SHASHANK JOSHI | Nov 01, 2016
Our sense of patriotism is so official, aggressive, masculine and managerial, that we have no sense of the processes of peace-making, which are muddy, disorderly and plural.
One of the problems as one grows older is that the solutions you were proud of or content with do not make sense any more. As you confront them today, you feel you have settled for less, preferred the contentment of the second rate instead of the courage of the more, demanding ethical or aesthetic solution. In fact, by settling for less, we tend to lose more in the long run. I often think of this when I look at the way we handle problems of war and violence. We prefer the language of stalemate, of security, the quick fix of surgical strike solutions. It is a kind of emotional bloodletting where each side feels its machismo, if not its borders, are intact. The sadness is that when India confronts Pakistan, India ceases facing India. We stop looking at ourselves and prefer to confront an enemy whom we feel morally superior to…
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