India-Pakistan pilgrimage for peace and harmony

Srinagar: Feb, 08: More than a dozen NGOs from India in association with their Pakistani counterparts are planning a march in May this year to promote peace and harmony in the region.

According to Feroze Mithiborwala - President of Awami Bharat, the March that would be a combination of a Rath-cum-Padyatra would begin from Mumbai and follow the route from Dahanu (Maharashtra), Surat, Baroda, Ahmedabad, Mehsana - (Gujarat), Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Ajmer, Jaipur (Rajasthan), Agra, Mathura - (Uttar Pradesh), Delhi, Panipat - (Haryana), Chandigargh (Haryana-Punjab), Ludhiana, Amristsar (Punjab), Wagah (India-Pakistan border) before entering Pakistan and culminating in Karachi.

The march is expected to travel over 2000 kilometers in India and around 1000 kilometers in Pakistan by May 31, 2010.

Stating that a consensus is building for India and Pakistan peace and a vast majority of people in both the countries are in favor of peace, Feroze Mithiborwala said, "At the time when both the governments are now conducting discussions, we would only be adding to the climate & creating a larger space within the people of the two countries, as well as the powers that be."

Titled as India-Pakistan pilgrimage for peace and harmony, the march has been borrowed from Mahatma Gandhi's Salt Satyagraha launched during the British rule in the Indian subcontinent.

"Considering the religio-cultural history of South Asia, that has a deep devotion to Sufi & Bhakti Saints & for where Pilgrimages, either to Amarnath or Ajmer, are a holy & spiritually purifying act, we chose the name for our peace march", added Feroze.

"Throughout the course of our journey for peace, we would appeal to people to contribute a Mutthi bhar mitti - fist full of soil, that would then be collected from every city, town & village along the way. By this, people would feel that they are a part of the larger process of peace & unity", he said.

Noting that Peepal is the tree under which Buddha received his enlightenment and South Asia currently needs a generous dose of the same kind of enlightenment, he said, "We will also carry saplings - preferably Peepal from each of these places & plant them in the "GARDEN OF PEACE" that we will create along with a "PILLAR OF PEACE" or Bharat-Pakistan Shanti Stambh. This could then be made in all the cities towns & villages across the two countries."

"We do need a lot of emotional markers on our cultural landscape - We will create the same with the soil of the two countries", he noted. (Writer-South Asia)

Kashmir Solidarity Day - 5th February

By : Zaki Ahmad (Saudi Arabia)

Srinagar: Feb 5^th : Since 1991, Pakistanis from around the world, observe the 5th of February as a day to express solidarity with the people of Kashmir, who have been the victims of the worst Indian state terrorism for struggling and rendering unparalleled sacrifices to achieve their birth right, the right to self-determination, for the past six decades. There are several reasons why Pakistan and its people express solidarity with Kashmiris. The most striking is the strong cultural, religious and geographical bond which for centuries has tied the people of both areas into one unity. Moreover, the people of Pakistan rightly feel that Kashmir is the unfinished business of the partition of the subcontinent.

To understand the importance of the observance of Kashmir Solidarity Day, one needs to understand the history of India’s occupation of Kashmir, which dates back to the partition of the subcontinent in 1947 after a century of British rule. According to the Partition Plan of June 3, 1947, the subcontinent was to be divided into two sovereign states. The Hindu-majority areas were to form India and the Muslim-majority areas were to be included in the state of Pakistan.

Under the criterion of partition, the princely states had to accede either to Pakistan or to India, keeping in consideration the geographical situation and communal demography. Being a Muslim-majority state, with an 87% Muslim population, Kashmir had a natural tendency to accede to Pakistan, but the evil designs of its then Hindu ruler and the Indian National Congress paved the way to destroy the future of millions of people of Kashmir. India occupied the state by deploying its army there on October 27, 1947, in total disregard to the spirit of the partition plan and against the Kashmiris’ aspirations.

The people of Kashmir did not accept the illegal Indian occupation from day one and have been conducting their liberation struggle ever since. They started an armed struggle supported by a public uprising. On January 1, 1948, realizing that its troops could be defeated by the Kashmiri Mujahedeen (freedom fighters), India approached the United Nations Security Council, which in its successive resolutions, accepted by both Pakistan and India, approved a ceasefire, demarcation of a ceasefire line, and demilitarization of the state and called for a free and impartial plebiscite to be conducted under the supervision of the UN. The demarcation of ceasefire resulted in dividing Kashmir into two parts, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Indian Occupied Kashmir. Phase one of the UN resolutions — the ceasefire — was implemented while demilitarization of the territory and the holding of a plebiscite under the UN umbrella remains unimplemented till this day. One of India’s founding fathers and its first prime minister, Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru, whose government took the Kashmir issue to the United Nations, told the Indian Constituent Assembly on November 25, 1947: ‘In order to establish our bonafides, we have suggested that, when the people (of Kashmir) are given the chance to decide their future, this should be done under the supervision of an impartial tribunal such as the United Nations. ‘On June 26, 1952, Nehru told Indian parliament, ‘If … the people of Kashmir do not wish to remain with us, let them go by all means; we will not keep them against their will, however painful it may [be] for us.’

The most deplorable aspect of the Kashmir dispute is that India itself had taken the issue to the United Nations but later backed away from the promises it had made in front of the international community regarding the settlement of the dispute and allowing the people of Kashmir the right to self-determination.

India has committed numerous human rights violations in Kashmir. And still it tries to project itself as a secular and peaceful democracy. If India is so confident that the people of Kashmir have full faith in the Indian Constitution and that the overwhelming participation of Kashmiris in recent elections is proof of that, and then let it hold a plebiscite in line with the decades-old UN resolutions. What is India afraid of? All we are asking is to grant Kashmiris the right to decide for themselves.

Freedom of thought and expression is the most fundamental of human rights. There are a few countries in the world that claim to be democratic but are actually barbaric. They hide their war crimes by using their official and private media as a war machine. India is one of these countries, which has used all types of brutal force against Kashmiris but has been evading criticism because of the worst press censorship. To die is poignantly bitter, but the idea of having to die without having lived is unbearable.

Despite committing grave human rights violations, India tries to deceive the world by presenting itself as a “secular and the largest” democracy. For how long will the world stand by and allow this genocide to continue? UN should wake up to the blatant violations of the Geneva Conventions and the UN Charter by the Indian troops. These troops have been given a free hand to kill, detain and torture any person irrespective of their age and gender under the draconian and black laws, such as the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act - 1958, Public Safety Act (PSA) - 1978 and the Jammu And Kashmir Disturbed Areas Act - 1992. Indian forces have killed nearly one hundred thousand innocent Kashmiris. Youth have suffered the most as the Indian troops suspect them to be freedom fighters. Fake encounters, custodial deaths and enforced disappearances are common in the Indian-occupied Kashmir. However, the steadfast Kashmiris are, in fact writing an inspiring golden chapter in their epic history by making supreme sacrifices with the advent of every sunup. Nowhere in the world, has such a ghastly state terrorism existed.

On the other hand Pakistan is very sincere in solving the Kashmir issue. Pakistan has always invited India for starting the peace dialogue again after the 26/11 attacks but India has always run away from it. Pakistan has repeatedly emphasized that it would never accept any option for the resolution of the core issue between Pakistan and India, which goes against Kashmiris’ aspirations. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani have repeatedly said that Kashmir belongs to the Kashmiris and they are the arbiters of their fate.

The core issue of Kashmir, between India and Pakistan, has led Pakistan to face three wars and have devoted a major portion of their national incomes to defense budgets. World leaders have stressed the need to resolve the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan to avoid an eventuality that may cause a catastrophe in the region. Kashmir is the nuclear flash point of Asia, surrounded by three nuclear powers. It is incumbent on the international community in general and governing world bodies in particular to intervene and force India to stop shedding innocent Kashmiri blood. Kashmiris should have the right to decide their fate according to the UN resolutions, which were adopted to resolve the issue. Without any doubt, Kashmir is jugular vein of Pakistan and it cannot evidently abandon it under any conditions. With both the South Asian neighbours armed with nuclear weapons, another conventional war on Kashmir has the potential to turn into a nuclear exchange that could be disastrous not only for South Asia but for the world at large. September 11, 2001 changed the course of history. The formation of the US led alliance to combat terrorism provided the Indians the perfect excuse to turn back on their promise of finding a just and lasting solution to the Kashmir issue based on the wishes of the Kashmiris. They tried to confuse world opinion by pinning the blame on Pakistan for aiding the ‘militants’ through ‘cross-border terrorism’. The observance of the Kashmir Solidarity Day is, thus an unambiguous manifestation of Pakistan’s commitment to the veracity. Thus the 5th of February is a day to acknowledge Kashmiris’ struggle for justice, peace, truth, and fundamental human rights. (Writer-South Asia)

General Deepak Kapoor ambitious to author World War III : War

Srinagar, 28 Jan. : People’s Political Party ( PPP) , Chairman, Hilal Ahmad War welcomes the initiatives of two leading media groups of India and Pakistan –Times of India Group and Jang Group and their campaign under the banner of “Aman Ki Aasha “ ( Hope For Peace) to bring peace in this region . War said that the unresolved Kashmir Dispute is the stumbling block in the way of sustainable peace and stability in this region. Terming the resolution of Kashmir issue as key to peace in the region, and said that campaign of Aman Ki Aasha is bound to meet failure if the core issue of Kashmir is ignored. “ If the architects and authors of this peace campaign are sincere in their effort for peace and tranquillity they must declare that Kashmir is dispute and the real bone of contention between India and Pakistan , secondly they should appeal conscious political leaders, highly acclaimed impartial journalists, writers and peace lovers of India and also those who urge for peace in this region , to come forward and unmask the hawks and warmongers of India like Lt. General Deepak Kapoor, Indian Chief of Army Staff and diplomat –cum-debater , Mr. G.Parthasarthy  and declare them enemies of peace,” said War. For this purpose, Times Now, news channel launched by Times of India Group should be utilized as a medium for peace not hatred. If they cannot do that then they must shut their shop of PEACE.

Mr. War stated that recently Indian Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General, Deepak Kapoor stated that Indian troops are ready in case of war that too simultaneously on both fronts with Pakistan and China and end it successfully within 96 hours. General Kapoor also admitted the possibility of a marginal conventional conflict cannot be ruled out. And he further stated that any conventional war between two countries can at any time turn into a nuclear war. Major General Deepak Kapoor’s irresponsible statement gives a clear message that there is some invisible hand behind his statement and the message is an indicator of possible war. Some observers and analysts say that this invisible hand is United States of America and its satellite country Israel. For this purpose they want create an excuse and mastermind another Mumbai attack so that it will pave the way for attacking Pakistan and China simultaneously. The United States of America wants to play same role in China as was played by India in 1971 in detaching East-Pakistan. Therefore, it is presumed that General Deepak Kapoor is ambitious to author the World War III.  

God forbid, if war breaks it will engulf whole world and undoubtedly India will be a Big looser. India is well aware of the Pakistan’s missile programme which is more powerful than India and Pakistan has about 95 atomic bombs while as India has just 60-70. And in case of war both good and bad Taliban will certainly join Pakistan Army. Therefore, if war breaks out between two nuclear powers the Metropolitan cities of India like, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata will be wiped out within no time. In case China joins Pakistan, the Sino-Pak nexus will put India into surprise. This war will prove to be a waterloo for India. Therefore, let’s hope good sense prevails upon Govt. of India and its warmongers so that they understand the dynamics and consequences of this unfortunate war, and will explore other peaceful options to settle all outstanding issues including the core issue of Kashmir Nation. 

The one and half billion people of this region have every legitimate right to intervene as they are the real stakeholders of peace and to discourage warmongers like Lt. General Deepak Kapoor and G.Parthasarthy etc. and impress upon Govt. of India to give diplomacy a full chance to find out ways and means to settle Kashmir Dispute and combat the enemies of peace by exposing them.

In order to prevent the South-Asian Region from erupting to the prejudice and detriment of the global peace the long-standing Kashmir dispute urgently need to be solved amicably within the framework of fundamental Human Rights and justice to the concerned struggling people.  In this connection the PPP’s Roadmap containing 3 Point Formula advocated by our party since August 10, 1996 is the only tunnel to reach the goal and destination of peace and human-brother -hood which shall in turn ipso-facto close the doors and chances of Atomic War.(Writer-South Asia)

SMS based complaint Receiving system launched by J&K Police at Jammu (PCR).

Jammu: A SMS based Complaint Receiving System, as a supplement to Dial 100 was inaugurated by IGP Jammu on 09/12/2009 for the general public of Jammu City in which the citizen can sent a SMS base complaint to the PCR Jammu through their mobile which will be then forwarded to the concern Police Station / Officer for quick necessary action. Citizens can send complaint related to Harassment, Accidents, Traffic Jams, Strangers, Dangers, Corruption Ragging, Domestic violence etc with out visiting the Police Station.