Reaping the peace dividend

By Paul Anderson BBC correspondent in Islamabad

The resumption of the service may be a sign of normalising relations

The Lahore to Delhi bus has resumed to much fanfare and raised expectations that India and Pakistan are on the road to normalising relations.

A few weeks earlier, many of the men held by Pakistan and India for fishing illegally in each other's waters were released and are on their way home - another confidence-building measure designed to smooth the way to talks.

Many people now talk of the huge peace dividend India and Pakistan could enjoy under more stable relations.

Femida Yusuf knows what it feels like to be an innocent pawn in a nasty political game.

She lives in the back streets of Karachi, in the garbage-ridden, poverty-stricken fishing district of Liari.

Peace moves Dec 2001: Links severed after parliament attack Apr 2003: Indian PM offers "hand of friendship" May 2003: Diplomatic ties restored June 2003: Delhi-Lahore bus service resumes

Her father was captured by the Indian Navy eight months ago, fishing illegally in Indian waters.

Neither she, nor her mother, four sisters and a brother have heard where he is or when he is to be released.

Surviving is a daily battle. There is no money from the government or charities and the family is sinking further into debt - all for the want of less than $100 a month.

"We often go to bed hungry," says Femida, who is 18. "My younger sisters and brother cry a lot. They just say borrow some more money. But we've already borrowed so much. We're desperate"

She prays the recent release of fishermen by Pakistan and India will mean her father can return home to support the family soon.

That would be the peace dividend for her and her family. It is not much to ask for, she says.

Fisherman's tale

Haji Ibrahim, who lives in the same district, knows how the system of detention works, at least on the Indian side.

He was freed three years ago after 24 months in prison.

"The Navy told the prison guards when they handed us over that they'd been ordered to bring in 100 people and that's what they'd done. They said we were innocent and we shouldn't be beaten. It wasn't too bad in prison."

Sure, we'll fish in Indian waters again. There's no marked boundary, but anyway they have a huge sea. Pakistani waters finish after 12 hours. If relations improve it will be nice to be able to go there without risk

He is in his 70s (he's not sure exactly which year he was born in), has fished all his life, and is looking forward to plentiful fishing when India and Pakistan normalise their relations.

"Sure, we'll fish in Indian waters again. There's no marked boundary, but anyway they have a huge sea. Pakistani waters finish after 12 hours. If relations improve it will be nice to be able to go there without risk."

That may be a dream, but most of the community expect their lives and their catches to improve when Pakistan and India smooth their relations.

Sherry Rehman, part of a recent Pakistani parliamentary delegation, which travelled to India for talks with liberals in the Indian parliament, agrees.

"There's a whole cottage industry out there working out the peace dividend. But it will be huge. Suddenly we would be able to justify a much needed and critical resource diversion, from the security and defence apparatus to the social sectors. It would include health, literacy, water, employment and housing for people. That's what our constituents are looking for.

"People are getting fed up. They are looking more towards their own needs, towards parochial interests. And they are saying: 'We elected you, now deliver'."

Hindu ghetto

If that is true for Karachi's struggling fisher folk, it is just as true for the Hindus and Sikhs living in Karachi, many of them stranded because of partition in 1947.

The Rahi Nijad camp was built on wasteland on the far outskirts of the city.

Hindus and Sikhs hope their life in Pakistan will improve from now on

It feels like a ghetto, yet the people who live there are happy to call it home.

Many have arrived literally from the sewers or homes near them.

The Daas family were evicted from land near a sewerage system in the nearly city of Hyderabad.

"Last time relations with India were tense," says Loving Daas, "our homes, shops and temple were burnt. We had to leave and escape into the forest."

The camp houses around 800 families, most of them Hindus.

"If Pakistan and India put aside their differences," says Loving Daas, "we will all be happy. Then perhaps we can start a small business, or open a shop. Now, we can't do anything. If things turn bad, our shops are looted and destroyed."

Like so many of Pakistan's under-privileged, these people are looking only for small steps.

Any end to the hostility and mutual recrimination has a positive effect at ground level in the community.

They do not want to leave for India. They just want a chance to build a better life in a country they now consider to be their home.