““This great region—the birthplace of Indus Valley civilization, Mauryan Empire, Ranjit Singh’s Empire, and the secular and pacifist philosophy of Sikhism—has been destroyed in the past forty years by pathetic leadership and crude amalgamation of religion and politics. Consider this: Punjab can boast of two Nobel laureates out of a total of four for the whole subcontinent, if we leave aside Mother Teresa. Such is our intellectual achievement in spite of the perpetual myth that Punjabis are all brawn and no brain. But . . . what happened at the time of partition destroyed Punjabis totally on both sides of the border. And I don’t mean just the refugees. They, of course, are still traumatised by the genocide. But . . . do you think the millions who indulged in murders, rapes, and plunder on both sides were able to just shirk off their feelings of sin and remorse? It... would have been impossible. Just look at the figures of growing alcohol and drug consumption in post-partition Punjab. I believe the guilt and remorse propelled a lot of people towards the path of alcohol and drug abuse.””
