Back from Pak with message of love

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, MARCH 3. ``War is terrible no matter what kind; peace and happiness come hand in hand; sparkling and golden like the desert sand...'' -- these lines scribbled by the tiny hands of Sana Akram Durrani, a Class VI student of a Rawalpindi school in Pakistan, have a message very clear to the rulers on both sides of the border.

Sana handed over this poem to an Indian delegation of the India- Pakistan Soldiers Initiative for Peace (IPSIP) which was in Pakistan recently for promotion of peace initiatives between the two neighbours. ``The people of Pakistan want peace and tranquillity in the region which is the key to overall development of both nations,'' said the former Indian Navy Chief, Admiral L. Ramdass.

Admiral Ramdass led the 20-member IPSIP delegation that returned on March 2 evening after its weeklong visit to Pakistan promoting cooperation and talking about peace initiatives with senior Pakistan leaders, including the Chief Executive Officer, General Pervez Musharraf.

The Indian delegation of IPSIP, constituted by a group of retired armed forces personnel of India and Pakistan in 1999, was received with warmth and cordiality wherever they went in Pakistan.

``The visit was excellent...we met Pakistani leaders, our counterparts, academicians and mediapersons. All of them showed their commitment and involvement for closer Indo-Pak ties. With such a positive response there is no doubt that forward movement in peace initiatives will be witnessed at various quarters in both the countries,'' hoped Admiral Ramdass.

The highlight of their visit was the meeting with Pakistan's Gen. Musharraf, who discussed with them various issues. Admiral Ramdass, however, regretted that in its press statement, the CEO's Secretariat included certain ``basic inaccuracies and distorted the facts'' to mislead the media. For instance, during the hour-long meeting, the Pakistan CEO never used the word Kashmir, but the release quoted Gen. Musharraf as saying that ``failure to initiate talks reinforce the view that India was not sincere in solving the Kashmir issue,'' the Admiral pointed out, stating that such misleading statements would do no good in improving ties between the two neighbours.

During the meeting, Gen. Musharraf pointed out that ``we do not need an earthquake or natural calamities to bring our countries closer'' and expressed his willingness for better ties in the region, he added.

The delegation said the ceasefire move of the Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, had been well received by the Pakistani people in general. ``They regard Mr. Vajpayee as an able statesman who has capability of resolving the Kashmir issue. Some Pakistanis even compared Mr. Vajpayee to Mahatama Gandhi.''

The delegation also met several leaders and attended seminars discussing Indo-Pak ties and measures needed to strengthen them. ``One such meeting was with the leaders of Jamaat-i-Islami and Al Badr who tried explaining to us the concept of ``jehad'' and how these ``jehadis'' were fighting against Indian Army's oppression of Kashmiris,'' said the former Vice-Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Moti Dhar, who was also a member of the delegation.

But what was the need of the hour was removal of the word ``enemy'' from their dictionaries so that peace initiatives could move in the right direction was the general perception among Pakistanis, said the delegation members, adding, ``They want open borders so that people of Amritsar can enjoy the Basant Festival of Lahore. They want more liberal visas so that they can meet their relatives living across the border. Pakistanis feel that strong economic and cultural cooperation was a must to see the two countries march ahead in the world arena.''

The delegation members have fond memories of their visit. A restaurant owner at Lahore refused to charge for their meal after he came to know that they were ``Indian guests on peace mission''. Also, the Pakistanis came up with rather unusual ideas to promote peace -- through cricket and Bollywood.

``Pakistanis are really keen on revival of cricketing ties between the two nations which they feel will help in bridging the gap of hostility and faithlessness between India and Pakistan besides improving cricketing standards of both the countries,'' the delegation members said. ``The calling off the proposed Sharjah series to raise fund for Gujarat earthquake was unfortunate,'' said Admiral Ramdass.

Then there is Bollywood and its films that are very popular among Pakistanis. ``At a meeting in a girls' college, I was surrounded by students who flooded me with questions regarding Bollywood,'' said Ms. Lalita Ramdass, wife of Admiral Ramdass. They had their own formula to end hostilities, Ms. Ramdass said, adding that the girls screamed, ``Send Hrithik Roshan and Shah Rukh Khan to Pakistan and all the problems will be solved automatically''.

The IPSIP, which will soon be sending another delegation to Pakistan, hopes that peace will not remain a distant dream in the region and their initiatives will help in bridging person-to- person gap between the two nations and make peace a reality.

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