PESHAWAR: Peace vital for poverty eradication: Indian team
Bureau Report
PESHAWAR, March 20: Members of an Indian delegation on Sunday termed durable peace vital for the eradication of poverty in Southeast Asia. They stated that war was not a solution to problems between Pakistan and India and only continuous dialogue could end conflicts. A luncheon gathering hosted by the Aurat Foundation for the delegation which came to Peshawar on Saturday was addressed by the coordinator of the Institute of Social Sciences, Delhi, Ash Narayan Roy; the resident director of Aurat Foundation, Rukhshanda Naz, and the central vice-president of Awami National Party, Haji Muhammad Adeel.
Mr Roy said that citizens of both the countries should force their governments to end bitterness and strive for a lasting peace in the region. He praised the people of Peshawar and said that during their two-day visit they had received a lot of love and they were moved by the hospitality.
He said: “During our present visit, we have not felt even for a while that we are in a foreign country. The atmosphere and the people in India and Pakistan are almost the same.”
Ms Rukhshanda Naz said that civil society groups should come forward in the on-going peace process so as to further expedite the process. Mr Adeel said that the founder of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement, Bacha Khan, and Mahatma Gandhi preached the message of love and peace during their life-long struggle.
He said, “The citizens of both the countries have been struggling for improving relations between them and the people-to-people contacts have started bearing fruit.” He said that his party had opposed the nuclear detonation by both India and Pakistan in 1998 as the poor people of the region could not afford such things.
He regretted that poverty was on the rise in India and Pakistan, but both countries had been enhancing their defence budget each year. “If in the same manner we continue to increase the defence budgets and manufacture nuclear weapons, the poverty level in the region would further enhance,” he added.
The visiting delegation includes local government representatives and members of civil society groups. The function was also attended by women MPAs, including Nasreen Khattak, Naeema Kishwar and Ghalba Khursheed, the provincial chairman of Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy, Khwaja Muhammad Waseem, and a number of women councillors.
Different stalls were also set up which were displayed with literature regarding rights of women, and handicrafts and other items manufactured by women prisoners.
