There Is much to learn from the civilization and culture of China. Bertrand Russell spent some time in China in the early part of the 20th century and had this to say about the great country:
“I have come to realize that the white race isn’t as important as I used to think it was. If Europe and America kill themselves off in war it will not necessarily mean the destruction of the human species, nor even an end to civilization. There will still be a considerable number of Chinese left; and in many ways China is the greatest country I have ever seen. It is not only the greatest numerically and the greatest culturally, but it seems to me the greatest intellectually. I know of no other civilization where there is such open-mindedness, such realism, such a willingness to face facts as they are, instead of trying to distort them according to a particular pattern.”
So what can we learn from China that will enable us to avoid a nuclear war with Pakistan?
I think that it is the Chinese social tradition of saving face. I do not remember Russell’s exact wprds when he described this tradition but from what I remember this tradition has to do with and not humiliating persons (whom you have a dispute with) publicly and beyond endurance. This makes social life in China much less ruthless and bloodthirsty than it is in the West and with westernised Indians.
In 2008, at the time of the financial crisis in Wall Street in the US the Republican senator offered the following honourable choice to some Wall Street executives who were part of the problem but had still received $220 million in bonuses:- “Resign or commit suicide.”
We need to avoid putting the ruling establishment in Pakistan in such a position that the only honourable choice they have is to fight a war with India or commit suicide. In other words we must not humiliate them beyond endurance which is possibly what we did in 1971 when there was a war with Pakistan and which led to the formation of Bangladesh.
I am not a historian and I have not researched the subject but I think that Pakistan’s animosity against India escalated after the 1971 war. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto – the then Prime Minister of Pakistan – spoke of fighting a thousand year war with India. That sentiment arose after 1971. The Kashmir dispute and the trauma of Partition also sour our relationship with Pakistan but these are factors which cannot be changed.
Indira Gandhi was a strong and charismatic Prime Minister but I think her actions in 1971 caused Pakistan extreme humiliation. This is part of the reason behind Pakistan’s animosity towards India and its desire to break up our country. Mrs. Gandhi should have – at that time – followed the Chinese tradition of allowing your opponent to save face and maintain appearances. We have to live with Pakistan as our neighbour and cannot be rid of them.
Time heals all wounds but in the meantime we must take care not to humiliate Pakistan’s ruling establishment beyond a point. Maintain appearances and enable them to save face.
In conclusion – while on the subject of Indira Gandhi – I would like to finish with a quotation from Shakespeare:
“The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones.”
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