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A student exchange for change

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

A long-running
student
exchange
project
facilitates
interactions
between
Pakistani and
Indian students

n January, a 29-member
delegation of Indian school
students and teachers from
Mumbai, New Delhi, and
Dehradun visited Pakistan.
The latest exchange in the
series took place recently
with the visit of a 50-member delegation of Pakistani
students and teachers
to India in February.
These exchanges
are part of the ground-breaking Exchange for Change project, 2013-2015, jointly conducted by the Citizens
Archive of Pakistan and
Routes2Roots, India. Under
this interactive initiative, students in both countries participate in a year-long exchange of correspondence
with each other before actually meeting.
According to a CAP press
release, this is the largest student oral history exchange
program in the world and the
largest Track II diplomacy effort between Pakistan and
India.
The first meeting is a special moment for participating students and teachers,
says Swaleha Alam Shahzada,
Executive Director of CAP.
They correspond for over a
year, wait in anticipation for
weeks to visit and when they
finally meet, it takes just a
few minutes to realise that
we really are the same.

The Indian students visit,

coming so soon after the massacre at the Army Public
School in Peshawar, provided
them the opportunity to express solidarity with their
Pakistani counterparts.
It was heartening to see
the children meet and greet
each other during the various
school visits as if they belong
to the same playing field,
says Routes2Roots founder
Tina Vachani.
The Indian students also
visited various monuments in
Lahore, including Minar-e-

Indian and Pakistani students: cross-border friendships

Indian delegates: At the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore.

Just a stones throw away

Pakistani delegates pose at Qutub Minar

My view and experience of knowing my people across the border

By Neil Mistry

am just a guy from

a suburb in Bombay. Since early
days, I have wondered what it is
that keeps Pakistan and
India at bay from one another. It was
only recently, since moving to the
United Kingdom, that I have come to
know quite a few people from Pakistan.
From among the Pakistanis I was
fortunate enough to have met in London, a handful of them have become
friends. Over time, I realised that I have
developed this bond.

B R I E F S

There was this one time I remember

where after being in the same classroom with a couple of friends from
Pakistan, I said, I must be honest, it
feels like Ive known you guys for long.
Youll are the same as me.
One of them replied, Of
course.
We connect over common
issues. We laugh at the same
jokes. Food is our life. Music
takes us to another level.
There is another Pakistani friend
who comes to mind. We keep mocking
one another. She makes fun of my
Hindi and says, You Bombay people
dont know Hindi. I retort, Our words

Mahesh Bhatts Daddy at NAPA

he theatrical adaptation of film producer Mahesh Bhatts Daddy will be staged at the
forthcoming International Theatre Festival 2015
organised by the National Academy of Performing
Arts, Karachi.
Delhi-based actor Imran Zahid, who had approached Bhatt with the idea of adapting his films
into theatrical productions, stars in the lead role
played by Anupam Kher in the film.B Many great
plays are often made into films so why not try the Daddy: a scene from the play
other way around? It is important to keep theatre
alive, Bhatt told reporters in Delhi last year when the play opened.
Danish Iqbal who directed the stage play Daddy is directing another theatrical venture
backed by Bhatt, a forthcoming cross-border production inspired by Aman ki Asha. Titled Milne
Do, with Imran Zahid in the lead role, the play is being produced in collaboration with Lahores
Azad Theatre.

are gold. She keeps correcting me on

words. I think I have improved a bit,
which is a good thing.
Seeing a few photographs from my
Pakistani friends has opened my
eyes even further. I wish to visit Lahore one day, hopefully soon. I
want to try the food and walk the
streets. As I write this, I am getting goose bumps.
I have gotten to know my Pakistani
friends and I think, why didnt I meet
them earlier?
Now that most of us have started
working we do not get time to get together very often. But we do stay in
touch over social media. We hope to

have a reunion, someday. It was always

fun and interesting when we shared experiences from our countries.
Then I wonder, why is there a divide? Where interests are at stake, the
common man is just another pebble on
the beach. We, together, are and can be
one. We can, through harmony, love,
trust and humanity conquer the bigotry
that plagues our lands.
You only get one life, make it worthwhile, for there are people like me who
wish to see a Pakistan and India together, in peace. Onward and upward.
Neil Mistry works in the UK as a
doctor. Email neilmistry@msn.com

Understanding Pakistan seminar in Delhi

akistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), the oldest and largest people-to-people movement in
the region, will hold a seminar to commemorate its 20th anniversary. Titled Understanding Pakistan Today, the seminar
will be held in New Delhi on March 4 -5, 2015. The event, initially planned for December 2014, had to be postponed due
to a delay in the clearance of visas for the Pakistani delegates.
Some two dozen senior Pakistani academics and social and political activists will present papers on a variety
of subjects, that Indian delegates will formally discuss and comment on in order to engage with the complex dynamics of Pakistans contemporary social, economic and political reality. Veteran peace activist Tapan Bose, a
PIPFPD founder member, hopes that the exchange will challenge the stereotypical narratives about Pakistan derived from western geo-strategic perspectives and interests. Four wars, continuing violence in Jammu and Kashmir and reports of intensification of fire-fights on the border have led many of our countrymen to believe that most
Pakistanis want permanent war with India, he says.
There is also a growing perception that Islamic radicalism has become part of the lives of ordinary people of
Pakistan. With the US and NATO forces poised to withdraw from Afghanistan there is fear of outbreak of massive ethnic and religious violence in Afghanistan which would spill over to Pakistan, destabilizing the region. The current
impasse in the diplomatic and political dialogue in an environment of populist jingoism renders more volatile the
management of local tensions and makes all the more important initiatives for deepening non formal people to
people exchanges, especially amongst scholars.

Pakistan, Badshahi Mosque

and Lahore Fort, besides Lok
Virsa Museum, Pakistan Monument, and the High Commission of India in Islamabad.
They also had day trips to the
famed Khewra salt mines and
the archaeological sites in
Harappa.
I think this is a once in a
lifetime opportunity that has
helped me go beyond and explore the history, thoughts,
and learn so much more than
I thought I would, says Ira
Sharma, an eighth grader
from Bombay International
School. The connections and
friendships Ive built in one

week has been the BEST experience Ive had.

Lets not limit faith and
religion to lines on a map
drawn by powerful people,
suggests Rya Jetha, another
eighth grader from the same
school. Let faith be a point of
connection, not one of misunderstanding Let faith be
one fragment of an individual,
not an entire identity. I think
this trip has been the birthplace of a reform in my mind.
Before coming [to Pakistan] I wondered how it will
be, but after coming here my
perception about Pakistan
has changed in a positive

way. The visit made me realize that the culture, dressing

style, food, language, and
many more things are quite
similar to our countrys. I
want to give a message of
harmony and peace if we
young generation can become friends then why not
the countries, said Sumayya
from Dev Samaj Modern
School, New Delhi.
Through this project we
hope that students will have a
clearer understanding of their
shared history, culture and
lifestyles.
aka

Peace Clinic: Beyond virtual

A cross-border health initiative is expanding
beyond being an online facility

he Dr Ziauddin Hospital in Karachi and

Apollo Hospital of
India have joined
hands to establish a combined liver ward unit for preand post-transplant care, taking forward the Peace Clinic
idea through which Indian
doctors are treating patients
in Pakistan.
I am really satisfied that
we have managed to use the
expertise of the Indian team
of doctors to treat patients
with severe transplantation
needs, said Prof Anupam
Sibal, group director of
Apollo
Hospital
and
renowned paediatric liver
transplant surgeon, speaking
at the inauguration.
He thanked Dr Asim Hussain and Peace Clinic for giving Indian doctors the opportunities to utilise their
expertise for the people of
Pakistan.
I am proud that Ziauddin
Hospital is the only hospital in
Pakistan to have taken an initiative to capitalise upon the
expertise of Indian doctors
and resolve the transplantation issues of the people of

At the inauguration: Dr Anoop Dawani (right) of Ziauddin Hospital with

Prof Anupam Sibal (centre) of Apollo Hospital.
our country, said Dr Anoop
Dawani, medical superintendent of Ziauddin Hospital.
Navaid Aslam, a businessman in Karachi, started the
Peace Clinic after his rare
heart ailment was successfully treated in India some
years ago. He had faced great
difficulties connecting to doctors in India. After his recovery, Aslam began a campaign
to connect hospitals in India
to those in Pakistan. After
several months of talking to
hospitals in both countries, he
connected the Ziauddin Uni-

versity Hospital to Indias

Medanta, Apollo and Fortis
hospitals.
Now, with the establishment of the liver surgery unit
and combined kidney and
liver transplantation unit
fewer patients will need to
travel to India. Liver surgeons
from India will work with
Pakistani doctors and patients at the unit in Karachi
through webcam, and also
conduct occasional follow up
visits physically.
aka

A little bit of India in Lahore

The Lahore Literary Festival provides a platform for Indians and Pakistanis to share views and enhance understanding
he third edition of the
Lahore Literary Festival concluded last
weekend, a three-day
extravaganza attended among
others, by prominent Indian
writers as delegates and visitors.
Distinguished historian
Romila Thapar gave the inaugural keynote address, The Past
as Present, introduced by
Ayesha Jalal, whose recently
published book The Struggle
for Pakistan also featured in
one of the sessions. Both historians participated in a later session on Living with Internal
Differences: The South Asian
Dilemma with human rights
lawyer and activist Asma Jahangir and journalist Khaled
Ahmed.
Actor Naseeruddin Shah
launched his memoir And Then
One Day. Actors Ratna Pathak
Shah and Heeba Shah (Shahs
wife and daughter) presented
Poetic Parables by Vikram
Seth.
The late journalist Khushwant Singhs son Rahul Singh,
himself an eminent journalist,

Indias Tryst with Reality at a

session with Rahul Singh.
Ananya Vajpeyi, author of
Righteous Republic: The Political Foundations of Modern
India discussed her forthcoming book on Dr Amedbar with
art historian F. S. Aijazuddin.

Historian Romila Thapar: An

alternative perspective
Naseeruddin Shah at LLF: In conversation with Mira Hashmi and Sarmad Sultan Khoosat. Photo: courtesy Youlin
participated in a session titled
Politics, Pluralism and Khushwant Singhs Punjab, along
with Aitzaz Ahsan, Basharat
Qadir, Shobhaa De, and F. S. Aijazuddin. De also participated
in a session on Fifty shades of
feminism along with others.
Mumbai-based journalists
Aakar Patel and Naresh Fernandes discussed Cityscapes:
Writing and Living in Global
Cities with Khaled Ahmed.

Fernandes dialogued with

Karachi musician and DJ Leon
Menezes at a discussion titled
All that Jazz in Bombay and
Karachi. Patel discussed Saadat Hasan Manto in another
session.
The Eye Still Seeks: Pakistani Contemporary Art by
artist Salima Hashmi was
launched in a session with the
Indian architect Martand
Khosla. Punjabi poet and singer

THE FIRST STEP

LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK

Feedback, contributions, photos, letters:

Email: amankiasha@janggroup.com.pk
Fax: +92-21-3241-8343
Post: aman ki asha c/o The News,
I.I. Chundrigar Road, Karachi

Minu Bakshi spoke at a session

featuring her coffee table book
Tishnagi, a collection of Urdu
poetry.
A session on Anticipating
Peace: India and Pakistan featured former foreign ministers
Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri and
Hina Rabbani Khar, with senior
journalists Najam Sethi,
Shekhar Gupta and John Elliott. Elliot also launched his recently published Implosion:

Rashidi from Egypt.

The One Billion Rising
movement for gender rights
was represented by Eve Ensler, whose ground-breaking
play The Vagina Monologues
has also been performed in
Pakistan. At LLF, a session
dedicated to OBR featured
Sufi music and short speeches
by Hina Jilani, Eve Ensler,
Kamla Bhasin and others.
Over 75,000 people from
Lahore, as well as cities
around Pakistan and the
world attended the event, says

Nuscie Jamil, one of the organisers. Many of them

pledged to attend next years
event too.
Literary platforms encompassing politics, activism,
metropolitan issues, entrepreneurship, music and the
creative process and the presence of so many guests from
across the border, besides
other international delegates,
are always a good thing. Milne
Do.
B. Sarwar

Indian feminist writer Kamla

Bhasin: One Billion Rising.
Photo: Kashif Saeed
A session on conflict featured pioneering graphic journalist Joe Sacco, Sri Lankan
writer Romesh Gunesekera,
and Pakistans acclaimed
human rights lawyer Asma Jahangir, with the writers and
journalists Basharat Peer from
Kashmir and Yasmine El

Jazzing it up: Leon Menezes and Naresh Fernandes

A peace initiative whose time has come...

Destination Peace: A commitment by the Jang Group, Geo and The Times of India Group to
create an enabling environment that brings the people of Pakistan and India closer together,
contributing to genuine and durable peace with honour between our countries.