Opinion - News Analysis   

A further fillip to the peace process

B. Muralidhar Reddy

WITH THE proposed re-opening of the Karachi Consulate and revival of the rail route linking Sindh with Rajasthan in the next three to four weeks, the India-Pakistan peace process is set for a qualitative leap.

The two events, expected to take place in early-January, have enormous significance for both India and Pakistan. They will mark a shift in the peace process towards south Pakistan and help redress the grievance, particularly of the people of Sindh, that the peace dividend has eluded them.

With Wagah, 30 km from Lahore, as the only land border point with India, the dominant popular perception in Pakistan until now is that the current phase of engagement with India is "Punjab-centric." The view was reinforced on account of the delay in re-opening the Karachi and Mumbai Consulates of India and Pakistan respectively.

The Pakistani establishment was not very enthusiastic about more links with India, on the ground that confidence-building measures (CBMs) for the promotion of greater people-to-people contacts have to go in tandem with progress on Kashmir. It is the eternal debate within the regime on `core' (read Kashmir) versus peripheral issues.

However, the Government ultimately had to give in to the strong sentiments of the people and pave the way to make the consulate and the rail link a reality. The credit for pushing the Government goes to the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), championing the cause of migrants from undivided India.

The MQM, an influential political force, shares power at the Centre as well in the province of Sindh. So it lobbied to get the establishment to heed to the wishes of the people of Sindh on the consulate and rail link issues.

Both will be a boon to Sindh province and the port city of Karachi, which account for 90 per cent of Indian visa-seekers from Pakistan. The Indian Consulate in Karachi was shut down in 1994 amidst allegations from the Pakistani Government about the alleged involvement of the Mission in fuelling terrorist activity in the then violence-stricken metropolis. Pakistan followed suit by closing down its Consulate in Mumbai.

Millions of post-Partition migrants living in Karachi have suffered all these years as a consequence. They faced hurdles in maintaining ties with their families in India. Imagine travelling over 1,500 km one-way, the distance between Karachi and Islamabad, just to deposit the visa form. It is not enough that one manages to reach the Indian High Commission in the high-security diplomatic enclave.

Since only a limited number of applications are accepted each day, an aspirant has to make sure that he or she is early enough.

The problems are not confined to an expensive journey to and from Islamabad, finding lodgings in the capital and waiting in long queues. Harassment at the hands of the local police and intelligence personnel posted outside the Mission is another factor.

With the Karachi Consulate all set to re-open, the citizens of Sindh can look forward to a less cumbersome way to obtain an Indian visa. Besides, the proposed revival of the Khokrapar-Munabao rail route linking Sindh and Rajasthan will provide the shortest possible route to the people of the region to meet their relatives and friends in India.

The rail route was shut down after the 1965 India-Pakistan war. Though both sides restored bilateral ties and communication links after the 1965 and 1971 wars, for a variety of reasons the rail link could not be restored. And, alas, the people of Sindh lost a vital link to India. As a result, for the last 40 years the ordinary folk of Sindh who wanted to travel to Rajasthan by land had to take a circuitous route via Punjab.

With the two events scheduled to take place simultaneously, India will be opening up to another major constituency in Pakistan that has multiple interests in India— cultural, social, economic and political. There is also a major economic angle as Karachi is the financial capital of Pakistan. In his October 5 address to the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry in Karachi, the then External Affairs Minister, K. Natwar Singh, noted: "Karachi is poised at the threshold of a great expansion." He added: "... the expansion in trade and economic cooperation between India and Pakistan will lead Karachi to a even more successful and qualitatively new stage of its evolution as a trading and commercial capital of Asia and the world. The spirit of its citizens and the enterprise of its businessmen are well known to everyone in India..."

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