LAHORE, May 30: South Asians for Human Rights, a non-government organization supporting peace and human rights in South Asia, has urged India and Pakistan to make sincere efforts to prevent the impending war.

A joint statement issued by the SAHR chairman and former Indian prime minister IK Gujral, co-chairperson Asma Jahnagir and 22 members of the SAHR executive board from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal on Thursday said the spectacle of another conflict between India and Pakistan was again haunting a fifth of the mankind.

They said the people recognized that war had never solved any problems and would further fuel militancy, terrorism and quasi-religious bigotry which had already strained the relations between the two countries and plagued the peace process.

Unfortunately, the statement said, diabolic designs of the governments of both the countries were beginning to cloud their minds. The governments seemed to have lost control over events and were quivering on the brink of disaster. This was what the terrorists wanted and the what the people on both sides must resist.

The two countries must resolve to eschew war and trust the process of sustained dialogue to resolve all causes of tension.

This demands immediate restoration of democratic rule in Pakistan and an honest pledge by its government to dissociate itself from any form of militancy which was essential not only for peace in the region but also for rejuvenation of Pakistan’s society.

Geography had thrown the two countries together and “we cannot run away from our duty and obligation towards one another. We have to march together on the path of peace for a better tomorrow.” Hostilities would only increase the sufferings of the people on both sides and destroy what had been preserved as a part of civilization.

The board members resolved to struggle against militancy, militarization and fanaticism, the root causes of tension and the threat of war between the two countries.