“All I wanted was to kill Indians.”
As a five year old boy, I witnessed the horrors of war first hand during the 1965 war between India and Pakistan. Because my father was assigned to the Headquarters of Pakistan Army, we lived on the base and faced relentless air attacks from the Indian air force. Seeing the devastation and death caused by war made me develop a deep rooted hatred for the Indians; I wanted to grow up and join Pakistan Army and kill as many Indians as I could. Fate would have it that I never joined the military and ended up coming to USA for higher education instead. When I arrived in America, I met a Sikh from India named Kulbir Singh who did everything possible to be my friend, while I did my best to not like him due to the hatred I had in my heart. But Kulbir made it impossible for me to hate him because he was such a wonderful person; so selfless, loving, and a true friend. I was forced to reevaluate my feelings towards the Indians and realized that our military was killing them at the same time they were killing us.
I understood how wrong I was in my hatred and how this man’s unconditional love as a friend forced me to see the light. I consider him one of my best friends till this day and he taught me such wonderful lessons in life; not only the futility of hatred, but also the power of unconditional love. Now if the whole world can somehow see each other with a burning love for humanity, we will be able to end wars and bring peace to mankind.
Saeed Aslam,
Founder of Axiom