Initiative to help flourish love between people of India, Pakistan

Amjad Islam Amjad says people of both countries wish to live in peace and harmony

LAHORE: Kartarpur Border Corridor has laid the foundation of a better world for the future generations of India and Pakistan, said poet, playwright and columnist Amjad Islam Amjad.

In an interview with APP on Sunday, he said 95% people on both sides of the border were tied in the bond of love and the initiative would help flourish mutual love. He added that people wished to live in peace and harmony.

He said there was a need to discourage hostility-maniac small groups in India and Pakistan who had always wanted to subvert relations. Amjad added that it was the responsibility of the governments to work for establishing cordial relations. "Though this corridor should have been built on August 15, 1947, it was never late to take a constructive measure and irrespective of the fact it had materialised 70 years late, I endorse it."

The poet said the countries were divided with the intent to live like good neighbours and contribute to each other's progress. He said he wished to see open borders between the two like the United States and Canada.

About the decision to demolish Punjab Governor's House walls, he said they, as a nation, were champions of making a hill of a molehill.  The Punjab Governor's House building was a national heritage as well as a symbol of colonialism, he added. "If Prime Minister Imran Khan wanted to erode the colonial symbol from the hearts and minds of the people, there was nothing bad in it," he said, adding that Imran Khan was right in his stance.

On Urdu language, Islam stressed the importance of preserving the language. He said English was meant for higher education and not for primary education.  Speaking for the importance of a uniform education system, he said our education system has become a hotchpotch of systems, including the Urdu medium, English medium, Madrassah system, and other elite educational philosophies and with no clear direction.

He said the absence of a uniform education system in the country was promoting the class-based society and widening the gulf between the people while students from different social backgrounds sat on a single bench at schools some decades ago.

Talking about the importance of Urdu language, he regretted the fact that Urdu was not the mode of education at primary level in our schools. He added that there was no need to teach English at an early age to children as it would make them lose touch with their culture, civilisation, customs, values, and language if they were not taught Urdu at an early age.  There was no denying the fact that English was a tool of success in the global world but it did not mean Urdu should be compromised, he said.

To a question, he said they must coexist with technology but let's not impose English on national language which was a heritage to be preserved for posterity.

About his poetry, he said the youth must not hark on the deprivations but work hard to improve their present for a glorious future.  "Nobody had any control over the past but future was in one's control," he said. He added that his poetry gave a message to raise voice for one slide.

On the role of writers to eradicate extremism from society, he said the poets and writers were playing their due role but it was a collective responsibility of the poets, political parties, politicians and education system to create awareness on the pitfalls of extremism in society.