“We need to re-write our history with India to improve relations. A change in the narrative will bring a change in attitudes,” Punjab University Vice Chancellor Dr Mujahid Kamran said on Monday.
He was addressing a seminar organised by the Department of History and Sir Ganga Ram Heritage Foundation on Pakistan-India relations at Al Raazi Hall.
Indian delegates Shev Pertab Bajaj and Shri Sat Pal Muhajan, Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee former president Sardar Sham Singh and Faculty of Arts Dean Iqbal Chawla.
Kamran said the sub-continent was rich in cultural and religious diversity.
“The common problem uniting the people of India and Pakistan is hunger and poverty,” he said.
He said the region was rich in resources that should be utilised to improve the living standards of its people.
Shev Partab Bajaj appreciated the hospitality of the government. He said he has not faced any problems since his arrival in Lahore.
“The delegates and I feel as if we are roaming in the streets of our home towns,” he said.
Sat Pal Mahajan stressed the need to promote people-to-people contract.
Chawla said people of both countries were facing similar problems particularly poverty and lack of basic facilities.
He said the success of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in Pakistan and political debut of Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi elections had given new hopes to the people.
He said both parties wanted to improve the democratic system.
Veena Chiber, another speaker, said the political environment in both countries was evolving. She stressed the need to grant visas to the youth so that they could explore their neighbouring countries freely.
Sardar Shaam Singh called upon the people of both countries to promote local languages instead of talking to each other in English.
Kamran presented pictures of Kaatas Raj to Indian delegates. Shev Pratab Bajaj presented religious books.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 24th, 2013.