By Sarwar Kashani, IANS
New Delhi : They were Pakistanis playing Indians and vice versa. And even though they lapsed into their real selves every now and then, slowly they saw the simulation as a golden opportunity to offer solutions to the protracted conflict between the two countries.
They were all young professionals, aged 20 to 30, from diverse backgrounds. They hailed from Pakistan, India and both sides of Jammu and Kashmir. And they were asked to reverse their nationalities.
The unique exercise called “Trust Building in International Relations” was held at the India International Centre and saw Indians playing Pakistani officials and Pakistanis donning the role of Indian officials.
The event was part of the sixth WISCOMP (Women in Security Conflict Management and Peace) Dec 16-20 convention.
When the participants simulated characters, casting off patriotism was a challenge.
“As a Pakistani national, I felt strange to bargain from an Indian point of view on the Kashmir issue but I empathised and realised that both the nations are equally at stake facing similar issues,” Ghulam Ali from Islamabad told IANS after the exercise.
Ali, a PhD Scholar at the Quaid-e-Azam University, was playing Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the Indian delegation.
The delegates negotiated at a roundtable on the India-Pakistan conflict, which has dragged on for 60 years and seen four wars, including Kargil. They hesitated and occasionally even became their original selves – but slowly they began to see each other’s point of view.
“India should understand Pakistan’s sensitivities towards Kashmir,” said an Indian student playing Pakistan’s defence minister.
“Pakistan has to stop cross border terrorism against India,” said a Pakistani Kashmiri, who was leading the Indian side.
A Pakistani girl playing the Indian foreign minister said: “Peace is our objective, we are committed to it and our philosophy for peace is based on Jawaharlal Nehru’s Panchsheel (five principles of peaceful coexistence) formula.
“Kashmir, our integral part, is non-negotiable,” she added.
In the heated arguments between the groups, one could hear true and genuine voices for peace.
“The trust deficit between us is extreme. Why do we enhance our defence budgets? Why can we not invest that in education and health?” asked a Pakistani echoing the Indian authorities.
“We have to give up our stated positions as we face common issues,” responded an Indian posing as a Pakistani.
“Siachen, the highest battleground in the world, should be preserved as a joint environmental heritage and citizens’ peace at any cost cannot be negotiated.”
Even if they didn’t arrive at solutions – which in any case wasn’t part of the exercise – voices for peace could be heard in earnest amid the India-Pakistan rhetoric.
The exercise to copy India-Pakistan peace talks was designed by a British professor, Nicholas Wheelar, who teaches in the department of international politics at Aberystwyth University. What makes the Briton’s endeavour more interesting is the fact that the blame for the 60-year-old South Asian conflict is largely put on the British rulers, who left India in 1947.
(Sarwar Kashani can be contacted at [email protected])