Aman ki Asha can turn out to be a new lease of life in betterment of relations between India & Pakistan, or should I say Indians & Pakistanis.
If you are not aware what Aman ki Asha is –
It is a joint movement launched by the two leading media houses of India and Pakistan – The Times of India and the Jang Group – have come together to develop a stronger Track 2 in the diplomatic and cultural relations between India and Pakistan. "Aman ki Asha: Destination Peace" looks beyond the confines of a 62-year-old political boundary to the primal bonds that tie together the two peoples.
I have never been a big fan of “Times of India” journalism, but I highly applaud this effort from their side. It is something I never imagined from them.
To be honest, when I first saw the Full page Ad on January 1st in Times of India – I had mixed reactions.
I just could not digest two words written in bold “LOVE PAKISTAN” !
I was upset to the fact that we are trying to pursue peace with a nation that has constantly been trying to create disturbance & Terrorism in our country. I never really thought beyond that.
We have grown up thinking, hearing & reading only hate messages about Pakistan. But for first time in my life, I was also thinking from a different perspective. The perspective that is devoid of Politics and Government. It is about common people of India and Pakistan.
I am seeing interviews and columns by Indians & Pakistanis over last 2 weeks, and honestly, my perspective about common Pakistani people has taken a positive turn (again, I am talking only about the 90% of all who are not involved in Politics, terrorism, Government etc.).
I really have many things to write about how & why my perspective is changed, but this being a very sensitive subject, I will refrain from talking about it too much.
The only reason, I wrote this post was to appeal our readers to rethink what they have always thought about Pakistan for so long. Why is it that we have harbored so much hate within us for our neighboring country. More often than not the answer you will get will only be to do with Politics, Government and handful of people who for their own selfish reasons create a rift !
Again I applaud TOI for taking up this initiative. I will leave you with a lovely new anthem created jointly for India and Pakistan, written by Gulzar and sung by Shankar Mahadevan and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan as part of Aman ki Asha joint movement.