February 20, 2007	Tuesday	Safar 2, 1428

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LAHORE, Feb 19: Federal Information Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani says core issues of Kashmir and Palestine should be resolved for tackling the religious extremism problem.

He was speaking at the inaugural session of the two-day ‘International conference on perspectives on religion, politics and society in South Asia’ organised by the Pakistan Study Centre and the Punjab University Department of History here on Monday.

He said peace initiatives taken by Pakistani leadership were in accordance with the wishes of the people of the region, and it was using both straight and backdoor diplomacies for resolving the core issue of Kashmir.

He said solution to Kashmir might not be popular, but it was necessary for peace in the region. No time could be prescribed for the resolution of the issue, but an initiative had to be taken for it. The government had taken positive confidence-building measures to facilitate the resolution of the issue. The normalisation of relations with India would define the future of South Asia region. Peace was necessary for addressing problems like poverty and literacy.

He said the past elected governments behaved in a dictatorial manner but the present government had introduced the culture of dialogue for resolving the issues. It had revived the local government system and joint electorate and reserved seats for women in assemblies. Media had been given liberty for keeping a check on government for ensuring transparency.

Talking to newsmen after the inaugural ceremony, he said Indo-Pakistan peace process should not be affected due to Samjhota Express incident.

The Indian government should hold an inquiry into the incident. The Pakistan government would offer all possible assistance in this regard.

Lahore US Consulate Principal Officer Brian Hunt said the governments in South Asia should work together to deal with the threat of terrorism posed by non-state actors.

He said the US had applied for observer membership of Saarc to work for developing understanding among countries for resolution of issues.

Speaking on ‘Political Culture in Pakistan’ Prof Dr Marvin Weinbaum of University of Illinois said democracy required enabling environment like pluralistic society and respect for minorities to succeed. Democracy had failed to take roots in Pakistan in the past because every regime tried to create its own political culture which failed to generate confidence of the people in the system. Ethnic and tribal loyalties also obstructed the introduction of a democratic system in the country. A political culture was necessary for making Pakistan a cohesive society.

He said the people in Pakistan were reconciled with the unethical behaviour of the politicians but religious movements challenged the rulers. An opinion poll in 2001 indicated that only 4 per cent people considered political activities important in their lives. The people felt helpless against the forces that changed their lives and believed in conspiracy theories.

The military considered itself as the final arbitrator. Pakistan was skeptical about the US policies but had no desire to alienate itself from it.

Speaking on ‘Women Rights in Pakistan’ Prof Dr Anita Weiss of University of Oregon said women were excluded from political life as their role was considered to be at home. Segregation of women was supported as it was believed that it enabled them to lead better lives. The Protection of Women Act and Hasba Act were debated as solutions to the problems faced by women. The government and the MMA had completely divergent views on the role of women in society but appeared satisfied with women serving as legislators even if elected on reserved seats. Both also favoured female literacy.

Prof Dr Hafeez Malik of Villanova University was speaking on ‘US Security Architecture for South Asia’. He said the US was a republic which had replaced the balance of power in the world with its imperialist system. It had a defence budget of $580 billion whereas nine biggest countries of the world had a total defence budget of $334 billion.

He said the US policy was shifting towards India and it wanted Pakistan to play a subsidiary and supportive role in the region.

Speaking on ‘India-Pakistan Peace Process’ Prof Dr Pervez Iqbal Cheema said some people in Pakistan supported peace process while others were disappointed.

He said confidence-building measures could not ensure resolution of issues but could create conducive atmosphere for the purpose. India and Pakistan had started the peace process after realising that issues could not be resolved through use of military force. Majority of people in both the countries supported the process. Interest of international community was decreasing in the peace process but interest of business community was continuing.

Prof Dr Rasool Bakhsh Rais of Lahore University of Management Sciences spoke on ‘Challenges of Rebuilding Afghanistan’. He said rulers like Amanullah Khan, Sardar Daud and socialists had tried to modernise Afghanistan but had failed because the Muslims had a parallel vision of civil society.