This was stated by a leader of the Forum, Dr Mubashir Hasan, while speaking at a reception organized in honour of three Indian peace activists —- Pushpa Bharve, Jatin Desai and Mazhar Husain —- currently visiting Pakistan.
Dr Hasan said the Forum would also invite eminent leaders of India to visit Pakistan and vice versa. Besides, parliamentarians from the two countries would also be encouraged to visit each other’s country as they did not require visa.
The Forum also demanded that its members be allowed to cross borders by road as in the past. If either or both the countries tried to head off the holding of joint meetings and conventions by disallowing visas to the intending participants, these would be organized in some third country.
In his address, Dr Hasan said peace between the two countries was not in the interests of their ruling elites comprising the army, civil bureaucracy, feudals, and salable politicians in Pakistan and politicians, civil administration, criminals, and capitalists in India.
The continuance of confrontation and conflict between two neighbouring countries was in the interest of their ruling elites and war mongerers who were getting richer and richer at the cost of the poor masses, he said.
The power wielders make policies that suit their vested interest which was why they had always opposed peace and cooperation between the two countries, he said.
Dr Hasan said the American invasion of Iraq had exposed the war mongerers’ excuse for maintaining large armies and huge store of weapons and ammunition. “Our armies are not there to fight wars,” he said and added: “They start crying for a ceasefire and looking for mediators in less than three days of the war. They are there to subjugate their own people. Half of the Indian military is deployed for maintenance of internal security.”
He said the people of India and Pakistan would have to work hard to achieve peace between their countries and reduction in the size of their large armies.
Ms Bharve said people of both the countries desired peace and cooperation but “those in power do not want us to meet each other”.
She said the situation of the subcontinent was complicated but people from both sides of the divide had a great desire to have at least minimum working relationship.
She said neither Pakistan nor India could afford a cold war. “They need to divert their resources to provide education and basic amenities to their people.”
Earlier, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan director I A Rehman said peace in the region meant prosperity, democracy, human rights, and sovereignty for the people.
Stressing the need for taking confidence-building measures for peace between Pakistan and India, he said the resolution of the Kashmir dispute according to the wishes of its people was essential but it did not mean that the two countries stop talking to each other on other issues.