Readers reflect on war and peace and the bystander effect in India

Saluting our forces
Jai Ho! After reading the details of what went on behind closed doors regarding the surgical strikes, I believe that this is one of the best operations executed by our forces without suffering any casualties (“Behind the scenes: How India went about planning 'surgical strikes' after the Uri attack”). A big salute to all those behind the attack and of course our Prime Minister Narendra Modi. – Sukhbir Singh

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Prime Minister Modi has redefined the Indo-Pak security paradigm by authorising pre-emptive surgical strikes across the Line of Control. This new security manoeuvre will send a strong message to the enemies of India.

After this attack, India no longer remains a soft power. The deadly combination of decisive political leadership and strong professional armed forces was long needed for defending the sovereignty of this nation. Though we cannot root out the terror infrastructure completely, we surely make things difficult for Pakistan on both diplomatic and security fronts.

The fact that there was not even a single voice of condemnation from any country or global institution against these strikes proves that the world powers stands united with India in its fight against terrorism.

However, the chest-thumping and strong-arm theatrics seen repeatedly on news channels must stop. We must limit ourselves only to commending the role of our brave security forces. Mocking and ridiculing Pakistanis on television debates and social media is immature. – Gaurav Singhal

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By sheltering and supporting terrorists, Pakistan has been on a path of self-destruction. While India had been holding its head high all these years with its measured responses, the so-called surgical strike changes things. If these strikes did pan out the way India claims they have, it shows that India’s response has also turned violent and is no longer dignified. If these are false claims, as Pakistan alleges, our government has doomed our nation. – Mujahid Jafri

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As the relationship between India and Pakistan deteriorates, it is important to stress that war is no solution.

Innocent lives will be lost on both sides and both countries will suffer immense losses. The Kashmir issue needs to be resolved peacefully, keeping in mind the welfare of its residents and citizens of both countries. Kashmir should either be allowed to exist as an autonomous region, or Kashmiri civilians should be able to decide which country they want to belong to. – Sonia Aaina

Caste cages
Kudos to Scroll.in for publishing the article looking back at the Khairlanji massacre; it truly shows a sombre state of affairs (“Ten years after Khairlanji: ‘Only retaliatory violence can dislodge the deep-rooted venom of caste'”).

However, the writer does not provide a clear-cut method of how to solve the problem as a Dalit and non-Dalit issue.

You can’t blame the all non-Dalits for oppression. The issue seems to be more prevalent in rural areas.

There needs to be a systemic overhaul to ensure equality for everyone, and the drive to bring about this change should come from the public first. But one also needs to change the way in which we discriminate and distinguish among ourselves.

As someone from the general category, I must admit I was pretty outraged when I nearly did not get into an engineering college even though I had scored 98%. So I feel that reservation should be done away with because people who really need it are unable to use it, but affluent people from backward classes take advantage of it. – Dhanashri Ambarkhane

For the love of peace
I could not have chanced upon this article by Harsh Mander at a better time, especially if one is on the side of peace (“#SeditionThis: Why I believe Pakistanis are the most gracious people in the world”). I was born and brought up in Uttar Pradesh and married a Pakistani girl when I was 29. It is a long story how and why I became a Pakistani citizen but I now live in New Zealand.

In all of my 70 years, I have lived in Karachi for three. I visited India several times and was treated with respect and love by citizens in Delhi.

I know and can sing Indian National Anthem but and not the Pakistani Anthem. I find myself conflicted about whom to support during an India-Pakistan cricket match, or at times of war-mongering between the two countries.

The reality is, people on both sides are largely peaceful. – Mohammad Shakil Akhtar

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I felt very happy on reading this article. Sharing such positive experiences will go a long way in developing a bond between the citizens of India and Pakistan and among humans in general.

Amid all the pessimism and tragedy around us, such articles are an oasis of hope. I have had excellent friendships with people of Pakistani origin and have found each one of them to be a gem. – H Panda

Off track
Sreejesh's comments show his immaturity (“'Don't want to disappoint our soldiers by losing to Pakistan': Indian hockey captain PR Sreejesh”). Confusing national pride with sporting achievements is commonplace but nonsensical. A nation’s pride rests in the well being of its people. Sports and arts are meant to bring people together, not play out inter-country rivalries.

Even if Sreejesh wins the match, that won't make up for the death and hardships of soldiers. – Elizabeth Varghese

Apathy capital
I appreciate Abhishek Dey’s efforts in looking at the reasons behind such apathy of bystanders from several angles (“A Delhi woman was stabbed 22 times as bystanders watched and did nothing. Why did that happen?”)

We as a society have become heartless and that we can see situations only in terms of what we stand to gain from them.

We have evaluating things only with our minds, not our hearts. The much-needed balance between the two is missing.

Also fear of police harassment and red tape also deters people from helping out. – Shiva Prasad MB

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It is difficult to step up and take responsibility in a country like India. The
article mentions some of the challenges before citizens who want to help out.
I once tried to calm down a drunk man who was throwing stones and breaking window panes at a Hyderabad metro station. He created a big ruckus but ran away when the police arrived. The police then gave me a hard time because they thought I was a friend – so in the future, wouldn’t I not want to intervene?

The police attitude and bureaucracy makes it difficult to help others even if one wants to.

For instance a man died in a bus in Hyderabad and the driver and conductor had drive around with his body the entire day and night because no police station agreed to take possession of it, claiming that it was out of their jurisdiction.

There are practical issues and expenses involved helping others and insensitive though it may sound, I think a lot of people, myself included,
feel like we just don't have the time for it.

But when it comes to intervening in rapes or murders, it’s a much more complex and dangerous issue even for bystanders. There is not enough awareness or guidance on what a witness can do on seeing such a crime, especially if there is no one else to help. I think this, more than the absence of a moral fibre, is responsible for the bystander effect in India. – Pradeep Rajendran

Taking aim
India has given enough chances to Pakistan by tolerating repeated infiltration but Pakistan has mistaken our restraint to mean weakness (“Pakistan defence minister threatens to use 'tactical weapons' against India”).

Now Pakistan will allow our forces to catch them off-guard once again. If there are any more strikes by India, Pakistan will drop nuclear warheads first and this will be followed by armed attack and air strikes.

In my opinion, in the future, any infiltration bid by the Pakistan army of terrorists must be met with a nuclear attack by India.

After all, everything is fair in love and war. – Amar Nath Pandey

Star power
Salman Khan should remember that India is not his playground. He should refrain from making such comments just to generate hype (“Pakistani actors are ‘not terrorists’, says Salman Khan”). Pakistani actors may not be terrorists but they are still citizens of a country that has rejected efforts towards peace and friendship. So by default, they are our foes. – Sudhir TC

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Do we lack talent in India that there is a need to bring actors from Pakistan?

Obviously, those artistes cannot be expected to say anything against their country – after all nothing comes above one’s nation.

Salman Khan spoke up in support of Pakistani actors because he did not want to lose out on fans and hence money-making opportunities in Pakistan. Stars only think about money. If we’re true Indians, we should not watch his films. – Manimuthusamy Vetrivel

As a former prime minister of the country, HD Deve Gowda should know that he has to respect the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Cauvery issue (“Cauvery row: Deve Gowda starts hunger strike against Supreme Court order, calls it a death warrant”). Going on hunger strike is no solution. There are other ways to try and resolve the dispute between the two states. This is politics at its worst. – Vikram Joshi