Delhi isn’t far

Sahibzada Syed Nazim Ali Nizami, one of the caretakers of dargah Nizamuddin, the tomb of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia in Delhi, has grown a little old but retains his agility, wit and a heartfelt desire for peace between India and Pakistan.
A few years ago, he had led a peace march beginning from the dargah in Delhi and culminating at the tomb of Hazrat Bahauddin Zakariya in Multan. That is when we met for the first time and I brought him to Islamabad where he wanted to visit the shrine of Barri Imam Sarkar. Since then, we have enjoyed a cordial relationship.
A kind of friendliness which is becoming increasingly impossible in a fragmented, highly charged and confrontational Pakistani society, between a zahid and a rind, a pious man like Nizami sahib and a frolicker like this scribe. But Nizami sahib belongs to the old school and continues to live in a pluralistic environment unlike us Pakistanis. He is a simple man without any mentionable university education and devoid of any pretence about his piety or of a claim to a higher moral ground.
It was a pleasure meeting him after many years. His only concern was the uncertainty that still prevails over the peace process between the two feuding neighbours. In his words, “There is a lot of rhetoric about rapprochement, commerce and trade, and diplomatic favours to each other at the ministerial level. But in effect, nothing will change unless common people are able to visit each other without hindrance or fear, visa regimes are softened and a no-war pact is signed.”
As expected, Indo-Pak relations dominated the conversations that I had with the researchers, journalists and students who I briefly met during a short trip to Delhi this week. The reason for my being there was to read a paper at a conference about southern and central Asian women organised by the K R Narayanan Centre for Dalit and Minority Studies at the Jamia Millia Islamia. My hosts were keen to get over with it and perhaps were more interested in discussing with me the political developments in Pakistan, terrorism, inter-state relations and possible future scenarios for the region.
Jamia is somewhat distinct from other universities in India because of its history and academic disposition. Unlike Aligarh Muslim University, that in the view of independent observers has become a minority ghetto of sorts in the last many years, Jamia has remained inclusive and secular in its approach without compromising its Muslim character. It largely accepts middle and lower middleclass students from all faiths.
I hope that the simmering exclusivist ideology among a section of Indian Muslims does not influence the unique nature of Jamia. For, it is the only academic institution in the subcontinent run by Muslims that provides an intellectual space for a continuous dialogue between diverse communities.
Dr Sabiha Hussain, the organiser of the conference and a very able academic, made it her calling that I give up on any plans for sightseeing or meeting friends in Delhi and interact with the students of her centre on the only morning left before my flight back to Lahore.
I am both gratified and worried after the experience. Jamia doesn’t fall among the topmost universities of India and the students I met largely came from the different strata of the middleclass. They were bright, knowledgeable and involved. They asked poignant questions. It was gratifying to have an informed discussion. I am worried because this does not seem to be the case with a comparable public university anywhere in Pakistan.

The writer is an Islamabad-based poet and author. Email: harris. khalique@gmail.com