CONTENTS

Condolences To The People Of Nepal

Pakistan Chief Executive General Musharraf’s Forthcoming Visit To India

Peace & Harmony News

Peace & Harmony Organizations

Human Rights Advocates Training Program at Columbia University, USA

Environment

Websites

(For a copy send a blank email with its subject as the UPPERCASE word in the article title)

Bangladesh

Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh: An Unexplored TRIANGLE! By Dr. I . H. Malik

India Finally Welcomes Musharaff indiathinkersnet@yahoogroups.com

Kashmir

How Not to Sign a South Asian TREATY By Dipak Gyawali and Ajaya Dixit

Pakistan

Dr. RIFFAT Hassan on Women Rights in Islam

Our deepest sympathy to the people of Nepal on the tragic loss of their beloved royal couple, King Birendra and Queen Aiswarya.

PAKISTAN CHIEF EXECUTIVE GENERAL MUSHARRAF’S FORTHCOMING VISIT TO INDIA
 

*Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee’s Invitation (http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/may/25text.htm)

May 24, 2001

Excellency,

India has through dialogue consistently endeavoured to build a relationship of durable peace, stability and cooperative friendship with Pakistan. Our common enemy is poverty. For the welfare of our people, there is no other recourse but a pursuit of the path of reconciliation of engaging in productive dialogue and by building trust and confidence I invite you to walk this high road with us.

When I visited Lahore in February 1999, with the objective of beginning a new chapter in our bilateral relations, I had recorded at the Minar-E-Pakistan that a stable, secure and prosperous Pakistan is in India's interest that remains our conviction.

We have to pick up the threads again, including renewing the composite dialogue so that we can put in place a stable structure of cooperation and address all outstanding issues, including J&K.

I have the pleasure to extend a most cordial invitation to Begum Musharraf and you to visit India at your early convenience.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurance of my highest consideration.

A B Vajpayee

*Pakistan CEO General Musharraf’s Response (The Times of India, 26 May 2001)

May 29, 2001

Excellency,

Thank you for your letter of 24 May 2001. I accept your invitation to me and my wife to visit India, with great pleasure.

Pakistan has always sought to establish tension-free and cooperative relations with India, so that our two peoples may be able to devote their resources and energies to the task of economic and social development. We wish to see a stable and prosperous India at peace with its neighbours.

At the beginning of the new century, our two countries must do their utmost to overcome the legacy of distrust and hostility, in order to build a brighter future for our peoples.

The root cause of tension between our two countries is the unresolved Jammu and Kashmir dispute. I, therefore, look forward to sincere and candid discussions with you to resolve the issue of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people. We are ready to discuss all other outstanding issues between our two countries as well.

Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.

General Pervez Musharraf

*Related Stories

Pak media responds positively to the invitation Thursday. They saw the invitation as THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE for any Pakistani leader since Zulfikar Ali Bhutto went to Shimla after the 1971 war. http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/may/24pak.htm

The Opposition parties, led by the Congress, Wednesday extended "CONSTRUCTIVE SUPPORT'' to the government's invitation to Pakistan chief executive General Pervez Musharraf for talks to solve the Kashmir issue, but asked it to explain why the ceasefire had been abruptly ended. http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/may/23jk2.htm

India seeks RECONCILIATION with Pakistan: PTI. External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh said poverty was the common enemy of both countries and hoped Islamabad would rise above contentious issues. http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/may/28jas.htm

Musharraf proposes FOUR DATES for visit. The Pakistan military ruler proposed June 20, 25, end June or early July for talks with Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the Kashmir issue.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/may/29pak.htm

When he comes to Delhi, will General Musharraf visit his ancestral house?

http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/may/30spec.htm

The Vajpayee-Musharraf summit is expected to be held in the first half of July, as the prime minister is scheduled to undergo a right knee replacement SURGERY in Bombay on June 7 and will take at least three weeks to recover, the parliamentary affairs minister said in New Delhi on Thursday. http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/may/31pm.htm

Musharraf is an ardent lover of CRICKET and has time and again expressed a wish to see normalisation of cricket relations between India and Pakistan.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/may/31pak.htm

Musharraf's WIFE may visit Lucknow: PTI. The media in Islamabad also carried reports from New Delhi about preparations for Musharraf's visit to the Neharwali Haweli in Old Delhi where the military ruler was born. http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/may/31pak2.htm

PEACE & HARMONY NEWS

*The Bangladesh Parliament, the Jatiya Sangsad, on 8 April, with an unprecedented unanimity adopted "The Vested Property Return Bill, 2001," which authorizes return of the properties of a section of HINDUS, who left the then Pakistan after to its actual owners or their Bangladeshi successors.

*The need for resumption of DIALOGUE between India and Pakistan to determine a minimum nuclear deterrent level and to create a nuclear restraint regime was emphasized at a seminar here on Saturday on the dynamics of nuclear proliferation in South Asia, according to a report by Shamim-ur-Rahman from Karachi. The seminar was organized April 21by the International Relations Department of the University of Karachi under its programme on peace studies and conflict resolution. The need for reviving the peace process envisaged in the Lahore Declaration was also advocated by the participants some of whom felt that signing of the CTBT would not solve Pakistan's economic problems. It was also emphasized that Pakistan should not be complacent with nuclear deterrent. (Dawn, April 22, 2001)

*Dhaka ready for BORDER TALKS later in May. Foreign Minister Abdus Samad Azad said Bangladesh shares India's perception that official-level talks should be held urgently to resolve the pending issues on the border. http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/may/04bang.htm

*Lankan troops to observe TRUCE during 'Vesak' festival A senior defence official said the Sri Lankan Army generally observes a ceasefire during festivals and does not launch any offensive.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/may/04lanka.htm

*India-Pakistan TRADE talks could help thaw ice.

http://www.rediff.com/money/2001/may/17pak.htm

*Pakistan to release 157 Indian FISHERMEN. The Pakistan government will next week release the fishermen and 25 boats, seized by its Marine Agency, Gujarat Minister of State for Fisheries Babubhai Bokhiria said in Gandhinagar on Friday.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/may/18pak1.htm

*Naga CEASEFIRE jurisdiction to be extended. The Union home ministry has decided to extend the jurisdiction of the nearly four-year-old ceasefire with Naga extremists to Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur. http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/may/21naga.htm

*Imam Bukhari in Pak on PEACE MISSION. The mission is reportedly initiated by Islamic clerics in India and Pakistan, to help resolve outstanding issues, including the Kashmir problem.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/may/22imam.htm

*Business leaders of hostile neighbours India and Pakistan on Tuesday discussed ways to overcome obstacles to BILATERAL TRADE that they said had the potential of reaching up to $10 billion a year. According to Chirayu R Amin, newly appointed Indo-Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry president, official trade between India and Pakistan currently stands at $200 million annually but the unofficial figure was at least five times that amount. Most trade between them takes place through a third country or simply via smuggling that brings no revenue to the two governments. The IPCCI meeting concludes on Tuesday but the Indian delegation was due to stay on in Islamabad for a meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation the next day. http://www.rediff.com/money/2001/may/22trade.htm

*In an interview with China's official Xinhua news agency on the eve of Premier Zhu Rongji's visit to Islamabad, Musharraf said Pakistan has already proposed, through diplomatic channels, the resumption of bilateral DIALOGUE with India to address the core Kashmir problem and other outstanding issues. "The ball is now in India's court. A positive response from India could start a peace process in South Asia," Xinhua quoted the military ruler as saying. PTI

*The Pakistan People's Party Friday announced that its chief and former prime minister BENAZIR planned to visit New Delhi later this year to promote peace efforts in the region, even as India invited military ruler Pervez Musharraf for talks.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2001/may/25pak1.htm

*Over 3000 jam-packed LAHORE’s Open Air Theater of Lawrence Garden for the Faiz Peace Festival organized on 21st April 2001 by the Labour Party Pakistan in close association of Lahore Press Club and several human rights organizations including Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) South Asia Partnership, Shirkat Ghah and Aurat Foundation.

PEACE & HARMONY ORGANIZATIONS

*Ekkaturer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, Bangladesh

This anti-fundamentalist group a May 12 invited rights activists, writers and politicians from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to take part in a conference next month on fundamentalism in South Asia.

*Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS), 9 B, Himalaya Apts., 1st Floor, 6th Road, Santacruz (E), Mumbai - 400 055, INDIA.Tel : 614-9668, 663-0085. Fax : 617-3624.

CSSS, a registered non-profit national organization works in the areas of
social and cultural integration to spread the spirit of secularism, communal harmony and social peace. It conducts research on communalism, secularism andrelated subjects, publishes papers and journals and organises conferences, seminars, workshops and youth camps in order to promote social awareness, inter-faith understanding and ethnic dialogue. Its quarterly journal "Indian Journal of Secularism" and fortnightly publication "Secular Perspective" are quite well known.
CSSS is currently offering a special subscription for" Indian Journal of Secularism."

Jointly with Rashtriya Ekta Samiti CSS organized, May 11-13, a meeting at Pachmadhi (MP) to help secular activists develop a common national platform. Over 60 activists fromnearly 14 groups mainly from UP, MP, Gujarat, MP and Maharashtra participated in the workshop.
It was decided to start a newsletter and to form Rashtriya Secular Manch (National Forum for Secularism) to focus oncommunal harmony in the society and to facilitate the communication among different groups. Another meeting will be held in the near future in the South.

* Centre for Policy Alternatives, Sri Lanka

The peace support group of the Centre for Policy Alternatives comprising some of Sri Lanka's intellectuals has called for an immediate ceasefire on the war front and talks between the Government and the LTTE.

They regretted the decision of the Government to allow the truce to lapse at the end of the 5-day period and to launch an all out ground offensive. They disapproved of the LTTE's decision to allow
its unilateral cease-fire to lapse on April 24. Theysaid the disastrous consequences of the recent operation Agni Khiela provided yet another indication that a military solution would only lead to a bloody stalemate.

"It is time to translate the anguished cry for peace of the Peoples of this country into a reality," said the statement signed by SunilaAbeysekera, Sunanda Deshapriya, Rohan Edirisinha, Paikiasothy
Saravanamuttu and Javid Yusuf. http://www.is.lk/times/this/news2.html#45LABEL6 via South Asia Citizens Wire

*Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) Via South Asians Against Nukes Post

CNDP May 11 issued a statement opposing the current policy of the government of India. The statement said that the recent experience in South Asia shows that mere possession of nuclear weapons has not prevented conventional. It has only helped to reinforce the already existing hawkish attitudes of the nuclear weapon states. It pointed out that that "nuclear weapons are not military weapons, but instruments of genocide."

The statement asked, "Can nations as underdeveloped and impoverished as India and Pakistan indulge in the sheer profligacy of a nuclear weapons programme, while millions of their citizens perish from malnutrition and disease, while children are sold by their parents in order to stay alive, while hospitals lie in appalling neglect, while primary schools die a lingering death due to lack of funds?"

It warned, "Failure to stop these global and regional nuclear trajectories will only worsen Indian and world security and weaken the all important struggle to completely and permanently eliminate nuclear weapons from the globe.  This is the least that the nation of Buddha and Gandhi should do!"

BOOKS & JOURNALS

*Gandhi & Communal Harmony, Edited by Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer, $ 25.95 , postage extra), The Circulation Manager, Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, 9B, Himalaya Apts., 1^st Floor, 6^th Road, Santacruz (E), Mumbai:- 400 055. Phone: + 91-22-6149668/6630085, Fax: +91-22-6173624, E-mail:- csss@vsnl.com

India had gone through communal turmoil during the 1980s and the early 1990s. Communalism and ethnic conflicts have emerged as serious challenges to the unity and integrity of our country in recent times. In many ways the communal and ethnic turmoil has close parallel to what happened in the 1940s of the twentieth century leading to the partition of India. In this sense also Mahatma Gandhi's thoughts on ethnic and communal harmony become extremely relevant.

*The Muslim Rishis of Kashmir: Harbingers of Love and Justice (pp.100, Rs.35 including postage). Published by and available from Yoginder Sikand, 4304 Oakwood Apts, 8th Main, 1st Cross, Koramangala-III, Bangalore-560034

The book seeks to provide a basic introduction to the Rishis of Kashmir, Kashmir's only indigenous Sufi order. The contents of the book are as follows: 1. Pre-Islamic Kashmiri Rishism 2.  Rishism and Sufism 3. The Role of Hazrat Nuruddin Nurani [Nund Rishi'] in the Transformation of Kashmiri Rishism. 4. The Principal Rishi Followers and Disciples of Nund Rishi 5. Women in the Kashmiri Muslim Rishi Tradition 6. Hazrat Mkahdum Shaikh Hamza and His Rishi Disciples 7. The Absorption of Rishim Into the Suhrawardi Sufi Order 8. The Role of the Rishis in Promoting Social Reform.

*The Partitions Of MEMORY By Suvir Kaul, Permanent Black, Pages: 300; RS 595.
(Review "The Unfinished Business: Some more reading between the lines of the Partition saga," By Ritu Menon, Outlookindia.com Via South Asia Citizens Web http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex)

Many commentators believe India's Partition exemplifies the "unfinished business" of most such partitions, of which the most bitterly contested and intractable is Kashmir. But it's not just unfinished business. Suvir Kaul maintains it's ongoing business too because "Partition's afterlife still guides our public policy and inhibits our progress from colonial state to post-colonial democracy". (For the full version, send a blank email to pritamr@open.org with BOOK MEMORY as its subject.

*Women, War And Peace In South Asia: Beyond Victimhood To Agency, Edited By Rita Manchanda, Sage, Rs 295.

Rita Manchanda's Women, War and Peace in South Asia: Beyond Victimhood to Agency is a pioneering collection of gender analyses of conflict in south Asia. It focuses on women's experiences as representing alternative and non-violent ways of confronting strife. The essays look at women in the Kashmir and the Tamil conflicts, Assam, Nagaland and the Chittagong hill tracts, the Muttahida Quami Movement in Karachi and Maoist insurgency in Nepal. The upheavals usually accompanying conflict opens up empowering public spaces for women, bringing about social changes. Yet these are also times when the impulse towards women's autonomy is heavily limited by a nationalism which regards them as custodians of their community's traditions and cultural identity.

*Women's Oral Histories of 1971 and post-war Bangladesh (Ekattorer Narir' 71 - Juddho Poroborti Kothho Kahini ). Published by Ain o Salish Kendro (ASK), Feb. 2001. Via South Asia Citizens Web (http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex) 

Ekattorer Nari is a compilation of narratives by twenty women of their experience of coping with rape, death, arson, eviction and dislocation, during Bangladesh's War of Liberation in 1971. Their oral histories illustrate how they were targeted as victims in the war and why rape and violence against women became a strategy for occupation.  At the same time their stories reveal how womenís perspectives on the liberation struggle were shaped by their role as protectors of their families and as subalterns.

*India and Pakistan: The COST of Conflict, the Benefits of Peace By Major-General Mahmud Ali Durrani (Retd.); Oxford University Press, Karachi; pages 96, (Pakistan) Rs.195. & Armaments and the Coming of War: Europe 1904-1914 By David Stevenson, Clarendon Press, Oxford; pages 463, Rs.675. & Review "Books of arms and wars" By A.G. Noorani, Frontline Volume 18 - Issue 10, May.12 - 25, 2001. Via South Asia Citizens Web http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex

BOTH India and Pakistan are highly self-conscious nuclear weapons states engaged in an arms race in embittered diplomatic conflict. It is a situation fraught with danger. When arms pile up they acquire a momentum of their own…. Diplomatic crises can accentuate armaments rivalries; but the same rivalries make crises harder to settle, and a statistical correlation has been detected between arms races and crises that end in war. Governments may build up armaments not only to prepare for or insure against hostilities, but also to add force to their diplomacy. …

The nuclear dimension does not enhance security, as Kargil proved. Conciliation promises a rich peace dividend, economically and politically. (For the full version, send a blank email to pritamr@open.org with BOOK COST as its subject).

*TOWARDS National Integration Edited by Anand Amaladass, Satya Nilayam Publications, Chennai, 2001, Pages 143, Price: Rs. 150. Reviewed by: Yoginder Sikand Via South Asia Citizens Web (http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex)

At a time when national borders come crumbling down in response to contemporary capitalism's relentless search for new avenues of profit, national chauvinism is rearing its ugly head in many parts of the world, including our own. In this charged and complex context, the issue of 'national integration' is one that has proved extremely difficult to grapple with. As a critique of dominant forms of nationalism this book is a path-breaker. It reminds us, in these times of competing 'nationalisms', each more shrill and venomous than the other, that true concern for one's country must be reflected in concern for the least of its citizens. A nationalism that brings wars and endless strife in its trail, one that is indifferent to the plight of its own people, placing mere territory over its citizens, is akin to fascism, the dangers of which loom large today over our own region. (For the full version, send a blank email to pritamr@open.org with BOOK TOWARDS as its subject).

*REGION, Religion, Caste, Gender and Culture in Contemporary India, Edited by T.V.Sathyamurthy, Oxford University Press, New Delhi [3rd impression, 2000], Pages 606, Rs. 395. Review by Yoginder Sikand via South Asia Citizens Wire

This book is an attempt to provide a broad picture, with the help of generalisations as well as detailed empirical case studies, of the variety of movements of resistance in India today that base their appeals and prospective constituencies on primordial bonds. The growing challenge and threat of aggressive communalism is also covered. (For the full version, send a blank email to pritamr@open.org with BOOK REGION as its subject).

*The South Asian
www.the-south-asian

The new issue has features on the 'Parsi Community of India' by Sooni Taraporevala, and 'Music of Pakistan - the story of five decades'; and also the following articles:'Sufi Poets -Wisdom against violence';  'Women leaders of south Asia -"accident of gender" or "accident of birth";  Fast Foods -the 'E' Cuisine;  'Crouching Tigers & Hidden Dangers' – the Royal Bengal's last roar; 

CONFERENCES

*September 11-13, Trieste, Italy: International Conference On Globalization Of Research And Development: Challenges and Opportunities for Developing Countries

One of the key features influencing the use of new technologies in developing countries is the changing character of research and development (R&D), especially in the industrialized countries. To better understand >this >process, the Science, Technology and Innovation
Program, a joint effort of Harvard University's Center for International Development <http://www.cid.harvard.edu/> and Belfer Center for Science and >International Affairs <http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/BCSIA/BCSIA.nsf/www/Home>, is co-organizing with the Third World Academy of Sciences <http://www.ictp.trieste.it/TWAS/TWAS.html> this conference. More info from <http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cidbiotech/r&dconf/description.htm>, or Program
Coordinator Science, Technology and Innovation, Center for International Development, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA, Tel: 617-495-1923, m_derya_honca@harvard.edu

*July 19-28, New Delhi, & Bangalore India: Globalization and Cross Cultural Development: Society, Policy, Economics, Public Administration and the Environment is the theme of the Summer 2001 International Conference in INDIA of the Race and Ethnic Studies Institute of Texas A&M University. Papers focusing on Race, Class, Gender, Politics, Economics, Disability, Environmental Justice, Health, Public Education, Public Education, Diversity Issues, Demographics, Minority Business Development, Poverty, Welfare, Community Development, Public Administration Accountability, etc will be presented. The Conference fee is $2750 (inclusive of coach airfare and 8 hotel nights and conference registration). More info from Dr. Mitchell F. Rice, 513 Blocker Bldg, Texas A&M University, TAMU 4249 College Station, TX 77843-4249 ,
Phone: 979/ 845-0966, Fax: 979/ 845-4269 , Email: mrice@resi.tamu.edu

COURSES & TRAINING PROGRAMS

*Human Rights Advocates Training Program at Columbia University, USA

This four-month intensive training program, utilizing a combination of theory and practice seeks to equip emerging human rights leaders from around the world with the tools and information necessary to resolve human rights issues in their own communities, and with the resources needed to link their issues to a broader struggle. The Program is designed for lawyers, journalists, teachers and other human rights activists working for non-governmental human rights organizations in developing countries. Applications are due by August 1. More information and application from

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/humanrights/adv.html

ENVIRONMENT (Via Centre For Science and Environment  (CSE), 41 Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi- 110 062,  Telephones   608 1110, 608 1124, 608 3394, 608 6399, Fax 91-11-608 5879, Email: webadmin@cseindia.org, Website       http://www.cseindia.org,

*The Centre for Science and Environment http://www.cseindia.org invites people to witness the dramatic impact of community-based rainwater harvesting, through a paani yatra to the villages in Maharashtra. http://www.cseindia.org/html/cmp/cmp43_invite20010530.htm

*An army of water warriors assembles in a Rajasthan village and vows to drought-proof as many as they can. http://www.cseindia.org/html/dte/dte20010531/dte_grass.htm

*An in-depth analysis of why diesel is so bad for our health - and what needs to be done. http://www.cseindia.org/html/cmp/dieselmo.pdf

*A glimpse of how houses can be made safer from an earthquake. It highlights the construction techniques that can help houses survive when an earthquake strikes, therefore, minimising loss of life and property. These techniques are based on the use of traditional construction materials and common sense architecture.

http://www.cseindia.org/html/dte/dte20010515/dte_analy.htm

*Indore's leading newspapers, Dainik Bhaskar and Nai Duniya are campaigning for water conservation http://www.cseindia.org/html/dte/dte20010515/dte_edit.htm

*The water supply in India is becoming privatised as if handing over to private sector will improve the situation. No discussion about Implication of privatisation for poorer sections or environment especially in a context of poor regulatory mechanisms and poor implementation of any existing regulations. http://www.timesofindia.com/110401/11mban1.htm

WEBSITES

*http://epoor.org/vol is the website of ePoor.org, a non-profit civil society initiative. It has developed a Program in PAKISTAN by the name of Villages Online (VOL), which rooted in community development approach, aims at bridging digital divide with pro-poor perspective and strives to make IT relevant for the socio-economic needs of the poor communities- Zubair Faisal Abbasi, CEO/Project Director, ePoor.org, Waheed Plaza, West 52, First Floor, Blue Area, Islamabad, Pakistan. Ph: 092-051-2201484, 0303-7759274

WOMEN

*A story about how women empowerment became the key to solve the problems of a village in Uttar Pradesh, India. With the help of need, a non-governmental organisation, womenfolk of the village have stared working together to solve their FINANCIAL PROBLEMS.

http://www.cseindia.org/html/dte/dte20010515/dte_grass.htm

*The tales of divorce, desertion and indignity make number of MUSLIM women break silence. With 'Allah on their side' and justice on their mind, they have formed the Muslim Women's Rights Network, a coalition of 25 women's organisations, challenging Muslim orthodoxy as never before.
The Outlook, 21May 2001, p-56. Via india-mail@yahoogroups.com

*160 participants from all over PAKISTAN, and 22 participants from South Asia, France and the  US attended the Second Trans-disciplinary  Women's Studies conference held at  the ASR Institute of Women's Studies in Lahore in the last  week of March. The main purpose behind  this conference was to bring together progressive movements  for the emancipation and empowerment of women in South  Asia. The participants urged women activists to work collectively for each other against all forms of patriarchy.

The gist of the resolution passed on the second day of the conference was: "we, the
participants of the  ASR/IWSL conference on women's studies honour our sisters in Bangladesh for their courage and resistance to  tyranny in those traumatic times (1971) and we condemn the use of rape and violence against women  as a deliberate strategy of war. The women's movement in Pakistan has acknowledged and apologised  for the rapes in Bangladesh and has repeatedly called upon the government to do so. Although an  apology and reparations do not, in any way, compensate for the violence against a people,  nonetheless, we demand that these gestures be made in the interests of our own community". Via South Asia Citizens Wire