Indian Seeds of Peace hope for greater student exchange

“The conflict is between the governments, not the people,” says an Indian student.

LAHORE:

Under the Seeds of Peace cultural exchange programme, 6 Indian students arrived in Lahore on March 10. The students are being hosted by their Pakistani counterparts for one week.

Interested in working for the rights of women and children, Ruth Verma, a junior school student at St Xavier College, stressed the need for greater interaction between the people of both nations. “The conflict is between the governments, not the peoples.”

“You see hordes of people on the streets in Mumbai, be it day or night.” said Verma pointing out the relative absence of crowds on the city streets.

Jazib Ali, an A-levels students, is one of the four Pakistani students hosting the guests. He was delighted to meet his friends from a Seeds of Peace camp that happened in June 2009. “All stereotypes ended during that camp,” said Ali as he pointed out that increased interaction is the only way to eradicate assumptions and stereotypes.

The Indian students expressed surprise at the ‘lavish’ schools in the city. “Fountains in schools make them look like hotels,” one of them said. They said despite ‘biased’ media reports they had learnt to critically think through conflict situations before coming to conclusions.

Seeds of Peace Pakistan programmes director Sajjad Ahmed said there was a need to bring the youth to the forefront with such exchange programmes. With a ‘National Integration Camp’ slated to being March 23, Seeds of Peace Pakistan hopes to bring 50 youths from all over the country together.

Ira Chadha Sridhar, a 17-year-old student also at St Xaviers College said the idea that Indians and Paksitanis are quite similar was cemented during this visit. She said seeing the flag hoisting ceremony at Wagha Border was a first for her.

The students urged both governments to ease visa policies and encourage more student exchange programmes. The students, who will leave on March 17, hoped they would be able to visit regularly.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 16^th, 2012.