The escalation of tension between India and Pakistan after the Uri attack, and New Delhi's military response to it, has converted a section of the online space into a churning pot of bile directed at each other. While peaceniks from both sides have appealed for calm, one Pakistani woman's voice has rung out loud and clear with the beautiful message it carries from across the border.
Alizay Jaffer's moving post on Facebook about the relationship between India and Pakistan has resonated with many. It has been shared nearly 4,000 times on Facebook.
"To the world, most of the time, we are siblings; constantly at loggerheads, trying to get into daddy's good books so that he may buy us a toy, or take us for a drive, or better yet, increase our allowance. Other times, we are like a divorced couple, sharing space, constantly bickering over who lost out in the settlement, unable to finally come to terms with the fact that we are no longer together. It seems the scars of our separation are still so ripe, so painful, that they can't accept that we left, and we can't accept that they let us leave. In an event like this, we only find solace in making sure the other is just as hurt as we are, so we put in our all our resources, our best efforts, to do exactly that."
Jaffer wrote her post the day the Indian Army announced it had conducted surgical strikes against terrorists launch pads across the Line of Control.
The Islamabad-based woman writes about Pakistan's 'strange affinity' with India.
"It's very strange, this affinity with India. When Amitabh Bachchan is in the hospital, we pray for his good health; when Ranbir Kapoor's film is a hit, we're prouder than Neetu and Rishi; we never deny that no one brings romance to life like the voices of Kishore and Rafi; they are in unanimous agreement that their local music scene is not a patch on ours..."
Read her Facebook post here:
If you are a fan of satire, Pakistani comedian and blogger Shehzad Ghias Shaikh has an excellent column titled 'Pakistan will win any war against India' on Tribune.
And two weeks ago, in a hugely viral Facebook post, he listed all the things India and Pakistan can actually do instead of going to war with each other (we have Katrina Kaif, remember?).
In turbulent times such as these, every sane voice counts.
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