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INTERNATIONAL

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Before dealing with Kashmir, India & Pakistan should try

Free Access Let people meet

Neither country grants long-term or tourist visas, merely city-based family and business visas. Even former citizens find it hard to get visas for their former country
It is a real hassle asking my parents in Lucknow to send copies of their identity cards, ration cards and utility bills every year when I apply for a visa. But I am lucky that at least I have always got the visa. I think people fill in the forms incorrectly which is why their visas are rejected. - Rakshi Shahzad, housewife, Karachi

SIX EASY STEPS TO PEACE

SINGLE-CITY VISAS
WHAT Both countries restrict entry to each others citizens. India has started an online visa process for Pakistani citizens but its not seen as good news because applicants will need an extra document a letter from an Indian sponsor duly authorized by an Indian official ACTION Change the visa regime along the lines of those with other friendly countries; grant tourist and student visas; give preference to business visas; offer visa on arrival to frequent travelers who have already been security cleared REACTION More people-to-people contact; will give a fillip to trade and business; a boon for families divided across the two countries; promote tourism in both countries; student exchange programmes will make for better understanding. vided in half. Pakistan claims the entire creek as per paras 9 and 10 of the Bombay Government Resolution of 1914 signed between the then government of Sindh and the Rao Maharaj of Kutch. WHY Sir Creek itself has little value. It is a marshy wasteland. But where the boundary line runs will determine how much Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) each country loses or gains. If the boundary runs along the Eastern Bank as Pakistan wants, India will lose several hundred square kilometers of continental shelf. It is the prospect of finding substantial oil reserves in the continental shelf that has made both sides inflexible. But that changed thanks to the UN, which pushed both to look for a compromise. The UN Convention on Law of the Sea set May 13, 2009, as the deadline for signatories to claim maritime rights over territorial waters, contiguous zones, EEZs and the continental shelf. India maintains constant vigil here. ACTION Set up joint ventures in the region. The UN should put pressure on both governments by declaring the creek international waters. REACTION Clear demarcation of land and maritime boundaries

JOURNALIST VISA
WHAT Pakistan and India allow just two journalists each as resident correspondents; it is very difficult for journalists to travel to the other to report; city-specific visas make it difficult for the foreign journalist to travel about freely and it may be almost impossible to report from hotspots. On occasion, visas are denied to journalists seeking to travel to the other country to participate in seminars. WHY Journalists been seen with suspicion in both countries; each has, from time to time, accused individuals of working for their countrys intelligence agency. Journalists have been harassed and obstructed by intelligence agencies from doing their work. ACTION Grant visas to correspondents of national newspapers, magazines and television channels on each side of the border REACTION More journalists means more on-theground reportage back to the other country, rather than rumour and speculation. Information cuts ignorance, which gives rise to bigotry and hatred.

THE SIACHEN ISSUE

WHAT It is synonymous with freezing weather and has the dismal tagline highest battlefield on earth, but Siachen ironically means the place of wild roses. India and Pakistan have fought here intermittently since 1984. Military analysts estimate the combined death toll here at 5,000. WHY At 20,700 feet India controls these heights at an estimated cost of up to $1 million a day. It is reluctant to back off for fear Pakistan might walk in. After the Kargil war India is wary of pulling back; Pakistan insists it doesnt pose a threat anymore. But experts say the strategic importance of the glacier, where neither stationed troops until 1984, is debatable. After partition, the line of control was not extended up to Siachen because no one thought it worth bothering about. ACTION Declare Siachen a no-conflict zone REACTION The end of a 26-year battle for domination of a frozen region where thousands of soliders have died. Defence expenditure could be trimmed; friction would reduce at the border and the glaciers ecological system be protected.

NO MOBILE ROAMING

WHAT In March 2004, AirTel (India) signed the first bilateral roaming agreement with Pakistan. It ended a few months later. WHY Mistrust. Both intelligence agencies claim the service will be used by terrorists. ACTION Allow all mobile phone companies to provide the roaming facility along the lines of arrangements with other SAARC nations, with necessary security pre-conditions. REACTION More business for mobile phone companies; more connectivity for IMPRISONED FISHERMEN people in both countries, which should WHAT About 800 fishermen languish in make for more goodwill and is better for prisons in India and Pakistan. Prior to the bilateral trade. release of 100 or so prisoners some years

ago as a confidencebuilding measure, there were 610 Indian fishermen imprisoned in Pakistan and about 300 Pakistani fishermen detained in India. Pakistan is also holding more than 400 Indian fishing boats. WHY Perhaps, fishermen suffer the brunt of the neighbourly hostility, being ignorant, poor and marginalized communities unaware of the maritime border and protocols. ACTION The fishermen and their boats should be released under Article 73 of the UN convention on Laws of the Seas, after making them pay a fine for the transgression. Consular access should be provided; they should be released after they complete their sentence. REACTION It would be a confidencebuilding measure, reduce suspicion overall and would be one less emotive issue to agonize over.

THE SIR CREEK DISPUTE

WHAT India claims Sir Creek citing the Thalweg Doctrine of International Law that says river boundaries between two states may, by mutual agreement, be di-

Islamabad Lahore

A single-city visa to visit Pakistan often dampens the spirits of people like me. I regularly visit the neighbouring country both to meet my friends and to stage theatre shows. I remember the last time I went to Pakistan May 2009 I met my friends in Lahore, who were theatre personaliText: Shobhan Saxena ties too and they wanted Times of India me to stage a show in Islamabad but I couldnt because I had visa only to visit Lahore. Sometimes, our theatre troupe had to come back to India to take a visa for Siachen another Pakistani city, which becomes very cumbersome and LoC tedious. I remember one incident when I was very disappointed to not attend the silver jubilee festival of Ajoka Theater group of Pakistan in Islamabad because I had a visa for J&K Lahore, but not for Islamabad Kewal Dhaliwal, Theatre director, Amritsar
Amritsar

Wagah Border

PAKISTAN
Delhi

I N D I A
Si rC re ek

GUJARAT

Half of my family is from the Indian side of Kashmir, and the other half is from Sialkot in Pakistan. I have had my visa rejected twice by Pakistans High Commission in London, although I did ever ything to fulfill the requirements of the application. I have never met some of my relatives in my life. We have mourned the loss of our dear ones on both sides of the border over the telephone. We are not allowed to meet. I mean, what wrong could I do to someone? I cant comprehend this madness. - Ali Shawl, Software consultant, London, United Kingdom

Release Fishermen
I have seven mouths to feed on the paltry Rs 1500 given by the government as compensation after my husband was detained by the Pakistan Marine Agency. It was September 2008, when he left in his boat, promising to return in 15 days. He never did. Since he disappeared, I visit the local fishing association office desperately hoping for some news, only to be told that the matter will be taken up by the government and he will return when his turn comes

Peace is not a privilege but our right

Sardar Abrar Rashid attends a Peace Chain hanky ceremony at a school in Abbottabad
eace building is nothing new for the students and teachers of Modernage Public School and College, Abbottabad, They have been partnering with City Montessori School in Lucknow since 2005 when a group went over for the Computer Olympiad. Since then, two other groups were able to visit, both in 2007. They fondly remember the warmth they received from their counterparts and intelligentsia during these visits. When the Sri Lankan team was attacked in Lahore in 2009, around 1700 students from this school signed a huge banner in solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka. So it was not surprising that they also participated enthusiastically in the Aman ki Asha Peace Chain initiative of Jang Group and Times of India. Last Friday, hundreds of handkerchiefs that the Abbottabad students had painted with messages and images of peace were displayed at the school premises. At least ten principals of various local schools and colleges attended this special ceremony, besides the school staff and students and some civil society members. Educationists and other visitors appreciated the idea of signing and painting handkerchiefs and the students crewhich Aman ki Asha is also participating in. Sumeera Wahid, principal of the Modernage Public School girls section and the main force behind the signatures and handkerchiefs painting cam-

must not let peace become hostage to these forces. We must give peace a chance and maintain it at all costs. She thanked Jang Group and Geo TV for taking up this great cause. Students told The News that

Dudhiben Jethwa, Kodinar village, Gujarat

ENABLE R E P O R TA G E
Journalists from different media organizations also find it tough to go to the other countr y. Allowing only two resident correspondents is insufficient in terms of providing proper coverage about current af fairs. India and Pakistan have a burgeoning media industr y but most of it is busy spewing hatred and spreading negative news about the other. Take the Mumbai incident, or the Shoaib-Sania wedding both were portrayed in a partial manner. More journalists would help the man on the street learn how the other country feels about his. It will help end rumour and clichd stereotypes

Abid Hussain, journalist, Karachi

Journalists can be the biggest catalysts in building the peace mechanism between India and Pakistan. To suppor t the logic, one should cross the border and feel the pulse of a nation that has erroneously been branded as enemy number one. I did cross the border last October and all I found were friends and no enemies at all. When the common man travels to another country, he gets in touch with his relatives and friends. But the visit of a journalist makes all the dif ference when his unbiased observations about the country and people reaches a wider range of people and corrects their perceptions

ative skills. Their paintings and impressions depicted the importance of peace in the world in general and between the two nucleararmed

Arfa Khanum Sherwani, journalist, New Delhi

neighbours in particular. People to people contact between Pakistan and India and especially those who represent the next generation will yield positive results as far as peace is concerned, believes Wahid Siraj, the principal of Modernage Public School. War is never a solution. It only creates and multiplies multidimensional problems. Wars bring hunger, poverty, disease and deprivation which breeds extremism. Students sang peace anthems and national songs before signing a banner for Aman ki Asha as a gesture of peace for the Indian students and public. The banner and handkerchiefs will be handed over to Indians during the Queens Baton Relay ceremony on June 25 at Wagah border,

The banner and handkerchiefs will be handed over to India during the Queens Baton Relay ceremony on June 25 at Wagah border
paign at the school, believes that peace is imperative for the development and survival of the human race now and in times to come. Most people in the world want peace and harmony, she says. There are very few warmongers but these few people disturb and destroy peace. We they wished for visa restrictions between the two nations to be eased. We want to visit each other and learn from each others experiences through exchange programmes, said one. However, they are all too well aware that the two countries continue to deny visas to each others citizens. Several times,

their groups have been denied visas to India, while the Pakistani authorities have also denied visas to groups from their partner City Montessori School in Lucknow. We want both governments to resolve all disputes through negotiations and give peace a chance. This must happen, it is inevitable, said a student. These children are well aware of the benefits of peace, which they believe will end enmity, reduce poverty, and allow resources to be diverted towards more and better health and educational facilities for the people, many of whom live below the poverty line. Peace will improve the ties of the two countries where despite stockpiles of nuclear weapons hundreds of thousands of women die every year during or after childbirth due to lack of proper medical care; millions of people do not have access to clean drinking water. Peace is the only solution to the countless problems facing both countries, and these students believe that whoever takes this initiative must be open heartedly supported. Peace is not a privilege for us but our right, they say. We must demand this right but it may take us a while to earn this right and then defend it.

THE FIRST STEP LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK

A peace initiative whose time has come... Destination Peace: A commitment by the Jang Group, Geo and The Times of India Group to create an enabling environment that brings the people of Pakistan and India closer together, contributing to genuine and durable peace with honour between our countries.

Feedback, contributions, photos, letters: Email: amankiasha@janggroup.com.pk Fax: +92-21-3241-8343 Post: Aman ki Asha c/o The News, I.I. Chundrigar Road, Karachi