Optimism has returned to Paan Gali, as have shoppers. Customers demand every item advertised on Indian TV channels. Illyas Beg, a shopkeeper, thinks he will now have a steady supply of Indian goods to match the demand. "After the Dosti bus service, the revival of rail and air links will give a boost to our business, which depends on friendly relations between the two countries." This demand isn’t just about the quality of Indian goods or monetary benefits, argues schoolteacher and shopper Dr Abdul Rahman, savouring the Indian paan he’s chewing. "It’s a reflection of psychological attachments, about the similarity in tastes. It shows how bright the prospects are of negating the misconception of alienation between Indians and Pakistanis, if they are given the opportunity," he says.
The opportunity has come after the governments of India and Pakistan realised the futility of habitually flexing their muscles and indulging in crass jingoism. The Wagah border has been opened for people; air and rail links should be re-established soon. But if you were to feel that these measures can efface the memory of bloody history, think again. It is indeed much easier to seal a hole in a baby’s heart, a la Noor Fatima, than to "liberate the future from the past".
As the Outlook team wended its way through the bustling Paan Gali to Anarkali Bazaar, where Indian sarees can be purchased, and began to probe beyond their consumerist instinct, Kashmir started to surface with familiar frequency. Says Shakoor, a cloth vendor in Anarkali, "Our similarities can help bring the two countries closer and then make way for a solution to the Kashmir problem." Shakoor’s remarks are typical of most here: they aren’t willing to forget Kashmir, barter it for robust Indo-Pak relations that could boost their business. This cannot be dismissed as just a view of the hoi polloi. Even defence analyst and author Dr Hassan Askari Rizvi agrees: "Friendship with India can be very fruitful. But a peaceful resolution of Kashmir is a pre-requisite for this."
Such a blend of views that seem mutually irreconcilable—warmth for India and a stubborn insistence on Kashmir—are not confined to Lahore. At a kiosk in Rawalpindi Sadar, our posers on Indo-Pak relations spark off a veritable debate. Bilal Ahmad has the last word: "Of course, Kashmir is important, and India will have to give the Kashmiris their rights. But why should we be fighting with the Indians?" His view is unanimously endorsed. An onlooker nods his head and adds, "It’s true, hum ko larai-sharai nahin chahiye (we don’t want any conflict)."
In Rawalpindi Cantonment, army officers don’t talk on record. Outlook spoke to quite a few, and nearly all of them ruled out the option of war, unless waged in defence. But the K-word pops up regularly in the conversations; it defines their worldview. One of them points out, "The sacrifices of Kashmiris and Pakistanis should not go in vain. But the Kashmir problem should be resolved through negotiations, not war."
