'Musharraf sincere about holding dialogue'

By Lalit K. Jha

NEW DELHI, JULY 1. Welcoming the Vajpayee-Musharraf summit, Gandhian, Ms. Nirmala Deshpande, has expressed hope that it would revive the peace process between the two countries.

``This is a major development for people of the sub- continent. Peace activists of both countries have been pleading for this summit,'' she told The Hindu in an interview.

Ms. Deshpande - who had twice met the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, in the past two years and is among the few Indians in regular touch with the General - proudly says: ``Pakistan is my second home.''

Recollecting her first meeting with Gen. Musharraf at the Army House in Rawalpindi in March 2000 while leading a seven- member women's delegation, she said: ``The moment we told him that our slogan is `goli nahi boli' (Dialogue, not Bullet), he raised his hands and said ``I am with you''. He also said he was willing to meet the Indian Prime Minister any time at any place.

Observing that the General had a special affection towards Indians, she said: ``He is a keen golfer, but still he cancelled his golf schedule that Sunday in March last year and spent time with us. The entire discussion revolved around peace and dialogue.''

When the delegation said women of both the countries wanted peace as they were the ones who suffered the most during war and conflict, the General replied: ``Even soldiers want peace. We also do not want war.''

During the second meeting in February this year along with a three-member delegation which included Adm.(Retd.) Ramdas and Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Moti Dar, the General spent over an hour with them. Ms. Deshpande said: ``He was in the country for only a day. He had come from Egypt and was leaving for Saudi Arabia. Still he gave us 30 minutes. But when we met, it went on for more than 75 minutes. This shows that he is really sincere about holding dialogue with India and Indians.''

Both meetings were held at the General's residence and on both occasions Begum Musharraf was present. According to Ms. Deshpande, the General loves music and after having come to know about it, Ms. Deshpande presented a collection of Kabir's bhajans to him.

During the February meeting, Ms. Deshpande, also the Chairperson of the Rajghat Samadhi Committee, had told the General: ``I have received dignitaries and Heads of State from all over the World but none from Pakistan so far. I wish you will fulfill my wish in this regard. On hearing this the General smiled. ``Now it seems this will be fulfilled,'' Ms. Deshpande said.

And when Ms. Deshpande thanked Gen. Musharraf for his help to victims of the Gujarat quake and appreciated the fact that he was the first one to send a message to the Indian Government, the Pakistani President asked: ``Why should we need an earthquake to talk to each other?''

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