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>From Prof. Hari Sharma (retd., Canada) A Public Statement March 25, 2003 A cowardly, yet horrendously brutal, killing of innocent people has shattered the Kashmir Valley again. In the nightly hours of March 23, twenty-four men, women and children were gunned down by unknown attackers in the village of Nadimarg (Pulwama). The victims were all Hindu Pandits of Kashmir. We in SANSAD (South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy) and in INSAF (International South Asia Forum) utterly condemn this savage act, this crime against humanity. When members of any particular community are subjected to brutal killings - whether they are Sikhs in Punjab, Christians, Dalits, Tribals and Muslims in Gujarat and elsewhere, the fragile secular and democratic make-up of the Indian society goes through another challenging test. For over twelve years now, the people of Kahmir have been subjected to a never-ending vortex of violence. The entire people have been turned into helpless victims of the terror inflicted by the contending forces, while their genuine aspirations for peace, dignity, and democratic rights of self-determination remain crushed. It is very unfortunate that every time there is some movement toward normalization of social relations, some movement toward peace in the entire region, it becomes disrupted by such wanton and melicious acts of interruption. It is obvious that there are vested interests who do not want the Kashmir problem to be solved. That the secular and harmonious aspects of the Kashmiri society have yet not been destroyed is indicated by the manner in which the entire community in the village of Nadimarg came together to mourn the deaths of the innocents. Muslim men and women wiped their own tears and those of the survivors of the Hindu families. ''We don't believe this could happen here,'' said Khatija Bano, a Muslim housewife. ''I am shocked. Why will anybody kill these poor people? They had nothing to do with anything. They were struggling like all of us for two meals a day here in this far off village,'' she said. ''They had not left the village because they had always felt safe here. It is their home like it is our home''. It is noteworthy that Muslim, Christian, Sikh and the democratic/secular organizations have strongly condemned this ghastly act, and have demanded from the Government of India and of Jammu and kashmir to find the culprits, and to take the necessary steps in bringing security and a sense of dignity to all the people in Jammu and Kashmir. We in SANSAD and INSAF join these voices of sanity, and of goodwill. Hari Sharma [EMAIL PROTECTED] President, SANSAD (South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy0 President, INSAF (International South Asia Forum) __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop! http://platinum.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.goanet.org/mailman/listinfo/goanet
