SCORES of public intellectuals, former diplomats and erstwhile denizens of the deep state from India and Pakistan renewed a call recently for the resumption of peace talks and friendlier relations between their strained countries. They sought restoration of full diplomatic ties and reopening of trade routes with improved transportation links. They sought to make it easier to get visas to encourage and enable people from both countries to visit each other. The statement argued that continued tension hurts millions of young people. The activists asked leaders to put the welfare of the people ahead of conflict. What could be worthier than the charter of utterly reasonable demands for a more harmonious and integrated South Asia? It’s an increasingly overdue need.

However, the call for peace came at a time when Pakistan had locked up the main opposition party in the person of its charismatic leader. India on its part has preferred a similar route but by locking out the opposition from its critical role inside and outside parliament. In a blow to the pit of popular will that could maim a democracy, India’s election commissioner is now handpicked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while the judiciary appears to have surrendered to his right-wing agenda. Similar undermining of democratic institutions has been observed in Pakistan. Therefore, the question compels to be posed. How many of the peaceniks have the wherewithal or the interest to change the domestic realities that deter peace, and how many see India-Pakistan peace as a possibility despite regressive governments........

© Dawn