Patiala: The Internationalist Democratic Platform (IDP) organised an ‘India-Pakistan Friendship March’ from Nabha to the Wagah border on Friday, calling for peace, people-to-people ties and greater economic engagement between the two countries.The organisers said candles would be lit at the Wagah border on Friday night to send out a message of peace, friendship and communal harmony, with the slogan, “We want peace, not war; we want brotherhood, not hatred.”IDP state president Darshan Singh Dhanetha, along with Gurmeet Singh Thuhi and Manpreet Kaur Rajpura, said August carried painful memories of the 1947 Partition, when Punjab and other parts of the subcontinent witnessed massive human and economic losses.“Instead of allowing the wounds of the past to perpetuate hostility, there is a need to learn from history and create avenues for peace, trade, cultural exchanges and movement between the people of the two countries,” the leaders said.They argued that prolonged tensions and restrictions on bilateral trade disproportionately affect ordinary people, particularly farmers, labourers and traders in Punjab. Opening Wagah and other border routes for trade can contribute to the economic development of Punjab as well as the wider region, they added.The organisers also linked the call for India-Pakistan peace with wider global challenges, including wars, unemployment, environmental crises and economic inequality. They said such issues required greater social cooperation, equality, human values and people-oriented policies rather than military confrontation.The IDP leaders further advocated a stronger federal structure. They said the rights and interests of different states and regions should be protected instead of pursuing excessive centralisation. They also called for govts to prioritise the interests of farmers, workers and small and ordinary traders.The march is part of the organisation’s programme to use the August 14-15 period to highlight the human cost of Partition and promote peace and people-to-people contact between the two countries.Among those who participated in the march were Sunita Rani Kaidupur, Raj Kaur Thuhi, Gurtej Singh Samana, Kulwant Kaur Thuhi, Kulwant Singh, Lakhvir Singh Ladi Kansuhan, Karamjit Kammi and Jashandeep Thuhi.
