rights organizations in a RALLY FOR PEACE IN INDIA AND PAKISTAN!!!
This past Wednesday the many groups representing the South Asian community
in DC and Peace Action organized a peace vigil to the Indian and Pakistani
embassies to call for peace in India and Pakistan. We in the Bay Area are
also mobilizing for peace.
When: Monday, June 10th 2002 at 12 noon
Where: UN Plaza in San Francisco (Market Street, near Civic Center BART)
Why: In response to the violence and threats of nuclear war that have
erupted in South Asia in recent weeks, concerned citizens want to send a
clear message to the Indian and Pakistani governments that ordinary people
from both countries denounce all war, especially nuclear war. Ordinary
people want peace, constructive and open dialogue between both nations and
believe that the people of Kashmir have the right to self-determination.
Who: Friends of South Asia, the Kashmir Foundation, the Pakistan American
Democratic Forum, Alliance of South Asians Taking Action, Western States
Legal Foundation, Global Exchange, California Peace Action, EKTA, the
Pakistan Association of San Francisco, the Community Protection Network, the
People's Nonviolent Response Coalition and many others who want PEACE, NOT
WAR.
After the rally, a small delegation will take our list of demands to the
Indian Consulate. Activists in LA will be delivering the same list to the
Pakistani Consulate on Monday.
We come together to say no to war and escalation of violence in S. Asia and
demand the following:
1. That the Indian and Pakistani governments work towards peace and not war.
The people of India and Pakistan want peace and we demand that their
governments not use war as a political weapon.
2. An end to ALL violence, including violent rhetoric and threats of war.
We condemn all war, particularly nuclear war.
3. That Pakistan and India devote their resources to human needs and to
ending social injustices, not on armaments and military expansion.
4. A de-escalation of the military build-up and war rhetoric.
5. A constructive and open dialogue between peoples and governments.
Governments should resume political and diplomatic negotiations immediately
and re-open communication lines between the peoples of India, Pakistan and
Kashmir.
6. The people of Kashmir have the right to self-determination.
7. No U.S. military intervention. The U.S. should lead by example by
immediately declaring a policy of no first use of nuclear weapons and
initiating multilateral negotiations on the rapid elimination of nuclear
weapons worldwide.
8. The United Nations should act to foster dialogue and negotiation
between India and Pakistan and a de-escalation of violence and war rhetoric.
PLEASE JOIN US ON MONDAY!!! BRING SIGNS AND PROPS IF YOU CAN!!! If you
cannot make it to the action, you can still take action. See call to action
below. THANK YOU!!!
For more information, please see press release below or call Leila at
415-575-5536. I can give you more info, as well as other groups contacts.
In peace and solidarity,
Leila Salazar
Global Exchange
---------------
Rally in UN Plaza brings Bay Area Indians and Pakistanis Together in a Call
for Peace
On Monday, June 10 representatives from various Indian and Pakistani
community organizations-as well as Bay Area peace and human rights
organizations-will come together for a rally at UN Plaza in San Francisco at
12 noon. Following the rally, these representatives will take a list of
demands to the Indian Consulate in San Francisco. Similarly, a delegation
will take the same list to the Pakistani Consulate in Los Angeles.
In response to the violence and threats of nuclear war that have erupted in
South Asia in recent weeks, concerned citizens want to send a clear message
to the Indian and Pakistani governments that ordinary people from both
countries denounce all war, especially nuclear war. Ordinary people want
peace, constructive and open dialogue between both nations and believe that
the people of Kashmir have the right to self-determination.
"India and Pakistan must understand that war will not resolve the injustices
of history, it will only condemn our nations further and exacerbate the very
tensions that are sought to be resolved through war," said Angana P.
Chatterji, a Professor, of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the
California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. "India must stop
violating the rights and lives of Kashmiris, and Pakistan must change its
policy connected to Kashmir. Indian national interest must be supportive of
minority rights and secularism, and separate itself from Hindu extremism.
Pakistan must take seriously tasks related to the democratization of its
polity. We must not support the fabric of resistance connected to the use of
terror on the part of states and groups. We must take responsibility for the
unjust histories through which our nations were conceived, "
"A solution to the Kashmir problem is vital to restore durable peace in
South Asia," says Abdus Sattar Ghazali from Pakistan American Democratic
Forum. "Even if the military situation between Pakistan and India
de-escalates now, there will always be a possibility of tension between the
two countries unless the Kashmir problem is resolved."
"The conflict raging between India and Pakistan, the newest members of the
nuclear club, demonstrates anew that the fate of our planet is at stake,"
according to Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director of the Western States
Legal Foundation, a nuclear disarmament advocacy group in Oakland. "While
U.S. officials are telling India and Pakistan that war is not an option, the
U.S. is developing more useable’ nuclear weapons as an option in its own
open-ended war against terrorism. This hypocritical do as we say, not as we
do’ posture is dangerous and destabilizing. The best way for the U.S. to
help de-escalate the military standoff in South Asia is to lead by example.
The U.S. should immediately declare a policy of no-first-use of nuclear
weapons and initiate multilateral negotiations to eliminate nuclear weapons
worldwide."
Representatives from the following organizations will be speaking on the
need for both India and Pakistan to make commitments to peace, instead of
war: Friends of South Asia, the Kashmir Foundation, the Pakistan American
Democratic Forum, Alliance of South Asians Taking Action, Western States
Legal Foundation, and Global Exchange. In addition, California Peace
Action, EKTA, the Pakistan Association of San Fransico and the Community
Protection Network and the People's Nonviolent Response Coalition have
endorsed this event.
###
COALITION FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT AND PEACE (CNDP) CRIES HALT TO PRO-WAR
CAMPAIGN
YOUR EFFORTS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
India and Pakistan are on the verge of a war that could escalate into a
nuclear confrontation. A perverse, irrational, and almost willfully
suicidal mentality seems to exist in some military sectors. Yet India and
Pakistan have substantial peace and antinuclear movements. They need your
help. A nuclear conflict is not inevitable, though the risk of one is
considerable. The issue is as urgent and pressing as any other issue in the
world right now. There are a number of positive things that you can do.
1) Send a message of solidarity to the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and
Peace in India. (The coalition includes Pakistani organizations.) E-mail to
Achin Vanaik in India at:
pamela@del3.vsnl.net.in 2) Write to the Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers of India and Pakistan.
Tell them that nuclear war contradicts all that is best in the traditions of
the Southasian subcontinent. Tell them that war will solve nothing and will
lead to the destruction of both countries. Urge them to step back from the
brink of mutual destruction, and to solve their differences by peaceful
means. FAX NUMBERS FOLLOW.
PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA A.B. VAJPAYEE
+91-11-301-6857 +91-11-301-9545, 91-11-972-2-664-838
MINISTER OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS INDIA
+91-11-301-0700
PRESIDENT MUSHARRAF OF PAKISTAN
+1-92-51-920-3938, 0011-92-51-920-1968 0011-92-51-811390
FOREIGN MINISTER OF PAKISTAN +92-51-920-7217 +92-51-920 0420 or 820-420
3) Call or write to President Bush and Secretary of State Powell. Urge
them to use their influence to de-escalate the military stand-off between
India and Pakistan and promote diplomatic solutions. Demand that they lead
by example by commencing immediate multilateral negotiations on the
elimination of nuclear weapons everywhere. Add your own additional
examples. There are far too many to list in this short space.
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH
Comments: (202) 456-1111
Switchboard: (202) 456-1414
FAX: (202) 456-2461
E-mail:
president@whitehouse.gov SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL
(Switchboard: 202) 647-4000
Fax: 202-261-8577
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