No room at the inn

Moneeza managed to make the trip from Lahore to Delhi because her previously issued visa was still valid

It is a mortifying experience for a Pakistani delegate to visit India as a speaker these days. Assuming of course one can clear the first hurdle of obtaining a visa. The hostilities that the two neighbouring nuclear rivals are currently engaged in seem to ensure that people-to-people contacts remain at a minimal. So it is not surprising that Moneeza Hashmi, the daughter of celebrated poet Faiz Ahmed and a prominent media personality in her own right, was not allowed to attend the 15^th Asia Media Summit in New Delhi. She was unceremoniously struck off the list of guest speakers at the event. The hotel where the event was being hosted informed her without a hint of regret that there was no room booked for her as no Pakistani had been invited to the event. That is highly uncivil and certainly not how one treats a guest delegate anywhere in the world.

Not even an isolationist regime would do that to a foreign delegate. The organisers somewhat sheepishly blamed government pressure for denying her registration or even a seat at the summit. New Delhi apparently did not issue a single visa to any Pakistani delegate, and the only reason Moneeza had managed to make the trip from Lahore to Delhi because her previously issued visa was still valid.

The episode should not be used however as an excuse by Pakistanis to adopt similar tactics against Indian visitors and delegates to our country. Such reciprocation would only vitiate the whole atmosphere. If we learn to rise above such pettiness and show to the world that we don’t have to treat others as they have treated us, we would automatically transport ourselves to the moral high ground from where it easier to uphold the universal standards of decency and justice.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th, 2018.

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