Liberalise Indo-Pak visa regime

Consider. Over fifty years of hostilities and the accompanying state propaganda against the enemy has created demonic stereotypes of the ‘‘Other’’ in the minds of the vast majority of the citizens of India and Pakistan. After having been fed on a steady diet of misinformation, Pakistanis are convinced that India has but one objective — to destroy us. And the Indians have similar notions. As an Indian journalist once commented, the ISI enjoys such a notorious reputation in India that it was a wonder the agency was not blamed for natural disasters like earthquakes and landslides. The situation in Pakistan is no different. RAW is the first suspect for bomb blasts, murders, etc, that take place in the country. And these myths are no longer just propagated through the official media and the textbooks as has been pointed out time and again. The popular media merely confirms these negative notions and images. One only has to see the latest Bollywood/Lollywood offerings to realise this. In these circumstances, normalising relations between the two states is a very difficult task. Any effort to do so on the part of any government leads to allegations of selling out on the state’s national interests and may even lead to popular outrage. How can one make peace with an enemy that is bent upon one’s destruction?

Challenging and changing these stereotypes has to be a part of the peace process between India and Pakistan if it is to yield any fruit. And though it will include a serious analysis of state propaganda and official discourse in the long-term, a liberal visa regime will help greatly in this regard. Greater interaction between the citizens of the two countries will help destroy the negative images of the ‘‘Other’’ and this will only happen if the two governments facilitate easy visas and travel between India and Pakistan. Our argument is lent further credence in light of the peoples’ reaction to the various delegations that have come over to Pakistan or visited India from here. Not only have such visits by groups generated immense goodwill, the individuals within these delegations have been pleasantly surprised by the love and warmth with which they have been received in the host country. Countless stories have appeared in both the Indian and Pakistani media in which visitors have expressed their delight at their wonderful reception that have helped to erase their ill-conceived notions about the other country. When Indian visitors discover that the average Pakistani citizen is not a ‘‘fundamentalist’’ with extremist beliefs and Pakistani visitors find average Indians far from the Muslim-hating Hindus they are supposed to be, imagine the sense of discovery and delight of everyone. These are the people that then become part of the small but growing peace constituency.

We need to ensure that this constituency becomes large and vocal enough to drown out the hawkish minorities on both sides. And both governments can help this process along by putting in place a liberal visa regime to complement the additional travel links that they are discussing at the moment. One great confidence building step should be taken straight away. Journalists and businessmen should be entitled to multiple entry, non-police reporting, countrywide visas rather then single city-wise visas, with the right to enter and exit at any point by road, rail, bus, air or sea.

This editorial appeared in Daily Times on February 21