Vicky19
26th February 2005, 18:42
They were once reviled and caricatured as spies and foreign agents in each other's country. Now they are embraced and feted as friends and brothers across the border.
This is the story of ordinary people of India and Pakistan who have infused a fresh burst of life in the peace process between the two countries.
This is no peacenik's enthusiasm. Facts speak for themselves. Last month, the Indian high commission issued over 10,000 visas to Pakistanis coming to India. On an average, the Pakistani high commission in New Delhi issues 8,000 visas every month.
Over 350 Pakistanis have descended on the city to attend a four-day convention beginning Friday evening and it hasn't yet made headline news.
And the prospect of about 10,000 Pakistanis flooding India for the India-Pakistan cricket series next month isn't instigating panic or anxiety among usually paranoid security agencies here. How does one explain this miraculous turnaround?
Over 8,000 visas were issued to Indian cricket fans last year to watch India's historic tour to Pakistan - the first one in almost one-and-a-half decades.
"This shows how people-to-people contacts between the two countries have become a way of life in both countries," says veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar, the pioneering spirit behind the current spurt in mass contacts between India and Pakistan.
Agrees Rajinder Sachar, retired chief justice of the Delhi high court: "The climate has changed. Good relations between India and Pakistan are qualitatively different. Once people meet each other, misunderstanding is dispelled."
Sachar, together with Nayar, has been organising an annual candlelight vigil at the Wagah land border for the last decade.
Recalls Mubashar Hasan, former finance minister of Pakistan: "What has started as a trickle has become a floodgate for people wanting to live in peace on both sides of the border."
Hasan is here to attend the seventh joint convention of the Pakistan-India People Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD). "In 1994, we could get 100 visas with much difficulty. Last month, the Indian high commission issued 11,000 visas," he added.
He attributes this to the "long-lost affinity," which has developed between India and Pakistan.
Likewise, peace activist Rita Manchanda recalls the time in 1996 when 100 people from Pakistan were finally allowed to come to India. "They came despite knowing it well that they will be called anti-nationals. The atmospherics are radically different now."
Last year thousands of Indians and Pakistanis, including politicians, academics, celebrities and media personalities, visited each other's country as part of Track II peace initiative.
Clearly, people power is exerting its force on diplomacy in both countries. Sachar, for one, is confident that public pressure will sensitise both the governments to achieve peace. "They will necessarily have to make changes in their policies," predicts Sachar.
Nayar captures the new mood of confidence and optimism. "Earlier, there was hardly any movement. The Srinagar-Muzaffarabd bus has already been cleared. And many more buses are on the way. When people meet, it removes suspicion."
"Once there is goodwill and understanding, it's easier to solve other problems," explains Nayar.
Recently, the Indian government allowed a group of Pakistani journalists to visit Jammu and Kashmir for the first time since the partition. The Pakistani government reciprocated by letting Indian journalists into Muzaffarabad, capital of the Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Indian and Pakistani film stars and other artists formed together at a recent concert called "Help" in Mumbai to raise funds for the tsunami victims.
Above all, the average Indian and Pakistani now know more about each other's country and culture. This kind of knowledge acts as an antidote to the propaganda of demagogues and warmongers.
"There is so much ignorance on both sides of the border. There is a cliched picture of Pakistan full of burqa-clad women and fire-breathing fundamentalists, which is not moored in reality. I see more women in burqa in Chandni Chowk," says Sachar, who was born in Lahore.
Nayar sees in this deluge of increased people-to-people contacts the seeds of a resurgent South Asia. Says Nayar: "Goods should move; people should move. I have a vision of South Asia as an economic zone with soft orders and easy trade between the countries of the region."
India's former prime minister I K Gujral is equally confident that these stepped-up people-to-people contacts will act as "an elemental force" that will eventually bring down the wall of misunderstanding between the two countries.
This is the story of ordinary people of India and Pakistan who have infused a fresh burst of life in the peace process between the two countries.
This is no peacenik's enthusiasm. Facts speak for themselves. Last month, the Indian high commission issued over 10,000 visas to Pakistanis coming to India. On an average, the Pakistani high commission in New Delhi issues 8,000 visas every month.
Over 350 Pakistanis have descended on the city to attend a four-day convention beginning Friday evening and it hasn't yet made headline news.
And the prospect of about 10,000 Pakistanis flooding India for the India-Pakistan cricket series next month isn't instigating panic or anxiety among usually paranoid security agencies here. How does one explain this miraculous turnaround?
Over 8,000 visas were issued to Indian cricket fans last year to watch India's historic tour to Pakistan - the first one in almost one-and-a-half decades.
"This shows how people-to-people contacts between the two countries have become a way of life in both countries," says veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar, the pioneering spirit behind the current spurt in mass contacts between India and Pakistan.
Agrees Rajinder Sachar, retired chief justice of the Delhi high court: "The climate has changed. Good relations between India and Pakistan are qualitatively different. Once people meet each other, misunderstanding is dispelled."
Sachar, together with Nayar, has been organising an annual candlelight vigil at the Wagah land border for the last decade.
Recalls Mubashar Hasan, former finance minister of Pakistan: "What has started as a trickle has become a floodgate for people wanting to live in peace on both sides of the border."
Hasan is here to attend the seventh joint convention of the Pakistan-India People Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD). "In 1994, we could get 100 visas with much difficulty. Last month, the Indian high commission issued 11,000 visas," he added.
He attributes this to the "long-lost affinity," which has developed between India and Pakistan.
Likewise, peace activist Rita Manchanda recalls the time in 1996 when 100 people from Pakistan were finally allowed to come to India. "They came despite knowing it well that they will be called anti-nationals. The atmospherics are radically different now."
Last year thousands of Indians and Pakistanis, including politicians, academics, celebrities and media personalities, visited each other's country as part of Track II peace initiative.
Clearly, people power is exerting its force on diplomacy in both countries. Sachar, for one, is confident that public pressure will sensitise both the governments to achieve peace. "They will necessarily have to make changes in their policies," predicts Sachar.
Nayar captures the new mood of confidence and optimism. "Earlier, there was hardly any movement. The Srinagar-Muzaffarabd bus has already been cleared. And many more buses are on the way. When people meet, it removes suspicion."
"Once there is goodwill and understanding, it's easier to solve other problems," explains Nayar.
Recently, the Indian government allowed a group of Pakistani journalists to visit Jammu and Kashmir for the first time since the partition. The Pakistani government reciprocated by letting Indian journalists into Muzaffarabad, capital of the Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Indian and Pakistani film stars and other artists formed together at a recent concert called "Help" in Mumbai to raise funds for the tsunami victims.
Above all, the average Indian and Pakistani now know more about each other's country and culture. This kind of knowledge acts as an antidote to the propaganda of demagogues and warmongers.
"There is so much ignorance on both sides of the border. There is a cliched picture of Pakistan full of burqa-clad women and fire-breathing fundamentalists, which is not moored in reality. I see more women in burqa in Chandni Chowk," says Sachar, who was born in Lahore.
Nayar sees in this deluge of increased people-to-people contacts the seeds of a resurgent South Asia. Says Nayar: "Goods should move; people should move. I have a vision of South Asia as an economic zone with soft orders and easy trade between the countries of the region."
India's former prime minister I K Gujral is equally confident that these stepped-up people-to-people contacts will act as "an elemental force" that will eventually bring down the wall of misunderstanding between the two countries.