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The News International, Wednesday, February 10, 2010 AN INITIATIVE OF THE TIMES OF INDIA AND JANG GROUP OF PAKISTAN

Knowing me,

By Farah Zia

knowing you
MOVING ON: Members of Pakistans Mandhwa Theatre participate in a peace walk in Delhi at the 10th Ryan International Festival of Performing Arts. Photo courtesy: Tipu Sultan gharara? Am I allowed to talk to a male? How do I get permission to get leave home? Why n the bright sunny morning of dont the male members of our group sport the New Year, I got a call from beards? And why aren't they wearing shalwar my Indian friend Dhananjay kameez and prayer cap? who excitedly asked me to read They have doubts about Pakistanis and they The Times of India. The paper consider us conservative and rigid. Perhaps contained the details of a new the media depicts only this picture of Pakistan. Indo-Pak project "Aman ki Asha" launched by Indians do not have access to Pakistani news The Times of India and the Jang Group. There or entertainment channels on their cable networks. was a similar editorial in The News here. The 'Aman ki Asha' initiative, started by two His call brought back memories of my recent visit to India. As in the past several years, giant media houses, might well contribute to in December 2009 I visited Delhi to perform changing such perceptions based on stereoin a theatre festival hosted by Ryan Interna- types. Donald Williams rightly said, "For those tional School. More than 30 countries partici- who have seen the Earth from space, and for pated in the festival and once again the Pak- the hundreds and perhaps thousands more istani group was the most sought-after. who will, the experience most certainly changes your perspective." Without any exaggeration, every While going through the ratIndian was curious to meet the Now we have ings of the polls conducted to delegates from Pakistan. It is the will of the citizens of this curiosity that makes us another Asha know both countries about the relafriends with Indians every year. (wish): a television tionship strategy between them, I realised that Pakistanis I recall this little Indian are more flexible boy who came to channel in terms of develus and politely collaboration so oping sound relaasked us if we tions with India. were from Pakthat people on Again the reason is istan? Then, very the same; the Indian locals hesitantly, he asked one of both sides get to don't know us well and they are our group mates, "Can I afraid to join hands with Paktouch you?" know each other istanis. We thought he was joking Now we I and my friends but after seeing the mixed exbetter and colleagues - have another pression of seriousness, interest and nervousness on his face, my "Asha" (wish) that we would like media practifriend replied, "Yes, sure you can." tioners to fulfill: a television channel collaboHe cautiously touched him with his right ration so that people on both sides get to know index finger, as if he feared my friend would each other better. With these projects, there grab him and take him to some strange place. may come a time when we are given visas for He shouted happily, "Hey, I have touched you. the country instead of specific cities, with no You are just like us aren't you?" ridiculous requirements like police reporting. Everybody started laughing. At that mo- All we need is dialogue and trust. ment, I realised the depth of his statement and then joined the party. The writer recently graduated from This was not the first time that I saw this. college in Lahore and currently works as a Every time I visit India, I have to answer many Radio Jockey at a university FM station. strange queries regarding different aspects of This article was originally published in life in Pakistan. Why I am not in a veil? How the Shehr page of The News on Sunday, Lado I know Hindi? Why I am not wearing a hore edition, Jan 10, 2010.
By Ayesha Khaled

y sons birthday that falls on Feb 4 is like a weekend every year, because Feb 5 is a national holiday, declared as Kashmir Day (instituted by Nawaz Sharif when he was Prime Minister) ostensibly in support of the Kashmiris. For the common people, though, like other gazetted holidays in Pakistan, Feb 5 is less about remembering Kashmir and more about getting a midweek break -- time to relax. We usually throw a lunch on Kashmir Day to celebrate my sons birthday after which it is time for me to leave for office. This year was no different. On the way to my office in downtown Lahore, it is not unusual to see banners all around or to come across a rally or two, demanding an early resolution of the Kashmir issue. This time, apart from the Shabab-e-Milli and other such religious organisations, there was a sequence of banners on Lahores Mall Road carrying pictures of Mian Nawaz Sharif and his brother Mian Shahbaz Sharif. Most of them bore the usual inane versification. One banner that caught my eye read Hindu bania muzammat se nahin murammat se maney ga roughly translated as The Hindu money-lender will not mend his ways through persuasion but will have to be physically fixed. It made me be angry. Or angrier, should I say. I was already feeling really agitated about an lesson called Yom-eDifaa or Defence Day that my son had to do in his Urdu class a few days back. As I read it for him, I found it a pack of sheer lies and a classic case of how young impression-

PATRIOTISM?
The aman ki asha will be realised only if we stop building war scenarios and worshipping war heroes in our text books, and question the mainstream political parties that simultaneously glorify peace and war
able minds are being indoctrinated through textbooks. I could make the connection between the Urdu lesson and the banner on display and how difficult it is to work, or even yearn for peace in such a scenario. My son, a student of grade 7, goes to a private school in Lahore. I find his history book quite amazing, so different from what we were taught as kids. It is reasonably neutral, academically conceived and quite knowledgeable. It moves logically from one civilization to the next, without exception. I have no problems with his Islamiat course either. Most of it is about rituals and Islamic history. It does not instill fear in his mind the way ours did, though his Islamiat teacher often utters some strange views that I find totally unnecessary. It is his Urdu syllabus that I find most dangerous. He has two books for Urdu, one a selection of literature and the other prepared by none other than the Punjab Textbook Board. The latter is compul-

LESSONS IN

partially. The students are being fed a strange concoction of halfIslam and half-patriotism in the name of Urdu. Once again the Islam part is innocuous; some stories about the life of prophet are actually inspiring. The patriotic stories are scary, to say the least. This is what the Yom-e-Difaa lesson was all about. The way it constructs the enemy, distorts facts and creates a false sense of superiority is bound to stay in the minds of impressionable young children and turn them into inflexible conservative adults who refuse to move beyond their extreme views. We in Pakistan have made a mistake of looking only at madrassas as seats of indoctrination. Our mainstream schools, private and public, and the very textbooks prepared by our textbook boards are where we need immediate reform. The amn ki asha (hope for peace) will be realised only if we stop building war scenarios and worshipping war heroes in our text books. Only a sensible citizenry can question the mainstream political parties that simultaneously glorify peace and POLITICS OF HATE: Does war. hating the other make you a better citizen Photos by Rahat Ali Dar ? The writer is Editor, sory for all children in mainThe News on stream school systems. ChilSunday. Feb 5 is not a dren in private schools read it newspaper holiday.

All for a Bhagat Singh library in Pakistan

Shreya Roy Chowdhury

Lyallpur, now Faisalabad, in Pakistan, was the birthplace of Bhagat Singh. A three-member delegation from the city was in India to visit Dhudhike a village in Moga district of Indian Punjab, where Lala Lajpat Rai was born. Chaudhary Zafar Iqbal, Azhar Mehmood of Duniya TV and social activist, Tahir Iqbal, are members of Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), a civil society group formed in 1994. They, with their Indian counterparts, scholar Tapan Bose and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) professor Chaman Lal, participated in an interaction at JNU on the status of India-Pakistan peace process last week. PIPFPD members are civilians fighting for peace between the two countries. In small groups, theyve met, travelled to the other side, organized workshops and when political conditions permitted, held large conventions. Were not fighting against you. Come there. Youll get the feel of your land, the atmosphere of your own home. Ek hi log hai, bhai, says Zafar Iqbal, president, PIPFPD. We could also try for basic neighbourly amicability. If you dont have sugar here, take from there. If tomatoes are scarce there, we could take from here,

SHARED LEGACY: (l to r) Chaman Lal, Tahir Iqbal and G.K. Chadha at the JNU meeting he adds. PIPFPD members are trying to establish a Bhagat Singh library at Lyallpur and professor Lal handed over posters and books published in India for that and the university. But global politics complicate things. Of the Afghan situation, Zafar Iqbal says, Those people have been illtreated, exploited. We shouldve tried to understand and help them. Inability to do that, he says, has exacerbated the situation but Pakistan has tried to do its bit: Weve stopped them at the front line or theyll disturb you. Much depends on changing attitudes says Tapan Bose. 1947 was birth of Pakistan, a matter of pride.

But Partition was a tragedy for India, as if an illegitimate country was born. Pakistan is a nation-state as is India. That is the reality we must accept, he says. We need to think seriously, realistically about terrorism, and get away from over-dependence on arms, intelligence and security. There should be no break in civil society movement. There should be exchange programmes with students, says Iqbal, women and child rights activist. Both Mehmood and Iqbal felt that peace was not impossible. If Europe can do it after centuries of war, why cant we? He offered to help JNU Phd student Sanchita Bhattacharya, studying madrasas in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh whose application of a visa to Pakistan was rejected. We want students to come, he said. Bhattacharya says she wanted to hear those working in the peace process and see the other side of the story. I have never seen or met any Pakistani before. I wanted to know what they had to say, says Munni Bharatee, a M.A. final year Hindi student. Writer and social activist, Noor Zaheer, also at the discussion said, Its importrant to know what people thing at different levels. I meet writers mostly and here there were others. I wanted to know what they think, feel about bilateral relations. Courtesy: Times of India

he IPL controversy all but died down in Pakistan after Indias otherwise hawkish Union Home minister condemned the decision. The stand taken by Chidambaram, a Hindu, who comes down hard on Pakistan for fomenting terrorism, did much to reassure Pakistan that the Indian government was not, as widely perceived, behind the decision. But in India, the controversy continues, with the Indian Taliban as the Hindu right wing have been dubbed, turning viciously on the darling of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan (SRK), for his stance on the issue. Like many Indian Muslims, the Mumbai-based SRK is staunchly nationalistic often too loudly so, as Badri Raina writes (Constructing Shah Rukh Khan: When Reason Takes a Holiday, Zmag.org, Feb 3). He unselfconsciously avails of everything that a shining India has on offergame shows, talk shows, sundry public events, and the IPL T20 cricket tamasha. His groupies span delirious young Indian women from every community and caste. Solid contribution to national unity there. Shah Rukh Khan was among those Indians who slammed the IPLs blanket boycott of the Pakistani players, stating that the Pakistani players, being the best in the business, should have been bought. That, comments Raina,

The controversy continues with a silver lining? IPL, T tamasha

is when all hell broke loose in Mumbai. The Shiv Sena supremo, Bal Thackeray wrote in the party organ, Dopahar Ka Saamna, Shah Rukh is, after all, no ordinary Indian; he is a Muslim and therefore has a pro-Pakistani bias. This was the signal for the lumpen armies to go to work. Shah Rukh's posters and effigies were duly consigned to the flames of patrioAdmiral L Ramdas Mumbai Mahesh Bhatt Mumbai Jatin Desai Mumbai Mazher Hussain Hyderabad Kamla Bhasin Delhi Seema Mustafa Delhi Sukla Sen Mumbai Meena Menon Mumbai Manisha Gupte Pune

The situation is not irretrievable

Extract from statement by prominent Indian citizens:

We feel that the situation is not irretrievable. Pakistani cricketers can still be included as there are possibilities of replacement due to injury. We appeal to all IPL team management to accommodate Pakistani cricketers, and to the government to take initiative in assuring the team owners that political groups will not be allowed to disturb the matches. At the same time, we also appeal to the Pakistan Cricket Board to revoke the cancellation of NOC given to Pakistani cricketers to enable them to participate in the IPL 3.

The two leading media houses of India and Pakistan The Times of India and Jang Group have come together for this unprecedented peace initiative, an idea whose time has come...

tism, and his house besieged and vandalized. Instructions have gone out SRK and his forththe Indian that coming movie Taliban must be boycotted. And he has been advised to make Karachi his home. All that when one would have thought that the prime target of the patriots ought to have been the home minister whose job, after all, is to secure the nation from Pakistani perfidy rather than express sentiments favourable to their cricketers! But then he is a distinguished Hindu. Whereas, by favouring the inclusion of Pakistani cricketers, Shah Rukh has proved that he is a Muslim first and foremost. Another of India's finest actors, Aamir Khan, also a Muslim (recipient of a national award on India's Republic Day recently), took the same view as Shah Rukh and the home minister. The Sena promptly lumped him with SRK. Indian civil rights activists are outraged at the Senas tactics (see box items). But theres more to the Senas actions than first meets the eye. Raina notes that the Shiv Sena in Mumbai had been caught on the back foot with their recent drive against immigrants from north India, especially Uttar Pradesh and

Bihar (pejoratively called Bhaiyas in Mumbai). Their campaign focused on the jobs and other opportunities the bhaiyas were grabbing that "rightfully" belong to the "indigenous" Marathis. Another right-wing Hindu group, the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) had taken the position that Mumbai belongs to all Indians, not just to Marathis - a position endorsed by such icons as Sachin Tendulkar and Mukesh Ambani. The Sena, writes Raina, pounced on the IPL issue to castigate Shah Rukh and Aamir Khan, to quickly remind everybody that its regional/ethnic passions have in no measure lessened its communal ones, as it declares war on both fronts. This put the RSS in a quandary. Normally, it would have joined loudly in this campaign. But Shah Rukh and Aamir are also Hindi-speaking north Indians and the RSS has taken the stand that north Indians must be protected from the Sena. The story, writes Raina, underlines the need to acknowledge the multiple identities that exist in India. Happily, India has much changed since the demolition of the Babri mosque in 1992, and it can be said that in a contest between non-sectarian Indians and sectarian ones, the latter are begin-

ning to lose supremacy. An excellent time then to jettison complacence and to drive home the all-important task of exorcising the ghosts that haunt resurgent India. And in that enterprise, there is no greater ally than India's impoverished millions (some eace Mumbai, a seven out of ten) who coalition of organisacouldn't care less tions and activists working towards a just about who belongs peace in the sub-continent in particular has to what region or slammed the highly deplorable farce of keeping bears what Pakistani players out at the recent auction of the name. IPL. Things looked so ugly that even the Union AKA

Slamming the

and defending

SRK

Home Minister, no peacenik by any stretch, has gone on record strongly disapproving the orchestrated tamasha. The Peace Mumbai statement, signed by activists Sukla Sen, Varsha R Berr y, Nasreen Contractor and Asad Bin Saif, terms as revolting the Shiv Senas vile and vicious tirade against Shah Rukh Khan for voicing his disapproval of the IPL fiasco and stating that he would have hired a Pakistani cricketer had a slot been available. They note that the Union Home Minister has been spared, even though he expressed exactly the same sort of sentiments, SRK has been chosen as a target clearly on account his perceived vulnerability on more than one counts. The group places on record its profound appreciation of SRK for his gritty refusal to buckle down. It also demands that the state government must provide all the legitimate protection to him in this specific context.

Destination Peace looks beyond the confines of a 62-year-old political boundary to the primal bonds that tie together the peoples of both countries.