Within hours of the announcement that in December, the Pakistani cricket team will tour India for three ODIs (One Day Internationals) and two T-20 matches, the right-wing hardline Hindu party Shiva Sena strongly opposed the proposed cricket match series and even threatened to disrupt the matches by force. A few weeks ago when Pakistan's government announced the pardon of Sarabjit Singh, an Indian spy who had already spent 21 years behind bars, a number of religious parties actively protested against his possible release. Apparently, Pakistan's government was under pressure from right-wing Pakistani hardliners, and within hours it was announced that the prisoner who would be released was not Sarajbit, but another Indian national named Surjeet Singh. There are hate mongers on both sides of the border who will try to advance their agenda on any pretext, be it cricket matches, the release of prisoners, the establishment of trade relations or the enhancing of educational and cultural interactions. The other day, Barack Obama said quite bluntly that both India and Pakistan need to settle their differences on their own, and that Americans were not ready to mediate between them. Both countries, which are in fact two sides of the same coin, need to realize that this is not the time to engage in an arms race. It is the economy, the standard of living and provision of education, healthcare and other basic amenities at the grassroots level that determines who we are, not stockpiles of weapons. The dismemberment of the Soviet Union is living proof that weapons alone cannot do any good when people are queuing for hours in front of bread shops. Perhaps, one day these hardliners will learn this historical lesson, even if they have to learn it the hard way. Masood Khan, Jubail
