May 16, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 10, 1429

ISLAMABAD, May 15: Peace activists and liberals paid rich tributes here on Wednesday to the late Indian Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande for her tireless work for universal peace, particularly between Pakistan and India.

Ms Deshpande, 79, was a member of the upper house of Indian parliament and ran the Gandhi Ashram in New Delhi and frequently visited Pakistan on missions of peace. She died on May 1.

A delegation representing Pakistani government and civil society attended her funeral and brought back her ashes to be immersed in Indus River in Pakistan as she wished the ashes to be scattered in the rivers of all the South Asian countries.

Rights activist I. A. Rehman called the memorial meeting, organised by the Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) and the South Asian Policy Analysis Network (SAPANA), “a sad occasion but a happy one too”. It was out of the ordinary that an Indian peace campaigner was being mourned and celebrated in Pakistan.

“In contrast to our elitist approach to causes, Ms Deshpande showed what an individual’s dedication can achieve. Here we wish to build a civil society to the exclusion of people at large,” he observed.

Writer Kishwar Naheed, president, recalled that Didi — as Ms Deshpande was called by her admirers — had wished the money the two nations were spending on arms was spent on their unfortunate children.

“Let us strive for that,” she said.

Physicist Dr A.H. Nayyar, who campaigns against nuclear weapons, said Ms Deshpande had great power of persuasion. In her Gandhian ways she persuaded big landowners donate her four million acres of land for the landless.

“Though many donors reneged on their promises, and many gave away useless land, her persuasive powers won one million acres of good land for the landless,” he said.

Dr Nayyar regretted that although Gandhi was Bapu (father) to the Indian nation his philosophy was “still in minority in India”.

“If and when Gandhiism gains domination, the Indian army would be halved,” he said.

Peace and rights activist Tahira Abdullah said that all sides owned “the diminutive and petit Didi” because of her sincerity and serenity.

“Ours (peace movement) was never Track-II diplomacy. Ours is Track-III, aimed at removing misconceptions and misperceptions through people-to-people contacts. Didi was not only invited by the Track-II Nimrana but even by the careerists conducting Track- I”, she said.

Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed, a member of PPP’s central committee who had been active in the Track-III, said only the day before she died, Ms Deshpande had phoned him to say she wanted to come to Pakistan. When he hesitated, advising her to wait till the judges issue was settled in Pakistan, she said: “Then you people come to India”.

“We did go there two days later but sadly to attend her funeral,” said the ex-MNA, rating “her credibility above her acceptability”.

Chaudhry Manzoor said three memorial meetings were being planned for her in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore.