Peace call goes viral

People say they don’t hate each other; enough of hate politics

Sudheendra Kulkarni terms it a campaign to urge the two governments to resolve the problems that have caused animosity

The recent instances of hatred against Pakistan and the Shiv Sena-imposed extra-legal ban on artistes, writers and sportspersons from across the border has triggered a spontaneous online campaign that has spurred support beyond boundaries and could hold a lesson for politicians.

‘#ProfileForPeace’ is a hashtag campaign that has won hearts and minds and gone viral overnight on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, with thousands of Indians from Kerala to IHK and Pakistanis from Lahore to Karachi as well as those living in the US, UK and UAE changing their profile pictures to one with a little love note scribble that says where they are from, that they don’t hate each other and that they are only being divided by hate politics.

The campaign was started by 36-year-old Bandra-based Ram Subramanian, who calls himself an artivist. He was disconcerted by recent incidents of Pakistani artistes being banned and shunned by Shiv Sena Sainiks in Mumbai. “It had been brewing in my head ever since I heard of a series of bans and attacks. Most of us common blokes don’t feel such hate nor want these fights. And when you close the doors to art you open up a door for dark and unwanted things to come in,” he said.

So he took to Facebook on the night of Dussehra to express himself via a selfie with a post-it note that read, “I am an Indian. I am from Mumbai. I don’t hate Pakistan. I am not alone. There are many people like me!” He made that his profile picture. “No more artists being banned. This is my voice. This is our voice for our Mumbai, our India. Enough of hate politics,” he wrote further and managed to inspire a few thousand people from all ages and walks of life who are now sending out their own messages of love and peace across the border.

Observer Research Foundation Chairman Sudheendra Kulkarni, who was recently attacked by the Sena for organizing the book launch of ex-Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri, said the online peace campaign showed wonderful use of the social media by ordinary Indians and Pakistanis for spreading the message of peace and friendship between neighbours who had been estranged for historical reasons. “It is a response to hate-mongers on both the Indian and Pakistani sides by Indians and Pakistanis speaking with one voice of sanity and determination to isolate those indulging in violence and it is a campaign to urge the two governments to resolve the problems that have caused animosity. This is people’s voice speaking to those in power. People at the top must listen to it,” he said.

Subramaniam said, “It’s important at this point to communicate with each other and the Internet allows us to do that.”

This is not the first time Subramanian has initiated a friendly dialogue between the neighbours. In the winter of 2014 the writer and ad filmmaker had spun off the first Indian velfie (video selfies) movement with a three-minute film titled Pause that compared the Indo-Pak boundaries to walls between homes and led to a movement called Dear Neighbour that is currently back on the trending charts with a spate of #ProfileForPeace messages on its wall.