Jerusalem waits for the passionate, devout

JULY 3: In the warm, amber glow of its diffused city lights, Jerusalem waits for the passionate and the devout. The Old City, the birthpla...

JULY 3: In the warm, amber glow of its diffused city lights, Jerusalem waits for the passionate and the devout. The Old City, the birthplace of three of the world8217;s major religions 8212; Judaism, Christianity and Islam 8212; allows for pilgrims from all over the world, as well as wary agnostic-tourists, to savour the ethereal beauty of its history. Here at the Western wall, also called the Wailing wall, religious Jews pray for the coming of the time when the Third Temple will be built.

Christianity8217;s holiest places associated with the life and death of Jesus are here the Via Dolorosa and the Church of the Sepulchre, while cheek by jowl on the Temple Mount, stands the Dome of the Rock 8212; the Al Aqsa mosque 8212; from near where the Prophet is said to have ascended to heaven. These must be amongst the most photographed sites in the world 8212; as well as amongst the most politically controversial, especially in the current tension between Israel and Palestine over the control of these holy places 8212; but the city hasensured that at least for the moment, the tension doesn8217;t spill over into the population. What a contrast with the Walled Cities back home in India, falling down and in a state of utter disrepair. If only the current warmth in the Indo-Israeli relationship could be extended to lessons learnt from our respective treatment of history. If the Israelis are obsessed by theirs, Indians clearly dont seem to care about their own.

The King David hotel where Jaswant Singh and his counterpart David Levy met today for lunch and talks is not only Jerusalem8217;s oldest hotel, its a historical landmark. Here in 1948, when the country was still ruled by the British, a group of young revolutionaries 8212; among them Menachem Begin, who later went on to become PM 8212; blew up part of the hotel in which British officials were staying. Over the years the story has been mythologised, perhaps to explain the Israeli antipathy of the invader or the occupier. So much so that in this security-obsessed nation, even today, an airforce plane continuously flies across the length of the country 8212; it takes only seven minutes 8212; to warn against a surprise attack.

The Jewish obsession with security must, naturally, be passed on to their brother Semites, the Palestinians who live next door. During a visit to the Gaza War cemetery, a Palestinian police officer, looking at the graves of the Indian soldiers 8212; Muslim and non-Muslim 8212; fallen during the First World War, asked, 8221;But wasnt India under the occupation of the British at that time?8221; The word 8221;occupation8221; has such a strong emotional meaning for Palestinians that this one couldnt understand how India, under the yoke of the British Empire, had sent off its men to fight somebody elses war, even if it was a World War? The symbols of history seem to be littered across every corner of this land.

Then there are the Indian soldiers who died fighting for the honour of the UN, when they were part of the UN Emergency Force here from 1959-65.From the 4th Kumaon Regiment there is Havildar Baldev Krishan, AFC died 30.12.1959, CFN/VM Mehar Singh EME died 6.1.1960, Sepoy Bijay Singh EME 6.1.1960, from the 9th Dogra regiment, there lies Maj. Upindera Singh Rana 2.2.1964, from the 4th Battalion Guards or I Rajput, there lie Jem. Jagannath Singh 15.1.1965, GDSM Raja died 28.12.1964, GDSM Shyam Singh Tomar died 28.12.1964, and from the 4th Battalion BDE of the Guards, lies Ram Chander Masih died 19.8.1965. In memory of these heroes, Jaswant Singh, himself a former soldier, laid a wreath in commemmoration of their sacrifice on a foreign land.