Civil society in India and Pakistan must assert for renewal of dialogue process
Kashmir Times
February 9, 2009
Editorial
Peace process is imperative
Civil society in India and Pakistan must assert for renewal of dialogue process
Both India and Pakistan have yet to learn to live in peace, dignity and honour on the basis of equality as responsible sovereign democratic countries and enter into a fruitful era of mutual goodwill and cooperation, overcoming the prolonged confrontation that has only brought in its wake avoidable death and destruction.It took years for the civil society in the two countries to build bridges of understanding for beginning a process of dialogue and conciliation in place of mutual acrimony and confrontation. The peace process between the two neighbouring countries was the result of the efforts of the men and women of goodwill and peace who worked tirelessly since 1993 for forging people-to-people contacts to pressurize their respective governments to initiate the much needed process for peace and reconciliation. While the peace activists were striving for peace the powerfully entrenched vested interests, the rabble rousers and fundamentalists of various hues in the two countries were making every effort to subvert the peace process. Unfortunately the peace process between India and Pakistan had not moved as fast as it should have been. The hopes that with the return of democracy in Pakistan the peace process will be accelerated have been dashed to the ground with the Mumbai terror attack. The shock and anger over this most condemnable act was not misplaced. The concern for security of the citizens too is understandable. But the war cries and finger-pointing leading to the reversal of peace process defy any logic. The objective of the terrorists responsible for the attack was to subvert the peace process and renew hostilities between the two countries. Instead of playing into their hands it was imperative for the leadership of the two countries to push forward the peace process. It is indeed unfortunate that instead of meeting the challenge of terrorism with determination and mutual cooperation the ruling elites in the two countries are engaging themselves in a blame game and war of nerves.
The peace in the region is not only possible but is also necessary for the very welfare of the people of the two countries.Since the peace process, derailed in the wake of Mumbai terror attack, was the result of the efforts of the peace activists and members of the civil society in the two countries to create the conducive climate in this regard it is for them to rise, unite and assert to silence the war cries again being heard in the two countries. Let the saner elements in both India and Pakistan say no to war and confrontation and pressurize their respective governments to pick up the broken threads for reviving the much needed peace process. Instead of talking at each other the two governments must be made to talk to each other both for eliminating terrorism in the region and ushering into an era of peace and mutual cooperation. The people-to-people contacts established in the recent past have been the catalyst for the beginning of the dialogue process between the two estranged neighbouring countries. These contacts need to be further strengthened for pressurizing the establishments in Islamabad and New Delhi to renew the dialogue process for overcoming trust deficit and evolving a joint strategy and mechanism to deal with the menace of terrorism that poses threat to the security of the people as well as peace in the region. The two governments should allow such visits of the well-meaning civil society activists in increasing number for resurrection of the peace process.Dialogue is the only way to resolve all the outstanding disputes and overcome differences on various issues between the two countries. If the terrorists and hawks have the vested interests to subvert the peace process the interests of the common people in the two countries can best be served by carrying the peace process to its logical end. One can very well imagine the disastrous consequences of any war between the two nuclear powers. Let the people in the two countries assert to put halt to the foolish cries of war, hot pursuits, surgical strikes or retaliatory action and force the two governments to revive the abandoned peace process. All the contentious issues can be settled only through a purposeful process of dialogue with utmost sincerity.