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ACHA PEACE BULLETIN

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

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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. 1: January 15, 2009, Next Issue, February 15, 2009

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CONTENTS

EDITORIAL

*Mumbai carnage: terrorist attacks on Nov 26-29, 2008, Pritam K. Rohila, Ph.D.

GUEST EDITORIAL

*I am a proud Pakistani Lahori in love with Bombay! S. A. Khan, World Press, Jan 3, BOOKS

*Humanity Amidst Insanity, Hope During and After the Indo-Pak Partition, T S Maini, T

Malik and Ali Farooq Malik

EVENTS

*January 30, New Delhi, India: REFLECTIONS ON A FUTURE FOR AHIMSA

*October 2, New Zealand to Argentina: WORLD MARCH

*December 3-9, 2009, Melbourne, Australia: Parliament of Religions

EVENT REPORTS

*January 11, 2009, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan: INDO PAK PEACE CONFERENCE

*January 9, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan: INDO-PAK JOINT SIGNATURE CAMPAIGN.

*January 9, Shahdadkot, Sindh, Pakistan: TO EASE INDIA-PAK TENSIONS

*December 31, 2008, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan: PEACE RALLY

MUMBAI TERRORIST ATTACKS

*A Strategy for a Lasting Peace: A Pakistani American Response

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

MEMBERS’ CORNER

*PIPI chief (Awais Sheikh) joins Indians in peace march, S. Bumbroo, Tribune, Dec. 12,

PEACE & HARMONY NEWS FROM INDIA & PAKISTAN

PEACE & HARMONY NEWS FROM SOUTH ASIA

PEACE EDUCATION & RESOURCES

PETITIONS

*Joint Signature Campaign by Citizens of India and Pakistan Against Terrorism, War

Posturing and To Promote Cooperation and Peace

*Petition of Apology to Victims of India’s Partition in 1947

*Virtual Memorial for Victims of India’s Partition in 1947

UPDATE: KASHMIR

UPDATE: PAKISTAN

UPDATE: SRI LANKA

EDITORIAL

*Mumbai carnage: terrorist attacks on Nov 26-29, 2008, Pritam K. Rohila, Ph.D.

It was the morning of November 27, 2008, in Hyderabad, Pakistan, that we first learnt of the Mumbai carnage.

My wife, Kundan, and I were in Pakistan, on the second leg of our self-financed Peace Pilgrimage to India and Pakistan.

To hold discussions with local peace activists “Peace in My Family, Harmony in my Neighborhood,” the theme of our pilgrimage, we had already visited Bhopal, Lucknow, Allahabad, and Varanasi, in India from October 23 through 31.

We arrived in Karachi on November 24. After meetings and media interviews there, we were traveling by car all the way to Islamabad, with stops at Hyderabad, Larkana, Sadikabad, Multan, Toba Tek Singh, Faisalabad, and Lahore.

We reached Hyderabad on the evening of November 26. Following a meeting at the office of South Asia Partnership Pakistan, we were interviewed by the host of “Na2 Sahi to,” a Sindhi language program at KTN television station, and then treated to dinner by Zulfiqar & Fatima Shah, at the Civic Society Club.

On the morning of November 27, we went to Sindhi Language Authority, an institution dedicated to preserving and promoting Sindhi, which is believed by some people to be the earliest Indian language. We had been invited there, for tea with its chairperson, Dr. Fahmida Hussain, and her deputy Taj Jeo.

When we arrived there, we found Dr. Hussain worried about her daughter, who had been a guest at the Taj Hotel, a well-known Mumbai landmark, across from the Gateway of India. Pointing to the newspapers on her desk, she explained there had been a terrorist attack on the Taj, the previous night.

We did not discover seriousness of the Mumbai attacks until November 30, when we first watched TV in our hotel room in Multan.

For 60+ hours, November 26 through 29, ten armed young men, targeted crowded public places, and some ritzy venues frequented by foreigners. Guided and goaded by their handlers in Pakistan, callously they killed about 170 individuals, wounded nearly 250, and terrorized many more.

But the terrorists must have disappointed their masters, as they failed to achieve their objectives.

Despite verbal belligerence, India and Pakistan didn’t start a war. Rather, as required by a 1991 treaty, on January 1, they fulfilled their obligations and exchanged with each other the lists of their nuclear installations.

There were no Hindu-Muslim riots either. In fact, many Muslim leaders publically expressed solidarity with Mumbaikars, and the dead terrorists were denied burial in their graveyard. They had previously declared terrorism to be un-Islamic.

Further while the attacks may have discouraged some foreign tourists and a few investors, there was no severe blow to India’s economy.

Most of all, they did not break the people’s spirit. The day after the assault, the Mumbaikars poured out of their homes and offices to march through the city streets. On December 3, thousands rallied for peace, at the Gateway of India.

Leopold Café, one of the terrorists’ targets, was open for business on December 1. Within less than a month, the unaffected portions of other two targets, the Oberoi Trident, Taj hotels were reopened to business.

On December 25, Shimon Rosenberg, father of the slain Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg’s wife, lighted a giant menorah at the Gateway of India.

Now it is time for the concerned governments to do something that is definitive as well as effective in protecting their mostly war-&-violence-weary and peace-loving peoples of India and Pakistan.

Yes, even in Pakistan, there many people and organizations who crave for peace. They do not like what’s going in their country, and do not approve of terror as an instrument of public policy, political influence, or religious dominance. They readily condemn violence and its perpetrators, and sympathize with its victims in India as well as Pakistan. But they have not been able to assert themselves in a cohesive, reliable, concerted, determined and effective manner.

Anyway Pakistan must act upon its oft-repeated resolve to rein in the terrorists and their supporters and masters operating from its soil.

India must do a better job of protecting its minorities.

Israel and Hamas must give up their arrogance and resolve their long-standing disputes.

The United States must abandon its unilateral, militarist approach to solve the world’s problems. It must ensure that its foreign and economic policies do not foster injustices and inequities around the world.

Finally, we all need to learn to be brave and strong enough to protect ourselves. As Gandhi once said, “I cannot teach you violence, as I do not believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your heads before anyone, even at the cost of your life.”

By the way, despite the Mumbai carnage, thanks to our country coordinators and local hosts, we had a successful visit in Pakistan, and we were received warmly everywhere we went – schools, universities, radio and television station, and offices of newspapers, writers’ groups, labor unions, human development, human rights, political parties, and provincial governors. There were formal receptions as well as dinners at fancy restaurants and private residences. Even the hotel personnel were extra courteous to us.

Also on December 4, we participated in a peace demonstration, organized by the Pak-India Peace Initiatives, in front of the Lahore Press Club’s gate, complete with the flags of Pakistan and India, and placards which read like, “Give Peace a Chance,” and “Jang Nahin Aman; Aman Maujood Hai To Asia Mazboot Ha; Shama Har Ghar Kay Aangan Mein Jalti Rahay To Achha Hai” (“Peace, Not War; Peace Will Make Asia Strong; Candles Should Stay Lit in Every Home.” Reports and photographs of the demonstration appeared in several newspapers the next day.

Besides we visited Mohenjodaro, the archaeological site of a 5000 years old civilization; Benazir Bhutto’s grave in the Bhutto family Mausoleum at Garhi Khuda Baksh; Sadhu Bela Hindu Temple on a Sindh River island near Sukkur; and the scared Sikh Gurdwara associated with the life of Guru Nanak at Punja Sahib. We enjoyed many delicious meals including one at the famous Village restaurant in Lahore, and a lunch of rice-roti and-lotus-stalk-salan at Dadu.

We are especially thankful to Zaman Khan, our Afridi Pathan driver. He drove defensively, and kept us entertained throughout our two-week travels from Karachi to Islamabad.

GUEST EDITORIAL

*I am a proud Pakistani Lahori in love with Bombay! S. A. Khan, World Press, Jan 3, 2009

“Haan boss. Mere ko Bandra jaane ka hai…Carter Road.” (Hey boss, I need to go to Bandra…Carter Road) I nonchalantly told our driver, Aslam, after getting out of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai.

My Lahori advertising colleagues who were accompanying me for this particular ad film shoot seemed quite amazed.“Dude, you sound like a local Bombay guy!”

I just reacted with an offhanded smirk, as I was more interested in lighting that cigarette I had desperately wanted to smoke since taking off from Lahore.

This was almost 8 months ago. Today as I watch the catastrophe and the aftermath of the Mumbai mayhem unravel on TV from my home near Model Town, Lahore, I try to grasp the significance of that phrase: “Local Bombay guy!”

What made me switch involuntarily from my usual Punjabized Lahori Urdu to urban colloquial Bambaya Hindi?

Was it that in these past 6 years, since returning from college in the United States, the most time that I had spent in any place, outside of Lahore, was in Bombay?

Or because some of my closest pals during those four unforgettable years at Trinity College, USA were Mumbaikars? They were the bulk of our relatively small, yet diverse South Asian community, where we were enemies, friends and neighbors all at the same time! Despite maintaining our distinctive national and political ethos as Pakistanis, Indians, Nepalis and Bangladeshis, we were a tightly knit composite ‘desi gang.’ Our camaraderie was so solid that we shared anything and everything under the sun; apart from underwears! And yet we had heated debates and fights on issues ranging from Kashmir to majoritarianism to communalism. Ironically, the last memory that I have of Trinity is of an Indian friend wiping tears off his eyes, while I glanced through the rear view mirror of the cab taking me to the airport.

Or was the root of my Bombay accent an excessive diet of Bollywood? I remember when most kids watched Mickey Mouse cartoons, I was more engrossed in a Deewar or Sholay!

Perhaps all of the above, but something more!

“So, my sweetheart back home writes to me and wants to know what this  gal in Bombay’s got that she hasn’t got. So I just write back to her and say, Nothin’, honey. Only she’s got it here!”    Alvah Cecil Bessie

Yes. I am a born and bred proud Pakistani Lahori, who is unapologetically and madly in love with Bombay with no qualms in saying that again and again! Unlike my parents’ generation that was born in the midst of the partition hangover, my Pakistaniat (identity as a Pakistani) is beyond being just ‘anti-India’.  After Lahore, Mumbai is my second home, where some of my Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian and Parsi friends live with their families; where I have been welcomed unconditionally, in fact often causing a rift between different aunts and uncles!

“Ali, you have to come straight to our place from the airport,” says a friend’s father.
“Okay, then you must stay with us later and leave for the airport from our place,” rebuts another aunt!

Sitting amongst them, in either their living rooms or sports bars, I have also watched and openly supported my Pakistani cricket heroes during the closest of India-Pakistan cricket matches. By the way, it’s the best feeling in the world watching Pakistan beat India when you are surrounded by Indian fans on Indian soil! However, after all the heated sloganeering and patriotic chanting, we usually always made up instantly and went out to party together at one of those bustling hang out spots at Pali Hill. The characteristic Bombay drizzle brought the temperatures further down!

And this is what I admire most about Bombay. Its charm has managed to even permeate through my “Pakistani” reality, but without offsetting it.

Right-wing engineered riots and innate nationalistic biases aside, the avant-garde cosmopolitan Mumbaikar, in essence, is a relativist — culturally, ethnically and religiously accommodative, despite sometimes being very devout in his personal life. He could even be living in his Marathi, Gujrati, or Muslim neighborhood, but works, eats and hangs out in a diverse gang with relative ease. Multi-cultural and secular, at least in spirit, and increasingly testing his threshold to become one in practice as well. Most young Bombayites I have come across are also not in constant denial of the idea and reality of ‘Pakistan’, in contrast to their predecessors.

 “Mere jaise ban jaoge , Jab ishq tumhein ho jayega.” Jagjit Singh    (You will become like me, when you fall in love)

Bombay is also the city of my dreams; due to my occupation (advertising) and passions (entertainment, film & music). Undeniably, Mumbai is for the egoistically ambitious - the city of the successful, for the successful. Only two types of people live there: strugglers and stars! It’s the desi New York, where competition is sincerely ruthless and opportunities abound. Only aptitude and performance matter at the end. I have personally experienced that on numerous occasions while working there; once we rejected the daughter of a famous producer after a screen test without taking any unwarranted pressure. Another time, after a session with a famous music director, who was giving me feedback on my music, I thanked him for the help. However, his response was blunt: “Ali mian! Remember one thing bro. In this city, no one does any favor for anyone. It’s all business.” This is Bombay for you!

Nevertheless, I am not trying to imply in any sense that Bombay is a utopian paradise completely free of bias, nepotism and corruption. It indeed has all these vices of a typical South Asian city in abundance, but genuine talent and perseverance are characteristics highly valued in Bombay. In a nutshell, the place doesn’t discourage dreamers — rather it challenges the extent of their madness! Perhaps, that is also why Bollywood has wholeheartedly, and without prejudice, embraced a Nusrat/Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Ghulam Ali, Atif Aslam, Shafqat Amanat Ali, Ali Zafar, and recently, Javed Sheikh; all Pakistanis, but gifted.

Mumbai is also the stage where many of my mentors from Guru Dutt to Sahir to Rafi to Javed Akhtar to Prasoon Joshi have realized their dreams and I emulate them as a self-obsessed quixotic! Therefore, I have always felt a sense of spiritual belonging and affinity with Bombay, regardless of my Pakistani nationality. It has been as much mine as any Indian’s and in that sense, I feel, I am a “local Bombay guy”!

      “Is Dawood living in Karachi? Have you seen any terrorist camps in Pakistan? Arre, haven’t you always stayed at the Taj or Oberoi?”

These days Mumbai has estranged me. Out of the blue, extraneous, irrelevant and alien questions are being asked by some of my Bombay friends. Queries that would have perhaps made more sense had I been the Pakistani President or the army chief! Unfortunately, I am just an ad man or at most a writer-singer.

Justifiably, for the moment, Mumbai seems anguished, traumatized and hurt. So am I. Yet, while most have been cordial, even my heartfelt commiserations have not gone down well with a few.

The newspaper headlines put it very aptly — “26/11” is indeed India’s 9/11. Since then, the “Musalman” and “Pakistan” factor has again taken precedent over all other things I represent. Once again, I am suddenly the “other”; being clubbed with those that I detest equally, if not more, since not only do they threaten my life through their recurrent suicide attacks in Pakistan, but also the identity of the community I belong to in this world.

“Oye lekin bhaijaan. Ye kya bakwaas hai yaar?” (Oh brother. What the hell is this dude?) Sometimes now, I also feel like retorting back at India in my Lahori accent. Jingoism is a trait found in abundance on both sides of the border. But we can all do without it!

However, I know, this moment will pass. Such spiritless attacks cannot threaten or transform my Bombay and its tolerant soul. India’s ‘secularism’ and Pakistan’s nascent ‘democracy’ will have to weather this storm as well. ‘Patriotism’ now will have to find a new meaning and another enemy. Both Karam Din and Karam Chand (Karam Din is a typical Muslim name, while Karam Chand is a Hindu name) will have to recollect and evoke the horror of 1947 — not to slash each other’s throats again, but to learn from our regrettable history and this time unite against maniacs that want to ‘divide & rule’ us again, whether in the name of ‘world freedom’ or ‘religion.’

While I write, Peshawar and Karachi have recently been engulfed with terrorist attacks and shoot outs. The trauma of the Islamabad Marriot carnage that occurred a few months ago is still lingering. Indian air force planes have “inadvertently” entered Pakistani airspace.  Swat Taliban have announced ban on female education from Jan 15.  The Pakistani masses remember and laud Benazir Bhutto, allegedly assassinated by extremist forces, on her 1st death anniversary. And Shiv Sena burns Pakistani music Taliban-style.

Nevertheless, according to Facebook, a few friends from New York City are attending Pakistanis Hold Vigil for Mumbai Victims, while I am thinking about Marine Drive and the aura it exudes, especially when you have a view from the Oberoi.

Lahore, for now, is standing by Mumbai.

The writer is an ad man, currently working on his solo music album and a film script. He can be reached at khanshahvar@gmail.com

BOOKS

*Humanity Amidst Insanity — Hope During and After the Indo-Pak Partition, Tridivesh Singh Maini, Tahir Malik and Ali Farooq Malik, UBSPD, New Delhi, Pages 186. Rs 295. (Review – “Sagas of Partition”, Belu Jain Maheshwari, The Tribune, December 21, 2008

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20081221/spectrum/book4.htm

The book is relevant because since the Kargil war, a churning of minds is taking place. It is not state sponsored, it is not overt, but it is still palpable. People are coming to terms with the Radcliffe Award; the idea of two nation states co-existing with peace is taking root among individuals of both countries.

This volume is another brick in the process of healing. It does not dismiss the holocaust; it actually addresses pertinent questions that had been left unanswered. Did social barriers exist between the Hindus and Muslims even before Partition was announced? Was the centuries-old animosity the reason for acts of barbarism during Partition?

In today’s fast-changing, inter-connected and technology-driven world, if the two developing countries have to modernise and provide decent living to their citizens, they have to bury the old hatchet and signal peace and tolerance. The generation next needs to work as a catalyst to healing the wounds. The book is a must read, for it keeps hope alive; it is history with a human angle told from the heart.

EVENTS

* January 30, New Delhi, India: REFLECTIONS ON A FUTURE FOR AHIMSA, 3.30 - 6.45 PM, at India International Centre, 40 Max Mueller Marg. A World Ahimsa Day event featuring keynote address, by film actress & director Nandita Das, 3.30 - 4.15 PM followed by comments by discussants - educationist, writer, director NCERT Krishna Kumar; and historian, writer, peace activist Dilip Simeon. More info from Akshay Bakaya akshay.bakaya@gmail.com

*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

*January 11, 2009, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan: INDO PAK PEACE CONFERENCE

On January 11, 2008 Pakistan Peace and Solidarity Council organized a peace conference at PMA House Karachi, to discuss Indo Pak tensions.

Program was attended by large number of peace activists and intellectuals. The program was chaired by Mr. imdad Qazi, Chief Patron and speakers included Syed Nisar Ali Shah, the president of PPSC, Mr Hasil Khan Bezanjo of national Party, Mr Ali Hasa Cjandio of Sindh Tarkipasand Party, Ms Sahar Rizvi of Sind Naree Tahreek, Mr. Azhar Jameel of Qoumi Mahaz-e-Azadi, Mr. Ali Nawaz Malah, Sardar Ramesh Singh of World Peace, Mr. Qamar Bhatti and representatives of PML(N).

Speakers condemned the Mumbie killings and terrorist activities across the region causing innocent civilian causalities.

Speakers demanded from the governments of India and Pakistan to desist from war mobilization at the cost of poor people of the countries. Specially they criticizes the media of two countries for a war oriented emotional hype.

They demanded of peace loving community across the globe, especially progressive writers, researchers, activists to rise on the occasion for positive intervention.

(Contributed by N. Nizamani nizambaloch@yahoo.com , Pictures available from asiapeace@comcast.net upon request)

*January 9, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan: INDO-PAK JOINT SIGNATURE CAMPAIGN.

(Citizens against terrorism, war posturing, The News, January 12, 2009 http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=156386)

Pakistan Institute of Labour and Research (PILER) Karachi on Friday announced that it would coordinate the launching of an Indo-Pak Joint Signature Campaign (IPJSC) by citizens of Pakistan and India against terrorism and war posturing. The campaign, which will last till February 8, seeks to promote cooperation and peace between the two neighbouring countries.

A representative of PILER, Sharafat Ali addressing a press conference at the Karachi Press Club (KPC) said that his organisation was going to coordinate with hundreds of civil society organisations and concerned citizens of Pakistan and India in the effort.

Syed Iqbal Haider, M.B. Naqvi, B.M. Kutty, Saleh Athar Aapa, Anusha-e-Alam, Asad Iqbal Butt and Kamal Azfar, while jointly addressing a press conference, said that civil society must play a vital role in urging the governments of the two countries to refrain from starting war and instead resolve the present crises and all other outstanding issues through dialogue, cooperation and appropriate action.

The object of this campaign is to facilitate assertion by the people of both the countries in favour of resolving the present crises, Haider said.

He further highlighted that the collective will of the people could certainly compel the establishments to adopt peaceful and appropriate processes to address all issues and bring back normalcy.

He pointed out that many eminent personalities and peace activists were involved in ‘Launch Programmes’ in different cities and towns of both the countries. At present, the campaign is under way in 12 Pakistani and 25 Indian cities.

He pointed out that Swami Agenvesh, Kamal Faruqi and Kamla Bhasin of India and Karamat Ali of Pakistan and others were launching the IPJSC in Delhi.

Eminent personalities from India participating in the campaign include Admiral L. Ramdas, Kuldip Nayar, Kamla Bhasin, P.M. Bhargave, Swami Agenivesh, P.V. Rajagopal, Haider added.

He said that the campaign would be carried out in both countries for one month and then the signatures collected would be submitted to Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani with copies to important political functionaries and media houses of both countries.

In response to a question, Haider said that all the important representatives of civil society including journalists, lawyers, doctors, human rights activists, peace activists and other professionals would be approached for signing the statement in question.

While reading out a resolution on behalf of the citizens of Pakistan and India, Haider demanded of the Government of Pakistan and the Government of India to practice zero tolerance towards religious extremism and terrorism in the interest of the sustenance and prosperity of both countries.

Both countries must follow in letter and spirit all the Conventions and Resolutions of the United Nations (UN) and South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation (Saarc) against terrorism and for cooperation to secure an atmosphere of mutual trust and holistic cooperation, the resolution emphasised.

The resolution also appealed to the media of both India and Pakistan to play a constructive role in this hour of crisis to propagate and strengthen positive attitudes for the resolution of all outstanding problems and discourage escalation of conflict and adventurism that could jeopardise the peace and prosperity of both countries.

*January 9, Shahdadkot, Sindh, Pakistan: CAMPAIGN TO EASE INDIA-PAK TENSIONS

(PPC to launch campaign against increasing tension between Pak-India, Regional Times, Jan 10, http://regionaltimes.com/10jan2009/jpg/5.jpg)

While addressing a press conference at the Shahdadkot Press Club on Friday, Murad Pandrani, the District Convener of Pakistan Peace Coalition (PPC), District Kambar-Shahdad-kot, said that PPC is launching a signature campaign and other activities to reduce tension between Pakistan and India.

(According to Adman Malik adamkhan_2000@yahoo.com similar campaigns were also launched in Hyderabad, Umerkot, Johi, Khairpur, Ghotki and other towns of Sindh. To support the campaign, a Pakistan Peace Coalition committee headed by Anushe Alam will visit schools, colleges and universities of Karachi. Also, January 12 to February 10, Sindh Hari Porhyat Council president Punhal Sario and Awami Party Leader Comrade Ramzan Memon will visit different towns and villages of Sindh and participate corner meetings, demonstrations, public walks, dialogues and discussion forums in support of the campaign as well as to get signatures from common citizens).

(According to Amit Chakraborty amitpipfpd@yahoo.co.in, in Kolkata, the signature campaign was launched by Pakistan India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy, West Bengal Chapter at Muslim Institute. Many eminent personalities and peace activists were involved in the Launch Program. The campaign will continue in days to come within next 30 days in various public places and street corners).

*December 31, 2008, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan: PEACE RALLY

No war, we want peace; Bread not bombs; Long Live Pakistan India People's friendship, Workers for Peace and many more such slogans were enthusiastically raised by the participants of Peace Rally organized by Labour Party Pakistan along with National Trade Union Federation, Labour Education Foundation, Women Workers Help Line and Progressive Youth Front today, 31^st December, 2008 from Regal Chowk to Charing Cross on the Mall in Lahore. This was the first rally in Pakistan by any groups against India Pakistan war hysteria after the terrorist attacks on Mumbai.   

Around 500 participated in the rally representing women workers, students, factory workers and political and social activists. Women carrying their small children and workers taking off from their jobs on a working day participated in the rally with great enthusiasm and resolve against the war. Some people passing by on the Mall also joined the rally.

Participants gave a sit-in in front of the Punjab Assembly at Chairing Cross in the end of rally. Farooq Tariq spokesperson LPP, Bushra Khaliq general secretary Women Workers Help Line, Yousuf Baloach chairperson National Trade Union Federation and Nazli Javed women secretary LPP spoke in the end of the rally.

They reiterated the working-class resolve against the war and asked both India and Pakistan governments to refrain from the war.  

(Text and pictures contributed by Khalid wsf_youthclub@yahoogroups.com, Pictures are available on request from asiapeace@comcast.net) 

MUMBAI TERRORIST ATTACKS

*A Strategy for a Lasting Peace: A Pakistani American Response

http://pal-c.org/PakistaniAmericansCondemnMumbaiAttacksinJointStatement.html

The Pakistani American Leadership Center (PAL-C) along with a coalition of Pakistani American organizations across the nation, on December 15, 2008, issued the following statement regarding the recent attacks in Mumbai.

On the behalf of Pakistani Americans, the undersigned Pakistani American organizations unequivocally condemn the murderous attacks in Mumbai. We offer deepest condolences to the families and victims of this malicious mayhem in India.

 
We share the pain and the suffering of our Indian brothers and sisters. Not too long ago the bomb blast in Marriott hotel in Islamabad and last year the gruesome assassination of Benazir Bhutto has deeply hurt Pakistan as well. While Pakistanis have faced the severe repercussions of the US led war on terror, they have also demonstrated relentless resilience to recover from losses and heal their wounds. We have no doubt that India with its enormous potential as a multicultural democratic nation will be able to do the same.

 
In this hour of sorrow and suffering we call on all Americans, especially of South Asian origin to unite against violence as a m isguided ideological tool, hatred as a social agenda and war as a solution to political conflicts. Pakistani and Indian communities have developed lasting friendships, business partnerships and professional networks to lead a responsible and resourceful living in North America. We believe that responsible leadership from these communities can be instrumental in resolving the present situation to secure a peaceful and prosperous future for the nations of their origin.

This is a moment of historic proportions. Together South Asians can endeavor to adopt peaceful means for resolving their differences and build the prospects of sustainable peace. Either we use this calamity and turn it into an opportunity to turn back the wheel of suspicion and intrigue, or we ferment the status quo to further push our countries of origin to a deadly game of deception and destruction.

 
As the global economic prowess of both Pakistan and India grows, our place in the global c o mmunity has and will always be interconnected. Oneʼs success is contingent upon the stability and security of the other. The war on terror has been brought to the front door of both of our nations. The time has come for resolve. We must coordinate efforts to solve these security threats and do more than just attempt to prevent attacks. We, the South Asians and all Americans must use our political, social, and financial capital to instrument fundamental change, cooperation, and partnership that will lead us through these times of fundamentalist extremism on both sides of the border.

 
We are fortunate that we live in a country that practices rule of law, equal opportunities, freedom of religion and an environment of harmony and peace for its diverse citizenry.  This American confidence in the essence of humanity should allow us to transplant our harmony to the areas inflicted with conflict and pain.

 
India has tremendously benefited from American g enerosity of corporate outsourcing. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been invested in Indian infrastructure by the US and Indian American investors. It has bought prestige and influence for India inside the Capital Beltway.  Pakistani Americans hope that this influence and recognition will be used in a creative manner for the betterment of South Asia and for peace and harmony in South Asia.

 
The American interests are best served by stabilizing the entire South Asian region; from Dhaka to Colombo, from Colombo to Delhi, from Delhi to Islamabad, and finally from Islamabad to Kabul and beyond. Stability is an outcome of inclusivity and open communication. Alienation of our key non-NATO ally will be like shooting ourselves in the foot and intensifying our vulnerabilities. The choice is clear.

The Pakistani American Leadership Center (PAL-C)
Pakistani American Public Affairs Committee PAKPAC
Pakistani American Association of Connecticut PAACT
Association of Pakistani Professionals AOPP
Pakistani American Community of Atlanta: PAK Atlanta

The Pakistani American Leadership Center (PAL-C) is a professional Pakistani-American advocacy organization with an office located on Capitol Hill. It launched the Congressional Pakistan Caucus in May 2004 and works to raise awareness about Pakistani-American interests in Washington policy circles. Our activities include facilitating the Congressional Pakistan Caucus, liaising Pakistani officials and the community with Members of Congress, and mobilizing all Pakistani-Americans at the grassroots level. If you wish to learn more about PAL-C, please visit our website www.pal-c.org or email us at info@pal-c.org.

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

MEMBERS’ CORNER

*PIPI chief (Awais Sheikh) joins Indians in peace march, S. Bumbroo, Tribune, Dec. 12, 2008

Photo: Members of the Kartarpur Corridor Committee and Pak-India Peace Initiative carry out a peace march in Amritsar on Friday. Photo: Vishal Kumar (Available from asiapeace@comcast.net )

Amritsar: People of Pakistan also felt the pain as the Indian people have as more than 200 innocent lives were lost besides several hundred injured in the terror attacks in Mumbai.

Stating this to mediapersons here today, Awais Sheikh, president, Pak-India Peace Initiative (PIPI), said Pakistan was also passing through the same phase as hundreds of people were being killed in terrorist violence there. He said he had come to India on the auspicious day of Id-ul-Zuha to show solidarity with the kin of those killed in the carnage.

Shiekh was in the city to participate in the peace march organised by students and staff of Sant Singh Sukha Singh Senior Secondary School to show solidarity with the kin of those killed in Mumbai attacks. The students holding placards and banners raised slogans against terrorism and urged India and Pakistan to jointly launch operation against the terrorists to bring peace in the subcontinent.

He said instead of levelling allegations against each other both neighbouring countries should continue to hold bilateral ties and not allow the sinister designs of the terrorists and other forces for derailing the peace process. He said, “Terrorists have no religion and we have to jointly fight against them.”

Speaking on the occasion, Jagdish Singh, director of the school, pitched for the opening of Kartarpur corridor so that the Sikh community on this side of the border could visit the gurdwara on the Pakistan side, which was also the birth place of the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak Dev.

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

http://www.psysr.org/about/committees/peace_education/

PETITIONS

*Joint Signature Campaign by Citizens of India and Pakistan Against Terrorism, War Posturing and To Promote Cooperation and Peace

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/indopak/petition.html

*Petition of Apology to Victims of India’s Partition in 1947

http://indiapakistanpeace.org/petition_2007.html

*Virtual Memorial for Victims of India’s Partition in 1947

http://noosphere.typepad.com/virtual_memorial/

UPDATE: KASHMIR

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

UPDATE: PAKISTAN

*Beena Sarwar updates http://groups.yahoo.com/group/beena-issues/

UPDATE: SRI LANKA

*Country heading in dangerous direction, Jehan Perera jehanpc@sltnet.lk (Executive Director, National Peace Council of Sri Lanka, Colombo), January 7, 2009

The government's announcement of its military victory at Kilinochchi has been accompanied by two acts of targeted violence in Colombo. The first was an LTTE suicide bomb attack that killed 8 and injured over 20 persons. The second was the attack and fire bombing of a popular independent TV station, MTV by a heavily armed group with automatic weapons and grenades.

The National Peace Council condemns both these acts of terror. It is perhaps of significance that the attack on the broadcasting station followed government and nationalist criticism of MTV for allegedly emphasing the costs of the suicide bomb attack, instead of highlighting the government's victory at Kilinochchi.

The National Peace Council is concerned that the government's emphasis on its military success will lead to a de-emphasis on the political reforms necessary to establish lasting peace in the country and end the lawlessness that terrorism and militarization of society breeds. We are concerned by calls being made by government allies to even do away with the All Parties Representatives Committee which has been mandate by the President to work out a political solution to the ethnic conflict that is acceptable to all communities. The ethnic conflict predates the LTTE, which is a symptom and not the cause of the conflict. NPC urges the government to reaffirm its commitment to a political solution and give hope to the people that lasting peace and the rule of law will be the outcome of the government's endeavours.

NPC is appalled by the attack on MTV which is a media organisation that has consistently been supportive of political efforts to resolve the ethnic conflict and to show the costs of the war. MTV has also been giving equal importance to Sinhala, Tamil and English language programmes unlike other media channels, which helped uniting the three ethnic communities along cultural lines. We are dismayed by the lackadaisical attitude of the law enforcement authorities who failed to give adequate protection to MTV even after it was attacked a few days ago when petrol bombs were flung from a vehicle. NPC calls on the government to take meaningful and genuine and immediate action beyond rhetoric to apprehend the culprits without considering their status or position and restore confidence about the direction in which the country is heading.