RAWALPINDI, Dec 29: A peace rally was organized on Murree Road, near the Liaquat Garden, on Saturday afternoon.

Over 150 peace activists, including teachers, students, labour leaders, trade unionists, intellectuals and Kutcha Abadi activists, queued up outside the Liaquat Garden and the Rawalpindi Municipal Library in an orderly manner.

The participants were carrying placards and banners inscribed with slognas like, “No war, we want peace”, “No to US bases in Pakistan”, “No to war, yes to talks”, “Stop terrorism”, “War is the desire of the elite, peace the need of the people” and “No to jingoism”.

The demonstration was organized by the Citizens’ Peace Committee of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

The organizers of the demonstration distributed leaflets among the people.

Recalling the chain of events which had brought the two countries to the brink of war, the leaflet said these developments were worrisome for the peace-loving majority of Indians and Pakistanis who wanted friendly relations with each other.

The demonstrators demanded that both the Indian and Pakistani governments should tone down their rhetoric and work together to fight terrorism in all its forms in the sub-continent.

They demanded that the Kashmir problem should be resolved in a peaceful manner. Any future dispensation in Kashmir must include genuine Kashmiri representatives, they stressed.

They urged the Pakistan government to disarm the extremist groups in the country. They called for a withdrawal of foreign troops from the region and said the foreign governments should discontinue their practice of interference in the affairs of the countries of this region. Later, the demonstrators dispersed peacefully.