Though jittery to begin with, it did not take long for me as an Indian to walk with sure steps on the Pakistan land carrying a Pakistan flag and a candle in hands and raise slogans.
Though jittery to begin with, it did not take long for me as an Indian to walk with sure steps on the Pakistan land carrying a Pakistan flag and a candle in hands and raising slogans like “Pakistan zindabad, Hindustan zindabad, Pak-Hind dosti zindabad “. At midnight when Pakistan was still celebrating its Independence day and India was readying for one, the atmosphere on the Indo-Pak border at Wagha was surcharged enough to overwhelm you.
As a part of the seven-member peace delegation from India, we were raising the decibel level of peace slogans that the Pakistan peaceniks were raising.
Hundreds of Pakistan nationals had converged at the lavishly-lit border. The mood was festive as children had buntings in their hands while elders held candles walking up to the zero line. While the sky rented with slogans of “Pak-Hind dosti zindabad” “barood ke dost, murdabaad”, the Pakistan Ranger jawans holding their guns aloft looked helplessly bemused. The Pakistan Rangers and the BSF, incidentally were recently eyeball to eyeball after missiles were fired on the Indian side from Pakistan.
The enthused crowd waved zealously to the peaceniks across the border on the Indian side. Through the brightly-lit gates on the border the yearning hands from both the sides sought to reach out to one another to bridge the gap. Senior journalist Kuldip Nayar, renowned film director Mahesh Bhatt and secretary general of Safma (South Asia Free Media Association) led the delegation on the Indian side.
Mannu Bhai of the Safma, who led the delegation from Indian side, advocated people to people contact between India and Pakistan to offset the stumbling blocks in the peace process. He admitted that incidents like 26/11 and the Kargil hampered the efforts to cool the tempers, “but the effort must carry on in spite of hiccups”, he added while sticking a candle on the zero line.
Chanchal Manohar Singh, who led the Indian delegates on Pakistan side, said “our effort is to end the bitterness between the two countries”. “We came here to participate in the celebrations of the Pakistan Independence day and to recognise the sovereignty of Pakistan”, he said.
Past midnight the retreat from the border raised hopes that the intervening night between the two Independence days would some day usher in a dawn of peace and amity between the two nations.
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