EVEN as they prepare to celebrate the 70th anniversary of their birth, Pakistan and India may want to reflect on why they have not been able to live as amicable neighbours. Both nations saw triumph and tragedy in 1947 — colonial rule was at an end, but the bloody events of Partition are seared in the subcontinent’s memory, a legacy that should have taught them to cherish freedom and to promote peace. Instead, the decades have been marked by conflict and tensions, recriminations and threats. The tendency on both sides to constantly paint the other in an unfavourable light has not helped. Perhaps one example of this is contained in some of the textbooks used by students in both countries.


