#KnowYourNeighbor: In Talks With Mohammad Layeeque

Do tell us something about yourself for the benefit of our audience.

I am Mohammad Layeeque from India, and I live in New Delhi. I am from I.T and banking background and I love connecting with new people, knowing them; their life, culture, places from across borders, and learning from it. I use social media for this purpose. It helps me connect, know people and spread peace and love across borders.

For the last three years, I have been very active on social media and have connected to thousands of people from Pakistan alone at a point where I did not know and hadn’t connected to even one person from Pakistan. My views about Pakistan were almost the same as most Indians- negative. I was afraid to know more about them or talk to them. I was wrongly influenced by our closed-minded society, wrongful media depictions from across the globe and leaders of both the sides. But connecting to thousands of people from Pakistan on social media helped me know them, and made me realize that the people there are the same like us and want to live in peace.

This all was possible when I connected to Mr. Rehan Allahwala first on LinkedIn and later on Facebook- the first Pakistani in my life! I am so grateful to him for introducing me to more people from Pakistan and from around the world, and my friend Gaurav Uppal from Delhi. We also visited Pakistan together.

Do you think we are still connected through our lifestyle and love for food? Tell us something about your experiences.

We share many commonalities in terms of lifestyle and love for food. We have been separated only by a piece of land. Everything else about Indians and Pakistanis remains the same as it was before 1947. Getting separated by land changes nothing about people- their lifestyle, food habits, or their love for each other.

Luckily, I got the opportunity to attend the inaugural ceremony of “Shan-e-Pakistan”, a fashion and lifestyle exhibition at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi in September 2015, and its second season in Lahore in March 2016 (luckily when I was on my Pakistan visit). I found the same enthusiasm from both sides, in both the events at Delhi and Lahore. I personally felt the love and excitement people shared when we met and talked about each other and shared our feelings about each other. I wish such events are organized frequently on both the sides. It would be great if maximum people attend such gatherings and look at the ground reality.I hope that the media features such instances so that it could reach out around the world.

I also enjoyed delicious food in Lahore and Karachi. Beginning from street food to famous restaurants, I tried all of them, some of them being Cooco's Den, Avari-dining in Lahore and Karachi and many others.

In your opinion, how can India and Pakistan benefit from each other?

India and Pakistan can lead the world if they work together in all fields- say, information technology, commercial trade, agriculture, fabrics, education, freelance work by youth, and many other areas. I feel there is not much difference in the social challenges or internal issues faced by India and Pakistan. Consider the fight with unemployment, illiteracy, poverty and terrorism. Once we start co-operating and working with each other on a larger level, we can grow together faster, and at the same time, save billions of dollars on defense. The same amount can be used to fix the issues and grow in other areas in both the countries.

How do you think your trip to Pakistan has helped you break stereotypes?

Meeting people from across the border in person, shaking hands with them, hugging them (all of which was not possible on Facebook) had its own, distinct feeling. You don’t understand why you’re supposed to call the other person an “enemy”. Seeing all the places, starting from after crossing Attari-Wagha border, and automatically trying to compare each place with my country, I was unable to find any differences. Going through this has an inexplicable kind of happiness attached to it. I was unable to find the reasons to explain the status quo.

Without knowing people from Pakistan, Indians tend to have a very negative and brutal image of Pakistan in our minds. And yet, all I came across was welcoming warmth, hospitality, and a love that unites citizens from both sides. It can never be compared to any other feeling in the world.

What are some of the commonalities that both India and Pakistan share?

Culture begins from language. Widely used on both sides is the mixture of Urdu and Hindi, and then there are Punjabi and English. Both sides also share the commonality of having various regional languages.

Interests in Bollywood, fashion, entertainment, food, travelling, multiple religions, and cultural diversity are few of many similarities that I observed, including this distinct Indian and Pakistani eagerness to meet people from neighbor country. It is a shared dream of travelling across the border.

What have your experiences taught you about the other country?

Meeting people from Pakistan actually made me realize how wrong my preconceptions about the country were. I visited places and monuments which forced me to link everything to something in India. All that I had learnt since my childhood was the hate which is inculcated in the citizens of the countries. Both of us may have internal challenges to deal with, but majority of people are same, with the same human emotions and the same love for the other combined with the will to live in peace.

How can we, as citizens, initiate friendly relations between the two countries?

The way it did for me, I guess social media can bridge the differences once used correctly. Discussions are the way to knowing more about each other. That is also you relate to each other; when you realize you have the same real-life issues, be it jobs, economic issues or social problems.

Initiatives from both the governments of India and Pakistan must be aimed at achieving long-term peace among political groups as well as common people. I think that arranging group trips to both the countries and other such similar activities will bridge the distance and will result in an almost educational development of friendly relations between the two countries. Uniting the people on both sides will definitely be the key to uniting the governments.

In your opinion, how is social media playing a role in bridging the gap between the two countries?

The role that social media has been playing in peacekeeping is unlike anything that has happened in the past. As per recent updates from Facebook database, approximately 1.5 million friendships are created everyday between India and Pakistan on Facebook alone (you can check fb.com/peace).

My journey with Pakistan started through social media. Somehow, through events on Facebook, I ended up in Lahore and Karachi and made a lot of friends there.

Social media is a gift not just for India and Pakistan, but all countries facing challenges of hate and mistrust. It has been playing great role in connecting people from different parts of the world and bringing them closer by sharing feelings, initiating an exchange of views and personal knowledge. All of this helps in directing fruitful and informative dialogue and eradicating existing misconceptions.

Your message for war mongers?

From a logical point of view, hate established in the name of nationality, religion and political differences does nothing but push us away from the path of development.

I wish that common people, leaders, ministers and officials from across borders connect actively on Facebook and Twitter. I urge everyone to talk to them, ask them questions, share your suggestions, exchange of your personal points of view. I believe that a country, much like a family, can never grow or have peace within unless there is peace with the neighbor.