In this globalized world, it is quite easy to
communicate with anyone around the planet. One can travel other countries in
hours as compared to days & months. The case of Pakistan & India is
different. Two neighboring countries, whose citizens can’t visit each other
with ease. The visa process is hell & one of the most difficult one. A difficulty,
which is solely reserved for each other. No wonder then that SAARC is a failed
organization & has done nothing substantial for the region. How can it
succeed when both the main players have a trust deficit which no one is
interested in improving? Not that the situation can’t be approved, after all
France & Germany were able to do it.
In an effort to improve the Indo-Pak visa policy
& highlight its benefits, Institute of Peace & Secular Studies (IPSS)
arranged a conference on the 14th of January. Dr. Khalid Zaheer was
one of the speakers, who spoke on the topic ‘How will a relaxed policy help
attain peace?’ By the time I reached the venue his session was already in the Q
& A phase. In answering one of the questions he said that the reason for
the success of the negative forces is that they are very much committed to
their cause, which we in the majority believe to be wrong. Those of us who are
in the majority are not committed to the cause in which believe in, thus,
tilting the balance in their favour.
Rtd. Professor Nabeela Kyani of Government College
Univerity, narrated a story titled ‘An Ink Bottle’. The story revolved around
an old man, who had witnessed partition of subcontinent. He left his belongings
in the custody of his Hindu friend. When things settle down & they start
waiting for the stuff, the delay causes his family to believe that they will
never see their things again. The old man however, sticks to his belief that
his friend is a good & trustworthy person. Meanwhile he falls in love with
a University professor & takes his mother to her place, who rejects the
proposal because the girl is Christian. In the end a truck does deliver their
stuff along with a handwritten list, which even had the empty ink bottle listed
& returned.
