LoC tensions: ‘Make peace not war’

Indian and Pakistani journalists call for peace between their countries.

LAHORE:

The 45-member delegation from India scheduled to arrive in time for Pakistan’s independence day celebrations had to be slashed to a 12-member team.

Chanchal Manohar, leading the group from India at the invitation of South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA), on Tuesday said, “I have been working as a journalist for 32 years. The hate speech being aired by the Indian media made me realise that if Indian media had control of nuclear weapons, they would have fired them at Pakistan by now.

He was speaking at a seminar organised by SAFMA titled A Modern Pakistan at Peace Within and With Neighbours.

Manohar said the prosperity of both countries was linked to regional peace.

“200 million people in India have no homes. According to government figures, 37 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line but the governments continue buying weapons,” he said.

He commended Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s efforts for trying to maintain peace with India.

“For the first time in Pakistan, political parties have said in their manifestos that they would establish peace with India,” he said.

“Nawaz Sharif cannot establish peace on his own. The Indian government and other institutions in both countries should work together to establish peace.”



Jisdeep Singh Malhotra, a peace activist, said he was happy to have come to Pakistan to speak on its Independence Day.

He said people in both countries wanted people-to-people contacts.

“When I was coming to Pakistan, many women requested me to bring suits for them from Lahore saying they were of very good quality. This is what the public sentiment is despite the controversies created by the media,” he said.

He said a strong democratic Pakistan was in India’s interest.

Former caretaker chief minister Najam Sethi said Indo-Pak tensions were linked to Afghanistan as both the countries wanted a stake in the war-torn country after the withdrawal of US forces in 2014.

He said India supported the Karzai government and had invested $2 billion in Afghanistan. He said the Indian government was training Afghan forces. On the other hand, he said, Pakistan was trying to take control of Afghanistan through Mullah Omar and the militant groups.

“There is a proxy war being fought between Pakistan and India in Afghanistan,” he said. “I do not see peace in the region for a long time.”

SAFMA General Secretary Imtiaz Alam said the peace process should continue at all costs.

He said the recent tensions at the border were an attempt to divert the attention of Pakistani forces from Afghan border.

He said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was an advocate of Indo-Pak peace. He also said that most favored nation (MFN) trade status should be granted to India and the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement should be implemented.

Alam appealed to both Indian and Pakistani prime ministers not to bow before jingoism.

Condemning ceasefire violations on the Line of Control (LoC) and urging restraint, Alam emphasised that tensions between the two neighbouring states would only benefit the hardliners and extremists on both sides of the border.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 15^th, 2013.