On a trip to Mumbai in 2012, Pakistani author Anam Zakaria had met a six-year-old boy during a school visit. Soon as he heard that she was from Pakistan, he ran away. She called out to him, and asked why he did so. “I am scared of Ajmal Kasab,” he said. Ms Zakaria was stunned by the connection the child had made between an ordinary Pakistani visitor and a 26/11 terrorist.
Years later, amid the uncertain nature of diplomatic talks between India and Pakistan, Ms Zakaria and students of a Thane school participated in a unique initiative. They had an hour-long Skype interaction on January 7 covering various topics.
The author of The Footprints of Partition: Narratives of Four Generations of Pakistanis and Indians , published in 2015, Ms Zakaria teaches development studies at Headstart School in Islamabad, and works with the Association for the Development of Pakistan. The 25 Class VII were given the opportunity based on their interest in the discussion and the quality of their research. Most students were speaking to a Pakistani national for the first time.
Sini Nair, Head of the English Department at Euro School had organised the event. Nair had asked the students to read about key events leading to the Partition in 1947, and India-Pakistan relations thereafter.
“I wanted to teach interviewing skills to my students in an innovative manner. Some said they did not want to talk to anyone from Pakistan. I did not want to force them. Others showed enthusiasm. They jotted down their questions, and I helped them with the framing,” said Nair.
For Ms Zakaria, this project gave her a first-hand opportunity to meet children and teachers from India.
After starting the interaction by wishing the students a happy new year, she asked them, “When you hear the name ‘Pakistan’, what comes to your mind? I want you to be honest. It could be anything — positive or negative. I promise you I will not feel hurt.”
One of the students said, “India and Pakistan are like brothers. They keep fighting with each other. That is just like siblings. They too keep fighting.” Another said, “Some people say you should never trust a Pakistani. They always betray you.” Another one said, “The perception about Pakistan is it is a place full of terrorists. It does not make sense. People think of Africa as a continent full of snakes and infections. But when I went there, it was so wonderful. I am sure Pakistan too is beautiful.”
Ms Zakaria then spoke of her own initial suspicion of Indians. The Partition has been part of her family history. Her grandmother had worked as a volunteer in one of Lahore’s largest refugee camps in 1947.
She told the students how she warmed up to Indians after she met some in Canada while studying. People who had seemed different from Pakistanis suddenly seemed a lot like her.
Students asked her myriad questions: Has your book influenced the minds of people? How important is religion to you? How can we change the attitudes of Indians towards Pakistanis? If you were given a chance, what is the one thing you would like to change about the Partition? Do you follow Indian media and politics? What do Pakistanis think of Gandhiji? Is it because of poverty in Pakistan that people join the Taliban? What was your childhood like?
The students listened with great interest, and many of them said they did not want the session to end. Some were so moved by the time the interaction ended, that they demanded a field trip be organized to the neighbouring country.
In the discussion after the conversation, one student said, “I liked the way she spoke to us. She gave us so much respect.” Another said, “Now I know that not all Pakistanis are murderers. They don’t want to kill me. I too can think of going to Pakistan.” Another student said, “I feel like there is a mirror between India and Pakistan. If you look inside it, you see yourself. We need to sit and talk.”
Ms Zakaria’s book records the ways in which school textbooks, media channels, and family memories in both countries sow seeds of hatred in children’s minds.
Recalling the conversation with the six-year-old in 2012 and her interaction with the students at Euro School, Zakaria said, “Ordinary Indians and Pakistanis spend entire lifetime without ever meeting the each other. The ‘other’ then becomes a figment of our imagination, fuelled by prejudices and distorted historical facts. Such interactions with students on either side of the border help challenge these biases, and allow children to form a more informed opinion of the ‘other’. I am excited to play a humble part in allowing that to happen.”
(The writer is a freelance journalist)
