KARACHI, March 9: Leader of the visiting delegation of peace activists from Rajasthan Mr Rana Pars Ram has said that the confrontation is simply no option for both India and Pakistan. People’s centric approach is the only feasible solution to conflicts, he said.
He was speaking at a seminar on India-Pakistan Peace Process held at the Department of International Relations, University of Karachi, under the ‘Programme of Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution’ on Thursday in collaboration with the Indo-Pak Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (IPPFPD).
Mr Ram observed that nuclearization, internationally speaking, had not resulted in development and prosperity of societies.
Mr Asad Butt, representing the IPPFPD’s Karachi chapter, threw light upon the fact that the jingoism is highly counterproductive. He said that the policies of hostility and antagonism had derailed the peace process in the past and, if not checked, could do so this time again. Peace activists from Pakistan and India should work together and empower the movement of peace in South Asia, he added.
Mr Kishan Solangi, a member of the Indian delegation, rejecting confrontation quoted Buddha that “filth cannot be cleaned with filth”. He said war was no solution to a problem, nor could it resolve any issue.
Engineer Jawaharlal also emphasized on the futility of confrontational politics, and pointed out that the Kashmir conflict, which had already cost 50,000 lives. He said Kashmir was not a bilateral, but a trilateral problem. He said it essentially included the will of the people of Kashmir. Mutual confidence, he argued, could be the best means to further the process of peace.
Prof Moonis Ahmar, Director of the Programme on Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution, stressed on ‘political will’ which, he said, should be fully visible on both sides. Policy of domination should not be pursued, rather mutual accommodation should become a norm in South Asian politics, he added. The Kashmir problem, he said, must be resolved by taking into account the will of the Kashmiri people. “The problems are there, but so are the solutions,” he argued.
Present on the occasion were Prof Syed Sikander Mehdi, Prof Arif Kamal, Dr Mutahir Ahmed, Mr Aamir Hameed, Ms Huma Baqai, Mr Naeem Ahmed, Ms Nausheen Wasi and Mr Faheemuddin.
