Stars' wedding offers ray of hope for Pakistan, India (News Feature)

By Sajjad Malik Mar 31, 2010, 8:49 GMT

Islamabad - The upcoming marriage of two South Asian sports icons is temporarily easing more than six decades of rivalry between India and Pakistan.

In coffeehouses, workplaces and homes, Pakistani men and women gossiped about the wedding of the former captain of the national cricket team, Shoaib Malik, and Indian tennis star Sania Mirza.

The news dominated Pakistani TV channels, which ran it as a main item complete with file footage that included Mirza in tennis shorts, considered an aberration in a country fighting Taliban extremists who lashed women for not covering their faces.

The 28-year old Malik, who is planning to welcome Mirza and her family in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore for a wedding party in early April, broke silence for the first time on Tuesday to confirm the marriage, but refused to give a date.

'Our families and we are very happy about the marriage. It is happening next month somewhere, and our parents will decide the date,' he told Geo television.

The uncommon marriage of two high-profile celebrities from the two nuclear-armed states kept officials in Pakistan busy processing visas for the Indian star and her family within 24 hours, dodging the normally complicated procedures that can take weeks or even months.

The goodwill gesture from Pakistani authorities for the marriage came as the two neighbours are trying to resurrect a peace process stalled since terrorists allegedly from Pakistan laid siege to Mumbai in a deadly November 2008 attack.

Last month's meeting between the foreign secretaries of both nations failed to break the ice, but for some in Pakistan the Mirza -Malik romance appeared to be a ray of hope.

'It is good news and hopefully it will help to improve the relations between the two countries,' said Abdul Razzaq, a former teammate of Malik, who knew about the courtship for the last two months.

In Malik's home town of Sialkot in eastern Pakistan a huge crowd of fans danced to drum beats in front of his residence and distributed sweets to celebrate the marriage.

'We will accord unprecedented welcome to the bride in our city and show India that Pakistani people have unlimited love and goodwill for them,' a young fan of Malik said.

But the two athletes, both Muslims, themselves have evaded all questions about whether their marriage can bridge the gap between the two countries.

'I think we are getting married. We are not making any statement, politically,' said 23-year old Mirza, who became a national celebrity when she became the first female Indian to win a WTA Tour title in 2005.

'I just want to know how I am going to look and how my hair is going to be rather than think how India and Pakistan political issues are going to be,' she told reporters in her hometown Hyderabad.

In an apparent bid to avoid future questions about their loyalties from the hardliners in both countries, the couple is planning to settle in a neutral place - the Gulf emirate of Dubai.

Mirza is to represent India in the forthcoming Commonwealth and Asian Games, and the 2012 Olympics.

Malik is currently serving a one-year disciplinary ban, but plans to continue playing for Pakistan. He has played 29 Tests, 190 one-day internationals and 30 Twenty20 matches since his debut in 2001.

Their marriage may not change the subtle contours of decades' long conflict between Pakistan and India, but pending the competitions and future diplomatic parleys, the only next round scheduled for now is Malik-Mirza union.

And there are many across border waiting for it. After all, it is not all about the marriage but the glee with which people are talking about it, which fits the love-hate saga of the two countries' shared history.