PR Chari

During his recent visit to Pakistan Prof. Chari felt a mood change had occurred in Pakistan. The transformation was partly due to the cricket and the exposure of large numbers of the common people on both sides to each other, which was earlier confined to Indians visiting their relatives in Pakistan. There was a sense of expectation and hope regarding the ongoing peace process. Prime Minister Vajpayee was especially popular in Pakistan and people remembering his initiatives as Indian Foreign Minister in 1977-79. The Congress was generally perceived as not being Pak-friendly, again due to a hangover of the past and remembrance of Indira Gandhi halving their country in 1971. Hence, the change of mind in the Indian electorate, reflected in the recent exit poll results unfavorable to the BJP, might disappoint the Pakistanis.

There were three reasons for the positive change in Pakistan. First, except for the brainwashed jihadis, the next generation Pakistanis were not interested in a state of permanent hostility with India; there was also a sense of weariness with the long Indo-Pak stand-off. Second, Kashmir was basically a Punjabi obsession and other provinces were hardly interested. The over-kill by the official media on this issue had created a sense of boredom and contrary-mindedness in the people, similar to the “India shiningâ€Â