This week, Indians and Pakistanis lit up the night sky with fireworks, sang patriotic songs and remembered their national heroes as they marked their respective independence days. Hidden behind the celebrations was the fact that the 70th birthday of the two nations was a grim anniversary of a painful separation that led to death and displacement. Across the subcontinent, communities that had coexisted for a millennium attacked each other in a terrifying outbreak of sectarian violence.
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Read more:
[ Pakistan marks 70 years of independence with gun salutes and festivities ]
[ India will fight foreign threats, Modi vows ]
[ Pakistan marks 70 years of independence - in pictures ]
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This legacy of Partition has stubbornly lingered. This year’s anniversary has allowed both countries to recall their shared history and this newspaper has highlighted some of these stories over the past few days. It’s these common roots that enable Indian and Pakistani expatriates in this country to connect effortlessly despite supposed hostilities. There is no rancor. There is only the familiarity that comes with shared social and cultural similarities.
This feeling that has given birth to a song - a combination of Indian and Pakistani national anthems featuring artists from both nations - that recently became a social media hit. More importantly, it highlighted how important it is for the people of the two nations to know and cherish their common story. These narratives will serve as a reminder for the future generations of India and Pakistan that they secured independence from colonial rule, not from each other and that they ought to look back to look forward.
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More on Pakistan and India from Opinion:
[ Three years on, the mood in Modi’s India is less euphoria, more hysteria ]
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