Citizens Call for Peace<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

When passions were running high with the dispute over Kashmir threatening to lead to a full scalewarbetween India and Pakistan,with over a million military personnel amassed on either sideof the border at Kashmir, with open and veiled threats being exchanged about possible nuclear strikes, 26 eminent citizens from each side of the India-Pakistan border (amongst whom Humanists, civil rights leaders and religious personalities) issued the following statement.The statement was simultaneously released in Lahore and in New Delhi.

Over the past several decades, Humanists on both sides were involved in citizen-to-citizen solidarity meetings, exchange visits,and various other peace initiatives to reduce the threatof war.

“The spectre of another conflict between India and Pakistan is haunting one-fifth of humankind. As concerned Pakistanis and Indians, we urge the governments of the two countries to refrain from seeking military solutions to eminently political problems. Wars have offered no solutions in the past. It is irrational to expect that a fourth, bloodier and costlier war can do so in future. To the contrary, it will deepen the conflict between the two countries, add to the burden of military spending, reinforce militaristic and chauvinistic elements, and negate the process of democratization and development.

“We believe there are no outstanding problems, including terrorism and Kashmir, which cannot be solved peacefully in a manner which could be acceptable to both the peoples and governments in India and Pakistan in the spirit of Simla Agreement. Terrorists have no respect for life, peace, much less a country's sovereignty. They killed innocent French, American and Pakistanis in Karachi and Islamabad, shot dead in Kaluchak near Jammu bus passengers and family members of armed forces personnel and many many others in the recent past. We condemn all acts of terrorism and urge the two governments jointly to act against terrorists and their organizations simultaneously addressing causes underlying mindless violence.

“We appeal to the governments of India and Pakistan to initiate a bold new process of peace and cooperation in South Asia.

Among the Signatories from India are Radical Humanists Justice V.M. Tarkunde and N.D. Pancholi; literary personalities Arundhati Roy and Nirmal Deshpande and journalist Kuldip Nayyar

Among the Signatories from Pakistan are former Prime Minister Malik Meraj Khalid, Justice Fakhruddin G Ebrahim, former judge, Supreme Court of Pakistan, Air Marshal Zafar A Chowdhry, former chief of air staff, Afrasiab Khattak, chairman, Human Rights Commission