sanddy
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Ramzan brings taste of India`s finest sweets to Pak
Islamabad: Every year during the
Islamic holy month of Ramzan, the
Indian High Commission in Pakistan
mounts an operation with military-like
precision to spread goodwill and give
Pakistanis a taste of some of India's finest sweets.
A small group of staff members of the
High Commission travels from
Islamabad to Delhi in a van to bring
back hundreds of boxes packed with
kaju katlis, sohan halwa and barfis
and cans of rasgollas, cham chams and gulab jamuns.
The sweets are then distributed
among a diverse group that includes
ministers, politicians, military officers,
academics, civil society activists and
journalists in the week before the
festival of Eid-ul-Fitr.
From Islamabad, sweets are also sent
to people in Karachi and Lahore. "Everything has to be planned well in
advance. Detailed lists of people who
will receive the sweets are drawn up
and then orders are placed for the
sweets with the manufacturer in
Delhi," said an official of the High Commission.
"The timing is essential the sweets
have a limited shelf life and the orders
must be placed at just the right time.
They must be transported from India
in the shortest possible time and then
distributed among hundreds of people," the official told.
The staff members stay in Delhi just
long enough for the sweets to be
packed in the van and then drive back
to Islamabad. The sweets, which are very popular
among Pakistanis, are then sent to
recipients in different cities.
"The kaju katlis, which aren't available
in Pakistan, are especially popular
among the Pakistanis," the official said.
Baqir Sajjad, the foreign affairs
correspondent of the Dawn
newspaper, said the move allows
Pakistanis to get a glimpse of another
side of the Indian government.
"It is a strong gesture. We, as
journalists, quite often see the hard
face of Indo-Pakistan diplomacy, but
such gifts remind us that there is a
softer and gentler side to it too," he
said.
The distribution of sweets was not
stopped even when bilateral relations
were affected by events like the 2008
Mumbai attacks.
The tradition continued even after
Delhi suspended the bilateral dialogue
process in the aftermath of the
terrorist assault on India's financial
hub that was blamed on the Pakistan-
based Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Mushahid Hussain Syed, a former
federal minister and current chairman
of the Defence Committee of the Senate
or upper house of Parliament, agreed
that such steps helped improve
atmospherics between the two countries.
"I am one of the recipients of the
boxes of sweets that are part of the
soft diplomacy by the Indian High
Commission. The sweets, which come
with a greeting card for Eid-ul-Fitr that
has a message in Urdu and English, are popular," Syed told a news agency.
He said the representation of Pakistani
parties at a recent iftar-dinner hosted
by Indian High Commissioner Sharat
Sabharwal too reflected the "broad
outreach" of the envoy. PTI
Islamabad: Every year during the
Islamic holy month of Ramzan, the
Indian High Commission in Pakistan
mounts an operation with military-like
precision to spread goodwill and give
Pakistanis a taste of some of India's finest sweets.
A small group of staff members of the
High Commission travels from
Islamabad to Delhi in a van to bring
back hundreds of boxes packed with
kaju katlis, sohan halwa and barfis
and cans of rasgollas, cham chams and gulab jamuns.
The sweets are then distributed
among a diverse group that includes
ministers, politicians, military officers,
academics, civil society activists and
journalists in the week before the
festival of Eid-ul-Fitr.
From Islamabad, sweets are also sent
to people in Karachi and Lahore. "Everything has to be planned well in
advance. Detailed lists of people who
will receive the sweets are drawn up
and then orders are placed for the
sweets with the manufacturer in
Delhi," said an official of the High Commission.
"The timing is essential the sweets
have a limited shelf life and the orders
must be placed at just the right time.
They must be transported from India
in the shortest possible time and then
distributed among hundreds of people," the official told.
The staff members stay in Delhi just
long enough for the sweets to be
packed in the van and then drive back
to Islamabad. The sweets, which are very popular
among Pakistanis, are then sent to
recipients in different cities.
"The kaju katlis, which aren't available
in Pakistan, are especially popular
among the Pakistanis," the official said.
Baqir Sajjad, the foreign affairs
correspondent of the Dawn
newspaper, said the move allows
Pakistanis to get a glimpse of another
side of the Indian government.
"It is a strong gesture. We, as
journalists, quite often see the hard
face of Indo-Pakistan diplomacy, but
such gifts remind us that there is a
softer and gentler side to it too," he
said.
The distribution of sweets was not
stopped even when bilateral relations
were affected by events like the 2008
Mumbai attacks.
The tradition continued even after
Delhi suspended the bilateral dialogue
process in the aftermath of the
terrorist assault on India's financial
hub that was blamed on the Pakistan-
based Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Mushahid Hussain Syed, a former
federal minister and current chairman
of the Defence Committee of the Senate
or upper house of Parliament, agreed
that such steps helped improve
atmospherics between the two countries.
"I am one of the recipients of the
boxes of sweets that are part of the
soft diplomacy by the Indian High
Commission. The sweets, which come
with a greeting card for Eid-ul-Fitr that
has a message in Urdu and English, are popular," Syed told a news agency.
He said the representation of Pakistani
parties at a recent iftar-dinner hosted
by Indian High Commissioner Sharat
Sabharwal too reflected the "broad
outreach" of the envoy. PTI
