Opening borders, welcoming peace

Just when the press was writing about "The Big Chill" in the relations between India and Pakistan, a group of women have broken the ice. Led by a strong believer in people-to-people contact, the Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande, a busload of Indian women spent a week in Pakistan. They represented different ages, professions and political views. Their common concern was opening up the path to dialogue. Coming as it did at a time when the Indian Government turned down Pakistan's suggestion for talks, the journey was significant.

The group came back with tales not unfamiliar to those of us who have visited that country - of the warmth and hospitality you encounter from friends and strangers, of the deep desire for peace that expresses itself in a myriad ways when you speak to ordinary people, of the ease with which you, an Indian, are accepted wherever you go in Pakistan.

Yet, each time a group of civilians from India travels to Pakistan and returns with such stories, we are surprised because we have been led to believe that "Pakistan" hates India and wants to destroy it. Rarely are we made to realise that "the nation" and "the people" are not the same, regardless of whether we live in a democracy or a military dictatorship.

Sadly, within days of the return of the busload of women, India turned back over a 100 Pakistani peace activists from the Wagah border as they attempted to bridge a few feet of no-man's land separating our countries on foot. Security reasons were cited. The Indian authorities insisted that the Pakistanis must travel by "accepted" modes of transport - bus, train or plane. Despite earlier precedents - one as recent as last year when a group of retired Pakistani military men, led by General Shabbir Shah, had crossed the Wagah border on foot to attend the reunion of the Ludhiana College - the authorities on our side would not change their ruling. The men and women who had attempted this crossing were from all walks of life; they were part of the Pakistan-India People's Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) which met in Bangalore this last week. They were people coming with a message of peace. Yet, they were asked to go back and cross the border in ways acceptable to the Government.

Fortunately, all of them had visas unlike many others who have been refused visas. Recently, the Government seems to have become even tougher at issuing visas to Pakistanis than before. As a result, last month, Pakistani scientists were refused visas to attend a conference on rice cultivation and 16 delegates from five trade unions in Pakistan were not permitted to attend the 14th World Trade Union Congress held recently in New Delhi. A constant appeal by groups on both sides of the border has been for an easing of the visa regime.

The director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Mr. I. A. Rehman, who has been a leading figure in the peace efforts between our two countries, told The News in Lahore, "Both Governments have created such a problem, that they are now scared to do anything rational which may risk a public backlash. So public opinion has to come to the point and in fact create a pressure for the Governments to move towards peace."

Indeed, the only ray of hope has been the different efforts made by citizens on both sides to bridge the divide created by politics. "Goli nahin, boli (Use words, not bullets") is the slogan the women carried with them to Pakistan. But words also have to be carefully chosen. Otherwise, they can be like poison arrows that lay the ground for the bullets. This is the sad reality that we have learned in both our countries.

The media has played no mean role in consolidating the prejudices that already exist with the tone and the words that it uses. As one of the women on the bus to Pakistan aptly stated, "Our minds have been poisoned by those in power and a rather hawkish media. Only people-to-people contact will demolish the myths created by 50 years of hostility."

The media on both sides has not just been hawkish, but has generally failed to recognise that there is "news" apart from issues concerning security or politics. How, for instance, are ordinary Pakistanis managing in the wake of the economic crisis that has confronted their country in the aftermath of the nuclear tests? How has daily existence changed for them with the military in power? Why have some leading activists from non-governmental organisations joined the Government of General Pervez Musharraf while others have refused to do so because they will not compromise with a military dictatorship?

There are scores of such issues that go beyond the narrow interests of the political leadership on both sides that require coverage in our media. Such reporting would give us insight into Pakistan that would reveal that the choices are not so different for people on that side of the border as they are over here.

Fortunately, some of this negativism is being corrected by steps taken by civil society groups. But these steps cannot go far if the media does not carry the message that they bring to our countries. Essentially, what all peace-loving people on both sides of the border have been saying is: "Enough! Over 50 years of hate is enough. Over 50 years of wasting precious resources in maintaining war machines is enough. Over 50 years of throwing poisoned darts at each other is enough. It is time to grow up, to move on, to find avenues for peaceful coexistence."

KALPANA SHARMA

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