‘Indo-Pak dialogue can break barriers’

When Women Without Borders, an international advocacy group, decided to bring together Indian and Pakistani students for a face-to-face dialogue about the need for peace in the subcontinent, the organisers faced several hurdles.

“After 26/11, the world is not the same and we were nervous regarding the visa procedures for the Pakistani students. However, an individual’s strength and determination is enough to remove the hindrances,” said Edit Schlaffer, founder and director of the NGO.

Thanks to the efforts of Schlaffer and her team, students from both the countries got together on Tuesday for ‘Breaking Down Barriers’ at Mumbai university, Kalina. The cross-border initiative seeks to introduce Indian and Pakistani youth to each other to reduce stereotyping and misconceptions that eventually lead to hatred and potential acts of terrorism.

“To understand the mindsets of both countries, I organise role play in my classroom where some students play Indians and try to understand their ideologies,” said Arshi Saleem Hashmi, assistant professor at the National Defense University in Islamabad.

It is this concept of “otherness” and its consequences that the students discussed and came up with “New Hope for a New Beginning”, an initiative that hopes to motivate and mobilise the younger generation to engage in and ensure their continued commitment to dialogue with “the other side.”

“The people should not be responsible for the actions of their government. We need to know our history and remember it, but not the baggage which comes with it,” said Ritu Dewan, a member of Pakistan India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy.