Peace marchers from India crossed the border into Pakistan on 7th May, 2005, to carry on the march to Multan.

Noted social activist and NAPM leader Dr Sandeep Pandey, senior
activist and COVA leader Mazhar Hussain, social activist Mahesh,
filmmaker and anti-communal activist Monica Wahi, senior activist Gurudyal Singh Sheetal, Prof. Ramneek Mohan, Industrialist and Sr. Peace activist Niranjan Parikh, peace organizers Faizal and Darshan Singh, as well as Chaitanya, Anandi, were few of the 12 peace marchers who have crossed into Pakistan today.

They were received warmly and over 500 people from Pakistan had swarmed up to welcome the Indian marchers. It was another poignant moment to see people of India and Pakistan meeting with pure love and compassion, after lot of struggle with our governments to allow them to meet this way. If anything, this has only taken the peace process forward, and engaged common people of India and Pakistan with the peace process directly. The support of the governments should have been outright and upfront, which sadly it wasn’t so. This also puts a question mark on the peace process which governments engage in at a much higher bureaucratic/ political level. It is high time that people to people interaction should take leadership in bringing these two communities together and resolving differences and issues if any.

While the marchers were supposed to cross the border at 7:30 in the morning, bureaucratic procedures ensured that they did so only at 1 in the afternoon. Subsequently, a large and warm reception at the border was followed by a short trip to a local shrine of a Sufi saint. After that the Indian and Pakistani peace march went to Lahore.

The Punjab Journalists Union hosted a reception for the marchers later in the evening followed by a cultural show later at night.

ARY – a Pakistani TV channel has promised to give extensive coverage to this march and take the message of the marchers – uncensored – to its viewers.

Based on notes from the Peace March and commentary by Saeeda Diep, one of the Pakistani peace activists with the march

Related Links
Reasons for a Peace March
The Bricks for Building Peace
Route of Peace March
Events Planned Across the US in Solidarity with March