[The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the views of The South Asian Times.]
Love him or hate him, Trump might be the right man to mediate a permanent solution for peace between India and Pakistan.
By Basab Dasgupta
My parents, both Hindu, fled East Bengal during the communal riots of 1947 between Hindus and Muslims. They had many horror stories of looting and torture by the Muslim extremists to share; their families were forced to abandon everything, including homes and material possessions, and move to Kolkata. Several India-Pakistan conflicts have taken place since our independence, with the latest one being fairly recent.
I never understood the Hindu-Muslim mutual hatred. We lived in a predominantly Hindu neighborhood near Kolkata during my childhood, but there were Muslim neighbors. They dressed somewhat differently, followed their own religious practices, and ate beef, but looked just like us and spoke the same Bengali language. I did not see any reason to feel resentment or engage in confrontation with them; my best friend in elementary school was Rezaul, a Muslim kid.
Even as a child, I realized that not all Muslims are bad, and not all Pakistanis are dangerous. I fondly remember a Bengali song: “Teler shishi bhanglo bole khukur pore rag koro; tomra je sab dhere khoka Bharat bhenge bhag koro, tar bela?” (You are mad at the little girl for breaking an oil bottle, but what about you big boys, who broke the whole country of Bharat and split everything?). The lyrics got through to me. The breakup of the British Empire into India and Pakistan was like breaking a glass bottle whose pieces looked similar and there was no reason for this breakup. It was just a condition imposed by the British before they gave us freedom.
As a student at Presidency College in Kolkata, I went through a mandatory weekly NCC military training for several months, presumably to build a backup army ready, just in case, during an ongoing war with Pakistan. I hated that experience. We celebrated the war that created Bangladesh, where India gave full military support to East Pakistan. Subsequently, there have been a number of skirmishes, not rising into full-blown wars.
I am surprised that there have been no serious efforts to initiate a reunification. Religious differences do not seem to be a strong enough reason to keep two countries separated forever when their people are so much alike in all other respects. Many Muslims in India play prominent roles. Sharmila Tagore and A R Rehman converted to Islam; Muslim stars like Annapurna Devi and Nargis embraced Hinduism. Indians have admired Pakistani celebrities from Hanif Mohammad to Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. A reunited India could be exceptionally strong in sports, technology, literature, and the entertainment industry, not to mention in the military and economy.
I personally met Benazir Bhutto, the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, in the late nineties at an international program in San Diego as a representative of Sony. She was beautiful, dignified, and pleasant. I was horrified by the news of her assassination. “Typical Pakistani violence,” some said. Ironically, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi met the same destiny in “non-violent” India.
Op-Eds in Indian newspapers gleefully point out weaknesses of Pakistan, whether it is in its economy, military strength, or weather-related misery. It is amusing to see the India-Pakistan competition in every arena. Their rivalry in hockey and cricket is legendary. Neeraj Chopra won the first-ever gold medal in athletics (Javelin throw) in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 on behalf of India, but settled for silver in Paris in 2024. Who won the gold? Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan, the first-ever gold in athletics for Pakistan. Then there were races to possess nuclear arsenals and win Nobel prizes.
In the latest conflict, Pakistani terrorists killed 26 innocent civilians, mostly tourists, in Pahalgam for no reason whatsoever. Many blamed the Taliban from Afghanistan for planning the initial attack. Drone and missile strikes followed from both sides, aerial fights ensued, and dozens of people were killed. Politicians, pundits, news media, and celebrities fueled the fire with provocative comments. The fact that both countries have nuclear arsenals raised international concern.
After four days, there was suddenly a ceasefire. Both sides claimed victory; nothing was resolved. US President Donald Trump claimed that he brokered the ceasefire. India denied his claims and said it was their “Operation Sindoor” which brought Pakistan to the negotiating table. Many people think that this public humiliation prompted Trump to impose 50% tariffs on exports of India-made goods and make insulting comments such as “India’s dead economy”, as well as take decisions favorable to Pakistan. I do not know what to believe, especially since Marco Rubio, Trump’s Secretary of State, and Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan’s Prime Minister, confirmed Trump’s role in brokering a ceasefire.
Love him or hate him, Trump might be the right man to mediate a permanent solution for peace between India and Pakistan. Everyone knows that the only path to permanent peace is an equitable division of Kashmir, but no one wants to go there, especially since China is also involved in certain regions. Trump is brash enough to use incentives - aid, tariffs, and trade deals as well as Military threats - in an unemotional and unpredictable way to take us there. He is creative in formulating unconventional strategies to resolve a crisis. For example, he might say that the US will temporarily take over the control of Kashmir and convert it into some multinational territory or persuade Pakistan to leave Kashmir in exchange for massive economic assistance.
Trump’s efforts in bringing peace to this world during his second term have been impressive. He is diligently working with the Russian and Ukrainian presidents to end the Russia-Ukraine war. His latest success in bringing a peace deal between Israel and Hamas is being praised as a major achievement, even by his opponents and critics, and it saved millions of lives.
Trump has brokered a peace deal or been involved in negotiations to resolve several other conflicts. The list includes conflicts between Thailand and Cambodia, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Kosovo and Serbia, Egypt and Ethiopia; he also ended the possibility of any future Iran-Israel war by preemptively destroying Iran’s nuclear infrastructure with surgical precision in an awesome display of American military might.
Unfortunately, there seems to be a strong anti-Trump sentiment in India at present, which would not allow Trump to take any prominent role in resolving Indo-Pak violence despite the claim that “India and the US will be friends forever” from both Modi and Trump. Trump wants to become the “Peace President”.
My plea to Indian leaders: please give him an opportunity to broker a peace deal. Let him brag. Let him give us partial truth. Let us flatter him to boost his ego instead of ridiculing him for “begging” for a Nobel Peace prize. It is all worth it for bringing peace to Kashmir. Using John Lennon’s words, “All I am saying is give peace a chance". The routine of periodic senseless wars between India and Pakistan, with thousands dying without accomplishing anything, must end.
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(California-based Basab Dasgupta has a doctorate in Physics from the University of Wisconsin and has worked with Sony as Vice President of an operating division)
