WASHINGTON, Aug 15: A joint India-Pakistan peace rally, held to celebrate independence days of both nations, urged people in the two neighbouring countries to ensure that the current peace process does not falter.

The participants also signed a petition urging both the governments to ease all restrictions on cross-border travel at the earliest possible date. “We believe that when people lead, the political leaders are duty bound to follow,” was the unanimous message participants of the Peace Day celebration wished to convey to people of the subcontinent.

They observed that the recent people-to-people interaction has established beyond doubt that common people on both sides of the border are eager to foster cultural, commercial, educational, and familial relationships with each other.

Fifteen organizations of the Indian and the Pakistani community jointly observed the two independence days as a Peace Day at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Prof A. H. Nayyar, a peace activist and professor emeritus, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, was the main speaker. He was happy over developments at different levels on both sides of the border but also he expressed concern that the peace process had not yet become self-sustaining.

Although men and women on both sides are very enthusiastic about establishing friendly relations with each other, but the misgivings and suspicion of policymakers, politicians, military establishment, and bureaucrats on either side appear to be the reason for keeping the two nations apart.

Prof Nayyar also outlined several areas of cooperation that have been established by the peace-promoting NGOs recently in India and Pakistan.

Umesh Agnihotri, an Indian writer, read out his story Lakeer, which described the interaction of two families from either side of the border now settled in US; the children of both families wondered while there appeared to be no difference in regard to language, culture, food, and other values between the two families, then why there was a dividing line between them.

Zafar Iqbal recited Yusuf Rahat’s poem Shanti that beautifully described the virtues of peaceful coexistence. The programme included a short video of peace march from New Delhi to Multan last spring and poems and songs on friendship and communal harmony.

The programme was arranged under the leadership of Dr Mohan Bhagat, a senior professor at the University of Maryland and actively supported by a number of Indo-Pakistan community workers that include Dr Pervez Uppal, Dr Priya Ranjan, Dr Sirish Agarwal, Dr Zafar Iqbal, Shrikumar Poddar, Kaleem Kawaja, Rohit Tripathi, Sandeep Gupta and Vineeta Gupta.