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By:

Rajeev Puri

24 October 2024 at 5:11:37 am

Before Sholay, there was Mera Gaon Mera Desh

When the comedian and television host Kapil Sharma recently welcomed the veteran screenwriter Salim Khan onto his show, he made a striking claim. India, he joked, has a national bird and a national animal; it ought also to have a national film. That film, he suggested, would surely be Sholay. Few would quarrel with the sentiment. Released in 1975 and directed by Ramesh Sippy,  Sholay  has long been treated as the Everest of Hindi popular cinema -quoted endlessly, revisited by generations and...

Before Sholay, there was Mera Gaon Mera Desh

When the comedian and television host Kapil Sharma recently welcomed the veteran screenwriter Salim Khan onto his show, he made a striking claim. India, he joked, has a national bird and a national animal; it ought also to have a national film. That film, he suggested, would surely be Sholay. Few would quarrel with the sentiment. Released in 1975 and directed by Ramesh Sippy,  Sholay  has long been treated as the Everest of Hindi popular cinema -quoted endlessly, revisited by generations and dissected by critics. In 2025, the film marked its 50th anniversary, and the release of a digitally restored, uncut version introduced the classic to a new generation of viewers who discovered that its mixture of revenge drama, western pastiche and buddy comedy remains curiously durable. The film’s influences have been debated almost as much as its dialogues – from scenes taken by the Spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone, particularly ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’ (1968) or to the narrative architecture of ‘Seven Samurai’ (1954) by Akira Kurosawa. Others note echoes of earlier Hindi films about bandits and frontier justice, such as ‘Khotey Sikke’ (1973) starring Feroz Khan. Yet, rewatching ‘Mera Gaon Mera Desh,’ directed by Raj Khosla, one cannot help noticing how many of the narrative bones of  Sholay  appear to have been assembled there first. Released in 1971,  Mera Gaon Mera Desh  was a major hit at the box office, notable for holding its own in a year dominated by the near-hysterical popularity of Rajesh Khanna. The thematic framework of the two films is strikingly similar. In  Sholay , the retired policeman Thakur Baldev Singh recruits two petty criminals - Jai and Veeru - to help him avenge the terror inflicted upon his village by the bandit Gabbar Singh. In  Mera Gaon Mera Desh , the set-up is not very different. A retired soldier, Jaswant Singh, seeks to protect his village from a ruthless dacoit and enlists the help of a small-time crook named Ajit. Even the villain’s name seems to echo across the two films. In Khosla’s drama, the marauding bandit played by Vinod Khanna is scene-stealing performance is called Jabbar Singh. In  Sholay , the outlaw who would become one of Indian cinema’s most memorable antagonists was Gabbar Singh. There is an additional irony in the casting. In  Mera Gaon Mera Desh , the retired soldier Jaswant Singh is played by Jayant - the real-life father of Amjad Khan, who would later immortalise Gabbar Singh in  Sholay . The connective tissue between the two films becomes even clearer in the presence of Dharmendra. In Khosla’s film he plays Ajit, a charming rogue who gradually redeems himself while defending the village. Four years later, Dharmendra returned in  Sholay  as Veeru, a similarly exuberant petty criminal whose courage and irrepressible humour make him one half of Hindi cinema’s most beloved buddy duo alongside Amitabh Bachchan as Jai. Certain visual motifs also appear to have travelled intact. In Khosla’s film, Ajit finds himself bound in ropes in the bandit’s den during a dramatic musical sequence. A similar image appears in  Sholay , where Veeru is tied up before Gabbar Singh while Basanti performs the now famous song ‘Jab Tak Hai Jaan.’ Other echoes are subtler but just as suggestive. Ajit’s pursuit of the village belle Anju, played by Asha Parekh, anticipates Veeru’s boisterous attempts to woo Basanti, portrayed by Hema Malini. Scenes in which Ajit teaches Anju to shoot recall the flirtatious gun-training sequence between Veeru and Basanti that became one of  Sholay ’s most cherished moments. Even the famous coin motif has a precedent. Ajit frequently tosses a coin to make decisions - a flourish that would later appear in  Sholay , where Jai’s coin toss becomes a running gag. Perhaps most intriguingly, the endings of the two films converge in their original form. In  Mera Gaon Mera Desh , the villain is ultimately killed by the hero. The uncut version of  Sholay  reportedly ended in a similar fashion, with Gabbar Singh meeting his death at the hands of Thakur Baldev Singh. However, censors altered the climax before the film’s 1975 release, requiring that Gabbar be handed over to the police instead. All this does not diminish  Sholay . Rather, it highlights the alchemy through which cinema evolves. The scriptwriting duo Salim–Javed took familiar ingredients and expanded them into a grander narrative populated by unforgettable characters and stylised action. On the 55 th  anniversary of  Mera Gaon Mera Desh , Raj Khosla’s rugged western deserves a renewed glance as the sturdy foundation on which a legend called  Sholay  was built. (The author is a political commentator and a global affairs observer. Views personal.)

Escalating Conflict in Balochistan Threatens Global Stability

Updated: Oct 21, 2024

Escalating Conflict in Balochistan Threatens Global Stability

In the province of Balochistan on the southwestern edge of Pakistan, violence has become disturbingly routine. It’s a region rich in natural resources and geopolitical significance, yet its story is largely untold outside the corridors of power in Islamabad, Washington, and Beijing. And that’s a problem—because what’s happening in Balochistan could have repercussions far beyond Pakistan’s borders.

Imagine, if you will, a bus journey where the passengers—ordinary men, women, and children—are suddenly thrust into a nightmare as armed men storm the vehicle. These men, hardened by years of conflict, pull off the male passengers, leaving behind women and children to run for their lives. Moments later, the night air is filled with the staccato of gunfire and the gut-wrenching cries of men being executed on the spot.

This isn’t the plot of a Hollywood thriller, but the grim reality that unfolded in Balochistan left nearly two dozen people dead. It is part of a broader wave of violence that claimed at least 74 lives within a 24-hour span.

So, why should the U.S. and the international community care about Balochistan? The answer lies in the interconnected nature of global politics, where even remote conflicts can have far-reaching and unpredictable consequences.

Balochistan is the linchpin in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure project critical to China’s global ambitions, including its Belt and Road initiative. The province’s Gwadar Port offers China access to the Arabian Sea and the Middle East.

Balochistan remains one of the most underdeveloped and unstable regions in Pakistan, with the ethnic Baloch locals feeling marginalised by the central government. Their grievances the exploitation of their land’s resources without any tangible benefits to the local population—have fuelled a decades-long insurgency by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), who have demanded greater autonomy or outright independence.

This insurgency might have stayed local, but outside involvement changed the game. Islamabad has accused India of backing Baloch separatists, especially after the capture of Kulbhushan Yadav, who Pakistan claims was running a spy network in Balochistan. Yadav’s arrest and confessions have intensified suspicions that India is fanning the rebellion in Pakistan’s most restive province.

Additionally, Islamist militant groups, including Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), have also entrenched themselves in the province, turning it into a battleground for their sectarian and anti-state agendas. These groups have targeted Shia Muslims, security forces, and even Chinese nationals working on CPEC projects, creating a volatile mix that threatens to destabilise the entire region.

For Pakistan, the situation is a security nightmare. Despite launching multiple military operations and killing dozens of militants, the state has struggled to contain the violence. The porous border with Afghanistan provides militants with a safe haven, complicating Islamabad’s efforts to restore order.

The United States, too, has a stake in what happens next in Balochistan. As tensions rise between Washington and Beijing, the stability of regions like Balochistan becomes increasingly important. If CPEC falters due to instability, it could slow China’s economic rise, impacting global markets in ways that would be felt in New York as much as in Islamabad or Beijing. Furthermore, the spread of extremist ideologies in Balochistan could eventually find its way back to the West, as has happened with other conflict zones.

If insurgents are for better governance, fair distribution of resources, and respect for their cultural identity, then they are reasonable, and the authorities in Islamabad need to take care of it. On the other hand, if the insurgents only intend to blackmail, Islamabad needs to come hard on them. Beijing, the US, and the entire world should help Pakistan to quell militancy in Balochistan.

Washington must recognise the province’s strategic importance and support efforts to address the root causes of the conflict—poverty, underdevelopment, and political disenfranchisement. This means encouraging Islamabad to pursue a more inclusive approach, one that prioritises dialogue over brute force. Second, the international community must press all the forces to end their proxy battles in Balochistan. Islamabad needs support on a large scale to quell militancy in Balochistan.

Finally, the U.S. should work with Pakistan to counter the growing influence of Islamist militant groups in the province. This requires more than just military cooperation; it involves supporting educational and economic initiatives that can offer young Baloch a viable alternative to joining extremist organisations.

The situation in Balochistan is complex, and there are no easy solutions. But as the violence continues to spiral out of control, the cost of doing nothing becomes increasingly untenable. For the sake of regional and global security, it’s time the world starts helping Pakistan in its fight against militancy and terrorism.

Because in a world as interconnected as ours, the conflicts that seem far away are often closer than we think!


(The writer is a senior jounalist based in Islamabad. Views personal)

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