ONE glance at India’s actions is enough to establish that, far from wanting a normalisation of ties with Pakistan, the country is bent on increasing tensions with its neighbour. It has become increasingly common for Pakistani nationals — even Pakistan-origin nationals of another country — to find themselves being denied visas by India. This low-profile but extremely damaging form of prejudice against people-to-people contact has in the past been exercised against pilgrims, theatre groups, performers and others. Now the category of those in the crosshairs of a myopic bureaucracy has been broadened to include academics. The Association for Asian Studies has since 2014 held its AAS in Asia conference in various countries of the region. This year’s event was scheduled for New Delhi from July 5 to 8. While delegates from many nations were welcomed, a Feb 19 letter from India’s foreign ministry to one of the co-organisers of the conference reportedly instructed that Pakistani scholars be excluded from the event. It recently decided to deny visas to such invitees.

The move has not been without consequences, necessarily muted though these have been. As reported by the Indian media, nearly 80 scholars from a range of international institutions have mooted a resolution that conferences no longer be held in countries that display exclusionary policies. Further, the protesting academics raised enough funds to rent a hall at the seminar’s New Delhi venue so that their ‘banned’ colleagues could join them digitally. This show of defiance is praiseworthy, and it can only be hoped that some modicum of pressure is brought to bear on the Modi government to rationalise its stance. Hifalutin ideals of peace and dialogue are entirely hollow in a situation when the people who represent the best of both countries’ cultures and intellectual proclivities are barred from interacting. Apart from presenting inconveniences to guests and their hosts alike, it is an action that is not befitting of a state that claims to be the world’s largest democracy and that sees itself as an emerging global power.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2018