July 8, 1999
STATEMENT ISSUED TO THE PRESS ON BEHALF OF PAKISTAN PEACE COALITION JOINTLY BY:
I.A .Rehman, Omar Asghar Khan, Tahir Muhammad Khan, Mohd Tahseen, M.B.Naqvi, Dr. Zaki Hasan, Karamat Ali, Dr. Haroon Ahmed, B.M.Kutty, Dr. Aly Ercelawn, Mrs. Anis Haroon, Usman Baluch, Ms. Shahtaj Qizilbash, Javed Shakoor
Following the South Asian nuclear tests last May, peace lovers and
concerned citizens in both India and Pakistan have been voicing their
apprehensions of nuclear escalation and its disastrous consequences for the
subcontinent. The eruption of armed clashes in the Kargil sector along the
LoC has led to frenzied demands by war-mongers on each side to teach a
lesson to the other. The inevitable Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)Ç,
has proved the fallacy of the official claims that there would now be no
South Asian war after acquisition of nuclear deterrent. What has happened
is just the opposite: it is precisely the false sense of security born of
the newly acquired nuclear status that has led up to the Kargil
conflagration.
There have been consistent pleas from various peace groups and human rights
bodies in the two countries for the governments to go beyond the Lahore
Declaration and enter into more concrete talks to pave the way for
resolution of all differences and disputes including Kashmir. If these
voices of sanity had been heeded, neither would Nawaz Sharif have found it
necessary to be led by Washington in finding a way out of Kargil, nor would
India have found itself faced with the dilemma of the virtual
internationalisation of the Kashmir issue.
There is still time that the people reviewed the new developments coolly
and dispassionately rather than being carried away by pro-war exhortations
of traditional enemies of peace in both countries. We should acknowledge
that Nawaz Sharif has taken an important step in the direction of
de-escalation in the Kargil sector, even if he had to travel all the way to
Washington to do it. Any step that leads to averting an imminent war
between India and Pakistan with all its horrendous consequences to the
future of hundred crore people of the subcontinent must be welcomed , and
for which he should be defended against xenophobic religious, political,
and military ultra-patriots.
We urge upon the Government of India to respond positively to the
initiative taken by Nawaz Sharif and help bring about an immediate
ceasefire and de-escalation of hostilities in the Kargil sector, to be
followed by meaningful talks in the light of the Lahore Declaration and the
Simla Accord. We call upon both the governments to acknowledge that the
ultimate arbiter of the future of Kashmir are the people of Kashmir and
none else. Any lasting solution of the Kashmir issue and creation of a
friction-free relationship of long-term cooperation and
good-neighbourliness between India and Pakistan ought to take that into
account.
We also call upon Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to accept the fact that the
democratisation of the process of policy and decision-making, i.e. the
participation of the people in that process, is imperative for the
successful implementation of any policy. Only a civil society, free from
undemocratic curbs and restraints, and a people with a sense of genuine
participation in the governance of the country and assured of a share in
the fruits of its development, can provide the surest guarantee of the
security of South Asia. The nuclear bombs and missiles of India and
Pakistan promise death not life
Released from Karachi by:
(B. M. Kutty)
Convener, PPC
Return to: India Pakistan Citizens Against War in Kargil, Kashmir