Governments to be blamed for Indo-Pak animosity: Kuldip Nayar

Eminent journalist, Kuldip Nayar, has blamed the governments of India and Pakistan for the intense animosity between the two nations, while wondering whether both the governments want the people to come together.

He was speaking at an interaction with journalists organised by the Pune Union of Working Journalists (PUWJ) at the Patrakar Bhavan on Saturday.

Nayar said the partition had implanted the seeds of enmity between India and Pakistan.

However, that enmity cannot be a solution to the problem, he said, adding that further enmity will only repeat the ugly past that the two countries faced during the partition.

He stressed on the importance of nurturing the relationship between the two countries. "My travels to Pakistan have made me realise that even people out there want peace," said Nayar, who lit peace candles at the Attari-Wagah border on August 14 last year.

Speaking about the civil society's agitation against the government, Nayar said such protests work as long as they address issues at the grass root.

He justified his support to Anna Hazare's movement against corruption by saying that such a movement is possible as long as it looks into the interests of the entire nation and people beyond the middle class.

Beginning his career as an Urdu journalist, Kuldip Nayar was detained during the Emergency for his fearless writing.

Famous as a peace activist, he has served in the Rajya Sabha and was also appointed as high commissioner to Great Britain. Since 1985, Nayar has written a syndicated column that runs in 80 publications in 14 languages.