This bus goes the extra mile

By Amit Baruah

LAHORE, MARCH 29. It was bus diplomacy with a difference. Thirty- nine Indian women - students, artists, teachers, filmmakers, lawyers, activists and doctors - sat across the table and discussed with their Pakistani counterparts the crucial issues that divide the two countries during a day-long seminar in Lahore today.

Quite aware of what happened to the bus diplomacy of the Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, and his Pakisatni counterpart, Mr. Nawaz Sharif, last year, the `bus for peace' organised by Ms. Nirmala Deshpande's Women's Initiative for Peace in South Asia (WIPSA) from Delhi to Lahore is a bid to present an alternative view and direction to India-Pakistan relations.

``Aap log kyon nahin nehle pe dehla karen. Aap ek mahine ke andar do basen lekar Dilli aayen'' (You should be one up on us - come to Delhi in two buses), Ms. Deshpande told her Pakistani sisters. The offer was taken up immediately by prominent Pakistani human rights activist, Ms. Asma Jehangir, and others, who said that two busloads of Pakistani women would be visiting Delhi within the next 30 days.

Given the despondent nature of the bilateral relationship, these women from India and Pakistan seemed to have struck a chord and seemed to be in a position to discuss the most contentious of issues in a civil manner.

In a sense, the meeting of the activists points to the abject failure of the Indian and Pakistani states to engage with each other and hammer out a better course for the people of their two countries. Not that ``big things'' are expected from this first initiative. But it is important that given the current attitude of the two nations, public pressure from across India and Pakistan remains the only way to bring the people of these countries closer.

And, clearly, these women are aware that their mission for peace (`goli nahin boli' - `dialogue, not bullets' - is the slogan given by Ms. Nirmala Deshpande) is not going to be an easy one. While one hopes that it doesn't turn turtle or is stopped in its tracks, the ``bus for peace'' may have to negotiate a large number of speedbreakers.

Addressing the conference, Ms. Asma Jehangir said,``Hostility between India and Pakistan and the nuclearisation of these two adversaries has made the region unsafe, diverted national resources, and distorted national priorities and the national self-image. Rather than seeing the poverty and dirt surrounding us, many of us are deluded by a hollow image of national greatness.

``A chaotic Pakistan will hamper progress in India. A ruthless, strong India will divide South Asia and hurt the interests of the entire region. More than ever before, the people of the South Asian region have common interests... our efforts have to be focused on issues that can be resolved through the intervention of civil society... on the Pak-India front we need to pursue renewed dialogue and an end to the Siachen problem. The policies of the two countries must shift from concerns of security to the development and respect of people,'' Ms. Jehangir argued.

Ms. Shobhana Bhattacharya, one of the Indian participants, referred to the problem of fundamentalism that posed a common danger to both countries. Calling for a ``rational response'' to the problem, she said reactions determined by fear would not yield dividends. Ms. Bhattacharya argued that people should use ``knowledge'' as a weapon to counter fundamentalism.

Ms. Meera Aggarwal, Deputy Mayor of Delhi from the BJP, stressed the need for women to come forward in the policy- making arena and referred to the common problems faced by both India and Pakistan.

According to Ms. Jugnu Mohsin, executive editor of The Friday Times, there was a need for the concerned citizen in India to challenge the ``consensus on foreign policy''. ``Whereas in Pakistan we are more sceptical of the officially certified truth, in India it appears that thinking people rarely disagree with the state in its foreign policy ambitions.

``This conference will prove useful in bridging gaps, cementing common thoughts, and giving the urge for peace new impetus, but that is not enough. We must change minds in our respective countries, where prejudice parades as consensus. Until both Indians and Pakistanis begin to think differently, peace will remain elusive,'' she said.

Keeping in view the ``sensitive'' nature of the conference, which was held at a local hotel, security was heavy. Police personnel were close at hand to ensure that event passed off without incident.

The Indian delegation returns to Delhi on Friday after a week's stay in Pakistan in Lahore and Islamabad.

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