By IANS
Lahore : India and Pakistan should leave behind their bitter past and strive to create conditions when both can jointly celebrate their independence days.
That was the dream expressed Monday when a group of Pakistanis Monday celebrated the independence day of both countries – Pakistan marks its I Day Aug 14 India does so a day later – under the aegis of the Pak-India Peace Initiatives (PIPI).
Comprising journalists, rights activists, academics and politicians, the group lamented that having changed the world map by gaining independence and begun the process of de-colonisation across Asia, Africa and elsewhere, South Asia had got lost in mutual distrust and internecine squabbles.
There was anger against the British Raj. But speakers felt that the region should also learn a ‘good’ thing from Europe – the urge to cooperate and unite, the Daily Times reported.
It was necessary to recognise that Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs – all had been killed in large numbers during partition and had suffered immensely. Their sacrifices needed to be remembered and respected. Instead, religious intolerance was on the rise, the speakers said.
The gathering included former Punjab governor Shahid Hamid, National Assembly member Bushra Rahman, political analyst Hassan Askari Rizvi, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan director I.A. Rehman and PIPI president and advocate Awais Sheikh.
Congratulating Indians on Independence Day, Rehman said each country had “sown evil for the other and that both countries had reaped evil instead of good”.
He said the visa regulations should be totally abolished so people could freely move and visit their historic and religious places and meet their relatives.
Bushra Rahman said travelling in SAARC countries was not only difficult for the ordinary people, many of who longed to visit the place of their origin, but also for parliamentarians.
Political analyst Rizvi said the historic relevance of the day had often been neglected. It had marked the beginning of decolonisation, and both countries had been based on the modern ideas of state — for example constitutionalism, rule of law and participatory government.
He said there was a need to face the fact that Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims had been massacred at the time of the partition. He said: “We need to pay tribute to their sacrifices.”
Though the acrimonious relations had damaged both countries and the introduction of nuclear weapons had further driven the wedge, things had begun to change after 2004. Now the challenge was to resolve conflicts, Rizvi said.
Former Punjab governor Hamid pointed out that the army had had no role in the freedom movement of either Mahatma Gandhi, who based it on non-violence, or Mohammed Ali Jinnah. While India remembered this, Pakistan had shown no regard for this fact, he added, referring to long phases of military or military-guided rule in Pakistan.