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ACHA PEACE BULLETIN

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

A publication of Association for Communal Harmony in Asia (ACHA)

www.asiapeace.org & www.indiapakistanpeace.org

Editor: Pritam K. Rohila, PhD asiapeace@comcast.net

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Volume XIII, No. 6: June 15, 2009, Next Issue July 15, 2009

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CONTENTS

EDITORIAL

*For a Peaceful & Prosperous Pakistan, Pritam K. Rohila, Ph.D.

ARTICLES OF THE MONTH

*Whither Pakistan? A five-year forecast, Pervez Hoodbhoy, Bulletin ASs, 3 June 2009

*Heading towards victory, Zafar Hilaly, The News, June 11, 2009

*Former extremist now fights militancy in Pakistan, AP, June 5, 2009

BOOKS

*Bahuroopi Gandhi, Anu Bandyopadhyaya (translated in Sindhi by Zaffar Junejo)

DOCUMENTARIES, FILMS & VIDEOS

*Video: We can have P.E.A.C.E., We can have Peace

EVENTS

*June 26-29, Mumbai, India: PEACEWARDS

*October 2, New Zealand to Argentina: WORLD MARCH

*December 3-9, 2009, Melbourne, Australia: the World’s Religions

EVENT REPORTS

*May 14, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan: WOMEN RALLY FOR PEACE

*May 9-10, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan: PEACE BUILDING TRAINING WORKSHOP

JOBS, INTERNSHIPS & VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS (FOR THE COMMON GOOD)

MEMBERS’ CORNER

*Dr. Stephen Gill

PEACE & HARMONY NEWS FROM INDIA & PAKISTAN

PEACE & HARMONY NEWS FROM SOUTH ASIA

PEACE EDUCATION RESOURCES

*Peace Psychology Courses in the United States, and elsewhere

PETITIONS

*Freedom to Travel, Trade and Think www.petitiononline.com/kokoi5

*India Pakistan Friendship Club’s Petition against Terrorism

UPDATE: KASHMIR

UPDATE: NEPAL

UPDATE: PAKISTAN

UPDATE: SRILANKA

*Reconciliation Needed After Celebration, Jehan Perera npc@sltnet.lk , June 7, 2009

EDITORIAL

*For a Peaceful & Prosperous Pakistan, Pritam K. Rohila, Ph.D.

After years of dilly-dallying the Pakistan government and the Army have launched an offensive against the extremists in Swat, Buner and Dir. In retaliation, the extremists have carried out brazen and well-planned suicide and car-bombing attacks in different parts of Pakistan. They have targeted police and military personnel and installations, prestigious hotels, crowded markets and even religious scholars and mosques

The Army offensive has resulted in displacement of 3 million people. Millions of those who did not or could not leave their homes are trapped in the crossfire.

Had the Pakistan government and the Army done the needful before the extremists got entrenched in some parts of the country, things would not have been as bad as they appear now.

Unfortunately, we do not know how durable it would be, when and if the government and the Army score a victory in their current struggle against the extremists. To enjoy its fruits longer, the government, the Army and the civil society will have do all that is necessary to ensure the country’s transition to a peaceful and just social order.

Most importantly, they will have to see that the young people’s minds are not poisoned with hate and prejudice against others, and they are not encouraged to use violence to resolve their disagreements with others. Also they will have to train the young people in the art of critical analysis, independent thinking, good citizenship, and in the ways to live in peace and harmony with others.

ARTICLES OF THE MONTH

1. Whither Pakistan? A five-year forecast, Pervez Hoodbhoy

2. Heading towards victory, Zafar Hilaly

3. Former extremist now fights militancy in Pakistan, AP

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*Whither Pakistan? A five-year forecast, Pervez Hoodbhoy, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 3 June 2009 http://www.thebulletin.org/web-edition/features/whither-pakistan-five-year-forecast

Article Highlights

-U.S. government officials and media outlets have exaggerated how close Pakistan is to collapse.

-That said, the speed of Pakistan's societal decline has surprised many inside in the country who have long warned of the effects of religious extremism.

-The first step toward calming the situation--Pakistan's political leadership and army must squarely face the extremist threat, something they've finally begun to do.

*Heading towards victory, Zafar Hilaly, The News, June 11, 2009

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=182344

….Pakistan's victory in the present war against the Taliban is foreordained for no other reason than that the nation is finally united against the enemy. Of course, the Taliban frontline has yet to be eliminated, yes, there will be reverses and sadly the cost will be high in terms of lives lost and suffering; and there is always the possibility that the fickle public may recoil but the outcome is not in doubt. Pakistan's Pashtuns are too free spirited and savvy to mortgage their future to savage rural hillbillies. The pristine medievalism that the Taliban promise has few takers among the urban Pashtuns; and where the towns lead the rural community follows, in due course. Besides Pashtuns have a multitude of scores to settle for the murder, rape and pillage that the Taliban have inflicted on them in Swat and elsewhere…

*Former extremist now fights militancy in Pakistan, AP, June 5, 2009

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090605/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan_battle_of_ideas

ISLAMABAD – Ten years ago, Maajid Nawaz came to Pakistan to recruit for an extremist group intent on a global Islamic state. Now he's on a different mission — to steer youth away from militancy. Nawaz's message is one rarely heard in Pakistan, where the response to extremism has been overwhelmingly military, with little attempt to try to rehabilitate insurgents or keep young people from turning to militancy in the first place.

BOOKS

*Bahuroopi Gandhi, Anu Bandyopadhyaya (translated in Sindhi by Zaffar Junejo), to be published in Pakistan in the first week of July

The book portrays many aspects of this great man which remain unknown. How he took interest in so many things and when got going he did them with extraordinary finesse. He spun khadi and wove sarees for his wife Kasturba on a loom and stitched blouses for her. He was hair-cutter, made leather sandals, washed clothes and cleaned toilets with broom and bucket

 Gandhiji did the most menial tasks with utmost pride. This book has the power to sensitize and change people. He told us that every single individual on earth can make a significant contribution. Gandhiji's message is loud and clear - Live Simply, so that Others Can Simple Live...."

The English version can be read at  http://mkgandhi.org/bahurupi/bahurupi.htm

DOCUMENTARIES, FILMS & VIDEOS

*Video: We can have P.E.A.C.E., We can have Peace at

http://www.ipeace.me/video/video/show?id=2217368%3AVideo%3A1697933&xgs=1

Porscha Parker is the new American, female rock sensation. Mixing her beautiful voice with her Indian roots, Porscha Parker delivers the anthems for a new global generation.

EVENTS

*June 26-29, Mumbai, India: PEACEWARDS, a residential workshop will be offered by Citizens for Peace, on peace and living with differences, at the Sarvodaya, St. Pius College Compound, Aarey Road, Goregaon East, Mumbai. The workshop will be conducted by Dr Monica Sharma, Director, Leadership and Capacity Development, at the United Nations, OHRLLS. 

More info from Gulan Kripalani, Executive Director, Citizens for Peace, Phone 9820003572, gulan@citizensforpeace.in, , www.citizensforpeace.in and  

http://www.kosmosjournal.org/kjo/articles/articlessub2/personal-planetary.shtml

*October 2, New Zealand to Argentina: WORLD MARCH beginning in New Zealand on October 2, 2009, the anniversary of Gandhi’s birth, declared the “International Day of Nonviolence” by the United Nations, will conclude in the Andes Mountains (Punta de Vacas, Aconcagua, Argentina) on January 2, 2010. This 90-day March will pass through many countries having all climates and seasons, from the hot summer of the tropics and the deserts, to the winter of Siberia. A permanent base of a hundred people of different nationalities will complete the journey.

*December 3-9, 2009, Melbourne, Australia: The 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions, will bring together the world’s religious and spiritual communities, their leaders and their followers to a gathering where peace, diversity and sustainability are discussed and explored in the context of interreligious understanding and cooperation.

Parliament participants will work with others and within their own traditions to craft faithful responses to indigenous reconciliation, global poverty and global warming, environmental care and degradation, education of the young and the challenges of social disengagement, voluntary and forced migration, artistic expression and spirituality, the value of sports, ethnic and religious tensions. More info from http://www.parliamentofreligions2009.org/home.php

EVENT REPORTS

*May 14, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan: WOMEN RALLY FOR PEACE

On May 14, 2009, Arooj-e-Mariam, National Council for Interfaith Dialogue and Diocesan Commission for Interfaith Dialogue jointly organized a women vigil rally and a prayer service for peace in Pakistan in Faisalabad. Catholic Bishop Joseph Coutts of Faisalabad and Father Nisar Barkat, Director NCJP, led the prayer service and peace rally, which was joined by over 200 Christian women. (More info from minorities_concern_pakistan@yahoo.com)

*May 9-10, Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan: PEACE BUILDING TRAINING WORKSHOP

The National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) organized ‘peace building training workshop’ for teachers on May 9-10, 2009 in Faisalabad. Thirty Muslim and Christian teachers from government, private and missionary schools of Faisalabad participated in the workshop. The resource persons were; Father Nisar Barkat (Director-NCJP), Father Khalid Rasheed Asi (Director Youth Commission), Mr. Syed M. Zikeriya (Director Jamia Abedia), Mr. Yousaf Benjamin (Coordinator-PEP), Mr. Anwar Chaudhry Advocate and Ms. Rubina Inayat.

The participants demanded that the chapters based on peace building, religious and social harmony should be included in the educational syllabus, whereas biases and hate material should be eliminated from the curriculum. (More info from minorities_concern_pakistan@yahoo.com)

JOBS, INTERNSHIPS & VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS (FOR THE COMMON GOOD) *http://www.graduationpledge.org/jobs.html

MEMBERS’ CORNER

 *Dr. Stephen Gill (stephengill@cogeco.ca) presented his poetry on peace on May 13, at 7 p.m., at the Public Library, in his home town of Cornwall, Ontario. Because of the presence of some Canadians of Pakistani origin, he read his poems also in Urdu/Hindi and Panjabi at the end of his reading of English poems. The reading was sponsored by the Canada Council through the Writers Union of Canada.

For additional information, readers are invited to visit his web site www.stephengill.ca and his interview with Bashir Khan on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUnAoFG0EiU

PEACE & HARMONY NEWS FROM INDIA & PAKISTAN

*http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndiaPakistanPeaceDay/

PEACE & HARMONY NEWS FROM SOUTH ASIA

*http://groups.google.com/group/peace--harmony-news-from-south-asia

PEACE EDUCATION RESOURCES

*Peace Psychology Courses in the United States, and elsewhere (Source Dr. Linden Nelson

linnel@sbcglobal.net

Psychology of Peace, taught by Christine Hansvick hansvick@plu.edu, at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA

Psychology of Peace, Conflict, and Violence, taught by Abbie Jenks gandhi0324@comcast.net, at Greenfield Community College, Greenfield, MA

The Psychology of War and Peace, taught by Joe Hatcher hatcherj@ripon.edu, at Ripon College
Ripon, WI

Psychology of Peace and Conflict Resolution, taught by Barbara Tint tint@pdx.edu, at Portland State University, Portland, OR

Introduction to Peace Studies and Peace Psychology, taught by Joe de Rivera JDeRivera@clark.edu at Clark University, Worcester, MA

Peace Psychology, taught by Linda Woolf woolflm@webster.edu, at Webster University, St. Louis, MO

Psychology of Reconciliation and Peacebuilding, taught by Nebojsa Petrovic, petr.neb@sbb.co.yu, at University of Belgrade, Serbia

Peace Psychology, taught by Michael Wessells mwessell@rmc.edu, at Randolph-Macon College
Ashland, VA

Seminar in Peace Psychology, taught by David A. “Tony” Hoffman thoffma@ucsc.edu, at University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA

Peace Making, Peace Keeping, and Peace Building, mpilisuk@saybrook.edu, at Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center, San Francisco, CA

Applying Political Psychology to Current Social Issues, taught by Christopher Cohrs c.cohrs@qub.ac.uk, at Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland

Conflict Resolution: Violent and Nonviolent, taught by Carrie Langner clangner@calpoly.edu, at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA

War, Nonviolence, & Peace, taught by Guy Larry Osborne losborne@cn.edu, at Carson-Newman College, Jefferson City, TN

Advanced Social Psychology, taught by Kim Daubman daubman@bucknell.edu, at Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA

The Gift of Conflict, taught by Deri Joy Ronis DrDeri@aol.com, at University of South Florida
Sarassota, FL

Psychology of War and Terrorism, taught by Mark McKellop mckellop@juniata.edu, at Juniata College, Huntingdon, PA

Roots of Intergroup Conflict and Violence, & Approaches to Improving Intergroup Relations
[Core courses in the Psychology of Peace and Violence Concentration of the social psychology graduate program, taught by jtominar@psych.umass.edu, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA

Identity and Conflict, & Microtheories of Conflict, taught by Karyna Korostelina ckoroste@gmu.edu, at George Mason University, Washington, D.C.

Peace, Conflict and Violence, taught by Daniel Mayton dmayton@lcsc.edu, at Lewis-Clark State College, Lewiston, ID

PETITIONS

*Freedom to Travel, Trade and Think www.petitiononline.com/kokoi5

This is an appeal targeting global civil society, particularly that of India, Pakistan and kashmir to lobby the Indian and Pakistani governments to ease their military presence in Kashmir. Further, to give an unconditional right to the people of Kashmir to travel and trade on either side of the divide (LOC - Line of Control that divides the Indian and Pakistani administered parts). This divide has outlasted the Berlin Wall by two decades now. Finally, to request both countries to refrain from perpetuating the myth that Hindus and Muslims cannot co-exist harmoniously.

-An online version is available at More info from Tanveer Ahmed sahaafi@gmail.com

*India Pakistan Friendship Club’s Petition against Terrorism

http://www.petitiononline.com/420840/petition.html

The Petition is circulated by India Pakistan Friendship Club, a band young people, who aspire for peace & harmony in the South Asia. They state, “Our intent is not to hold up to any particular political dogma, any tenets of a religion or any cultural outlook, instead we represent the spirit of an active, awake & accountable citizen focused towards attaining never ending peace & tranquility with harmonious relationships.”

They expect all concerned “to get alert and alarmed with us, join hands in their stand against terrorism and take a pledge towards strengthening this struggle till we attain serenity all over.”

More info from Chaturvedi Anurag at chaturvedi.anurag@gmail.com and www.ipfc.info

UPDATE: KASHMIR

*http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KashmirSolutionsForum/

*www.drshabirchoudhry.blogspot.com

*http://kashmirforumorg.blogspot.com/

UPDATE: NEPAL

*http://www.nepalasiacenter.com/

UPDATE: PAKISTAN

*http://www.chowk.com/

UPDATE: SRILANKA

*Reconciliation Needed After Celebration, Jehan Perera npc@sltnet.lk , June 7, 2009

The phase of public celebration reached its climax with the victory commemoration event and military parade of last Wednesday at Galle Face Green. In a manner that accorded with the past traditions of rulership of the island, President Mahinda Rajapaksa received scrolls from the commanders of the security forces apprising him of duties well done, and of victory, the end of war and the unification of the country. The President’s speech focused on a victory that that was once said to be not possible and appreciated the sacrifice by members of the security forces and their families. He said that the secret of victory was the people who sacrificed their children and loved ones for the nation and to save the lives of others.

The President also spoke of the need to win the hearts of the Tamil people and to ensure that they were protected so that they could live without fear and mistrust. He referred to Sri Lanka as the Motherland of us all in which we should live without difference. He asserted that the war fought against the LTTE was not one against the Tamil people and that the troops had sacrificed their lives to liberate the Tamil people, in what the government had described as the world’s largest humanitarian operation. He honored the people of the South who having sent their children to the battlefield were now sending cooked food to the displaced people of the North.

The President also gave his appreciation to those sections of the international community especially from those neigbouring Asian countries who had supported the government, and whom he described as having honest, close and friendly relations with Sri Lanka. Countries such as India, Pakistan and China are countries that supported Sri Lanka with military assistance during the time of war and are now supporting it diplomatically in the face of post-war calls by the United Nations and Western countries for an independent human rights probe into the end phase of the war. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recently added his voice to this demand, which has been rejected by the Sri Lankan government. In his speech, President Rajapaksa called for a new era in foreign relations to safeguard the country’s newly won freedom.

Same Grief

No less a practical peace maker than Nelson Mandela is quoted as having said we need to make peace with our enemies and not with our friends. One lacuna in the President’s speech was the absence of reference to the sufferings undergone by Tamil families whose children perished in the war. Some of them would have joined the LTTE out of conviction, and others would have joined because they had no choice or were forcibly conscripted. But the grief of those families would be the same, and needed to be acknowledged. Many of those grieving families are in camps for the displaced and so their suffering is all the greater.

The government also needs to acknowledge the contribution made to Sri Lanka by countries beyond its Asian neighbours. The international bans placed on the LTTE by the United States, Canada, Australia and the European Union in particular contributed to the delegitmising of the LTTE worldwide. The suspicion that the Western countries were trying to save the LTTE in the last phase of war, by their calls for a humanitarian ceasefire and surrender of LTTE leaders to a third party, must not negate the contribution made by those countries to Sri Lanka’s long term development since its Independence.

An example of reaching out to the other that the government might wish to consider was the speech delivered by US President Barak Obama to the Muslim world from Cairo University. The US president addressed some of the most contentious issues that have divided the people in the United States and also in the world. In his speech, President Obama held to long established US positions such as Israel’s right to exist, and to the historical truth of the Holocaust. He also emphasized the long years of suffering of the Palestinian people and their right for a state of their own, which is also a position that President Rajapaksa has upheld during his long years in Sri Lankan and international politics.

President Obama’s speech was also noteworthy on account of his willingness to be self-critical about the wrongs committed by the United States in the past. He referred to the US role in toppling a democratically elected Iranian government in the past, and to the use of torture in anti-terrorist operations till the present, which he had ordered to stop. The element of self-criticism contains the core of reaching out to the other who has been perceived as an enemy. Where there is self-criticism there is the awareness that the whole truth does not lie with oneself, but that the other’s position too contains truth, which requires dialogue to understand and to accommodate.

No Resting

Perhaps it is still too soon after the war in Sri Lanka for the spirit of reaching out to the other and to be self-critical to infuse the thinking and speech making of government leaders. It is only about three weeks since the LTTE was defeated in the North in a terrible battle that has led to calls for international probes into human rights violations. After the Second World War, in many European countries the search and persecution of Nazi collaborators went on for months. Likewise, today the search for LTTE remnants, LTTE collaborators and traitors in the South is on. There are statements by government members that unspecified media persons and NGOs have been in the pay of the LTTE. The checks by the security forces continue and there is still tension in the air.

The abduction and brutal assault on Poddala Jayantha, Secretary of the Working Journalists Association by an unknown group of men in a white van, and the threats leveled against the Centre for Policy Alternatives to conform to the expectations of the unknown party that has written to them, have taken place in a post-war context where the discrediting and labeling of people as anti-national is being taken to an unprecedented level.. Acts of this nature not only undermine the government’s commitment to freedom of the media but also cast doubt on its claim to have ended the politics of terror by defeating the LTTE.

Now that the government has curbed the LTTE’s terror it is time for the government to reach out to those who were on the other side of the divide, if Sri Lanka is to move forward united as a country in the manner that President Rajapaksa has been exhorting. Words are the easier part, but words are the evidence that the thoughts do exist, and thoughts are the forerunner of both words and deeds. The words that those who want peace and reconciliation are waiting to hear are what will constitute the government’s proposal for a just political settlement, which includes the resettlement of the displaced people and the protection of human rights and media freedom. Liberation from the tyranny and undemocratic rule of the LTTE is but a first step, and there can be no resting on those laurels.