THERE'S ALWAYS A PROBLEM

[AussieMark]

There's Always a Problem

NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The book "Freedom at Midnight" signaled the 1947 partition and independence of Pakistan and India from centuries of British colonial rule, yet on the night of a crucial promised cease-fire, the old foes can't even agree when midnight falls.
India and Pakistan agreed on Monday to stop shooting at each other in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir from midnight on Tuesday -- but now disagree when midnight actually is.

Pakistan's army said the cease-fire would start at midnight Pakistan Standard Time, which is 1900 GMT. India's Foreign Ministry insisted it would start at midnight Indian time -- 30 minutes earlier.

Pakistan gained independence from Britain at midnight on April 14, 1947 and India a day later. at midnight on August 15.

Since then the two nations have grown into bitter rivals -- their relationship poisoned by a dispute over the beautiful state of Kashmir.

"Freedom at Midnight," a non-fictional account of the sub continent's independence, was written by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre.

Tuesday's saga was possibly too much also for readers of Salman Rushdie's novel "Midnight's Children," which chronicled the lives of a group of people born at the stroke of Indian independence and granted mystical powers.