- GCU celebrates seasoned Indian journalist’s vision for peace
LAHORE: Indian journalist Mandira Nayar on Saturday planted a peace tree in the name of her grandfather Kuldip Nayar, the late veteran journalist and peace activist, at the Shahab Garden of the Government College University (GCU) Lahore.
Earlier, chairing a seminar to celebrate Kuldip Nayar’s vision for peace, Mandira informed the gathering that her grandfather spent his entire life preaching peace and friendship between Pakistan and India but his vision could not be realised in his lifetime.
She said that her grandfather went to Wagah border every year, walked up to the iron gates and lit candles, wishing that one day the light of peace would spread over both the countries. She said that GCU was the place where her grandfather was introduced to politics by the leadership of a student’s federation.
Speaking on the occasion, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan President I A Rehman said that the vision for peace, as perceived by Kuldip Nayar and other people on both the sides, was the only way forward for Pakistan and India. “The price, which the people of South Asia have paid for a confrontation between the two neighbouring countries, is enormous and you could not even calculate it,” he said.
He said that there were differences and disputes between Pakistan and India but they need to be resolved through dialogue. “Among all the British colonies, we were the first to get independence. This was the only instance in the history when such a big colony had received independence without any external support,” he said.
“We had experience, universities, world’s most developed irrigation system, railways and all the skills. We could have been a force of development, democracy and peace in the world,” he said, adding people on both the sides are paying the price as the two neighbours started a fight after the independence.
“It’s very heart-breaking that if you talked for peace in Pakistan and India, your patriotism was doubted, Imtiaz Alam, a senior journalist, told the gathering. He said that people like Kuldip Nayar were the voice of their own consciousness but they were called ‘agents’ and ‘candle mafias.’
Despite the partition, he said that he had not seen resentment in Kuldip Nayar’s generation at both the sides. They always had a great love for the places where they were born, he said. They were a buffer zone between Pakistan and India and they never left their peace agenda,” he added.
Vice Chancellor Prof Hassan Amir Shah said that this seminar was a great opportunity to learn about great people like Kuldip Nayar. In the times of tribulation and tension, there had been few individuals who didn’t waiver and whose faith in the restoration of peace remained a guiding light for all those who subscribed to the notion of humanity, peace and tranquillity, he added.
