NEW DELHI: Amidst passions running high on both sides of the border, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s moving tweet to a Pakistani girl has mellowed down a few hearts. Swaraj
responded to Pakistani girl on tour of India by saying “daughters belong to all”.
With volatile relations between India and Pakistan taking turn for worse every day, Aliya Harir, a young peace activist from Pakistan who is traveling with a bunch of other girls to Chandigarh, tweeted to the minister raising concerns about their safety. She had tweeted to Swaraj on Saturday, who went out of her way to allay the concerns of the young activists.
“Aliya, I was concerned about your safety, kyunki betiyan toh sabki saanjhi hoti hain (daughters belong to all,” Swaraj tweeted after speaking to Aliya over phone.
Aliya is on a cross-border initiative “Agaaz-e-Dosti” organised in collaboration with Chandigarh-based NGO Yuvsatta.
The girls had arrived on September 28th for a five-day event. It was on the intervening night of September 28-29 that India conducted surgical strikes across the Line of Control to take out the terrorists waiting to infiltrate into India. The announcement of the strikes raised concerns about the conflict escalating between the two arch rivals and sent the parents of the girls in tizzy.
However, after the assurance from the External Affairs Minister the girls have decided to carry on with their trip to India.