try to put on it, the fact remains that India won two wars very convincingly against its closest and most recalcitrant neighbour. That’s got to be difficult to not obsess about.
We created Bangladesh
The Pakistanis will probably never forgive India for the aiding and abetting the formation of Bangladesh and the breaking away of the former East Pakistan from the Pakistani union.
The great cricket rivalry
Not only is India-Pakistan a cricketing rivalry one that eclipses the tepid-by-comparison English – Aussie rivalry; the Pakistanis have been consistently unable to defeat India in a single solitary World Cup fixture.
This is bound to rankle.
We have had these guys
Pakistan has never produced batsmen to come close to the caliber or some of the top Indian batsmen. They may have the fast bowlers, but our batsmen always, always steal the show.
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Just when they were glad to see the back of Sachin Tendulkar, they had to contend with Virat Kohli.
Then there is Bollywood
For a number of reasons, the Pakistani film industry doesn’t even begin to compare with the Indian film industry in terms of quality, output or entertainment value. The Pakistanis know all our film songs and our actors are as famous there as they are here.
They can’t understand why these guys are here and not there
It has probably always puzzled the Pakistanis that the Khans are the Khans of Bollywood and not Lollywood (I believe Lahore’s modest film industry goes by this name).
And these guys
It’s really not our fault is it that the mellifluous Adnan Sami and the beauteous Fawad Khan choose this side of the border to work now is it?
Author – Reena Daruwalla
