ISLAMABAD March 15: In the interest of peace and welfare of 350 million people of the region, who live below the poverty line, India and Pakistan must withdraw their troops from borders and divert money from the enhanced defence budget to poverty alleviation.
The former principal of Gordon College Prof Khawaja Masud made this remark while analyzing the Indian political scene at a discussion organized by the Islamabad Cultural Forum at the TVO auditorium on Friday.
He said prosperity beckons the two neighbours if they could stop the drift towards eternal hostility and adopt a posture of friendship, as befits two neighbouring countries.
The people of India rejected the misplaced emphasis placed on terrorism by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during its election campaign, to drum up sentiments against Pakistan in the wake of September 11 events.
After the defeat of the ruling Janata Party in four states it would be injudicious to hope for improvement in India’s relations with Pakistan, he added.
Besides the party was accelerating the ‘Hindutava’ agenda and to achieve its nefarious end it was also ready to face opposition from the constituent parties of the alliance, he added.
Prof Masud emphasised that the ruling party was pushing India towards sectarian riots as evident from the misguided plan of building the Ram Temple at Ayodhya and the encouragement to ‘Viswa Hindu Parishad’ as well as inhuman treatment meted out to Indian Muslims, not to mention the carnage in Gujarat.
These were important agreement ingredients in the agenda to whip up anti-Pakistan and anti-Muslim frenzy, and to achieve this purpose statements of important Muslim leaders had been blown out of proportion and made to look as if Indian Muslims supported terrorism.
Speaking on the coming elections in Pakistan, he said past experience suggests that no religious party was able to form government in Pakistan and this situation would no doubt be repeated next October during the forthcoming general election.
Prof Masud stressed that SAARC should be strengthened for the economic benefit of the region. He referred to the project of allowing passage to the oil pipeline to India. This would bring annual benefit of more than one billion dollars, He observed.
Answering a query, Prof Masud said it would be more appropriate to call this clash one of interest rather than a clash between Muslim and Hindu civilizations as it has made out to be. He said civilizations exchange influences and borrow ideas when they come in contact with each other.
Another participated suggested that Pakistan should shift away from South Asia and integrate new policies to benefit from Middle East and Central Asia, since these states possess abundant natural resources. Prof replied that the OIC had been in existence for more than four decades but had made no significant contribution for the betterment of the ‘Ummah’.
He maintained that even the most difficult problems could be solved in a spirit of goodwill and India should maintain good relations with Pakistan.-Jonaid Iqbal