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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Julian Borger World affairs editor

India and Pakistan at 75: partition remains an open wound as new friction points arise

Pakistani and Indian personnel in uniform lower their respective flags during a ceremony at the countries’ border outside Amritsar
Pakistani and Indian personnel lower their respective flags during a ceremony at the countries’ border outside Amritsar on Independence Day last year. Photograph: Narinder Nanu/AFP/Getty Images

The attack on Salman Rushdie shone a light on where Pakistan and India, both now 75 years old, share common ground. Amid worldwide outrage, both governments were conspicuous by their silence.

The silence came from different roots. Some of the first riots after the publication of Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses were in Pakistan and violent extremism is still very much part of the country’s political life.

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