Pakistan, Porn and Diplomacy.

These days Pakistan has been in the news in a big way. None very complimentary.
A few days back an article had caught my attention. A study, it claimed, revealed that the country which does the maximum sex related searches on the net are Pakistanis. Not unexpectedly , it drew a lot of derision and comments from the readers.

I am neither surprised by the finding nor fazed by it. As I had remarked earlier, I get regular visitors from our neighbors reading posts with the word sex in it.
I have no problem with them. after all they are indulging in a pretty benign game than what their petty politicians are playing. At least their indulgence is not killing any one.

Right from the days of their ex president Musharraf to the now sillier Foreign Minister, all they have indulged in is petty one upmanship and sabotaging peace. In fact if I were to describe their politicians in one word I would call them uncouth. The behavior of FM Quereshi was totally abominable and much against the tenet of decency and diplomacy. No one behaves with his guest the way he did. Not many would agree but I felt that our Minister fortunately had the good sense of not retaliating and mudslinging. Very dignified. It wasn’t a sign of weakness but of good diplomatic sense. (Hillary Clinton rightly disapproved Quershi’s tone and tenor though she messed it up by bringing in the Kashmir tangle.)

But Mr. Krishna could have done well if he had registered his protest against the rather uncharitable comparison of the foreign secy by the Pakistani Minister.
A question does beg answering. Why were we in such a tearing hurry to visit Pakistan. Wouldn’t it be better if some homework is done by the backroom boys away from the annoying glare of our media.

It was a totally ill timed and ill conceived visit. Was it just a way of deflecting attention from all the domestic problems. Or are we giving too much importance to a pesky neighbor? Do we really achieve anything except mindless jingoism? Why waste time.

Pakistan is crumbling under the pressure of its own contradictions and no external influence can help. America can keep pumping billions of dollars but cant wean away the influence of ISI and Military on their civil government which thrives in having bad relations with India. instability suits them.

Their once strong and proud cricket team is now a sad caricature thanks to this motley crowd. When I was in Bangkok, I saw the Pakistani channel and it was shocking to see that apart from anti Indian jingoism, they didn’t have much else to offer. No soaps, no movies, no discussions about education, industrialization or development or health. I feel sorry for the Pakistanis. They deserve better.

I lived among Pakistanis in Manchester, UK for two years. I found them very friendly and extremely good neighbors. They rued the interference of Army in their country. Many have relatives in india and have a soft corner. The local video parlor, though Pakistani , carried more hindi movies than Pakistani. Even in Miami , I used to pick up my desi grocery from a very kind and friendly Pakistani store. He always regretted the hand dealt by the army.

Alas,the army is not in a hurry to loosen its hold.

That is why we must leave the Pakistanis alone till they are prepared. Whether they are the gun toting army or the porn watching commoners.

Its just not worth our time.