Replying to a question if he envisioned a free border and integrated economy for South Asia on the pattern of EU, Mr Kumar said the logic of economics and geography, as also shared values, must one day lead to political and economic integration.
“I have no doubt that an integrated South Asian community, politics and economy is an idea whose time has come.”
Asked how the huge defence spending and pressures of the military-industrial complex could be justified in view of the parallel peace movements in South Asia, Mr Kumar said the military establishments all around the world had their own logic and compulsions, but in democracies the people’s will prevailed. However, he said the defence expenditure could be justified for defending borders.
“I would personally wish a much larger allocation for education and health but do believe that the nation’s security and defence are of paramount importance particularly in the wake of increased terrorist activities in the region.”
Replying to a question how India viewed Gen Musharraf’s idea of “soft borders”, the Indian Rajya Sabha member said the proposal was welcomed but its intricacies had to be seen. He said Iran-Pakistan-India Gas Pipeline, Sialkot-Jammu bus service and transportation of diesel from Pannipat to Lahore were some of the other steps that would give a boost to the India-Pakistan confidence building measures (CBMs).
EARLY CHILDHOOD: Belonging to the post-independence generation of the South Asian subcontinent, Mr Kumar was born in New Delhi in 1952 and educated at Delhi Public School but had family roots in Lahore. His father, veteran Congress leader, Prabodh Chandra, studied in FC College Lahore and was imprisoned by the British in Multan jail as a young freedom fighter during his student days.
“He (Mr Chandra) fondly mentioned that Principal Lucas of the FC College had kept a scale in his office and every time the police arrested my father he (Mr Lucas) would ask them to ensure that his student did not lose a single pound of weight during detention.”
On his first ever visit to Pakistan to attend the South Asian Parliamentarians conference organized by the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) at Bhurban, Mr Kumar said he was lost for words to describe the feelings of nostalgia for having visited Murree and Lahore because of past family associations with the places. His father died in 1986 and mother, Adarsh Kumari, in 1995.
Mr Kumar inherited the political mantle from his father, who was a member of the Lok Sabha and occupied ministerial positions for several years. Mr Kumar’s wife, Madhu Kumar, was a lecturer of Geography in a Srinagar college and after a love marriage, the couple are proud parents of two children, daughter Urvashi and son Ashish.
Sharing the family’s pre-partition memories with Dawn, Mr Kumar said Vira Hotel, located at 88 McLeoad Road Lahore was his parent’s abode.
“My maternal grandfather, Lala Pindidas, was an eminent journalist of Lahore and spent a lot of time in the hotel that served as a sanctuary for Sheikh Abdullah and Bakshi Ghulam Muhammad whenever the British rulers threatened them in Kashmir.”
After partition, the hotel was gifted to a close family friend, Agha Shorash Kashmiri, editor of Chataan, he said.
Mr Kumar said Attaullah Shah Bokhari and Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan were among the close family friends.
Recalling the family’s migration, Mr Kumar said he heard from his mother that a Muslim coachmen saved the family.
EDUCATION AND EARLY CAREER: After receiving early education, Mr Kumar joined the St Stephen College in New Delhi.
“I think Gen Zia was also a Stephenian,” said Mr Kumar.
Mr Kumar has many firsts to his credit. As a first lawyer in his family, he completed his M.Phil in International Law from Jawaharlal University. He was the first lawyer during the last 54 years who was conferred an honorary doctorate of law by East Punjab University, Chandigarh. At the age of 33, Mr Kumar was the youngest lawyer to be designated as senior advocate by the Indian Supreme Court. In 1985, again at the age of 33, Mr Kumar was the youngest non-official representative of India to the UN General Assembly where he has fond memories of meeting the then foreign minister of Pakistan, Sahibzada Yaqub Khan in the delegates lounge. “I found Sahibzada Yaqub to be a most impressive diplomat.”
POLITICS: With a rich political legacy left behind by his father, it was natural for Mr Kumar to take on the mantle of politics. The big media spotlight focussed on Mr Kumar when he was made Congress spokesman by Sonia Gandhi in 1999. He was also appointed as chairman of the party’s intellectual cell. In 2002, he was elected to the upper house from Punjab for the first time.
PAKISTAN-INDIA TIES: Mr Kumar said the Indians found President Gen Musharraf genuinely willing to take the initial first steps to resolve bilateral issues. He said complicated issues besieged India and Pakistan which needed to be addressed in a spirit of mutuality, guided by the over-arching imperatives of peace.
He said the cricket diplomacy by President Gen Musharraf gave a boost to the latent goodwill between the peoples of the two countries. He said India welcomed President Gen Musharraf’s proposals on “soft borders” but would like to see how it could be translated into a reality.
Asked if the ancestral roots of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Musharraf help the peace process to move forward, Mr Kumar said, Dr Singh’s roots in Pakistan (reference to birthplace at Gah in Chakwal) and Gen Musharraf’s love for Delhi and his childhood memories would enable the two leaders to move forward on the road to peace. He said Dr Singh’s vision of well-being and prosperity for the peoples of the region is well-known and he has taken a number of foreign policy initiatives for the same after assuming office. Prime Minister Singh is fully committed to normalizing relations with Pakistan, he said, adding, irrespective of political divide the Indian political parties had a consensus on key foreign policy objectives.
VISION FOR PEACE: Mr Kumar said on behalf of his party, he wanted to reiterate the imperative of working on commonalities which outnumbered the conflicts of the past. “Life is about moving forward not unmindful of history but remembering that it is the future that beckons us. Hope must triumph over history and make for a new deal for the peoples of South Asia.”
LOST FRIENDS: Mr Kumar said he would love to meet a Pakistani family belonging to Karachi whom he had met in King’s Court Hotel, London, during 1965. “We made good friends after an interesting incident involving a leather jacket. However, in later years we lost contact. If they read this, I would love them to meet them again.”