THERE had been complaints that the Indian high commission was not offering visas to Pakistanis — except for rare cases where patients, in dire need of treatment, wanted to avail themselves of better medical facilities across the border. The news now seems to suggest that even this privilege extended to seriously ailing Pakistanis has been withdrawn. Peace activists would say that this was a lifeline that has been taken away because of the deteriorating ties between the two countries. The steady traffic of patients from Pakistan to various parts of India had been a crucial symbol of how the two neighbours could, in fact, lean on one another when called upon to do so. It was a persistent trickle of such ‘emotional’ stories which brought specialist Indian doctors to Pakistan for trail-blazing joint procedures on patients here. This open channel in a most fundamental area had long been an exception to the negativity that routinely enslaves minds on this shared subcontinent. The media has played up many repeats of this human-interest story, and the help provided by friends across the hostile border has been acknowledged and reciprocated with best wishes. This has been the case even when suspicions about the Modi regime and its religious biases have increased in recent times.

The denial of a visa to a young woman from Lahore hoping to be given a new lease of life in India might in the eyes of many explain just how intense and deep-rooted the problem between Islamabad and New Delhi is today. The optimists amongst us would, however, be hoping that this rift, this heightened, nerve-wracking war of optics if you like, is not allowed to be taken to a level where the posturing is in conflict with the most basic tenets of human relationships. Surely, provided there is no legal hitch, the start of the new week will bring some good news for this young visa-seeker crying out for some common-sense protocol.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2017