With an ‘exodus’ of Pakistani Hindus seeking refuge in India, Pak being blamed for inflaming passions leading to the Assam problem and the Supreme Court (SC) upholding the death sentence for Ajmal Qasab, the question once again arises: can India and Pakistan share cordial – if not friendly – relations? Huge steps have been taken in this direction in the past few years from both sides but the 26/11 terror attacks, the recent riots and reports about the ugly treatment meted out to minorities in Pakistan have the power to upset the delicate balance of the fledgling relationship. However, B M Kutty, the General Secretary of the Pakistan Peace Coalition, disagreed strongly during a lecture event organised by the Citizens Initiative for Peace at Mumbai’s Press Club on Wednesday (August 29) evening. He made it clear that any “stray incident” including the SC’s verdict cannot derail the peace process.

Standing firm: Paul Bhatti, Pakistan’s Minister for National Harmony, is the only Christian cabinet minister in the country. According to him, blasphemy allegations go beyond religion – they show that the old feudal caste system has not gone away. Pic/afp