August is the month where I am the most confused. It's the month where two countries India and Pakistan that are known for their rivalry celebrate their Independence Day. August 1947 is a prime example of the divide and rule concept used by the British Empire (even though back then India didn't really need that as many other divisions were prompted).
We all know the nation that was called Hindustan before the partition that attained independence from the British Empire. The question however is about how patriotic each country feels towards their freedom or are they even free? The corrupt government, the denial of civil rights to the minorities and not to mention the cricket match where the patriotic juice starts to flow increasingly through every Pakistani and Indian. It's like Celtic versus Rangers but on a national scale.
The rivalry between both the countries has been well known to many, both inside the countries and outside. There is always this superiority complex and the idea that one nation did more to fight off the British than the other.
As a Pakistani born Sikh I have always struggled to belong to a community where I am accepted. It's like I have to prove it to people about where I stand with my identity. The ideology of Pakistan belongs to Muslims and India belongs to Hindus has been engraved in the minds of the general public and the minorities suffer as a result.
In midst of all this many of us neglect the fact that it was more a religious divide where the Muslims got a part now called Pakistan and the Hindus got India. However it is hard to understand why far more Muslims were left behind in India than were incorporated into the new state of Pakistan.
Both the countries now celebrate the freedom and the independence from the British rule while for many it's another public holiday. Many are forgetting about the fact that the partition was accompanied by the largest mass migration in human history of around 10million. As a result as many as one million civilians died in the associated riots and fighting on local levels, particularly in the western region of Punjab which was cut in two by the border.
Celebrating independence and having a privilege to live in a free country is a result of bloodied streets, massacred civilians and being treated as a no one. However to continue with such heated rivalry to this day for one another over a foreign nation's calculative plan is the same as being ruled.