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India-Pakistan citizens’ peace resolution: Throwing a pebble in the pond May 07, 2017 Mahesh Bhat, Asma Jahangir, Mani Shankar Aiyer Afrasiab Khattak Peacemongers call for India, Pakistan to resolve differences through dialogue With tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan on the rise, some concerned citizens from India and Pakistan have come together to formulate a statement expressing their deep concern at “the current rise in animosity and antagonism between India and Pakistan”. The resolution urges “both governments and their security establishments to take all steps possible towards improving relations”. Noting that “whenever it seems that relations might improve, some form of disruption takes place ranging from jingoistic statements to militant attacks” the statement makes general points about the conflict, preferring not to address recent specific points of contention like soldiers beheaded at the border, schoolchildren sent back from an exchange programmer, medical visas being withheld and so on. “The traditional response to such disruptions only strengthens those who want continued tensions between our two countries”, points out the statement. Nearly 250 thought-leaders, journalists, lawyers, activists, filmmakers, physicians and students endorsed the privately-shared statement since it was initiated on May 5. Prominent signatories include former parliamentarian Mani Shankar Aiyer, former senator Afrasiab Khattak, retired bureaucrat Harsh Mander, advocate Asma Jahangir, academics Meenakshi Chabbra, Adil Najam and Ayesha Siddiqa, historians Ayesha Jalal and K. N. Panikkar, filmmakers Mahesh Bhat, Gauhar Raza, Saba Dewan and Rahul Roy, artist Salima Hashmi, Jammu-based Anuradha Bhasin, Co-chair, Pakistan India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy, political activist and economist Salman Anees Soz from Srinagar, nuclear physicist A. H. Nayyar, besides many others. Activists Tapan Bose, Rita Manchanda, Shabnam Hashmi, Karamat Ali, Kamla Bhasin and others are also among the signatories, along with youth activists like Mohammad Jibran Nasir, Chintan Girish Modi, Devika Mittal and others. Retired Indian armed forces personnel who have endorsed the resolution include Air Vice Marshal (retd) Kapil Kak, Admiral L. Ramdas, former Chief of Naval Staff and Magsaysay Awardee for Peace, and Gen. Tej Kaul, Executive President of India Pakistan Soldiers Initiative for Peace (IPSI). The statement organisers could not reach the Pakistani retired armed forces personnel who have been active in the peace movement but hope to include them another time. Endorsing the statement from Islamabad poet Kishwar Naheed adds a comment: “Strongly endorse and requesting all India & Pakistani writers to come ahead for peace and dialogue”. Several prominent journalists have also endorsed the statement, which pledges “to uphold the principles of impartial reporting and urge media houses on either side to prevent the growing militarisation of debate”. They include Prem Shankar Jha, Siddharth Varadarajan, Jyoti Malhotra, Nidhi Razdan, Jatin Desai, Marvi Sirmed, Raza Rumi, Shivam Vij, Kalpana Sharma, Ammu Joseph, Anita Katyal, Beena Sarwar, Saleem Asmi (former editor of Dawn), Sanjay Kapoor, Fauzia Shahid, Afia Salam and from Afghanistan, Najiba Ayubi and Farida Nekzad. “We must act responsibly and stop broadcasting hate speech and creating public hysteria aimed at the other country and/or vulnerable communities”, says the resolution. Endorsements have come in not just from India and Pakistan but from concerned citizens in other countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, indicating how people elsewhere feel impacted by relations between the two South Asian giants. While the statement may not affect policy between the two countries, organisers hope that it will serve as a “pebble thrown in a pond that will have a ripple effect” as one activist put it. Text of the resolution and current signatories below. Resolution for peaceful relations between India and Pakistan Make dialogue un-interrupted and un-interruptible In the 70 years since Independence and Partition, the people of India and Pakistan have seen too many conflicts and the loss of many valuable lives. Enough of the distrust and tensions. Those who suffer particularly are ordinary people denied visas and those in the conflict zones, especially women and children as well as fishermen who get routinely rounded up and arrested for violating the maritime boundary. We condemn all forms of violence regardless of its objectives. Deeply concerned at the current rise in animosity and antagonism between India and Pakistan, we urge both governments and their security establishments to take all steps possible towards improving relations. We note that whenever it seems that relations might improve, some form of disruption takes place ranging from jingoistic statements to militant attacks. The traditional response to such disruptions only strengthens those who want continued tensions between our two countries. We move this Resolution towards a peaceful subcontinent and make the following demands to the governments of India and Pakistan, urging them to: 1. Develop an institutionalised framework to ensure that continuous and uninterrupted talks between India and Pakistan take place regularly no matter what. Make dialogue un-interrupted and un-interruptible. 2. Ensure that political leaders, diplomats and civil servants from both countries conduct talks on the side-lines of all international and multilateral forums. 3. Recognise that the Kashmir dispute above all concerns the lives and aspirations of the Kashmiri people, and work to resolve it through uninterrupted dialogue between all concerned parties. 4. Implement the 2003 ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan. 5. Renounce all forms of proxy wars, state-sponsored terrorism, human rights violations, cross-border terrorism, and subversive activities against each other including through non-state actors or support of separatist movements in each other’s state. 6. Support and encourage all forms of people to people contact, and remove visa restrictions and discrimination faced by citizens of both countries. This must be further taken forward to allow visa-free travel between India and Pakistan. 7. Increase trade and economic linkages and cultural exchanges between India and Pakistan. Further, we pledge to uphold the principles of impartial reporting and urge media houses on either side to prevent the growing militarisation of debate. We must act responsibly and stop broadcasting hate speech and creating public hysteria aimed at the other country and/or vulnerable communities. Endorsed (names sorted in alphabetical order): Name, Designation A. H. Nayyar, physicist, educationist, Lahore Aakash Chandran, Assistant Editor, Lighthouse Project Aasha Mehreen Amin, Deputy Editor, Editorial and Op-Ed, The Daily Star, Bangladesh Aastha Dua, lawyer, New Delhi Abha Bhaiya, activist, Himachal Pradesh Abhay Ramchand Shaha, Baramati, Maharashtra-Architect and National Secretary, Servas International Peace Organisation Abhishek Thakore, Co-founder, The Blue Ribbon Movement, Mumbai, and South Asian Youth Conference Series Achal Arora, insurance professional, Meerut Adil Jussawala, Poet, Mumbai Adil Najam, Dean, Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University Admiral L. Ramdas, former Chief of Naval Staff and Magsaysay Awardee for Peace, India Afia Salam, freelance journalist, Karachi Afrasiab Khattak, ex-Senator, Islamabad Akshat Singhal, Co-founder, The Blue Ribbon Movement, Mumbai Alefia T. Hussain, journalist, The News on Sunday, Lahore Aliya Harir, student at National Defence University, Islamabad Alka Subramanian, San Diego Aman Alam, software engineer, Bangalore Amardeep Singh, author, Singapore Amarpali Singh, poet, Chandigarh Ameya Kilara, Leadership Fellow, Center for Public Leadership, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University Ammu Joseph, independent journalist and author, Bangalore, India Anand Chakravarti, academician, Delhi Anam Zakaria, author, development professional and educationist Anis Haroon, activist Anish Mishra, independent analyst and researcher on South Asia, Singapore Anita Dixit, social researcher, Kolkata Anita Katyal, journalist Anju Khemani, disability consultant, Hyderabad, India Anton Babu, entrepreneur, Trivandrum Anuradha Bhasin, Co-chair, Pakistan India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy Arfa Khanum Sherwani, broadcast journalist, New Delhi Aruna Roy, social activist, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, Rajasthan Arundhati Dhuru, social activist, National Alliance of People’s Movements, India Asad Sayeed, economist, Karachi Asha Hans, Pakistan India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy Ashok Chowdhury, All-India Union of Forest Working People, Delhi Asiya Shervani, diversity and inclusion consultant, Hyderabad, India Asma Jahangir, Chairperson Emeritus, HRCP & Advocate, Supreme Court of Pakistan Asma Shirazi, senior anchor/editor current affairs, Aaj News Atia Anwar Zoon, Assistant Professor, Federal Urdu University, Islamabad Ayesha Jalal, Mary Richardson Professor of History/Director, Center for South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies, Tufts University Ayesha Siddiqa, research associate SOAS, University of London Baela Raza Jamil, Founder and CEO, Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi, Pakistan Barnali Ray Shukla, filmmaker, Mumbai Baruna Bhattacharya, writer, Kolkata Beena Sarwar, journalist, teacher, editor Aman ki Asha Bina Sarkar Ellias, poet, editor and publisher, International Gallerie, Mumbai Bushra Gohar, activist, Peshawar Chaudhry Latif Akbar, President Peoples Party, Azad Jammu and Kashmir Chintan Girish Modi, peace educator, writer and researcher, Mumbai Darryl D’Monte, environmentalist journalist, Mumbai Deepak Kathuria, Association of Peoples of Asia Deepak Nahar, Past National President, JCI India Deepesh C, Assistant Professor, Chennai Devang Shah, international law and diplomacy student Devika Mittal, research student and convener (India) Aaghaz-e-Dosti Diep Saeeda, peace activist, Lahore Dilrukshi Handunnetti, journalist and lawyer, Sri Lanka Dunu Roy, Senior Fellow at the Centre for Public Affairs and Critical Theory, Shiv Nadar University Ellia Khan, Officiating Director, PeaceNiche | T2F, Karachi Elsa D’Silva, Founder and CEO, Red Dot Foundation, Mumbai Ershad Mahmud, Executive Director, Center for Peace, Development and Reforms, Rawalakot Ezabir Ali, women’s rights activist, Srinagar Farooq Shah, Managing Editor, Kashmir Observer Farida Batool, Head of Visual Arts National College of Arts (NCA), Lahore Fauzia Shahid, content editor PTV, Islamabad Farida Nekzad, journalist, Kabul Afghanistan, South Asian Women in Media (SAWM) president Furhan Hussain, researcher and trainer, Islamabad Gauhar Raza, poet, filmmaker, Delhi Geetha Durairajan, Professor, English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, India Tej Kaul, Executive President of India Pakistan Soldiers Initiative for Peace (IPSI) Hameed-ul-Mehdi, Team Leader, Community Development and Entrepreneurship Foundation, Quetta Harsh Desai, Campus Head, Thadomal Shahani Centre for Media and Communication, Mumbai Harsh Kapoor, South Asia Citizen’s Web (net) Harsh Mander, writer, activist, Delhi Harsh Narayan, filmmaker and activist, Delhi Hilda Saeed, activist, member, Women’s Action Forum and Shirkat Gah Ilma Iqbal, law student and team member, Aaghaz-e-Dosti Imran Aziz, businessman, Rawalpindi Imran Zahid, actor, Delhi Imtiaz Ali, Deputy Speaker, Provincial Youth Assembly, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inder Salim, artist, New Delhi Indra Munshi, sociologist, Mumbai Irfan Aslam, journalist Ishaan Jajodia, Founder, The Mumbai Art Collective & Student, Dartmouth College Jamuna Rangachari, writer and website in-charge, Life Positive magazine Jatin Desai, journalist, Mumbai Jayaprakash Satyamurthy, writer and musician, Bangalore Jayshree Murali, educator, VIDYA India, Mumbai Jayshree Shukla, concerned citizen, Delhi Jerusha D’sa, educational freelancer, Mumbai John Dayal, writer and activist, New Delhi Jyoti Malhotra, journalist N. Panikkar, historian, Trivandrum Satchidanandan, writer, Kerala Air Vice Marshal (retd) Kapil Kak, analyst, commentator on strategic and security issues Kalpana Sharma, independent journalist, Mumbai Kami Kidwai, management consultant, London Kamla Bhasin, social activist, India Karamat Ali, Executive Director PILER, Secretary National Labour Council and Founding member PIPFPD, Karachi Kavita Krishnan, Secretary, All India Progressive Women’s Association Kavita Srivastava, human rights worker, People’s Union for Civil Liberties Kedar Maddula, Wunderhaus Artists’ Getaway & Homestay, Pondicherry Kejal Savla, Program Lead at Community Connect Fellowship, The Blue Ribbon Movement, India Kenneth Joe Cleetus, Program Officer, Regional Centre of Expertise, Trivandrum Keshav Sharma, B.S. PPE Candidate, Northeastern University Khushal Khan, activist, Islamabad Kirthi Jayakumar, Founder, Red Elephant Foundation, Chennai Kishwar Naheed, poet, Islamabad Konchadi Vasanth Pai, retd company executive, Bengaluru Kuldeep Kumar, columnist and commentator, Delhi Lalita Ramdas, peace activist, Pakistan India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy, Alibag Leena Dabiru, legal and development consultant, Delhi Madhulika Narasimhan, research and communications professional and core member Aaghaz-e-Dosti Mahesh Bhatt, film producer, India Mani Shankar Aiyar, peace activist, writer, former parliamentarian, Delhi Mannika Chopra, journalist Mansi Sharma, activist, Delhi Maria Patel, advertising and media professional, Pakistan Marvi Sirmed, journalist, Daily Times Maroof Syed, Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government (HKS) Maya Mirchandani, journalist, India Mazher Hussain, Executive Director, COVA, India Meenakshi Chhabra, peace educator, Lesley University Meenakshi Chakraverti, writer, San Diego Mehmal Sarfraz, journalist, Lahore Melanie P. Kumar, independent writer, Bangalore Afroj, research scholar, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi Mohammad Jibran Nasir, Never Forget Pakistan, lawyer Mohammad Shoaib, Aariz Media Mohammad Tahseen, ED, South Asia Partnership Pakistan & Convenor, Pakistan Civil Society Forum Mohammad Zakiuddin Mahdi, research scholar, Uttarakhand Technical University Mona Kazim Shah, founder, Project Pakistan, journalist and human rights activist, Dallas Mukesh Arora, financial consultant, Meerut Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander, Coordinator, Swarajpeeth Trust (Kashmir Chapter) & Founding Trustee, Inspire Me Foundation Najiba Ayubi, journalist, Killid Group, Afghanistan Nasim Zehra, journalist, teacher, TV anchor, Islamabad Nasima Karim, Co-founder and Focal Point Central Asia at Here We Are, Kyrgyz Republic Nandita Narain, associate professor in Mathematics, St Stephen’s College Delhi University Neena Gopal, Resident Editor, Deccan Chronicle, Bangalore Nidhi Razdan, journalist, India Niharika Awasthi, development communication professional, BBC Media Action, Delhi Nivedita Jha, freelance journalist. Nirupama Subramanian, journalist Noorjehan Bilgrami, artist, Karachi Omang Agarwal, Asia Coordinator, Commonwealth Youth Peace Ambassadors Network, Delhi Ovais Sultan Khan, social activist, Delhi Pamela Philipose, Public Editor, The Wire, New Delhi Parag Shah, Communications Coordinator, Asia Plateau, Panchgani Pawan Bali, journalist and filmmaker Dr Pervez Hoodhboy, physicist and teacher, Islamabad Pervez Majeed, journalist, Srinagar, Kashmir Pervin Sanghvi, development communications consultant, Mumbai Praveen Singh, convenor for Milne Do and Students Right to Accommodation, Delhi Prem Shankar Jha, journalist, columnist, India Qurat-ul Ain, Lee Kuan Yew Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School of Government Rabeea Arif, Head of Graphic Design, University of Karachi Raheel Khursheed, Head of News Partnerships, South Asia & South East Asia at Twitter Raheem ul Haq, Senior Research Fellow at Centre for Governance and Public Policy, Forman Christian College Rahul Reddy, student, geopolitical analyst, technologist, humanist Ram Mohan Rai, advocate and peace activist Ram Puniyani, Center for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai Rahul Roy, filmmaker, Gurgaon Raminder Jit Singh, Founder and Director ‘THE – SARA’, Jammu Rashida Dohad, Executive Director, Omar Asghar Khan Foundation, Islamabad Ravi Kiran Jain, President PUCL, India Ravi Nitesh, peace activist, Founder, Aaghaz-e-Dosti Raza Khan, peace activist, Lahore Raza Habib Raja, PhD student, Syracuse University, USA Raza Rumi, Editor Daily Times, Cornell University faculty Raza Syed, journalist, Awaaz multimedia Group Reema Amin, educationist and peacenik, Lahore Rita Manchanda, writer, activist, Delhi Ruchhita Kazaria, advertiser, Kolkata Rumana Husain, artist, Karachi Saba Dewan, independent documentary filmmaker, Gurgaon Saeed Ahmed Rid, Assistant Professor, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad Safia Bokhari, peace activist, Lahore Sahar Alamgir, student and development professional, Islamabad/London Dr Saima Firdoos, physician, Rawalpindi/Boston, former board member APPNE Sajid Iqbal, research scholar, COMSATS University, Abbottabad Saleem Asmi, journalist, former editor Dawn, Pakistan Salima Hashmi, artist, educator, Lahore Salman Anees Soz, activist, development economist Salonie Dua, student, University of Delhi Samiksha Raorane, Manager, Global Foundation, Mumbai Samir Gupta, IT professional Sandeep Pandey, teacher and social activist, Socialist Party, India Sanjay Kapoor, Editor, Hardnews Magazine Saroj Nagi, freelance journalist, New Dellhi Saroj Razdan, journalist, India Satyapaul, Secretary General, South Asian Fraternity Saumya Aggarwal, Co-founder, Youth for Peace International, Delhi Seema Mustafa, journalist, Delhi Sehba Farooqui, Democratic Human Rights Network, Delhi Sehba Sarwar, independent writer/Artistic Director, Voices Breaking Boundaries Sehyr Mirza, independent journalist, Lahore Sevanti Ninan, journalist, New Delhi Shabnam Hashmi, social activist, Delhi Shastri Ramachandaran, independent journalist and international publications consultant, India Sheema Kermani, activist, Director Tehrik-e-Niswan Sheharyar Rizwan, journalist, Lahore Shehnaz Ismail, Professor Emeritus, Indus Valley School of Art and Design, Karachi Shiraz Hassan, journalist, Islamabad Shivam Vij, journalist, Delhi Shrenik Mutha, independent activist and poet, Pune Shruti Arora (Achesh), theater educator Shruti Ganapatye, The Asian Age, Mumbai Shujaat Bukhari, Editor-in-Chief, Rising Kashmir Shuma Raha, journalist, India Siddharth Varadarajan, Founding Editor, TheWire.in Sini Nair, Educator, Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai Sristhi Chauhan, Fellow, Teach for India, Delhi Sudha Ramachandran, independent researcher and journalist, Bangalore Sunit Arora, journalist, India Swarna Rajagopalan, independent scholar and Managing Trustee, Prajnya, Chennai Swati Bhattacharjee, journalist, Kolkata Syed Ghazanfar Abbas, Correspondent, India Tomorrow News Syeda Afshana, columnist and media teacher, Srinagar Taimur Rahman, Assistant Professor LUMS Tapan Kumar Bose, Secretary General, South Asia Forum for Human Rights Talat Rahim, writer, Karachi Tanzeela Mazhar, journalist, Pakistan Tayyaba Hasan, Professor, Harvard Medical School Tulika Bathija, educator, Ecole Mondiale World School, Mumbai Uma Chakravarti, academician, Delhi Uma Sudhir, Resident Editor, NDTV Umair Vahidy, Dil Say Pakistan Umber Khairi, Producer, BBC Umer Abdur Rehman Janjua, columnist and author, Islamabad Umer Farooq, student, Lahore Urvashi Butalia, Director, Zubaan Publishers Pvt Ltd Vaibhav Arora, marketing professional, Delhi Vaishali Jethava, Program Coordinator, The Blue Ribbon Movement, India Vani Rijhwani, environment research student, Delhi Vasanth Kannabiran, writer and activist, Hyderabad, India Veejay Sai, writer, culture critic, Delhi Vijay Deshpande Satara, Maharashtra State Freedom Fighters Successors Organisation and Indo-Pak Friendship Forum, Satara District Vinay Nagaraju, Edward S. Mason Fellow and MPA Candidate 2017, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University Vinayak Rajasekhar, Editor-in-Chief, paxpolitica.com Vipul Shaha, educator, Krishnamurti Foundation of India, Pune Waqas Halim, Director, Center for Technology in Education, Information Technology University, Lahore Yasmeen Kazi, Professor of Paediatrics, Karachi Yogesh Mathuria, peace warrior, World School of Happiness, Pune Zalla Khattak, freelance consultant, Islamabad Zar Ali Khan Afridi, Chairman FATA Commission of Human Rights Zakia Sarwar, teacher trainer, Founder Member, Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers Zohaib Karim, Co-founder and Lead Strategist at MentHub, Karachi As of May 7, 2017 -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. 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