It was called Aman. In Punjabi, Aman means peace. And 41 women decided to contribute their mite to improving India-Pakistan relations by going to Lahore and meeting their sisters. Former National Women's Commission chairperson Mohini Giri, one of the organisers of this unique visit, said it was a hectic but pleasurable trip. She is confident that in their own small way such visits and person-to-person contacts will help improve ties. Exclusively to rediff.com, she agreed to retrace the journey from the Ambedkar terminal from where the Delhi-Lahore bus begins its 14-hour journey to Felicity Hotel in Lahore. March 25 Out of a total of 41 women, three decided to fly to Lahore, hence 38 of us gathered at the bus terminal as early as 0400 hours IST. For the next two hours, our baggage was searched, and we were issued our boarding passes. But we were all in high spirits, we were singing joyfully, no one minded the early hour or the hassles. We had prepared 12 songs for the occasion, such us Hum ek hain, aman ke ladnewali, hum ek hai! When you realise that this bus journey costs only Rs 800 one way, with breakfast, lunch and tea included, you realise how much it benefits the common man. And for us, our driver, a Pakistani named Mr Shah, was so kind that he refused to let us even pay the coolies who handled our baggage. Our journey began at 0600 IST sharp. As our bus sped down the highway, there was a police escort in front and at the back, and the bus did not stop en route. Though we were exhausted by having had to wake up so early (I did not sleep the night before), we were all in extremely high spirits. At 0900 we stopped for breakfast at Pipri in Haryana. Then, the bus moved on through Punjab and we had lunch at Kartarpuri and tea at Sirhind, also in Punjab. At 1730 IST, we reached Attari, where once more our baggage and persons were searched and our papers checked. Then, and this is really troublesome, we moved barely two steps ahead (about 50 metres) into Wagah in Pakistan, and once more we had to go through the same routine of baggage check, papers examined, etc. All this ended by 1900 IST. At Wagah, there were people with signboards welcoming us to Pakistan. The bus did not stop until it reached Lahore, less than half an hour later. The Wagah-Lahore road is fantastic, and both sides the fields are green and the people looked extremely prosperous. All this talk of Pakistani's economy failing was not visible. In Lahore, the bus drove to Felicity, an old English hotel, where at least a thousand women with banners and candles were present to receive us. They were singing Chhod Chhod ke bandhano, dekho behne aati hain [Leaving behind their bonds, see our sisters have come]. The Pakistani women had made lovely arrangements for us. All the women were put up with families to spend the night. I was staying with Dr Mubashir, a former Pakistani minister, and I had dinner with them. And they were so considerate, that knowing I was a vegetarian, they had made only vegetarian food! March 26 We women were leaving for Islamabad, a five-hour journey from Lahore. We all gathered at the Pakistani Human Rights Commission building at 0600 hours PST. The building is rather grand, and has been made entirely out of private funds raised from the people of Pakistan. Two air-conditioned buses had been arranged for us, everyone was provided with mineral water and packed breakfast. The Lahore-Islamabad motorway is arguably the best road in the subcontinent. It was built by former premier Nawaz Sharief. In Islamabad, Pakistani Foreign Minister Abdus Sattar hosted a lunch for us. During the lunch, we spoke about India-Pakistan relations and US President Bill Clinton's visit. Sattar said, "Why do we need foreign interference in South Asia, can't we solve our own problems?" We left Sattar's banquet at 1530 and drove down to Rawalpindi, which is about 50 kilometres away, to meet Pakistan's chief executive, General [Perveiz] Musharraf. We reached his residence at 1700 PST. When we went to his very large living room to meet him, some of the women were sitting rather far away from where he would be sitting. On seeing this, he remarked, "Why this distance between us?" and personally began lifting the chairs and bringing them closer so that all of us 41 women were sitting around him! His statement clearly had a double meaning. During the meet, Musharraf spoke about peace, about talks with India, and when we mentioned Kargil, he said, "Tell me if I have done anything wrong after October 12 (the day he took over)?" He also told us that he was not responsible for Kargil. When Nirmala Deshpande, one of the Indian women, said that our slogan is 'Goli nahi, boli,' Musharraf replied, "I am with you." He further said that since India was the bigger country, it must take certain initiatives and promised to match every step forward with a bigger step. He told us that he had seen war and hated it. People ask me whether I believe him. Let me be very honest. I do. Why should I not? He spoke respectfully, showed no animosity, and was very genuine in his statements and feelings. Personally, I think we should reciprocate his gesture. When we left, he gave all of us a small gift. I have not opened my gift, but I believe it is a watch. His meeting overshot the scheduled time and from there, we rushed to the Indian high commission at 1845 where High Commissioner G Parthasarthi had invited us for tea. It is the best tea I have ever had. We told Mr Parthasarthi what General Musharraf had told us. After this, rather late, we rushed to our dinner engagement. Our host was the All Muslim Women's Forum for Peace. It was a very tight day, what with one engagement after the other! And after dinner, we drove to the Pakistan university's hostel, where we went to sleep. March 27 The arrangements on this trip, which was organised by a couple of Pakistani institutions, were fantastic. Everything went off like clockwork. There was a co-ordinator for every five women, and there were young men to lift the baggage and so forth. On the third day, we woke up early morning for breakfast and left for a tour of Taxila at 0800. The Pakistani authorities had bought our tickets for the museum, and we went sightseeing in Taxila. At 1230, we boarded the bus for our journey back to Lahore. Sandwiches were there for us to munch on the way back, along with water, napkins, everything that we might need. The human touch was all so evident. In Lahore, famous human rights lawyer Asma Jehangir was hosting dinner for us at her palatial mansion. Here, we met the entire top brass of the Pakistani establishment -- lawyers, editors, film stars, human rights activists, everyone! This party went on till 0030 the next morning, and all of us exhausted women then went back to our respective hosts for the night. March 28 Today, our day started a little later. There was a full-day discussion session, starting at 0900, in the Human Rights building. The topics were: 'War as a Violation of Human Rights', and 'Women's Role in Peace Building'. The seminars concluded after lunch in the afternoon. At 1600, there was another meeting, this time with an NGO. Nikhat, a social activist, has built this huge developmental centre in Lahore that is engaged in social work. Here, we exchanged our views on NGOs and the role that they can play and how to empower women. Again, Nikhat, out of respect for our sentiments, had organised a vegetarian tea for all of us. And when the Pakistani women come here, even those of us who are vegetarian will make non-vegetarian food for them! This programme was over by 1830 and we all went back to our hosts for dinner. I would like to mention an incident here. I went sightseeing in Lahore and went to see the maqbara [mausoleum] of Noor Jehan. The maqbara is shut for visitors at 1900 and I reached late. But when the watchman saw me, with the bindi on my forehead, he asked me if I was a Hindustani. I said yes, and he then immediately said, Please don't go, I'll show the maqbara by torchlight. Which he did. The average Pakistani was always most courteous. When we went shopping, they would charge us the lowest prices possible. March 29 Again, there was an important seminar organised by Jung, Pakistan's largest newspaper group. The topic was 'Women's view of the subcontinent'. The group chairman, Aslam Akhtar, was in the chair and persons like Asma and Nikhat were very articulate in expressing their views. There were four speakers from India and four from Pakistan and the discussion was very frank and honest. I am sure it was important because the Indian high commission sent its councillor to be present for the seminar! We discussed all the controversial issues such as CTBT, Kashmir, globalisation, and so forth. And strangely, both sides held similar views on the various subjects. Even on Kashmir, both sides agreed that the Kashmiris are fed up of both India and Pakistan, and that the Kashmiris have a right to happy living. We agreed that democracy must be maintained, and believe me, for the first time ever, I heard Pakistani women criticise their government. This seminar went on from 0900 right up to 2300! The Jung newspapers has published the speeches of all the speakers. During the seminar, some of the women from our group went out into Lahore to see the Canal area, to meet people on the streets, and sightseeing. After it was over, we got into our bus and drove home. These bus drivers had to work such long hours, but not once did they complain. They were always helpful and would play Indian patriotic songs whenever we were on board! March 30 Today, our first meeting was late as 1030, giving us time to catch up on our sleep. It was a session with the All Democratic Forum of Pakistan, where we met the common men and women of Pakistan to hear their views. A strange thing happened here. A very old man walked up to me and blessed me. When I asked him why he had done that, he said, "Aap mere trade union dost [V V Giri] ke beti ho!" He then went on to narrate tales to me about the Nagpur railway workers strike, the Kharagpur strike, how my father-in-law V V Giri was jailed. It was a great experience. After lunch, at 1400, for the first time we women were free do go shopping in Lahore, which we all did with a vengeance! Then, at 1730, one of the members of our troupe, Nadira Babbar, was staging a show of her one-act play Sakubai, which is about women's empowerment. During this time, the other women were broken up into groups which then went out to meet different people. Some went to media offices, some to the slums of Lahore, and some to schools and colleges. At 1930, Pakistan's largest NGO, the Aurat Foundation, hosted a dinner for us at the Holiday Inn hotel's terrace. They played Sufi music and once more, we got a chance to meet the people of Pakistan. At each gathering, we met different kinds of people. At the Aurat Foundation, they gave us each a book that reflected Pakistani literature. This was our last day in Pakistan. March 31 At 0400 PST, we all gathered at Felicity Hotel, where once more we went through the routine of our baggage check and so on. At 0600 sharp, the bus, with the same driver who had brought us to Pakistan, left Lahore and we came back with the same stops that we had made on our way to Lahore. On the way back, four persons opted out of the bus journey and so on board we had four ordinary Pakistani citizens. One of them was a women coming to India to attend her father's funeral. She told us that had it not been for the inexpensive bus, she would never have been able to come to India, since she cannot afford to fly. This really shows how the bus is helping the ordinary citizens of both countries meet each other. We reached Delhi at around 2000, and found a huge group waiting for us. Recalling the entire trip, I will say it was most wonderful and it has convinced me that we women must make ourselves a pressure group and work for peace. I intend to do just that from now on. As told to Amberish K Diwanji
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