ISLAMABAD, Oct 7: The Afghan people needed peace and formation of an independent and law-governed administration that could restore economic activities and start rehabilitation of the Afghans who have been forced to flee their homeland.
These views were expressed by speakers at a joint forum organized, by the civil society organizations at a local hotel on Sunday.
The speakers also called for democratization of the United Nations by abolishing the permanent seats in the Security Council as well as the veto power of permanent members.
They said the General Assembly should have the main say in international decision-making.
They said a more egalitarian international political order, based on principles of democracy and economic justice, was a prerequisite for eliminating international terrorism.
The speakers said a progressive, efficient and gender-sensitive government was needed to be set up in Afghanistan.
“We recommend that the UN should be enabled to apply a peace formula and undertake a reconstruction programme with a view towards speedy rehabilitation of the returning Afghans and unification of the country”, they said.
When some semblance of stability is restored, a fair election should be held in Afghanistan under the UN supervision for the formation of a representative government there, they added.
They were of the view that war against Afghanistan was not an acceptable way of eliminating terrorism allegedly being promoted by the Taliban.
“The net result would be more human miseries in Afghanistan”, they feared.
They said the peace-loving people of Pakistan and the region were passing through a period of tension and insecurity arising from the Afghan crisis. America’s call for a long and hard war has added to the anxieties of the common people everywhere, specially in Pakistan and the adjoining countries.
“We all agree with the ultimate aim of eradication of terrorism, violence and oppression, whether individual or state-sponsored, but the problem has to be seen in all its manifestations. As we see it, terrorism arises from a deep sense of injustice within nations and in the international arena. It also arises from an unjust international order in which powerful states manipulate and exploit weaker nations”, they said.
Afghanistan, which forms the object of our immediate concern has been subjected to far too many foreign interventions and manipulations, it said and added, unending civil wars had contributed to the current crisis over Osama bin Ladin.
The American call for a long and hard war is adding to the anxieties of the common people in Pakistan and adjoining countries where social, economic and political conditions are far from satisfactory, it observed.
“There is a need to address the root causes of terrorism. Terrorism arises from a deep sense of injustice within the nations and from an unjust international order in which the powerful states manipulate and exploit weaker nations.
The meeting also took notice of the developments in Kashmir. The increased calls of the hawks for a war between the two nuclear-armed countries could be catastrophic, they said and added, the need of the hour was a resolution of problems through people-to-people reconciliation, promotion of free trade, cultural exchanges, and economic cooperation.
The two countries need to think over the nuclear disarmament proposals and can begin by sighing the CTBT, they said.