Were told we won’t return alive, say Pak women, still travel to India

CHANDIGARH: “When our friends and families learnt that we are going to India, they were so scared that they said we won’t return alive,” says Lahore-based Resham Sitara, 31, one of the 19 young women from Pakistan who arrived in Chandigarh on Tuesday night to attend a peace conference. But after a night in India, she says she would like to tell “people in Pakistan that India is not what you make of it. People here are loving and hospitable. I have fallen in love with this country at first sight”.

The women recount how they convinced their frightened families and shunned taunts of peers to come to India. “There is talk of war and tension back home but we wanted to come here,” says Roohani Barkat, 21, who is pursuing graduation in economics in Gilgit. “Our

There is talk of war back home. Friends said ‘tell us your last wish’. I told them to turn the TV off and let us go. ROOHANI BARKAT, 21, economics student in Gilgit

families were shocked at first and then scared. Friends even said ‘tell us your last wish’. I told them to turn the TV off and let us go,” she says. The 19 women arrived by bus from Wagah late on Tuesday night for the Global Youth Peace Conference organised by a non-governmental

I would like to tell people in Pakistan that India is not what you make of it. People here are loving and hospitable. RESHAM SITARA, 31, from Lahore

organisation (NGO), Yuvsatta, in Chandigarh and Shimla.

“My family was not willing to send me either. I said people of India and Pakistan want peace and togetherness, not war and bitterness,” says Tayyiba Munir, 25, an M Phil student of Lahore’s

My family wasn’t sending me. I said Indians and Pakistanis want peace and togetherness, not war and bitterness. TAYYIBA MUNIR, 25, M Phil student, Lahore

Punjab University. She says the tension between the two countries is nothing new. “It’s so familiar. But it’s not between two enemies. It’s as if two brothers are annoyed over something, but they are brothers after all,” she adds.

Lahore-based student of social and cultural studies

I was told that immigration officers will ask hostile questions. I was surprised. They were cordial. URWAH SULTANA, 23, Lahore-based student

Urwah Sultana, 23, says she was told that immigration officers will ask hostile questions. “I was surprised. They were cordial,” she says. “I was even told that I would be held captive or a prisoner of war in India. Instead, I am being warmly received wherever I go.”

The women say such people-to-people exchanges are the answer to the trust deficit between the two nations. “Twenty of us will go back and tell 200 people that India and Indians are lovely. We’ll spread the word on social media. People will believe us because we are sharing our experience. They will not believe the politicians and the propaganda on media anymore,” says Sitara, who is also an M Phil student.

The young women from Pakistan are fans of Bollywood actors and Indian cricketers. Roohani is fond of actor Aamir Khan and Tayyaba loves actor Kangana Ranaut as she is a “strong feminist”. Ask them who’s their favourite cricketer and they shout instantly: “(Mahendra Singh) Dhoni!” “We’re looking forward to seeing his biopic,” says Roohani. “Why can’t the two nations simply play instead of fighting?” she says.