Indian delegation visits: ‘A visa-free South Asia zone’

Visa issues, social networking and manipulation of global players dominate discussions.

KARACHI:

An Indian delegation has come to Karachi with a vision  of “an economically formidable South Asia, with strong trade, economic and social ties that could translate into a visa-free zone similar to the European Union”.

“Intellectuals can analyse and describe the world, but the youth has the power to change it,” said Dr Bhalchandra Mungekar.

On Friday, the delegation spoke to students, teachers and journalists at the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology and later at the press club.

Mungekar, who is also a former member of the Planning Commission, promised he would take up visas on arrival for Pakistani students as soon as he returned.

He said problems such as unemployment and poverty could be dealt with by cuts in the defence budget on both sides. “Some strong global forces have a geo-political interest vested in South Asia and do not want peace here,” he said, adding that is why they “keeping selling F-16s” to the nuclear powers.

Former member of Indian parliament and editor-in-chief of Nai Dunia Weekly Shahid Siddiqui said, “We [India and Pakistan] are certainly two sovereign countries, however, part of this undeniable reality is that we are one people.”

However, the real surprise — and perhaps a sneak peek into the mindset of some students — was when a member of the audience commented that he had probably learnt nothing from the talk. He said he found himself wondering whether coming to the event was a “waste of time”.

Another young man seemed unnecessarily defensive in his rebuttal to Siddiqui, saying it was Pakistan’s decision whether or not the people “permitted the political or military governments to come into power”.

The comments were followed by an uncomfortable silence that was replaced by hushed murmurs.

However, the chairperson for the Pakistan Institute of Labour and Research, Karamat Ali, helped to bring the event back on track, saying, “that if someone did not make a decision to change and improve ties [with India] after leaving this talk, then they have truly wasted their time”.

Speaking later in the evening at the press club, journalist Kuldip Nayyar re-emphasised that there was “no alternative to dialogue and repeated small initiatives”.

He stressed that people on both sides of the border need to be more tolerant of other faiths. “The integrity and prosperity of India is dependent on the integrity and prosperity of Pakistan and vice versa,” he said. Reiterating the vision of ‘one South Asian market’, Nayyar said mixing religion with politics and matters of the state needs to end.

The delegation also called on Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah at CM House.

Nayyar pointed out that the civil society was struggling for peace. He said that the Aman ki Asha campaign started with just a dozen people but now it had tens of thousands of supporters.

Indian delegation discusses peace

Dr Bhalchandra Mungekar Former member of the Planning Commission

Intellectuals can analyse and describe the world, but youth has the power to change it



Shahid Siddiqui Former member of  Indian parliament

We [India and Pakistan] are certainly two sovereign countries but we are also one people

Kuldip Nayyar Veteran journalist

Many Kashmirs would come and go, but till the core issue of mistrust is not rooted out of the two nations, the problems would not end.

With additional input from APP

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2011.