Letters across the divide

Defying the vitriol following Uri and the surgical strikes, young brigades of pen pals across the border are playing peacemakers

“I think that not all Pakistanis are terrorists”, “I would love to visit Pakistan if it were safe”, “We should forget the past and try and be friends”. Scribbled across ruled sheets of paper by school children, these are some of the thoughts that are going to make their way to their friends in Pakistan. Turning hostility into hope against the backdrop of the Uri attacks and surgical strikes are two city-based educators — Chintan Girish Modi and Tulika Bhatija. Chintan and Tulika promote cross-border friendship by means long forgotten by our generation — hand written letters. They are helping children forge bonds with the neighbour by creating pen pals in the two countries. Chintan is the Founder of Friendships Across Borders: Aao Dosti Karein — an initiative that uses the power of storytelling and social media to foster cross-border friendships. As part of his efforts, Chintan conducts ‘peace workshops’ in schools and colleges across India as well as in Lahore and Islamabad.

“At these peace education workshops, we intend to include young people in a dialogue that steers their thoughts away from political propaganda and initiates a rational thinking process. We conduct quizzes, show them videos and get to know their opinions about issues,” Chintan says. “People are not naturally up in arms against Pakistan — it is only a few projected voices in the media who are up in arms. We are trying to spread critical media literacy through our workshops and trying to explain how both the countries have different tunes at different times,” he adds.

12-year-old Gurmyie Shah, who has been a part of Chintan’s initiative sounds wiser than her years when she shares her experience. “Everywhere across the media, it was shown that terrorists traumatise our jawans. The truth is that even the Pakistani citizens are living in the fear of terrorism, just like us. We share the same history and there is so much similarity between us. They love our Bollywood stars like Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan. It’s very unfortunate that their terrorist troops are more powerful than their government. I wrote a letter to them in the workshop and made a suggestion. Like the BRICS meet, even we should try initiating a peaceful dialogue once a year at least.”

Working on similar lines as Chintan is Tulika, an educator at Juhu’s Ecole Mondiale World School. In collaboration with Aaghaz-e-dosti , she urges her students to make pen pals with their peers in Pakistan. Earlier this year, the children sent solidarity cards to Ghauri Wisdom High School, Lahore, after the blasts at Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park in Lahore. “Our cards were given to the parents of one of the martyrs of the blast. Since then, we have been in constant touch and also sent some cards during the Peshawar blast. Some of our students have forged beautiful friendships with students in Pakistan and exchange letters on a regular basis. With the ongoing unrest, we plan to continue these initiatives,” she says.

Another 12-year-old who echoes the sentiment of her mentor is Shreya Sethi. Shreya admits that she has a lot more clarity about the neighbour after her workshops. “ To be very frank, there were many bitter thoughts in my mind about Pakistan and its people. After the workshop, I understood that they have faced more terrorist attacks in their country; their citizens are as troubled as we are. People who want war now will not be alive when we grow up and the consequences will affect the whole world; we shouldn’t be fighting and war is not the solution,” says the seventh grader.

In the wake of the recent attacks, Chintan recently launched an online petition — ‘Indian & Pakistani citizens speak against war’ which has already been signed by over 4,520 supporters — both Indians and Pakistanis. “I have conducted workshops in Ambala after the Uri attacks and what some students had to say was very touching. A girl said that her father was in the army. It’s easy for people to say wage a war against Pakistan —they just have to tweet or write a comment, but it is people like her parents and families whose lives are at stake,” he informs.

As part of his peace talks, Chintan has been to Pakistan four times so far. The experience he says, has been sweet every time. “It’s like a tiff in a joint family. Things may turn sour, but not beyond redemption.”