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ACHA PEACE BULLETIN

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http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ACHAPeaceBulletin

A publication of Association for Communal Harmony in Asia (ACHA) www.asiapeace.org

 

Editors:

David Campion, PhD           campion@lclark.edu

Pritam K. Rohila, PhD          pritam@open.org

 

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Volume VIII, No. 4, April 15, 2005; Next Issue, May 15, 2005

 

CONTENTS

 

EDITORIAL

 

PEACE & HARMONY NEWS FROM & ABOUT SOUTH ASIA

India

Pakistan-India

Pakistan

 

FEATURE

 

BOOKS

 

PEACE EVENTS

 

(Readers are invited to submit similar information from other areas of South Asia to help us broaden of our coverage. Please send the info to pritamr@open.org, a week before the date of publication of the next issue of the ACHA Peace Bulletin)

 

 

 

EDITORIAL

 

Hindi-Pakistani Bhai Bhai

Pritam K. Rohila, PhD

 

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s recent visit to India led to signing of an agreement between India and China on a set of principles, which will guide the final resolution of their boundary dispute. The dispute had caused an all-out war in 1962.

 

Both sides agreed to make “meaningful and mutually acceptable adjustments” to their positions, and that the settlement must be “final” and that it should cover “all sectors” of their boundary.  They agreed to take into account “historical evidence,” “national sentiments,” “practical difficulties” and “reasonable concerns and sensitivities” of both sides, and the “actual state” of border areas. They consented to protect “due interests of their settled populations” in the border areas. Finally, they decided to “strictly respect and observe” the Line of Actual Control, while they are working on the ultimate settlement of the boundary.

 

Premier Jiabo not only signed the agreement, but also made a clear attempt to demonstrate to his Indian hosts that China was ready to put an end to more than four decades of suspicion and animosity that had characterized their relations. In an effort to revive their pre-1962 friendship, he concluded his April 11, 2005 address to the students of the Indian Institute of Technology at Delhi, with the old slogan “Hindi Chini, Bhai Bhai” (Indian and Chinese are brothers).

 

It appears that finally both sides have decided to give priority to pragmatics over national pride. The agreement is a certain victory of negotiation, diplomacy and flexibility over threats, violence, and worn-out techniques.  With accelerating trade – from a few hundred million US dollars in the late 1990s, to a record $ 13.6 billion last year – India and China can do much better with cooperation than with competition. Already they are two of the world's largest economies.

 

The spirit underlying the emergent relationship between India and China can be very fruitful in resolving disputes between South Asian neighbors. Let’s hope that it won’t be long that the heads of Governments of India and Pakistan will greet each other with “Hindi-Pakistani Bhai Bhai.”

 

 

PEACE & HARMONY NEWS FROM & ABOUT SOUTH ASIA

 

* India

 

China and India sign border deal

BBC South Asia, April 11

 

India and China have signed an agreement in Delhi aimed at resolving a long-running dispute over their Himalayan border.  India’s national security adviser said it was “one of the most significant documents” signed by the two countries.

 

The agreement was sealed as Indian premier Manmohan Singh met visiting Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao.

The world’s two most populous countries fought a bitter war over their largely unmarked border in 1962.

India’s National Security Adviser MK Narayanan told Indian television that Indian and Chinese officials had worked out a roadmap for resolving the disputed 3,550km (2,200 mile) border.  “It shows a lot of give and take on both sides,” he said.

 

“We are very hopeful that this document will be the starting point of a major process in the settlement of the boundary dispute between India and China.”  The joint statement by the two countries did not go into specifics on the issue, talking of  “political parameters” and “guiding principles”.  However, China has now formally given up its claim to the state of Sikkim.  The joint statement refers to “the Sikkim State of the Republic of India”.  Until now, China had never recognised India’s 1975 annexation of Sikkim.  On the remaining issues of contention, the statement said "special representatives" would negotiate the issues, adding: “Both sides are convinced that an early settlement of the boundary question will advance the basic interests of the two countries.”

 

Both sides have previously claimed the other is occupying parts of its land.   While India has accused China of occupying territory in Kashmir, Beijing has laid claim to territory in the north-east Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.  However, analysts say the border differences have been played down in recent times as China and India developed a blossoming economic relationship.  In addition to the border plans, Mr Wen said the two countries had set a target of increasing annual trade to $30 billion by 2010.  China also reiterated its support for India to be given a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.  On Sunday, Mr Wen visited Bangalore, where he urged closer ties in the fields of science and technology.  “If India and China co-operate in the IT industry, we will be able to lead the world... and it will signify the coming of the Asian century of the IT industry,” Mr Wen said.   The Chinese premier is on the final leg of his first South Asian tour since taking office last March.

 

Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4431299.stm

 

Hindus make India Secular

Times of India, New Delhi, April 1

NEW DELHI: A group of Indian Muslim leaders on Friday told former Pakistan prime minister Shujat Hussain that India was a secular country “because of Hindus.”  ”It is because of the Hindus that India remains a secular country,” a spokesman for the Jama Masjid mosque said. “This is what we told him.”  The spokesman said the group, including Jama Masjid Shahi Imam Syed Ahmad Bukhari, met Hussain for about thirty minutes when he came to offer Friday prayers.  Later on in a speech laced with political significance, former Pakistani prime minister Shujat Hussain prayed at the historic Jama Masjid and called upon Indian Muslims to integrate themselves fully with the mainstream.  Almost six decades after the sub-continent’s partition, Pakistan's ruling party on Friday gave a formal burial to the two-nation theory by urging Indian Muslims to love their motherland.


”You are Indians by choice. So live like Indians. Nobody forced you to stay back (and not settle in Pakistan),” Hussain told a large gathering at the seventeenth-century red stone mosque in the city’s old quarters.  He reminded the gathering in Urdu that Indian Muslims should love their motherland as they stayed back in India, rejecting the offer to move over to the newly created Pakistan.  “You (Indian Muslims) should do everything for the progress and development of the country,” he said.  Hussain, who is president of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, is the highest-ranking Pakistani leader to visit the Jama Masjid, which along with the Red Fort across the street was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.  The Pakistan Muslim League, although now divided into more than one faction, considers itself the rightful successor to the Muslims League that led the drive for Pakistan’s creation.  Hussain also referred to India-Pakistan relations, saying he was optimistic that both countries would be able to resolve all their differences and soon.

“I am positive India and Pakistan will resolve their differences. This is also because Indian leaders, be they in the government or the opposition, are in agreement on the issue of overcoming the differences with Pakistan.  When the attitude of the leaders is right, then there can be no hitch.”  He also singled out Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf for the thaw in India-Pakistan ties... “There are impediments in India-Pakistan relations, but Musharraf is determined to do away with them.”  The former prime minister, who spent about an hour at the mosque, said:  “I am overwhelmed by the hospitality I received.  I bring a message of peace. I bring greetings from Musharraf and the people of Pakistan.”  Hussain, who was prime minister of Pakistan from June 30 to Aug 28 last year, was almost mobbed as a crowd flocked to see and shake hands with him.  Hussain arrived at the mosque with Pakistan High Commissioner Aziz Ahmed Khan. He was welcomed by the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari.  ”We pray for peace and prosperity of all countries, be it India, Pakistan or Bangladesh,” Bukhari said.

During the violent days of the 1947 partition, the Jama Masjid became a refuge for hundreds of Muslims who fled their homes fearing mob attacks. While many eventually made their way to Pakistan, many more stayed on in India. With some 140 million Muslims, India is home to the second largest Muslim population after Indonesia.

 

Full story: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1067089.cms

 

In Godhra, on the road to communal harmony

Indian Express, March 21

 

The Sabarmati train carnage and the bloody riots that followed have left an indelible blot on Godhra. A church has made a small effort to wipe out the bitter memories and narrow the communal chism.  The Methodist church has donated 500 square feet land on the Godhra-Dahod state highway for road widening to facilitate a traffic island dedicated to communal harmony. The city administration has decided to theme the traffic island on harmony complete with a statue of Mahatma Gandhi and a mast for the tricolour. 

 

“This decision of the church has come as a shot in the arm for us. On one side we have vested interests unwilling to vacate properties occupied unlawfully and here we have a church that has decided to forgo land legally owned by it, in the larger interest of society. It should be a model for all communities to follow if we want to remove the bad name earned by our city,” said Brahmbhatt.

Full story: http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=122090

 

Fighting tears of joy and sorrow, General’s mother comes home

New Delhi, Anna M. Vetticad, Posted online: March 18

 

“Thodi khushi ho rahi hai, dukh bhi hai, aankhon main aasoo bhi aa rahe hain. (I’m feeling a little happy and a little sad. There are even tears in my eyes.)”  These words summed up the mood of the frail white-haired woman in the wheelchair on whom the spotlight fell this morning at Neharwali Haveli in the congested bylanes of Delhi’s Daryaganj where Pervez Musharraf once lived.

 

The Pakistan President’s mother Zarin was swamped from the moment she was wheeled towards the house till the second she disappeared into her silver Mercedes less than half an hour later. Neighbors had climbed rooftops for a view, camerapersons jostled with each other for a shot, the present occupants of the haveli—the Jain family—squealed in delight as they forgot their anger at the interruption to their morning plans (a puja following the recent birth of a grandchild was shifted from the courtyard into the house at the last minute) and nine-year-old Aishwarya Jain had more to celebrate than her advancing years. It isn’t often that the mother of a head of state joins you in cutting your birthday cake.

 

Zarin is flanked by her son Javed and grandson Bilal as she is plied with gifts by the Jains and the Deputy Speaker of the Delhi Assembly Shoaib Iqbal—white chikan kurtas (“the colour of peace,” Iqbal beams), shawls ... “It’s my first visit here,” says Bilal as he clicks away with his camera. “I’ve heard lots of stories from my grandparents.”

Javed adds: “I’m coming here after almost half a century. It was a pleasant place to live in.”

 

Speaking to The Indian Express while chaos reigns around her, Zarin seems bemused by the attention, yet quietly overwhelmed. “It’s been sixty years since I left here. Bahut yaadein taza hui hai. Bahut yaadein baste hain hamare yahan. (Many memories have been refreshed. I have many memories associated with this place.)”  “Amma, this way, please look this way,” someone yells. But Zarin appears lost in thought as she turns and volunteers a bio-sketch, “Did you know I studied here in Delhi?”  “Here in Delhi” is Delhi University’s Indraprastha College for Women where she and her gang “had a lot of fun” before she proceeded to Lucknow University for an MA. Partition took her away from the “Dilli where I spent so many happy years of my life” and from Neharwali Haveli where we now stand.

 

Musharraf’s mother has said in an earlier interview that Pervez was “a naughty child ... I was really worried about his future. I never dreamt he would become President.”  But today she tells us with a grin, “He was a good boy. Javed was more focused on studies, Pervez was more focused on sports. But he was a good boy. He had lots of friends.”

 

She is pleased that people might view her visit as a peace initiative. “Hindustan and Pakistan should resolve all differences and be friends. Look, all the people gathered here are my sons and daughters and I am their mother.”

Zarin last visited her former home in 1982 with her late husband. Then too, she says, she was warmly welcomed, even gifted an album of photographs. Why not buy it from the present owners? She laughs. “It would be wonderful if this place is made into a monument to India-Pakistan friendship as I hear has been suggested. But I don’t have the money to buy it.”

 

Your son’s a President, ma’am. Tell him you want it as a gift. “He doesn’t have the money either,” she chuckles. “Waise bhi, it must be costing crores. I’m living out my last days, I’ll soon die, what will I do with it?” She’s tired and there are other places to visit—Jama Masjid, Red Fort, her college. Time to go. Just as Zarin is safely ensconced in her car, another frail figure approaches.  It’s President Musharraf’s old nanny Kashmiro, who has been unwell and has arrived late. She knocks on the car window but the family does not look up. She’s hoping for a word with them and pleads with everyone to tell them so. But the cavalcade silently moves away.

 

A well of communal harmony at Aligarh Muslim University 

 Indian Express, Aligarh, March 10

 

A well dug by Hindu and Muslim students in premises of Aligarh Muslim University in 1878 still spreads message of communal harmony. Presently, the well is not in use, but it continues to spread the feeling of brotherhood and communal harmony. The well was dug up in 1878 by Hindu-Muslim students of the first batch of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), earlier known as the Mohammadan Anglo-Oriental College.

 

During that time the Hindus students did not prefer drinking water from 'Mashaq'. As a symbol of  brotherhood, members of both the community came together and dug a well in college. “Sir Syed took care of everybody’s feeling, he initiated to build a well for the non-Muslim community. With the help of both Hindus and Muslims this well was made which came up as a symbol of Secularism,” said Dr. Rahat Abrar, the PRO of AMU

 

Full story: http://www.expressnewsline.com/2005/06/story2005-insight-news-status-82-newsID-2330.html

 

Dandi Yatra-II: Gandhi kin to exorcise Godhra ghost

Times News Network, March 8

 

Will Dandi neutralise the Godhra poison? When about 350 marchers from India and abroad retrace Gandhi's steps from here to Dandi later this week to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the epoch-making event, it will be the mantra of communal harmony that they would be chanting loud and clear in the riot hit state.

 

“Gujarat was turned into a communal laboratory by divisive forces. People's hearts were poisoned. We need to go back to Gandhi. Gujarat mein sadhbhavna ka amrit wapas lana hai  (We need to bring back to the state the nectar of communal harmony).  Humanity has to be brought back to Gujarat,” says the Mahatma’s great grandson Tushar Gandhi, managing trustee of the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation that is organising the march from March 12 along with the Congress.  “There were secular forces in Gujarat who saw the signs of a growing discord but kept their eyes closed and did not take on the fanatics on both sides. We have all cried in disbelief that such instances of communal violence took place in Gandhi’s Gujarat, but Gandhi’s gone for more than fifty years. It is us who failed to keep his spirit and ideas alive,” says Tushar.

 

Along the 482-km route, the marchers will stress on the “need to talk” to bring communities together. Tableaux with messages of communal harmony will be pulled by a caravan of camel-carts and street plays will focus on the theme. The marchers will camp at places where Gandhi had halted and interact with the local people.

 

Full story: ttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1045641.cms

 

*Pakistan-India

 

Musharraf begins key India visit

BBC South Asia, Jaipur, April 15

 

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has begun a visit to India which includes key talks with Indian premier Manmohan Singh.  President Musharraf flew to the western state of Rajasthan to visit an important Muslim shrine and later traveled to the capital, Delhi.  The trip follows a year of peace talks, which last week saw the first buses in nearly sixty years cross divided Kashmir. It is President Musharraf’s first visit to India since a failed summit in 2001.  The president waved to crowds as he arrived in Jaipur in Rajasthan and immediately took a helicopter to Ajmer to visit the Sufi shrine of Muslim saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti.

 

At the shrine, he was presented with flowers and a cloth, or chaddar, to lay over the tomb.  “We have brought a message of peace from Pakistan,” the president said.  “I have prayed for peace between India and Pakistan. Development of the countries and people can happen only if there is peace.”  President Musharraf then traveled to Delhi where Mr Singh hosted a banquet.   At the dinner, Mr Singh said: "The political leadership in both our countries has a solemn obligation to work in concert to realise this noble vision.  “History beckons us to rise to the challenge and grasp the opportunities to create boundless prosperity in our ancient land.”

 

India has tabled a set of confidence-building measures on Kashmir for the visit, including:

 

On Sunday, President Musharraf is expected to meet leaders of Indian-controlled Kashmir and will watch some of the one-day international cricket match between Pakistan and India in Delhi.  Security has been heavy in both Rajasthan and Delhi.  The BBC’s Ayanjit Sen in the capital says more than 5,000 police and security personnel will guard the stadium for Sunday's match.  A no-fly zone will be enforced over the Ferozeshah Kotla stadium as President Musharraf and Mr Singh attend.

 

Kashmir, which both nations claim in its entirety, remains the biggest problem between the nuclear-capable neighbors.  The BBC’s Zaffar Abbas in Islamabad says President Musharraf believes the majority in Pakistan are prepared for some compromise on Kashmir if India is prepared to do the same.  But analysts say there is unlikely to be any further breakthrough in the president's short trip.

 

Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4451159.stm

 

Pakistani cricketer finally meets his Indian wife

Hyderabad, India West, April 8

 

Between cricket matches on tour in India Pakistani batsman Shoaib Malik also attended to some important business in this southern Indian city – he met Ayesha Siddiqui, his Indian wife whom he had married on the phone.  The couple first met in 2000 in Dubai, where Siddiqui works as a school vice-principal, and secretly got married in 2002 in a ceremony conducted by an Islamic cleric over the phone from Pakistan.  The visiting team took a break to savor Hyderabadi delicacies at a lavish dinner thrown by Malik’s father-in-law. There Malik met his bride who will start living with her husband only after a formal ceremony in August.  Documents were mailed to Malik’s bride after the telephone wedding, which ytook place when she was at home in Hyderabad and he in his home town of Sialkot, Pakisan. Ayesha Siddiqui said her husband had visited Hyderabad twice over the past two years without being recognized in public.

 

“We are very happy. It is our good luck to find a son-in-law like him,” said Malik’s father-in-law, Ahmadullah Siddiqui. “We hope that this relationship will make its own contribution to improve the relations between India and Pakistan.”  Ayesha Siddiqui said the couple was initially apprehensive about whether their parents would give their consent to the wedding.  “But there is nothing unusual about it. Marriage over the phone is very much Islamic and a normal thing among Muslims” she said.

 

Reunited Kashmiris’ tears of joy

BBC South Asia, Srinigar and Muzaffarabad, April 7

 

There have been tearful reunions for Kashmiris travelling on the first bus service across the divided region in nearly 60 years.  The buses, between Srinagar in Indian-controlled Kashmir and Muzaffarabad in Pakistan's sector, have now both completed their journeys. The service is seen as a sign of India and Pakistan's improving relations - both claim Kashmir in its entirety.  Militants vowed to target the service and one bus survived a grenade attack.  The grenade was thrown after the bus from Srinagar passed by at Pattan, about 27km (16 miles) from Srinagar. Four people, including a policeman, were hurt.  Some of the passengers arriving in Muzaffarabad were met by family members amid high emotion before being take to an official reception.

 

The atmosphere was charged with emotion as relatives rushed to greet them and hugged them with tears of joy.   A brass band playing Bollywood music heralded the arrival of the bus at a convention centre near Srinagar's Dal Lake.

Earlier, at the Line of Control, the BBC's Zaffar Abbas said that many of the passengers for Srinagar had tears in their eyes as they crossed, others were simply overwhelmed at an event that has no parallel in India-Pakistan relations.  The first passengers across knelt to kiss the ground.   One passenger, Zia Sardar, said: “I think I have achieved the objective of my life. Kashmir is my mother and I am meeting my mother.”  The passengers travelling in the opposite direction across the Peace Bridge were greeted by huge crowds on the Pakistani side.  Noreen Arif burst into tears as she met her uncle, Raja Nasiruddin, from Indian-controlled Kashmir, for the first time.

“It’s just like we’ve landed in heaven,” Mr Nasiruddin said.

 

In every village and town there were people on the streets whistling, cheering and waving.  About 19 passengers were on the Muzaffarabad-bound bus. That bus was flagged off in Srinagar by Mr Singh, who said: “The caravan of peace has started. Nothing can stop it.”  Sharif Hussain Bukhari, a passenger heading to Muzaffarabad, said: “The Line of Control could fall like the Berlin Wall.”  Earlier, Mr Singh had vowed the buses - and the peace process - would not be stopped by militant attacks.  He said: “These are desperate responses by those who don't want the [peace] dialogue to go ahead.”

Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4419109.stm

 

Divided Kashmir families look to big day

BBC News, Srinagar and Bijhama, By Sanjoy Majumder, April 5

 

Haji Nasiruddin Khan was born in the Kashmiri city of Muzaffarabad.  His adopted family brought him up in the village of Bijhama.  But when Kashmir was divided after the Indo-Pakistan war of 1947 he found himself living on the Indian-controlled side.  The 60-year-old retired local government official has never been able to return to his birthplace.  “I have never visited my father's grave and my brother died a few years ago,” he says.  Now Mr Khan is among the fortunate few who have been granted a permit to travel on the inaugural Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service on Thursday – a bus service that many hope will be a major boost to the peace process between Pakistan and India.  “This is a blessing,” he says, his face breaking into a wide smile.  “I applied for a passport twice but was rejected each time.”  “My entire family lives on the other side. But we can’t communicate with them.”  As Mr Khan’s sons help him pack his suitcase, local residents gather at his home.  Many of them have given him letters and photographs to carry to their relatives on the other side.  Asgari Khan is a 75-year-old lady who came to live in Bijhama village close to the Line of Control that divides Kashmir after her marriage in 1947.  Her parents and siblings live on the Pakistani side – they haven’t met since the road was shut nearly 60 years ago.  “But I haven’t been given a permit to go visit them,” she says.

 

Abdul Hamid hasn't seen or heard from his brother Sharif after they were separated in 1948.  He is anxious to travel across to look for him and was delighted when the news of the bus service was made public.  But he was unable to apply for a permit.   “Nearly 90% of the families here are divided,” says Mr Khan's son, Sajid.  “They can look at the villages on the other side, wave to the people there but they cannot cross over.”  Most of the villagers say they are frustrated at being caught up in the politics of India-Pakistan relations.  “To hell with politics,” says Nasiruddin Khan.  “We should be allowed to travel freely. If the borders open, 80% of the Kashmir problem will be solved.”  But there's a shadow over the happiness in the Khan household.   Four local policemen are posted outside his home after a threat by separatist militants to passengers traveling on the bus.

 

Like the other travelers, he is being taken to Srinagar – the summer capital of Indian-administered Kashmir – by armed escort 36 hours before the bus service and lodged in a high-security facility.  There is anger at the militants' call as well as defiance.  “I am not afraid,” declares Mr Khan as he snaps shut his suitcase.  “I am only going to visit my kith and kin. I am not committing a sin.”  On Thursday, Nasiruddin Khan will be among 29 passengers making a six hour journey to Muzaffarabad.  It has taken him more than half a century to return home.  Others like Fatima who lives in Srinagar’s old quarter will have to wait a while to receive their kin from across the border.  When I met her, the 70-year-old woman was preparing to welcome her daughter Hafiza, son-in-law Salahuddin and two grandchildren from Muzaffarabad. She was under the impression that they would be on the first bus from Muzaffarabad.

Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4413679.stm

 

Kashmiris’ journey into history
BBC News, Surankot, Indian-administered Kashmir, Binoo Joshi, March 30

 

The mood is festive in three houses in mountainous Potha village, about 210km (130 miles) north-west of Jammu, overlooking the Suran River.  On 7 April, the houses will each have a member on the new bus service linking Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir to Muzaffarabad in the Pakistani-controlled region, uniting divided families after decades of separation.  The houses are whitewashed to receive relatives and friends coming to convey their best wishes to the passengers. Elderly widow Ghulam Fatima is excited to be on a journey that will take her into history. She has two brothers living in Pakistani-administered Kashmir with nephews and nieces.  She showers blessings on those who took the decision to start the bus service.  “God bless the rulers of both India and Pakistan who facilitated my meeting with brothers who were separated since 1947 (when India was partitioned).”

 

Fatima is going with her daughter-in-law, Munira Bee, who is no less thrilled.  Besides gifts we will take good wishes for our relatives there," she says.  Her gifts will be shawls, bangles and honey.   “I want to take all those things that give a smell and flavour of my land.”  But one thing that tops her list is “pictures of our family here, the house, the surrounding mountains and roads”.   They open their suitcases to show how quick they were to pack their clothes.   “We knew there would be a line of visitors as the journey date drew closer,” says Fatima.  “I will be overjoyed if my brothers come here later to see their native land and meet the family.”  The festive mood also prevails in Muradpur village, in mountainous Rajouri district, about 145km north-west of Jammu.

 

Of the thirteen people from the districts of Poonch and Rajouri travelling on the first bus to Muzaffarabad, seven are from this village.  Celebrations abound in the twenty or so scattered mud houses.  The eldest passenger, 90-year-old Said Mohammad is going to Mirpur in Pakistani-administered Kashmir to meet his daughter who migrated during the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war.  He is going along with his son, Mohammad Gani.  Majid Ahmad Khan, Said Mohammad’s grandson, is looking after the packing and all other arrangements for his father and grandfather, besides attending on guests coming to the home.  “I have bought a gold ring out of my savings over years as a gift for my cousin,” says an emotional Majid, who is a student and also helps in farming.   “This is a big occasion when my grandfather will meet his separated daughter and my father his sister.”  Mohammad Taj, a 50-year-old farmer from the same village is also excited but concerned over the cost of the trip for such poor people.  His 15-year-old daughter is taking care of preparations for a journey in which her father will meet his sister who also migrated to Mirpur during the 1965 war.  “I am a poor man but I still do not mind spending money to meet my sister,” says Taj, estimating his costs at about 10,000 rupees ($230).  For many separated families the new service is a breakthrough, but still involves a long journey to Jammu, then to Srinagar and on to Muzaffarabad.  Many are looking forward to the day when the buses can make shorter, more direct links.

 

Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4393157.stm

 

Amritsar-Nankana Sahib bus service to start on April 14, 2005

Punjab, India West, March 25

Indian Punjab’s Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has said Pakistan has agreed to his request to start a bus service between Amritsar in India and the Sikh pilgrimage town of Nankana Sahib in Pakistan.  Ten buses full of pilgrims would leave Amritsar on Baisakhi Day, April 14, 2005.  Singh has recently returned from a visit to Pakitan during which, together with Pervaiz Elahi, Chief Minister on Pakistani Punjab, laid the foundation stone for a road between Manawala and Nankana Sahib 

 

Day 1: The Marchers Embark

The South Asian, Delhi, March 18

The Peace March from Delhi to Multan started off today from the tombs of Sufi poets and thinkers Amir Khusro and Nizamuddin Aulia. One of the organizers – Sandeep Pandey – along with movie director Mahesh Bhatt offered their respects at the tombs.

Full story: http://www.thesouthasian.org/archives/000336.html

 

Kashmir bus helps build bridges

BBC News, Srinagar, By Altaf Hussain, March 16


Only two years ago, the Pakistani and Indian armies were locked in an eyeball to eyeball confrontation.  Holed up in their respective bunkers, soldiers would spend the day sniping at each other.  They are now busy rebuilding the wooden bridge at the Kaman post – the crossing across the KDK canal, a tributary of the river Jhelum that divides the Indian- and Pakistani-administered parts of Kashmir. The bridge will make possible the proposed bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, which is scheduled to start from 7 April.  There are many signs that the peace offensive has had an effect. The barbed wire fence built across the road last year - to check infiltration by armed militants from Pakistan - has been dismantled.

 

Indian officials say the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road has been completely cleared of mines in the past few weeks.

An 18km stretch beyond the border town of Uri on the Indian side is still in bad shape. But workers of the Border Roads Organisation are working overtime to get it ready in time for the historic event.

 

The road meanders through the mountains alongside the Jhelum and its tributary and was once known as the Rawalpindi road   It was the main surface link between Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of India before partition in 1947.  The route has fallen into disuse since, and awaits a return to life in April. But with a difference - the proposed bus from Srinagar will not go right up to Muzaffarabad and vice-versa.  Instead, passengers from either side will disembark at the Kaman post, walk across and switch buses.  The new terms of endearment may be harsher but few are complaining. The chief minister of Indian-administered Kashmir, Mufti Mohammad Sayed, says it is only the beginning.  Visiting the Kaman post on 13 March, he described the road's reopening as “the mother of all confidence-building measures”.

 

Until now a cause of hostility between India and Pakistan, Kashmir could well become a bridge between the two nuclear-armed neighbors.   Officials expect the road to be ready by 31 March, a week before the bus service starts.

Mufti Sayed is optimistic that the fortnightly service will soon turn weekly.  “Ultimately, it will be a daily service,” he says.   His optimism is clearly shared at the highest level. India’s Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, will himself flag off the first bus from Srinagar on 7 April.  Meanwhile, the border town of Uri is preparing to receive the first batch of travellers from Muzaffarabad.  Traders are giving their shops a face-lift because, according to greengrocer Abdul Rashid Lone, “the authorities have told us to do so”.

 

But his nephew Mushtaq Lone begs to differ.  “We are doing it on our own. It feels good. After all, we will be receiving our relatives and friends after such a long time,” he says.  Locals say every 10th person in the area probably has a close relative in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.  Most have no plans to go to Muzaffarabad, but many among them are happy that the proposed bus has given them with a job. Hundreds of locals are engaged in the construction of the road.  Officials say the planned bus service has drawn a poor response from the Indian side. Regional passport officer John Shilshi told the BBC News website that his office had so far received only 63 applications for permits to board the first bus.  In all, about 150 application forms have been issued so far, in stark contrast to the Pakistani side where thousands have queued up for the special permit.  Analysts say the poor response on the Indian side may be due to the fact that application forms were issued only in Srinagar, whereas most of the divided families live closer to the Line of Control.

 

Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4350649.stm

 

Secretary Rice lauds India-Pakistan peace

BBC South Asia, New Delhi, March 16

 

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has praised progress in the peace process between India and Pakistan.  After meeting Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh on the opening leg of her Asian tour, Ms Rice said the US would support the peace process.  She also met Indian PM Manmohan Singh before heading for Pakistan, where she held talks with premier Shaukat Aziz and President Pervez Musharraf.  Ms Rice’s eight-day trip will take in six Asian countries.  This is Ms Rice’s first visit to the region since she became the top US diplomat in January.  She is due in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Thursday before returning for further talks in Islamabad the same day.  Earlier in Delhi, she praised what she called “heartening” dialogue between India and Pakistan.

 

“We very much admire what the Indian prime minister and President Pervez Musharraf have been able to continue, given the change in government here in India,” Ms Rice told a joint news conference with Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh.  “We want to be supportive in any way that we can.”  The foreign minister said he had told Ms Rice that the peace process was “progressing satisfactorily”.   Ms Rice and Natwar Singh also touched on Nepal, saying they agreed to work together to help restore democracy. Ms Rice said the Nepali government needed get back on a democratic path.  “That simply must happen... it needs to happen very, very soon,” she said.  Earlier, Ms Rice had a 30-minute meeting with Congress party president Sonia Gandhi.

 

During President George W Bush’s first term, there was a significant transformation in India-US relations and the US was perceived as a strategic partner.   India and the US have overseen increased military ties, holding joint exercises and expanded civilian, space and hi-tech contacts.   Ms Rice’s eight-day trip to South and East Asia will also take her to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Japan, Korea and China.

 

Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4349589.stm

 

*Pakistan

 

Tsunami Aid to India from Pak students

 India West, April 1

A delegation of women students from Pakistan presented a check for $100,000 for tsunami relief to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at New Delhi, on March 28. 

 

Pakistani Organization Working for Needs of Indian Prisoners

The South Asian, Islamabad, March 21

The miserable condition of prisoners detained under the Foreign Act (Pakistan) demanded serious attention as scores of Indian prisoners are locked up in different central jails of Balochistan. SEHER, a Pakistani organization based in

Quetta, has responded to the needs of these prisoners.

Full story: http://www.thesouthasian.org/archives/000333.html

 

Pakistani Prime Minister Meets Peace March Organizers

The South Asian, Islamabad, March 18

A delegation of the organizers of the Pakistan-India Peace March met with the Prime Minister of Pakistan, on March 12, 2005, at Prime Minister’s Secretariat, Islamabad.   Members of the delegation included Dr. A.H. Nayyar (President, Pakistan Peace Coalition), B.M. Kutty (Secretary General, Pakistan Peace Coalition), Karamat Ali (Co-organiser of Peace March from Pakistan), Dr. Sandeep Pandey, (Co-organiser of Peace March from India), Irfan Mufti (Secretary, Pakistan Social forum), Faheem Zaman (Pakistan Social Forum, Sindh), Ms. Ayisha Rahim, (Pakistan Social Forum, Sindh), Safdar Maher (Secretary, Anjuman-e-Asiaye Awam).


Full story: http://www.thesouthasian.org/archives/000332.html

 

 

FEATURE

 

“Moving towards a durable peace” by Sandeep Pandey

The News (International), Pakistan, March 21, 2005 www.jang.com.pk


Why should the Prime Minister of Pakistan be interested in talking to an Indian activist about a proposed peace march?  My friend Karamat Ali, a peace activist and co-organizer from Pakistan of the proposed Delhi to Multan India-Pakistan Peace March (March 23 to May 11, 2005), was trying to include me in a delegation of Pakistan Peace Coalition, which had got an appointment to meet Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on March 12, to discuss the organization of the march and specifically request visas for the marchers from India, who would cross over into Pakistan at Wagah on April 18. I was amazed when got the invitation, just 48 hours before the appointment. I had to literally rush to Islamabad after getting my visa and ticket.

That the office of Prime Minister decided to invite me to discuss the peace march along with Pakistani activists clearly indicated that the Government of Pakistan was viewing this march positively. The peace activists of India and Pakistan, independently and jointly, have been opposing the nuclearization of the sub-continent and advocating for peace even when the relationship between the two countries was very hostile.  Peaceniks on both sides of the border are often dismissed as a bunch of idealists and accused of playing into the hands of elements working against the interests of our respective countries, and sometimes directly accused of being anti-national. The governments aren't very supportive either. Hence it was a welcome surprise that the Pakistani Prime Minister was full of praise for initiatives taken by peace activists and hoped that more such initiatives would bring about a lasting change in the situation in South Asia. He acknowledged the role of peace movements in having a decisive influence over the two governments.

Shaukat Aziz expressed the commitment of the Government of Pakistan towards building an atmosphere of peace in the sub-continent and the willingness to do whatever was necessary to achieve this objective.  He said that President Musharraf shared this vision.  He was quite candid about the contentious issues and hoped that through dialogue they would be resolved. He claimed that no past Government of Pakistan had been so open about this objective and for the first time there was no fear about discussing the issues.  He was happy with the way the peace process was moving forward but disappointed over the lack of progress on resolving the Kashmir dispute, resolving which in his view is key to establishing permanent peace between India and Pakistan. He was also disappointed at the postponement of the SAARC meeting and said that Pakistan was 'hurt' on the Baglihar Dam issue; water is emerging as a contentious issue between the two countries.

I was impressed by Shaukat Aziz's forthrightness. He said that unlike the past this government is not interested in merely containing problems, but is actually committed to resolving the outstanding issues. And this is obvious in his approach when addressing some of them. He spelt out the position of the Government of Pakistan on each issue and hoped that on bilateral matters India would respond positively. He was full of praise for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his positive attitude toward settling differences.  Security, however, is one issue that makes the leadership of the two countries nervous. During the exchange Shaukat Aziz pointed out the necessity for Pakistan to keep arms for its security, and admitted the compulsion of Pakistan to match India’s capability whenever it decides to procure any new category of arms, leading to an arms race. There exists tremendous confusion regarding more dangerous arms giving a sense of security.  If you think about the issue with a cool head, you realize the relationship between security and more dangerous arms is inverse. We become more insecure as we possess more dangerous arms.

Peace activists from Pakistan and India have been advocating the unilateral, or with bilateral agreement, renunciation of nuclear weapons and downgrading armed forces at the border. Only a border free of army and arms can provide us with a sense of true security on both sides. I hope our heads of State will eventually understand this clear logic and move towards getting rid of weapons.  That is when the common people on both sides will be the winners, as resources being diverted in the name of security today, will be freed up for real development. In times of globalization as economic progress becomes more important than military security, the leaders of the two countries appear to have realized the futility of the arms race and pursue the road to peace. Times are changing. The concept of jingoistic nationalism is going out of date and this is a welcome development. The economic development of the people who comprise a nation is becoming centre-stage on the political agenda, as it should be.

I still find it difficult to believe that I was allowed into the office of the Prime Minister of a country that until not long ag