In the name of friendship...

First of all, there is cause for celebration, as the censorship against blogs in India has come off, at least for now.

The reportage by the print and electronic media played a significant role in securing the right to freedom of expression, I must say.

Also, the Pakistani bloggers did a great job of helping their Indian counterparts, while the blockade was in place, and I would like to thank them for that.

I sincerely hope that the blockade that they are facing in their country will come off, as well, very soon.

The cordiality, however, does not appear to extend to the relations between the governments of the two countries, at least at present. The next round of talks has already been put off indefinitely by the Indian government.

A letter that appeared in 'The Times of India', the day before, seemed to express a very sane point of view in these insane times. Here is an excerpt:

"After the terror strike in Mumbai, a lot of people have been saying that India should pull out of the peace process. This would be unwarranted and irresponsible. The peace process has made remarkable progress in the last three years thanks to the efforts of ordinary citizens, artists, media and, of course, politicians. It should now be taken to its logical conclusion.

True, there has been some slackening of momentum, of late, because things seem to be slowly slipping out of Musharraf's grip. Let us hope that the peace process acquires a momentum of its own so that it can continue even under the next leader. "

I could not agree more!