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A journey to borders - an NRI's tryst
India and Pak leadership should give a meaning to the "series of agreements" inked, writes Kiran Bharthapudi.
Pritam Rohila was just 11 years old from Rupar, Punjab, when he witnessed thousands of Muslims "leaving their homes in the middle of their morning breakfast" in search of their new homeland.
The young boy of 1947 also witnessed thousands of Hindus and Sikhs frantically running to his side of the border. For him, the times of partition were "black margins"- times when " usne uska naam pucha aur chura phok diya (one person asked other person's name, and stabbed a dagger)".
Today, Dr Pritam Rohila is a retired clinical psychologist from Keizer, Oregon and the co-founder and the executive director of a non-political organisation called the Association for Communal Harmony in Asia [ACHA], formed in 1993 in Beaverton, Oregon, to promote peace in South Asia, with a special interest in India-Pakistan Peace.
Dedicated to harbor peace between the two nations, Dr Rohila was part of a recent 21-member Joint India-Pakistan Peace and Goodwill Mission. The delegates were Non-resident Indians and Non-resident Pakistanis from Canada, UK and USA. Some of them were born in the West, and were visiting India and Pakistan for the first time, while few others were returning to their homelands after as many as 23 years. Besides Karachi and Mumbai, the delegation visited Peshawar, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Amritsar, Delhi and Jammu.
The delegation delivered a petition personally to Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz at Islamabad, and the Congress President Sonia Gandhi at New Delhi, urging to build a suitable memorial at the Wagah Border to the innocent Hindu, Muslim and Sikh victims. Initiated by ACHA, the petition had been signed by people from more than 20 different countries.
Though they met several other high-level dignitaries, Dr Rohila says that the tryst with common Indians and Pakistanis, especially those from the border regions of Wagah and Turkham, were the most memorable experiences for the delegation.
At "most places, we were greeted warmly with garlands, high teas, and/or lunch, dinner receptions, and metaphorical tunes like "ghar aya mera pardesi" and "baharo phool barsao, mera mehboob aya hai", says Dr Rohila. The delegation visits included the ancient ruins of Taxila, near Rawalpindi, the Jallianwala Bagh, and the Golden Temple at Amritsar. However, for Dr Rohila, his visit to Jammu made lasting impressions.
"Walking around Jammu, I realised that it was difficult to get a room in a hotel," says Dr Rohila, indicating that the region is still wary to accommodate strangers. While many Kashmiri voices are not audible to the Jammu region, it appears that the Kashmiri pundits living in Jammu refugee camps are among the most evident victims of the conflict. These refugee camps "are miserable small narrow lanes, reminded of small kitchens in Delhi- there a just make-shift habitations", Dr Rohila recounts.
While the Pundits in the refugee camps in Jammu "want to go back to their homes" in Kashmir, Dr Rohila says that people are aware that a region, which still demands a entourage of security escorts for political leaders, is "not yet safe" for a common Kashmiri to go back to.
Dr Rohila also had opportunity to talk to several people from Kashmir, including Muslim women and young university students who believe that leaderships in both countries are entangled in "false sense of prestige" and "misplaced thinking".
"The Kashmir valley is about quarter of 1 per cent of total area of India and Pakistan, so letting it determine the bilateral relations is like letting the tail wag the dog," Dr Rohila points out.
From Dr Rohila's thirteen-day long experience with the mission, the "moment for peace" is palpable in the region; the "battle fatigue" and "hunger for peace" among the people from both countries are also evident. As he concludes, It is up to the leaderships from both countries to give a meaning to the "series of agreements" and "walk through that route seriously".
