A postcard from Lahore

A stranger from Pakistan sent me a postcard in response to the 2006 cine-poem Dear Girl From Pakistan that I produced.

Today is May 13th, 2025. We have already witnessed the atrocities that took place in Pahalgam and the subsequent Operation Sindoor, which followed as a well-deserved response against terrorism by the Indian government. The tensions between both countries, India and Pakistan, are enormous to say the least.

Social media is flooded with opinions about our terrible neighbour— a country that has become a breeding ground for terrorist organisations. When asked about Pakistan's long history of training and funding terrorist groups by a BBC correspondent, Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif admitted, "We have been doing this dirty work for the US for the past decades."

This man isn't lying. The US is the culprit behind most things unimaginable by mankind. They fund wars in other countries, run illegal scientific experiments, and exploit their own citizens by making them cogs in the wheel—without even providing basic healthcare, education, or housing.

Those who know, know.

Their history of slavery alone reveals the depth of their depravity. Let’s not forget what happened during the Iraq war—half a million Iraqis killed. Let’s not forget the horrors of the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center. And if these reminders seem too distant, just look at how they are currently funding a genocide in Palestine.

What is my point here? America is crazy. And if they have been doing the things the Defence Minister of Pakistan claims, then the conclusion is clear: the military and government of Pakistan have long sold out their country. They have betrayed their own people, depriving them of economic growth just to serve their own interests—power, money.

The common people of Pakistan are victims in all this. And while many Indians see them as enemies, it is important to remember that they are not. I repeat: the common people of Pakistan are not our enemies.

Most people in Pakistan are just like us. We share a common history. I still well up when I see videos of two old brothers or sisters meeting after decades of separation—reunions between family members torn apart by the 1947 partition. Just search the web to see what I’m talking about.

In 2006, I made a cine-poem featuring poet Shivani Gupta called Dear Girl From Pakistan. It was an ode to the common people of Pakistan, reminding them that we are not so different after all. The poem was received so well in Pakistan that video responses began popping up all over YouTube, echoing the sentiment and emotion.

A kind person named Bilal Rashid sent me a postcard from Lahore, thanking me for the cine-poem I produced. He was deeply moved by Shivani’s words and the message of peace.

To the world, we might appear as brothers fighting over ancestral property, but to me, we are two long-lost brothers wishing we could just hug it all out. That postcard is a symbol of that longing and love.

Just look around—ordinary Indians and Pakistanis are friends abroad, some even get married to one another, just saying!

We have long admired each other’s artists, musicians, and poets. Last month when Shah Zaman, the 20 year old grandson of Qawwali maestro Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan performed in London, I am sure innumerable fans of the maestro all over India rejoiced seeing his legacy in safe hands. I surely did.

Some of us still have family across the border. People who hope that in their lifetimes they could perhaps still visit the house they grew up.

Let us meditate on love, not hatred or voilence.