INDIA * -PAKISTAN- INDEED : HONOURS ESSAY

! GETTING TO THE POINT OF HONOURS ! : With graciousness befitting the peoples of these two great nations, - just about everybody -, in thousands by thousands conveyed to !WOW! their gratitude for building relentlessly for this '' unified call. ''

The stark truth is that the great honour and gratitude if any, should actually go to great humanitarians, and sons and daughters of their own respective nations both in India and Pakistan: 

Esteemed Karan Thapar sahib, esteemed Arundhati Roy sahiba, esteemed Kapil Sharma sahib. esteemed Najam Sethi sahib, esteemed Syed Shabbar Zaidi sahib, esteemed Hassan Nisar sahib, esteemed Hamid Mir sahib............and on and on I can go.

The initiative by civil society groups in India and Pakistan to strive for congeniality is splendidly novel in essence. It is especially welcome at a time when hatred and a sense of otherness have become the order of the day.

The fact that more than a hundred notables from both side of the divide are a signatory to a letter written to their respective Prime Ministers, urging them to take '' meaningful and sustained '' steps towards restoring peace and cooperation, is a breath of fresh air and must be reciprocated with goodwill gestures from those at the helm of statecraft.

Pakistan, having played a major role on the global stage as a mediator for peace, is prepared to walk the extra few miles for regional tranquility.

India must take the leap and, at least, respond to its own egalitarian civil society's cry for a THAW.

Resuming diplomatic, aviation and trade ties to act as a precursor to confidence building measures and pave the way for a composite dialogue on irritants such as terrorism, Kashmir and other bilateral issues.

!WOW! thanks the Editorial Board of The Express Tribune.