Frontline
July 2001 
Cover Story

People’s Summit

As leaders Musharraf and Vajpayee meet, Pakistanis and Indians present their own suggestions for a lasting peace on the subcontinent

While the two leaders, President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee are scheduled to meet between July 14-16, 2001, several organisations involved in the peace process for over a decade now, from both Pakistan and India, will meet pre-summit and present a draft statement of people’s demands. A draft statement has been prepared and circulated and we present it to our readers for their reference.

As part of the wider process committed to peace and democracy on the sub-continent (CC  in September 1993-Beyond Borders, October 1995 –Voices from Pakistan and August 1996 –Time to Talk Peace), we have suggested that the issue of religious intolerance be emphasised in the draft.

Our suggestion: “The sharp heightening of religious intolerance, often state supported, on either side of other border contributes in no small measure to the persistent demonisation of the Pakistani and the Indian thanks to the peculiar circumstances behind the vivisection of the subcontinent. There is need for a genuine truce, one that recognises that this persistent demonising of the  ‘Pakistani’ and ‘Indian’ has served vested interests in our respective countries while heightening the inter-community divide. This century demands that we leave images of demonisation behind us and move towards a society based on the widest possible commitments to human rights, especially of religious minorities, Dalits, women and other ethnic groups. Only thereafter can we move towards lasting peace and not a fragile détente based on principles of democracy and secularism.” 

Draft Statement
The Pakistan- India People’s Solidarity Conference

I. Preamble:
For over half a century now, the people of India and Pakistan have borne the burden of hostilities between the two States. We, the representatives of numerous civil society groups which have endeavoured for years to reform relations between India and Pakistan, welcome the Summit between President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and urge that they seriously engage in a sustained dialogue. The resources of the two countries must be transferred from bombs to books, from submarines to schools, from missiles to medicines, from frigates to food, from runways for bombers to railroads for people. The two leaders must also pledge to eliminate the terrifying nuclear menace that threatens the people of South Asia and the world.
II. The Pakistan-India People’s Solidarity Conference has identified and arrived at an agreement on three major areas of concern between the two countries, which we feel need to be addressed at the Agra Summit. These are as follows:

Nuclear Weapons
The nuclear weapons programmes of India and Pakistan have heightened mutual tensions and placed the entire South Asian region in grave danger. The two countries must move towards complete dismantlement of their nuclear weapons and associated systems and return to the agenda for global disarmament.

Democracy 
We affirm that peace, democracy and justice are indivisible.  Hostilities between India and Pakistan have dangerously fuelled religious fundamentalisms and national chauvinisms. The support extended to these forces by the Indian and Pakistani States seriously undermine democracy, the rights of the minorities and women, and threaten intellectual freedom and free speech. We call for the restoration of democracy in Pakistan. We also call for the strengthening of democracy in all parts of India. These acts are crucial for a lasting peace between the two countries. We call on the two leaders to recognise that today’s needs and tomorrow’s great possibilities are more important than yesterday’s sad injuries, and that old mindsets need to change with the times.
Kashmir 

For fifty-four years the governments of India and Pakistan have not only failed to resolve the Kashmir dispute, but have also been responsible for grave Human Rights violations.  Let all sides reflect upon the tremendous suffering in Jammu and Kashmir caused by the denial of political, social, economic and human rights by India and Pakistan.  The Agra Summit should focus attention on the plight of the widows, the orphans, the bodily wounded, the psychologically traumatised, the socially ostracised, and the physically uprooted—irrespective of religious, ethnic or political background. 

The Kashmir issue is not only a territorial dispute between the two States but involves the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Therefore, a just and democratic resolution of the Kashmir dispute demands the involvement of the people on both sides of the LoC in a non-sectarian solution. A Kashmir solution can work only in the atmosphere of Pakistan-India friendship, which this Summit must guarantee. 

III. We call on the two governments to:
1. Withdraw all draconian laws in both countries that violate Human Rights.
2. Allow free movement of people between the two countries, and remove travel and visa restrictions, including police reporting.
3. Withdraw the order for prior Government permission and clearance to hold international meetings, conferences, seminars and workshops.
4. Lift restrictions on exchange of newspapers, magazines and journals, etc.
5. Normalise cultural and trade relations between the two countries.
6. Cease hostilities with immediate effect in Kashmir, initiate the process of disengagement of armed forces, and terminate support to armed groups, both State and non-State.
7. Commit to a Nuclear Freeze. This would entail no further nuclear testing, no development, deployment and induction of nuclear weapons, and no further efforts towards the setting up of Command and Control systems.
8. Agree to a mutual reduction in the armed forces, and utilise the freed resources for meeting the people’s social and economic needs. Both governments should also commit themselves to a time-bound programme for the systematic reduction of military spending, both direct and indirect.        


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