KARACHI, June 23: Peace activists of India and Pakistan on Monday called upon their leaders to renounce use of force for settling disputes and urged them to initiate dialogue that could lead to banishing poverty, illiteracy, hunger and diseases.
They also demanded that travel and visa restriction be removed and trade and cultural relations restored.
These views were contained in a resolution read out at the end of a meeting organized by the Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy (Sindh chapter) to facilitate the visiting delegation of the Indian parliamentarians.
Thrust of the meeting, which was addressed by the Indian and Pakistani peace activists, was that war would not lead to the resolution of contentious issues and called upon leaders of both the countries to approach the issues with the spirit of accommodation and tolerance.
Kuldip Nayar, a leading Indian journalist, said that for democracy and secularism to be deeply rooted in India, peaceful relations with Pakistan was necessary. He hoped that when democracy would blossom in Pakistan and spirit of accommodation and tolerance would be dominant on both sides of the divide, these relations would be more advantageous to the people of the subcontinent who had, for more than half a century, lost the precious resources owing to mutual bickering and mistrust.
He warned against extremism on either side of the divide which was being encouraged by those who prosper on animosity and conflicts.
Mr Shahid Siddiqui, who represents Samajwadi party in the Indian Parliament, was of the view that mistrust on both sides, generated by the vested interest, was the main obstacle to peace. He said that the vested interest in both the countries had exploited Kashmir to grab power. He called for resolving the issues bilaterally through negotiations, instead of falling prey to extra-regional players.
Mr Kartar Singh Dogar expressed concern over cross-border movements and warned that those who were creating trouble in the Indian side of Kashmir could become a problem for Pakistan in the future.
Mr P. Bansal, a Congress MP from Chandigarh, appreciated the goodwill which he noticed among the people of Pakistan for amity and peace with India.
He said that Indians did accept Pakistan as a reality with whom they wanted to have best of relations. He also called for confidence-building measures.
Mr Ramdas Athawale, representing Dr Ambedkar’s party from Maharashtra in the Indian parliament, in his peculiar style called for ending animosity, which he said was being exploited by ‘outsiders’. He said the Indians and Pakistanis should divert their energies towards fighting poverty. He also emphasized the importance of democracy for promoting peace and amity.
Abdul Rashid Shaheen of the National Congress, who represents Baramula, said that Kashmir had become a stumbling block for all kinds of developments in the region. He was critical of prevailing situation in the territory and was not very inclined towards those who thought the present fight was uprising. He demanded that the silent majority should be given a chance to decided about itself.
Mr K. M. Khan, representing Congress from Hyderabad Deccan, called for forgetting the past and emphasized the need for building bridges of goodwill. He warned against the designs of extra-regional powers who were trying to exploit differences between Pakistan and India to perpetuate their hegemony.
He was of the view that a conspiracy had been hatched to impose domination of a particular power on the pretext of war on terrorism.
From Pakistan side, former senator Iqbal Haider said poverty was the core issue for both the countries and called for putting Kashmir on the back burner and renounce use of force. He also called for initiating steps for the restoration of economic and travel relations.
Dr Hamida Khuhro, MPA, called for practical efforts to frustrate machinations against peace and called upon people in Pakistan and India to exert pressure on their governments for normalizing relations.