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INTERNATIONAL

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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Signs of improving times? T

Indias UN Security Council vote for Pakistan and Pakistans prompt return of an Indian helicopter are hopeful signs for better relations between the two countries tourist visas coming up?
which India and Pakistan can complement each other at international fora, from international trade bodies to climate change summits, avenues where the third world often finds itself at loggerheads with the first. Instead of appreciating the positive development, nationalist cynics on both sides found ways to play it down. Some contended that given that the United Nations Sefor that attack are Indians. On the Pakistani side, some accused the Pakistani media of playing down the Indian vote although it was crucial given that Pakistan won the requisite two-third votes by just one vote. Others said it was no favour because India was only returning what was due. Some said, now that both are at UNSC, shall we bring up the UN resolutions on Kashmir? edgy happened on Oct 23: an Indian helicopter mistakenly crossed Line of Control into the Pakistani mountains. The great Himalayas must be amused at the games we play at that height. The helicopter almost reached Skardu in Gilgit-Baltistan (how Id love to go there!). It was a tense few hours. Four Indian army officials, including three senior officers, were detained as the helicopter was grounded 25 kilometres into Pakistani territory. This is the sort of situation that can escalate. Yet within a few hours the helicopter and its occupants were back on the Indian side, just a few valleys away. But again the hawkish chatterati drew borders of the mind on the Internet. How could the Pakistanis have forced the helicopter to land, some Indians asked they must have had to land because of the bad weather! A Pakistani jokingly wondered whether India would send Sunny Deol to the rescue. This was no easy situation. Had relations between the countries been tense such a helicopter may not have been able to return so easily, so fast. It may have been termed as a reconnaissance aircraft and the men detained, or worse, shot down. It is again clearly the desire on both sides to not derail the peace process that ensured that a mountain was not made out of a molehill
Shivam Vij

By Sarwat Ali

wo incidents that took place recently provide hope, underlining that the IndiaPakistan peace process must indeed be on track. One incident was related to the UN and the other to Kashmir, if you can believe it. On Oct 21, Pakistan won a hotly-contested seat to the UN Security Council, joining India as a two-year non-permanent member on the body. The votes that won India the seat last year included Pakistans; India recently returned the favour. Pakistans two-year term will run from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2013, overlapping with India for one year. Given the nature of their perennially tense relations, India and Pakistan are expected to fight with each other at whatever level possible, from the cricket field to the UNSC. However, the two sides have made common cause on many issues at the UN except for Kashmir. In fact, only a few days ago Pakistan had irked India by again raising the Kashmir issue at the UN. But the recent example of mutual co-operation at the UNSC provides hope for more. There are so many avenues at

curity Council is itself such a problematic institution, because of the way it is structured and what it does, its only apt that India and Pakistan are there together! On that town hall called twitter, Indian hawks contended that India only returned the favour. They asked, would India return other favours (read terrorism) from Pakistan? Those who played down signs of thaw and bonhomie and raked up the Mumbai attacks of 2008 forget that the Samjhauta bomb blast killed Indians and Pakistanis alike, that those being tried in court

To my mind, when hawks on both sides play down an event like this, something right must be happening. But consider this: would India and Pakistan supported each other at the United Nations if they were going to war, which is where they seem to be headed every few years and where the media sometimes seems to be pushing them? Goodwill symbolic gestures emerge from a peace process, and can in turn only strengthen the momentum towards peace. Something more

across the LoC. These two events are examples of Pakistan and India behaving like responsible 63 year olds who have learnt from the mistakes of their youth, and now have the maturity to bury the hatchet and move on. They have already initiated talks to improve and strengthen economic ties. There are great hopes vested in the recently proposed relaxation of visa regimes. Since this is in proposal stage we should keep our fingers crossed. The most exciting idea in the new visa plan is tourist visa. To think Indians and Pakistanis can be tourists, able to visit the other country just to see the sights, roam the streets, eat the food, make new friends and buy clothes and see for themselves who grows better mangoes! Such great ideas will never materialise if we continue to fight over territory and UN seats. Our world is here, lets enjoy the kebabs and be sabchanga-no-panga. Those who rubbish this vision as romantic are welcome to their views. Those of us who believe in peace remain steadfast in our vision and our goal of better ties and more peopleto-people and trade contacts. Incidents and steps that give rise to hope for better relations between the two countries are encouraging and must be further encouraged. Shivam Vij is a journalist based in Delhi. Email: dillidurast@shivamvij.com

here may have been more than one reason for Sahir Ludhianvi and Hamid Akhtar to be very close. They hailed from the same town, Ludhiana, espoused the same ideology and were both writers one a poet and the other a journalist/writer. Both also grew up in an environment heady with the wine of expectation of a better future. Born Abdul Hayee in 1921, Sahir Ludhianvi fell in love with a girl from his college and spent most of his time mooning over her while digging deep into the source of his inspiration. She was his muse and the love relationship flowered more in his poetry than in flesh and blood, but its echoes were heard far and wide, outside the four walls of the college through his irrepressible verses. Expelled from college (with a nudge from his loves influential father), he came to Lahore in 1942 to study

He cared for her deeply, and she looked after him and his friends, extending the maternal lap by transforming the house into a home. As Sahir toiled to edit the progressive journals Adab-e-Lateef, Shaahkaar, and later Savera, trying to make ends meet on a meagre salary, Hamid Akhtar threw himself into the world of politics where taking the parliamentary road was not always considered to be the most desirable option. Despite the hard work and poverty, those were carefree times for the two

life without the armour of academic degrees by choosing diction and a form that held an instant appeal for the common man. His initial poems were printed in an underground paper Kirti Lahar, published from Merat. The going was tough, but the dreams were sweet and aplenty. The lack of resources and their ever-present poverty were overshadowed by the promise of a better tomorrow. Sahir Ludhianvi wrote and Hamid Akhtar toiled in the field, supporting

A tale of two Ludhianvis

The late Pakistani writer Hamid Akhtar and his friend, the Indian poet Sahir Ludhianvi, grew up together, were part of the Progressive Writers Movement, and shared the same thoughts and dreams
each other. However, Sahir occasionally expressed the desire to return to India, staying in Lahore only on Hamid Akhtars insistence. At one point, Hamid Akhtar left for Karachi for a secret political assignment along with the Communist Partys Sajjad Zaheer`. However, due to circumstances as Hamid Akhtar explained in a recent television interview with Farrukh Sohail Goindi (http://bit.ly/oTXJmP), they had to stay on for longer than initially planned. Due to the secrecy of the trip, Hamid Akhtar was unable to write or call his friend to explain the delay. Sahir waited for him to return, bringing reassurance and an affirmation of their destiny he himself was being hounded and harassed by various intelligence agencies. People told him that Hamid Akhtar had been arrested. Feeling vulnerable and alone, he quietly left for India in June 1948, and a few months later, sent somebody to escort his mother over as well. When Hamid Akhtar returned to Lahore over a month after having left, he was shocked to find the house empty. Sahir and his mother were no longer there to shelter Hamid Akhtar and his friends. He lived in the house for a few days but found it increasingly difficult to cope with the loss to rationalise living in a house whose true occupants had left. He decided to leave it, and moved elsewhere in Lahore. Sahir went to Delhi, then Hyderabad and finally to Bombay where he settled for good. The two did not meet again for the next thirty odd years until Hamid Akhtar travelled to India, where he insisted on staying in the house of his bosom friend, Sahir Ludhianvi. Theirs was truly a friendship and meeting of hearts and minds that transcended time and manmade borders. The writer is a literary and music critic based in Lahore. Email

Two friends, two countries: (above) Sahir Ludhianvi; (below) Hamid Akhtar interview with Farrukh Sohail Goindi on YouTube. and try his luck at what he did best editing and writing poetry. Hamid Akthar (born Akhtar Ali in 1924) was a descendent of the Sufi saint Khwaja Qutubuddin Bakhtiari of Ajmer. He became a Hafiz-e-Quran at age ten. He met Sahir Ludhianvi and Ibn-e-Insha, both later major literary figures, while at school. He too came to Lahore, where he Hamid and Sahir Ludhianvi shared a house as well as their mornings, afternoons and late nights, weaving dreams from 1942 to 1945. They then went to Bombay, where Sahir wrote songs, Hamid Akhtar the dialogues, for Azadi ki Rah Par. But the film, made on the history of the Congress Party and advocating unity of India, bombed at the box office as it was released after August 1947. But it was during those years they became active in the set of the progressive writers of the city. After Partition, Hamid Akhtar spent several months in a refugee camp before drifting back to Lahore; Sahir took an airplane. Hamid Akhtar got a house allotted for Sahir Ludhianvi on Abbott Road where they lived together and started their lives anew, along with Sahirs mother the only constant in his life. young bachelors, who were both deeply committed to the struggle for justice in their own ways. Sahir Ludhianvi and Hamid Akhtar both espoused the cause of the Left. Within the Indo-Pakistan context, they are more familiar with the nomenclature of being Taraqi Pasand (progressive) as writers affiliated with the Progressive Writers Association that mandated them to work for change through class consciousness. Sahirs unhappiness with the system stemmed at least in part from the lifestyle of his father, a zamindar (landlord) with a penchant for marrying and then divorcing and discarding his wives. Sahir was born out of such a union. As he became more aware he found himself being brought up by his mother, amidst squalor and poverty. She was his lifeline and he clung to her. Right from the start, it was clear that the education Sahir preferred was not the formal one imparted in the classroom he breathed in a much wider environment. Before he knew what was happening his disposition forebode the emergence of a poet. Colours, seasons, women and social inequity held this attention rather than the discipline of the examination. He found himself ready to make a debut in

I really like the Pakistani people, would love to return

An Indian educationist attending a teacher training conference in Karachi talks about his experience, and his mission of using education to pave way for better relations
development of language, he reflects. T. K. Arunachalam laughs when asked why Indians speak English so effortlessly. Its just a myth that all Indians are good at speaking English. Sure, people in big cities like Calcutta, Mumbai, Delhi, speak English like their mother tongue, but outside metros it is different. Just like in Pakistan where city people speak English, but people from the rural areas generally do not. Its just that India has a greater population and hence this misconception. The University of Cambridge is doing a lot to promote English in villages across the region. In India, in government schools after 3 pm, English language classes are held for housewives and members of scheduled castes. Likewise, government schools in Pakistan can do a lot. I say, teach women English, so they can help their children with their education, says T. K. Arunachalam passionately. He pledges University of Cambridges support to teacher training programmes in Pakistan. We support teacher training. We support SPELT. We would like to support teacher-training programmes. We dont normally charge for training teachers. We would like to work with government schools, he adds. You see, previously English was the language of the elite, but today some level of proficiency in English is required for truck drivers, chefs, household servants and others... Then there is Business English, which is a requisite for those who wish to work in this sector. The University of Cambridge provides internationally recognised certificates for appropriate levels. It offers a range of certificate courses for gaining entry into academic institutions, acquiring work experience abroad and for immigration purposes. Certification examinations equivalent to these one-time tests are conducted by the University of Cambridge, which also conducts the IELTS (International English Language Testing System), one of the most popular tests to assess English language proficiency. Students who wish to study abroad can now also take the more recently introduced Certificate of Advanced English (CAE) instead of IELTS. The University of Cambridge will shortly also open its offices to facilitate Pakistani students, says T. K. Arunachalam. This is indeed good news for Pakistani students, given that the CAE is a lot cheaper than the IELTS exam. T. K. Arunachalam regrets that he was unable to savour the culinary delights of Lahores famous Food Street, as his visa was valid only for Karachi. In fact, his stay was so short that he was unable to do much sightseeing except for a big mall I cant recall its name, but it was just like the big Indian malls, so I didnt do any shopping. Next time when I return, I hope to spend more time. I really like the Pakistani people and would love to return soon. His liking for Pakistanis appears to be fully reciprocated. During our brief chat, he kept getting calls from Pakistani friends, wanting to further their acquaintance with him. Heres hoping for easier visa regimes down the road. Milne Do! The writer is a staff member. Email:lubna.khalid@thenews.com.pk

By Lubna Khalid

ndia and Pakistan have a lot in common, we even have the same issues with regards to children, womens rights, education and so many other things, comments T. K. Arunachalam, the Indian educationist who was in Karachi recently for a teacher training conference. We need to build on common grounds. I think increased people-to-people contact between the two countries will go a long way towards dispelling misunderstandings, adds the soft spoken, down-to-earth, straightforward head of a South Asian programme to promote English language teaching (ELT). He is the Regional Manager of the University of Cambridge English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Examinations, a department of the University of Cambridge and world leader in English language assessments. We caught up with him in Karachi on the fringes of the 27th Annual International Conference of the Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers (SPELT). Hailing from Chennai (previously Madras), T.K. Arunachalm oversees University of Cambridges operations in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. His forte and passion is promoting English language initiatives for educational institutions, while reaching out to adults who have had little or no opportunity to learn English. He is keenly interested in teacher training projects, and aims to initiate many projects in this regard supported by University of Cambridge in Pakistan. He hopes to garner government support for this purpose. One of Pakistans most reputed teacher training institutes, established in 1983, SPELT conducts teacher training workshops, publishes a quarterly journal and holds regular academic sessions for English language teachers (they have recently introduced an Urdu teacher training strand). The amazing thing about SPELT office bearers is that they all are volunteers! remarks T. K. Arunachalam. Most of them are professionals working full time, but they dedicate their free time to SPELT projects in order to help out English language teachers. I wanted to see how SPELT operates, so last year I came to Pakistan to attend their annual conference. I was impressed with their passion for English language. I have not witnessed its like elsewhere, he adds. This year because of the delay in applying for visa it seemed that he might not be able to attend the SPELT conference. However, a message for assistance from Aman ki Asha to the Pakistan High Commission worked wonders. I am very grateful to Aman ki Asha for helping with my visa. I was absolutely delighted to receive a call from the Pakistan High Commissioner Shahid Malik himself. He invited me to the High Commission and my visa was processed while I had coffee with him. This was abso-

IIndian educationist T K Arunachalam: India & Pakistan have a lot in common Photo by Naqeeb-ur-Rahman lutely fabulous. I think Aman ki Asha is a fantastic initiative to promote peace between India and Pakistan, he adds. But we need a catalyst to take the momentum forward. Education can pave the way for better relations between our countries. I would like to hold a South Asian Competition along the lines of a Spelling Bee Inter-School Competition that is so popular here, but something more interactive, where students from the competing countries can be grouped in teams. He visualises a team of Pakistani and Indian students versus a team of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh... This would enable them to exchange ideas and form their own opinions about each other. As I see it, school children do not carry the baggage that older generations are encumbered with. I would like to see if we can do something under the umbrella of Aman ki Asha, says T. K. Arunachalam with a smile. He believes English is not just a subject its a skill. And it is now an international language, no longer British or American English. Its Indian English, its Pakistani English and so on. What is language? he asks and goes on to answer his own question. It is a medium of communication. As long as one can get his meaning across, its fine. Increasingly, English is becoming a life skill, just like computer skill or technical skills. Purists in India and Pakistan believe in speaking English correctly, and scoff at grammatical errors made by those who are less proficient. Purists have problems with peoples accents, as they believe in the purity of form, but the main purpose of language is communication. Purity is required for the

Documenting Indian, Pakistani soldiers post-war narratives

A significant new publication relevant to relations between India and Pakistan was launched in New Delhi last week
ast week saw the launch in New Delhi of Warriors after War: Indian and Pakistani Retired Military Leaders Reflect on Relations between the Two Countries, Past, Present and Future, published by the international publishing house Peter Lang (2011) and co-edited by Pakistani journalist Tahir Malik, Indian academic Trividesh Singh Maini, and British writer and academic Richard Bonney. Speakers at the launch event at the India Habitat Centre included Jaswant Singh, member of Parliament; Major-General (retd) Dipankar Banerjee; Mentor, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, Major-General (retd) Gagandeep Bakshi; executive editor, Defence and Security Alert magazine, Dr Wael Awwad; and Hartosh Bal, political editor, Open magazine. The book contains brief accounts of partition and narratives of Indian and Pakistani officers who actually experienced and were involved in the wars that happened over Kashmir. The officers represent several generations of experience of pre-independent and post-independent India. The book also includes an extensive bibliography and a chronology of the timeline of conflict between India and Pakistan that researchers will find useful. Most of the 26 retired military figures from India and Pakistan interviewed in the book accept that with both the countries possessing nuclear weapons, choosing war to resolve the outstanding disputes is no longer a sensible or realistic option, said Maini. He also stated that the book is important as it records the views of officers who served pre-partition and who are in a good position to talk about the transformations in both armies and societies. This is a book that will make you repeatedly dip into the experiences of the past 63 years of life in India and Pakistan, said Jaswant Singh, while inaugurating the book. India and Pakistan have been in conflict for 63 years. We need to reflect on the problems facing the two countries. There is no resolution in war, he said. We need to find an answer to the problems that confront us outside the war. aka

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