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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. 6, June 15, 2005; Next Issue, July
15, 2005
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
- Pervez Hoodbhoy on Jinnah
PEACE &
HARMONY NEWS FROM & ABOUT SOUTH ASIA
India
- Advani regrets Babri Masjid demolition
- Indian postage stamp on Muslim cleric to be released
- India seeks “borderless” Kashmir
- Peace brings Kashmir
tourists back
- Nagas offered talks on own
constitution
- Indian and Chinese armies
prepare “roadmap”
Pakistan-India
- Kashmir militants offered seat in APHC
- Hurriyat moots United States of Kashmir
- India and Pakistan to work on three
gasline projects
- Kashmir leaders on historic visit
- Singh hails Musharraf’s proposal
- Indian banks allowed to operate in Pakistan
- Pakistan keen to boost trade with India
- Kashmir solution can’t be religion-based
Pakistan
- Karachi Peace Activists urged to play a role
India-Bangladesh
- Bangladeshi MPs plan goodwill India
visit
- India and Bangladesh begin joint border
patrol
Bangladesh
- Satkhira rally vows to resist bigots
Nepal
- Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh talk gas pipeline
- Nepal reporters in protest march
FEATURES
- A New India, by Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh
- Letter from Dr. M.I.H. Farooqi, Secretary, Urdu Scientific Society, Lucknow
PEACE
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
- 2005
Summer Training, Peacebuilding & Development Institute at American University
PEACE EVENTS
- India-Pakistan Peace Day 2005
- Peacebuilding, Conflict Transformation and
Post-War Rebuilding, Reconciliation and Resolution
(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
Pervez Hoodbhoy on Jinnah
Friends:
As you know, there has been a great deal of controversy in India over the remarks Advani made about Jinnah,
during his recent visit to Pakistan. In this context, you may be interested in
reviewing comments about Jinnah Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy made to an Indian
newspaper.
Many of you would recall that Dr. Hoodbhoy is a Pakistani
physicist. Besides making the two widely acclaimed documentaries (“Pakistan and
India under the Nuclear Shadow”, and “Crossing the Lines – Kashmir, Pakistan,
India”), he has authored a number of publications and lectured widely to
promote science education, better environmental policies, women’s rights and
education. In 2003, some of his contribution was recognized with an award of
UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize. More info about him and his writings can be found at www.chowk.com
Pritam
Pritam K. Rohila, PhD
Executive Director
pritamr@open.org
___
1. Ordinary Pakistanis are told that Jinnah was a true Muslim and
wanted to establish an Islamic state in Pakistan? Do you agree with that
argument, if not, why?
Fifty eight years after Partition there still does not exist in Pakistan
a legal definition of a Muslim, much less a true Muslim (or momin). Hence the
above question is fundamentally unanswerable. As for Mohammed Ali Jinnah: he
must be accepted as a Muslim because he was born one and maintained that he was
one by belief. He did so in the face of aspersions cast upon him by his
political opponents, such as Maulana Abul Ala Maudoodi, who claimed that his
westernized lifestyle amounted to un-Islamic behavior.
2. Did Mr. Jinnah want Pakistan
to become a theological state?
Until 1981, when General Zia-ul-Haq decreed that the goal of Pakistan was the creation of a
complete Islamicized state run according to the Shariah, it would have been
laughable to suggest that Mr. Jinnah wanted the rule of the clergy. But
subsequently facts were turned upside down. Desperate attempts were made to put
the fundamentalist cloak on him. But the truth is that nobody had ever before
called him an alim (religious scholar) because he had not studied the fiqh and
shariah. His leadership of the Muslim League owed to his superb ability in
English, not his barely understandable Urdu (much less Arabic or Farsi).
While he did allude to Islamic principles of fairplay and justice, these were
in general, vague terms. For example, to the Sibi Darbar in 1948, Jinnah said:
“Let us lay the foundations of our democracy on the basis of truly Islamic
ideals and principles. Our Almighty has taught is that our decisions in the
affairs of the state shall be guided by discussion and consultations.” Note that he did not try to argue in the style
of Islamic scholars by quoting precedents, or verses from the Quran and Hadith.
3. In his personal life Jinnah was very liberal and secular, but his public
posture was quiet different? Why did he have that contradiction in his personal
life and public life?
Had Jinnah campaigned for a liberal, secular Pakistan there is no doubt that he
would have lost the leadership of the Pakistan Movement. He knew this well, but
probably thought that: a) people would not notice his lifestyle too much,
b) that the contribution he was making to the welfare of Muslims was the
crucially important thing, and, c) that a liberal, secular Pakistan would one
day follow once the messy business of partition was over with and it was
unnecessary to raise that issue now.
4. Was Jinnah in favor of dividing the sub-continent on religious grounds?
His Two-Nation theory was exactly that. He said that Hindus and Muslim could
not live together as one nation. I personally think he was wrong.
But he was juggling many balls at the same time. In the same 1948 Data Darbar
speech that I quoted above, Jinnah was quite emphatic: “Pakistan is not going to be a
theocratic state, to be ruled by priests with a divine mission. We have many
non-Muslims – Hindus, Christians, and Parsis but they are all Pakistanis. They
will enjoy the same rights and privileges as any other citizens as any other
citizens and will play their rightful part in the affairs of Pakistan.” Given that Jinnah’s wife and daughter were
Parsis, he could scarcely have wanted a constitution that would have made them
second-class citizens.
5. For a man who demanded a separate state for Muslims, don’t you think that a
belief in the notion of an Islamic state must have been at the back of Jinnah's
mind?
As my late friend and guru, Eqbal Ahmed, often pointed out, in his earlier
years Jinnah was adamantly opposed to the use by Gandhiji of religious symbols
in politics. Ironically, it was Jinnah, then a Congress leader, who
warned against such spiritualization of Indian politics. He was right. A deeply
divisive view of the world naturally emerged once the terms of discourse
shifted in this way. As India
approached independence, leaders of sectarian outlook and sentiments such as
Sardar Vallabbhai Patel and Rajendra Prasad gained commanding positions in the
Congress.
6. What was his vision for the infant state?
Here, I will differ with the conventional wisdom in Pakistan
– I think that Jinnah was a man of strong will and impeccable integrity who
wrenched Pakistan
out of the hands of the unwilling British and Congress. But he was no
visionary. He did not give to Pakistan
what Jawaharlal Nehru gave to India.
He left behind no blueprints for creating a modern, progressive state that
would emphasize education, science, and modernity. It is heresy to say this in Pakistan,
but that is the truth. A track record of nearly six decades stands as proof.
PEACE
& HARMONY NEWS FROM & ABOUT SOUTH ASIA
* India
Advani regrets Babri Masjid demolition
The Hindu, June 1
Seeking to shed his image as a “hawk” responsible for the
demolition of the Babri mosque and scuttling the Agra peace talks, BJP
president and Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani on Tuesday described the December
6, 1992 Ayodhya incident as the “saddest” day of his life, asserting that his
“image and real persona” were not “very identical”.
Full
story: http://www.hindu.com/2005/06/02/stories/2005060205381200.htm
Indian postage stamp on Muslim cleric to be released
Rediff.com News, May 30
The government of India
will release a postage stamp to honour Maulana Mahmood Hassan – one of the
founders of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, a leading Muslim group. This was announced by Minister of State for
Communication and Information Technology Shakeel Ahmed Khan in New Delhi. Addressing a gathering of about 300,000
Muslims from across the country at the biennial 28th session of the
Jamiat on Sunday, Ahmed said the postage stamp will be a tribute to the freedom
fighter who played an important role in promoting nationalism among Muslims.
Full
story: http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/may/30post.htm
India seeks “borderless” Kashmir
By Sanjeev Srivastava, BBC correspondent in Delhi, 30 May
India’s prime minister has said a borderless Kashmir and
more autonomy for the areas India
administers could help resolve the dispute with Pakistan. Manmohan Singh said India and Pakistan should work together to
make borders “meaningless and irrelevant”.
The “sky is the limit” once Pakistan
understood where India
could and could not be flexible, he told reporters. Kashmir has been the cause
of two of three wars between India
and Pakistan
since partition in 1947. Mr Singh spoke
at length on foreign and domestic issues during an hour-long meeting with
foreign journalists at his Delhi
residence on Monday evening. He hinted
at what Delhi had in mind to resolve the Kashmir
dispute, which has bedeviled relations between South Asia’s
nuclear-armed neighbors for over half a century. The prime minister began by listing what
would not be acceptable to India.
“India
will not accept any further partition of the country on religious lines. I also do not have the mandate for allowing
redrawing of boundaries.” There was
nothing really dramatic in this list of don’ts. It has been Delhi’s stated position for some time
now. But it is what he said was
acceptable and possible that provides hope.
Mr Singh said the “sky is the limit” once the Indian position – about
what was not possible – was understood by Pakistan. “We [India
and Pakistan]
share a number of similarities and should work together at finding a solution
which makes borders meaningless and irrelevant. So it should not matter whether
a person is living in Srinagar [in
Indian-controlled Kashmir] or Muzaffarabad [in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir].”
He
also talked about giving greater autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir, saying the state already
had a unique status with its own constitution. “We should work towards strengthening
democratic traditions and self-government in the valley,” he said. It cannot be a coincidence that Pakistan’s
President Pervez Musharraf has also echoed similar sentiments in the recent
past. Even while he has consistently
stressed that the international Line of Control separating the two Kashmirs can
never be accepted as a permanent border by Islamabad, the Pakistani president has also
talked about a soft border and a situation where borders become less and less
relevant. The Indian prime minister
refused to commit to any time frame on resolving the Kashmir
dispute, saying it was a historical and complicated issue. “But the peace process is on track and I look
forward to more meetings with President Musharraf,” he said. However he warned that a major terror attack
could derail the process. He also asked Pakistan
to do more to dismantle militant camps still operating inside
Pakistani-administered Kashmir.
Mr.
Singh was in relaxed and expansive mood during his first interaction with
foreign journalists since taking office a little over a year ago. He said
Indian foreign policy was guided by one interest alone. “We want to create an international
environment which is conducive to the social and economic development of India.
And for that to happen the first requirement is to have a tranquil
neighborhood.” He spoke about Bangladesh and Nepal
as two neighbours where Delhi
needed to do more to have “even better” relations. He described as historic the recent visit to Delhi by the Chinese prime
minister and said that the most important outcome of the visit was the
agreement aimed at resolving outstanding boundary disputes in a peaceful
manner. He also talked about how much
more needed to be done in terms of investment in social and physical
infrastructure. And he discussed his
relations with Sonia Gandhi, head of India’s governing coalition. She
declined the prime minister’s post and anointed Mr. Singh instead, leading the
opposition to accuse him of being her puppet.
“Of course as the chairperson of the governing coalition she does
contribute to policy making,” Mr. Singh said. “But there's never any interference
in the day-to-day functioning of the government.”
Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4594061.stm
Peace brings Kashmir tourists back
Altaf Hussain, BBC correspondent in Srinagar, 30 May
Tourists are returning to
Indian-administered Kashmir, after staying
away for years because of an armed conflict between separatist militants and
the Indian security forces. Many people are heading to the scenic Kashmir
valley, encouraged by reports of peace and improved relations between India and Pakistan. Dal Lake in the heart of the state’s summer capital, Srinagar, is resplendent
once again. Its fresh water, from nearby
snow-clad mountains, is stirred by hundreds of decorated shikaras (ferries) taking tourists on pleasure rides. It’s a scene that has not been witnessed for
a very long time.
For the past 15 years, Dal
Lake has looked
desolate. But now tourists are back here
in large numbers. Mohammad Shafi, 35, is
a shikarawala or rower and can hardly conceal his joy at the swing in
fortunes. “With God’s grace, tourism is
doing well this year. We have got enough work. I hope it continues like this,”
he says. For the past several years he
toiled to make 80 rupees (less than $2) a day by weaving carpets or doing other
jobs. “But now I earn anything between
400 and 600 rupees ($17-26 a day).” Many
of the tourists are on their first visit.
“When I learnt that [Pakistan
President Pervez] Musharraf and [Indian PM] Manmohan [Singh] have made friends
I took the first opportunity to come to this paradise,” said Abdul Tayeb who is
from Mumbai (Bombay). His wife says she had a horrible picture of Srinagar in her mind, full
of “gun-toting militants”. But she has
changed her mind. “It is a beautiful city,” she says. But Muneera, who is from Maharashtra,
says she is scared by the sight of armed Indian soldiers “every half a
kilometer”. She says she has a lurking
fear that she might be hit by a bullet if the soldiers fire at militants. The authorities say the tourism industry
started improving last year. This year
they expect a boom.
However, foreign tourists are still keeping away. Before the outbreak of separatist violence in
1989, 8-10% of the foreigners touring India
visited Kashmir. But now the number has plummeted to below
1%. The state’s director general of
tourism, Mohammad Saleem Baig, says that 300,000 foreigners should have been
visiting Kashmir as the annual number of foreign tourists in India has reached three
million. “But we had barely 20,000
[foreigners] last year.” This despite
the fact that tourists have started coming to India
from new regions such as South-East Asia. The Indian government has not succeeded in
persuading the US and
European governments to withdraw their advisories to prospective tourists not
to visit Kashmir. Officials say Kashmir
is also losing a large number of tourists because of poor travel
facilities. “If you want to visit, you
have to wait for weeks for a ticket,” says Mr. Baig. Trains run between Mumbai and the winter
capital, Jammu,
only four days a week. “I have
statistics that show that we can bring twice as many tourists by air as are
coming now. But we don't have the seats.”
But despite all these difficulties, the number of tourists has
been swelling by the day. Ordinary
people in areas close to Dal
Lake have converted their
homes into guest houses. “If tourist inflow sustains for a few years, it'll
give confidence to prospective investors to build more hotels,” says Mr.
Baig. Tourism in Kashmir
is expected to get a further boost next month after the beginning of the annual
Hindu pilgrimage to the cave shrine of Amarnath. The Amarnath temple, situated at an altitude
of 4,000 meters in the Himalayas, is expected
to attract half a million pilgrims this year.
Full
story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4593655.stm
Nagas offered talks on own constitution
Asian Age, Guwahati, May 27
Highly-placed security sources actively involved in
the ongoing peace talks with the NSCN (Isak-Muivah) said on Thursday that the
government of India
has agreed to offer them greater autonomy and to discuss a state with a separate
identity and constitution. The security
sources said all efforts to convince the Naga leaders to dilute their demand
for a greater Nagaland have failed to evoke a positive response. The
Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) has been demanding the
enlargement of the special status enjoyed by Nagaland under Article 371(A) of
the Constitution. It has also been seeking greater financial and political
autonomy.
The rebel leaders are refusing to budge from their demand for a greater
Nagaland comprising territories that fall in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and
Manipur. The security sources said the
home ministry has almost agreed to the rebels’ proposal of greater autonomy in
all departments except currency, external affairs, communications and defence.
The NSCN (I-M) had submitted
a 31-point charter of demands to New
Delhi through Mr K. Padmanabhaiah, the government’s
chief interlocutor. The most contentious issues in the charter were the demands
for the unification of Naga-dominated areas in the Northeast into Nagaland, a
separate flag, opening of trade and tourist promotion centers under the new
Naga flag, control over taxation policy, greater control over natural
resources, new names for the ministers and the state Assembly in the ethnic
language and a common defense mechanism. The Naga leaders had also proposed a
separate constitution to rule the state according to their ethnic traditions.
According to the security sources, the home ministry has accepted the proposal
to use the ethnic language for the name of the Nagaland Assembly. In ethnic vocabulary,
it is described as “Tatar”.
The NSCN (I-M)’s proposal of a separate flag for the state has also been
conceded, the security sources said, adding that their rigid stand on the
boundary issue has frustrated negotiators. The home ministry has also agreed to
discuss their demand for a separate constitution, the security sources
said. The last round of talks was held
on Wednesday, but it failed to break the deadlock. The NSCN (I-M), which began
a ceasefire with Indian security forces in 1997 and held talks in India
and abroad to seek a solution to their demand for an independent homeland, has
taken a defiant posture and has called for the people to be ready for any
eventuality.
If insiders are to be believed, New
Delhi has also made it clear to the Naga rebel leaders
that it is not in favor of creating unrest in the region by conceding to their
demand of unification of Naga-dominated areas in the region. The NSCN (I-M)
leaders are not ready to accept anything less than the unification of
Naga-dominated areas. Their rigid stand
on territorial integrity is linked to the political survival of the NSCN (I-M)
leadership, which is dominated by Tangkhuls, a Naga tribe the majority of which
is settled in Manipur. Insiders said some top NSCN leaders would not have a
constituency to contest the elections if the NSCN fails to unify the
Naga-dominated areas. The security
sources indicated that the home ministry is of view that the NSCN (I-M) cannot
afford to break the ceasefire at this juncture though it may be threatening to
do so.
Full story: http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=209435&category=Frontend&Country=INDIA
Indian and Chinese armies prepare “roadmap”
The
Hindu, New Delhi,
May 27
Hinting that relations with
China were assuming “strategic” dimensions, Army Chief General J.J. Singh today
said the armies of the two nations may soon hold joint exercises in
counter-insurgency and prepare for UN peacekeeping operations. “We have drawn a
roadmap for increasing interaction between the two armed forces which may soon
lead to holding of joint exercises in counter terrorism and preparing for
international peacekeeping operations,” Singh told reporters on the sidelines
of a joint Army-CII seminar on “Information Warfare” here.
Asserting that peace and tranquility agreement was holding on 4000 kilometer
long Sino-Indian border, the Army Chief said there were few aberrations for
which a mechanism had been institutionalized.
He said these minimal cases are due to difference in perception in
alignment of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and “we hope that once detailed
maps are exchanged in all the three sectors – western, eastern and central,
these issues would be resolved.”
Full story: http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=209290&category=Frontend&Country=MAIN
*Pakistan-India
Kashmir militants offered seat in APHC
Karachi, Outlook, June 11
The moderate faction of Hurriyat Conference on Friday
called on militants operating in Jammu
and Kashmir to join political mainstream. “Now the time has come when political and
militant wings sit together and formulate a strategy for the settlement of the
Kashmir dispute,” Mirwaiz Omer Farooq told foreign journalists in the Pakistani
port city of Karachi. He pointed to the example of Northern Ireland,
where militants had backed a political solution to end decades of
Protestant-Catholic violence in the British-ruled province. Farooq is leading a group of moderate leaders
from the All Parties Hurriyat Conference on a rare visit to Pakistan. “At this juncture, political leadership
should play a leading role with the support and consensus of militant
leadership in finding a just solution to the Kashmir
problem,” Farooq said. He also offered
to give militant groups representation in Hurriyat.
Full story: http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=212968&category=frontend&Country=main&pro=0
Hurriyat moots United States
of Kashmir
Rediff.com, June 11
Chairman of the moderate Hurriyat faction, Mirwaiz
Umar Farooq, has proposed a new concept for resolving the Kashmir issue, United States of Kashmir, in which people
would be able to move freely. “I don’t
want to take the bus twenty years down the line, I want to fly to New Delhi, Islamabad or Tashkent. We want to move
beyond the traditional line,” he said without elaborating further. He was addressing a symposium on “Kashmir:
looking towards the future” organized by Pakistani daily Dawn in
collaboration with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, the Pakistan Peace
Coalition and the Islamabad Council for World Affairs in Karachi on
Friday. “We desire to be citizens of the
United States of Kashmir and we desire India
and Pakistan
to give a free hand to the Kashmiri leadership to come up with new proposals,”
he said, adding that the Hurriyat Conference has decided to take the initiative
in the matter. Farooq said, “Conversion
of the Line of Control into a permanent border or the status quo is
not acceptable. We are ready to explore other options. Decisions should not be
imposed from New Delhi or Islamabad.”
As India was not
ready for tripartite negotiations, the moderate Hurriyat leader said “a way out
could be triangular talks between Kashmiris and Pakistan,
between Kashmiris and India
and between Pakistan and India.”
Full story: http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/jun/11kash.htm
India and Pakistan
to work on three gasline projects
Financial Express, Islamabad, June 8
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday endorsed the
joint participation by India
and Pakistan
in executing transnational natural gas pipeline projects. To begin with, the two sides have agreed to
work jointly on the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline project, the
Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) project and the Gulf-South Asian gas
pipeline project from Qatar
to Pakistan,
being extended to the Indian coast. Also,
at the end of the three-day visit of petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar to
Pakistan, it has become amply clear that the three sets of bilateral dialogue
between Iran-Pakistan, Iran-India and India-Pakistan on the Iran-Pakistan-India
gas pipeline project would finally converge into a trilateral dialogue by this
year end. In his hour-long meeting with
Mr Musharraf, Mr Aiyar discussed various aspects of the three transnational gas
pipeline projects.
Full story: http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=212161&category=frontend&Country=main&pro=0
Kashmir leaders on historic visit
BBC South Asia, 2 June
A number of top Kashmiri
separatist leaders have crossed the Line of Control into Pakistani-administered
territory on a landmark visit. Doves
were released as the leaders walked across the bridge that links divided Kashmir across the LOC.
It is the first time India has allowed Kashmiri separatist leaders to
travel from territory it administers to Pakistan as a representative
group. The visit is being opposed by
hardliners and militant groups. The separatists
were warmly welcomed by the prime minister of Pakistani-administered Kashmir and other officials. They have now arrived in
Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir,
where they will hold talks with Pakistani officials as well as local Kashmiri
representatives. Many people came on to
the streets to see the leaders arrive.
At a press conference late on Thursday, the leaders urged Pakistan and India to include Kashmiri
representatives in any talks aimed at solving the dispute over the
territory. Earlier the separatists left Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, by car for the Kaman post on the LOC. Hundreds of supporters traveled as part of
the convoy but the BBC’s Altaf Hussain in Srinagar said only a handful of
people turned up to greet them along the route.
However, there were many more people on the Pakistani-controlled side,
where the 58km (36 mile) route from Chakothi to Muzaffarabad was lined with
bunting and banners. One delegation
member, Fazlul Haq Qureshi, said: “We are in our home. We are among our
brothers. We wish success to the peace process.” Pakistan
and India have fought two of
their three wars since independence in 1947 over Kashmir
but began peace talks eighteen months ago.
Separatist leader Yasin Malik, a former militant and one of the
first to take up arms against Indian rule in Kashmir,
said he was going to explore ways to include Kashmiris in the peace talks. “In 1989 I crossed the LOC to bring the gun,
today I’m on a peace mission,” he told journalists in Srinagar. But another separatist leader,
Shabir Shah, said he was forced to drop out because he had been denied a
passport by the Indian government. He
said he was denied a passport after he wrote “Kashmiri” in the citizenship
column of his Indian passport application. The separatists were invited to Islamabad 11 days ago by
the Pakistani government. Delhi initially said permits for the new bus service were
valid only for Pakistan-administered Kashmir,
but relented at the 11th hour.
The delegation can travel elsewhere with the condition that they will
have to travel on Indian passports. The
United Jihad Council, an umbrella organization for Pakistan-based militant
groups, decided on Wednesday not to meet the delegation officially. But it may allow militant leaders to meet the
Indian delegation in their individual capacity, says our correspondent. “Meeting with militants will be at the top of
our agenda,” Mr Farooq told the AFP news agency.
Full story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4599529.stm
Singh hails Musharraf’s proposal
The
News, New Delhi,
May 30
Indian
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has welcomed President Pervez Musharraf’s
proposal to demilitarize a part of Kashmir and
give it autonomy. President Musharraf
had made this proposal about two weeks ago as a possible solution to the Kashmir dispute. Addressing
a press conference in Simla on Sunday, Manmohan Singh said if there was any
progress on the outstanding issues between the two countries then the proposal
of President Musharraf might be given a due consideration. However, he observed
that Indo-Pakistani relations were improving.
Manmohan Singh said India
would make “full and sincere” efforts to resolve all bilateral problems through
talks. He also did not rule out the possibility of increasing the frequency of
Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service.
About
Siachen, the prime minister, without being specific about withdrawal of the
army, said defense secretaries of the two countries have held talks in Islamabad on the
issue. Defense Secretary Ajai Vikram
Singh, who had held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Lt-Gen (r) Tariq
Waseem Ghazi Friday on Siachen, will possibly return today “and then I will
find out from him how the talks went off”, Singh said. Acknowledging that there were some hurdles sometimes,
Singh, however, said, “We are trying that the understanding and confidence
building measures become stronger and people-to-people contact increase.” Asked about the possibility of increasing the
frequency of Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service, Singh said, “nothing can be
ruled out.”
Full story: http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=209995&category=frontend&Country=main&pro=0
Study group to focus on Indo-Pakistani trade
The
News, Lahore,
May 28
The
India-Pakistan Business to Business Joint Study Group, formed to identify
problems in trade between the two countries, will submit its preliminary report
by the end of July this year. “The
formation of this group comprising businessmen from the two sides is a step
forward towards increasing the trade between the two neighboring countries,”
leader of Indian trade delegation and President of Federation of Indian Chamber
of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Onkar S Kanwar told a press conference here
on Friday on the conclusion of his visit to Pakistan.
The study group has been formed by the Federation of Indian Chambers of
Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce
and Industry (FPCCI). Onkar S. Kanwar
said that the meeting of President Musharraf and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan
Singh had given a roadmap to the apex trade bodies of Pakistan and India to work for increasing the
trade relations.
Full story: http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=209557&category=Frontend&Country=MAIN
Indian
banks allowed to operate in Pakistan
The
News, Karachi,
May 27
The State
Bank of Pakistan has allowed
Indian commercial banks to open their branches in Pakistan. The SBP has not
specifically named “Indian” in its newly issued guidelines and criteria for
setting up a commercial bank in Pakistan,
but said two categories are allowed to conduct banking business in branch mode
as well as wholly-owned locally incorporated subsidiary. First, banks from countries belonging to
regional groups and associations of which Pakistan is a member. Second, foreign banks having a global tier-1
paid-up capital of $5 billion or more. Since
India
is a member of SAARC, so under prescribed definition of being member country of
regional groups, Indian banks would be eligible to set up their branches. During the recent visit of Governor Indian
central bank - Reserve Bank of India (RBI) – the question of granting
permission to Pakistani banks in India
was raised and he cautiously replied, “RBI has no reservations on opening up
branches of Pakistani banks in India.”
Full story: http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=209273&category=Frontend&Country=MAIN
Pakistan keen to boost trade with India
Rediff.com News, Rahul Kashyap in Karachi,
May 24
Observing that there is enormous potential for enhancing bilateral trade with India, Pakistan on Tuesday said economic
managers of the two countries should plan the roadmap and remove roadblocks in
this regard. “It is the right time for the economic
managers of the two countries in the driving seat to plan the future roadmap
and remove roadblocks,” Pakistan
Minister of State for Commerce Hamid Yar Hiraj told a joint meeting of
Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and its Pakistani counterpart
Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Karachi.
“We have to see that even if there is compulsion on the governments of
the two countries, and for diplomatic reasons they want to impose trade
restriction, they should feel paralyzed in doing so due to strong trade
relations and back off from taking restrictive actions,” he said. “Chambers of the two countries should force
the governments of (India and
Pakistan)
to sign a ‘No War Treaty’,” the minister said.
Pointing out that history had moved much ahead, he said the industry
chambers should identify areas that can get binding commitments from the two
governments.
Speaking on the occasion, FICCI president
Onkar S Kanwar proposed that Pakistan
may provide a list of items which it finds would hurt its business
interests. India, he said, would honour it by
not trading in these items. Noting that
there is a huge information gap, Kanwar said Indian and Pakistani businessmen
should be made aware of the trade opportunities in the two countries. He sought easing of visa restrictions for
businessmen and said these should be considered after certification of their
business needs by FICCI and FPCCI. India could become Pakistan’s gateway to the east and
south east Asia, the FICCI president said and sought opening of road route for
trade through the Wagah border and greater port connectivity. He also asked Pakistan government to allow
roaming facility to Indian cell phone users.
On the issue of non-tariff barriers, Kanwar asked Pakistani businessmen
to furnish evidence of these to FICCI, which, he said, would take up the matter
with the government. “I assure if there
are any non-tariff barriers, they will be withdrawn,” he asserted.
FPCCI president Choudhary
Muhammad Saeed said it has been universally accepted that survival of nations
would be convoluted if they do not prepare to face the challenges of future
trade. “Intra-regional, trade, however,
is only four per cent among SAARC countries and contributes just one per cent
of global trade. If this trend continues, I fear smaller blocs like SAARC may
become insignificant for trade,” he said.
Besides textiles, Indo-Pak trade can be enhanced in items like tea,
coffee, textile machinery and chemicals, he said. The two sides can establish joint ventures in
sectors including tourism, construction, real estate, transportation,
automobiles, light engineering and IT, he added.
Full story: http://in.rediff.com/money/2005/may/24pak.htm
Kashmir solution can’t be religion-based
Rediff.com News, K.J.M. Varma in Islamabad,
May 20
Acknowledging India’s
“sensitivities”, Pakistan
President Pervez Musharraf on Friday night said that a solution to the Kashmir issue cannot be on religious basis. “We do understand India’s sensitivities of their
secular credentials,” the Pakistani leader said. He said a solution to the vexed issue cannot be on “any religious
basis.” He was addressing
parliamentarians and journalists from India,
Pakistan and other South
Asian countries in Islamabad. “To identify a region, allow maximum self
governance to people, demilitarize the region and take some action to make the
border irrelevant,” he said.
The Pakistani leader had in November last
spoken about demilitarizing regions but this is probably the first time he has
ruled out a solution of Kashmir on the basis
of religion. Musharraf said his ideas to
start with may sound “confusing” but he was very confident that a solution can
be reached on Kashmir that satisfied India,
Pakistan and the people of Kashmir. He said a
solution has to be found from within India's
stand (no re-drawing of borders), Pakistan’s stand (the Line of
Control cannot be a permanent border and boundaries becoming irrelevant). “They are conflicting statements. The
solution exactly lies in a compromise. In fact, it lies in the third statement,
that is boundaries becoming irrelevant,” he said.
Musharraf said history offered only
“fleeting moments” to resolve complex issues like Kashmir and the prevailing
international atmosphere as well as improved relations between the two
countries offered “ideal opportunity” for him and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
to resolve it. “It must be during the
tenure of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and myself,” he said while sounding
reluctant to specify a timeframe, “knowing the Indian sensitivities” over
it. “I would be inclined to any
timeframe. However, in view of sensitivities on your (Indian) side, may I say
that practically and realistically one can't very strictly lay down in months
and days. May be that is very difficult.”
Full story: http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/may/20mush.htm
*Pakistan
Karachi Peace Activists urged to play a role
Dawn, Karachi, May 27
Speakers at a discussion on Friday urged the peace activists of India and
Pakistan to continue to put pressure on their respective governments regarding
on-going peace process so that a sustainable peace could prevail in the
subcontinent. Speaking at the discussion on “Imperatives of denuclearization
and the peace process”, organized jointly by the Pakistan India People's Forum
for Peace and Democracy and the Aurat Foundation at the Rafia Chaudhry
Auditorium, they stressed that if there was no pressure, peace process might
derail.
The discussion was organized on the eve of 7th anniversary of the Pakistan’s
nuclear testing carried out on May 28, 1998. Brig A. R. Siddiqui, columnist M.
B. Naqvi, journalist Zubaidah Mustafa, cartoonist Mohammad Rafiq “Feica”,
teachers of Karachi University Jaffer Ahmad and Nausheen Wasi, Anis Haroon and
others also spoke. They pointed out that
no home work had been done prior to starting the peace process, as one could
remember that emotions were running high just before this process began, but
then all of a sudden some specific international conditions persuaded both the
governments to start the peace process, so it was feared that if the situation
changed, there was a possibility that the peace process could be reversed by
the vested interest. They said a large
number of textbooks of both the countries were infested with material fanning
hatred, and it is high time that both the governments should evolve a policy to
review and revise syllabus mind.
They said that the government should know that the weapons do not
provide sustainable security, which could only be achieved by strengthening
human resources. They suggested that the nuclear armament level between both
the countries be lowered. They said with
the bomb the country has become even more vulnerable. They said at present the
world powers needed Pakistan
in their war against terror, what guarantee was there that there would not be a
repeat action of the 1984 Baghdad attack when
Israeli air force, with surgical precision, wiped out Iraq's nuclear
facility. They said that confidence
among the masses of both the countries could not be built up by keeping nuclear
arsenal and its delivery systems, which were being updated and improved every
now and then. They said that the jehadis and the religious extremists parties
in both the countries were a serious threat to peace. They said bulk of the resources of both the
countries were being spent on non developmental sectors like defence, while the
social sectors like health, education etc were not given due priority. They said that efforts be made to improve the
economic conditions of the masses so that they could get the basic amenities,
and their human rights were not violated.
They said that cities and urban centers in both the countries were so near to
the border that nuclear bombs could not be used as, with the change in the wind
direction, the fall-out could affect the areas and human settlements across the
border, so the claim that nuclear weapons acted as a deterrent was not
correct. They also expressed doubts on
the statements that nuclear assets were safe and secure, and said only a few
days back some parts had been stolen from the KANUPP, which is also a nuclear
facility. A brief question-answer
session also followed the speeches. The
peace activists after the discussion also organized a candle-lit peace vigil
and the participants marched from the auditorium to the Press Club.
*India-Bangladesh
Bangladeshi MPs plan goodwill India visit
Daily Star,
Dhaka, May 27
A parliamentary committee on Thursday decided that its
members would pay a confidence-building visit to India as it believes, and had
earlier stated, that Indo-Bangladeshi relations have nearly hit rock bottom.
The members of the parliamentary standing committee on the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs will meet their counterparts in the Indian parliament and leaders of
different political parties to clear up the “misunderstandings”. During the visit, the Bangladeshi lawmakers
will also invite the Indian lawmakers to pay a return visit to Bangladesh,
Ziaur Rahman, the chairman of the committee, told reporters after a meeting of
the committee held at Sangsad Bhaban. The
committee asked the foreign ministry to initiate a move for such a trip,
tentatively late next month. It also
asked the ministry to arrange exchange programs on sports and culture – the
programs the committee believes will improve the strained relations through
people-to-people contact of the two neighboring countries.
Lawmakers from the both the ruling and opposition
parties underscored the need for improving relations with India, the giant next-door neighbor. They reviewed Bangladesh’s ‘Look East’ policy
and said the new strategy has brought no real progress for the country, rather
it has soured relations with some other neighbors to some extent, said meeting
sources. “We should go by the policy of
friendship to all, enmity to none,” one of the lawmakers from the ruling
Bangladesh Nationalist Party told the meeting.
An opposition lawmaker said the government should not reject outright
the Indian allegations of terrorist camps in Bangladesh and smuggling of arms to
the Indian rebels. The government should rather look into these allegations and
find out whether they are right. Because
of a series of clashes on the border, the parliamentary body on April 17, 2005
found that Indo-Bangladeshi relations had hit the lowest point and suggested
that the government scale up its diplomatic efforts to improve relations with
all the neighbors, especially India.
Full story: http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=209441&category=Frontend&Country=MAIN
India and Bangladesh begin joint border
patrol
Rediff.com News, M Chhaya in Kolkata, May 25
Border guards of India
and Bangladesh
have begun patrolling their porous frontier jointly to curb illegal migration
and the movement of international criminals, an Indian official said on
Wednesday. India had been long demanding that the forces jointly
patrol the 4094-km border, but Dhaka, angry with New Delhi’s regular accusations that it
harbored terrorist groups, had repeatedly shot down the proposal. The two border guard forces finally began
their coordinated vigil on the weekend after a meeting between their commanders
in Dhaka in April and subsequent negotiations
between the two governments.
Full story: http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/may/25bangla.htm
*Bangladesh
Satkhira rally vows to resist bigots
Daily Star, Dhaka
Friday, May 27
Speakers at a rally here
yesterday called upon all pro-liberation forces to unitedly resist anti-Ahmadiyya
bigots in the country. They also pledged
all support to Ahmadiyyas to undo the zealots' activities against them. The rally was organized by Samprodaik
Sampriti Rakkha Committee (communal harmony protection committee) at Abdur Razzak
Park in the district
town. Repeated attacks on members of the
Ahmadiyya community in different areas of the country are also a severe blow to
pro-liberation forces, Justice KM Sobhan said.
Full story: http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=209316&category=Frontend&Country=BANGLADESH
*Nepal
Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh
talk gas pipeline
Katmandu, Himalayan
Times, June 7
Nepal, Bhutan
and Bangladesh are
considering a gas pipeline project that will traverse through India. The three countries have
reached an initial understanding to conduct a feasibility study to carry gas
from Bangladesh to the two
kingdoms via pipelines running through India. An initial agreement was
reached between the foreign secretaries of the three countries last week. Dhaka
last week hosted a meeting to review the progress in establishing a free trade
area comprising Bangladesh, India, Myanmar,
Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan
and Nepal.
Bangladesh is keen to export
gas to landlocked Nepal and
has asked India
to allow the gas pipeline through its territory.
Full story: http://www.southasianmedia.net/index_story.cfm?id=211947&category=Frontend&Country=MAIN
Nepal reporters in protest march
Kathmandu, BBC South Asia, 29 May
Up to 200 journalists have marched through Nepal’s
capital, Kathmandu, to protest against the
government's closure of a radio production company.
The journalists demanded the lifting of Saturday’s closure order on the
Communication Corner Company and vowed to take the issue to the Supreme Court.
Police did not intervene and no arrests were made. King Gyanendra has imposed
strict media controls since taking direct power of Nepal on 1 February. He said he
took power because politicians had failed to tackle the country’s ten-year Maoist
insurgency that has cost almost 12,000 lives. The journalists, some wearing
black, carried banners reading “Withdraw the illegal order –