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Huma Imtiaz
PakistanGALLERYCONVERSATION
I remember switching on the TV that afternoon, hoping in vain to catch something on national television worth watching.
Instantly, I knew it had happened. No official announcement needed to be made; the national anthem playing told us enough. Pakistan was now an official nuclear power. We had fulfilled our desire to show India that we were better than them, always ready to match their every action with a greater reaction. We wanted to avenge the desecration of Babri Masjid. India wanted to avenge Kashmir.
So confusing, the games we played, all in the name of honor. We played and lost those games at the cost of our nation’s economic, political and geographical survival. The country was placed under economic sanctions, foreign currency accounts were frozen, and the leaders issued statements with empty promises and tall claims. Inflation, devaluation of the currency, bankruptcy – these terms became part of our everyday conversations. I couldn’t celebrate my birthday that year. Inflation.
I remember my grandmother applauding the Pakistani Prime Minister’s speech when he made claims of avenging the Indians. I could not blame her – she had been force fed propaganda by the state run television, by biased newspapers, by being uninformed and misinformed about an entire nation.
A year later, the Kargil conflict took place. For three months, the country’s citizens lived on the brink of war, as the standoff between Pakistan and India worsened. What took place up in those snow capped mountains is still veiled in mystery, obscured in propaganda and tainted with the colors of national interest.
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