Indo-Pak Communities
Celebrate Peace Day
By Zafar Iqbal
Washington,
DC: “We believe that when people lead, the political
leaders are duty-bound to follow." This was the unanimous
message participants of the Peace Day celebration wished
to convey to people of the subcontinent. The recent people-to-people
interaction has established beyond doubt that common people
on both sides of the border are eager to foster cultural,
commercial, educational, and familial relationships with
each other.
Fifteen organizations of the Pakistani and Indian communities
jointly organized a meeting to honor the independence days
of both the neighboring South-Asian countries as a Peace
Day at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD from
2-5 PM, on Saturday, the August 13, 2005.
Professor A. H. Nayyar, Peace Activist/Professor Emeritus,
Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad — the main speaker
at the function — was happy over recent developments
at different levels on both sides of the border; however,
he expressed concerns that the peace process had not yet
become self-sustaining. Although common men and women on
both sides are very enthusiastic about establishing friendly
relations with each other, but the misgivings and suspicion
of policymakers, politicians, military establishment, and
bureaucrats on either side appear to be the reason for keeping
the two nations apart. Nayyar also outlined several areas
of cooperation that have been established by the peace-promoting
NGOs recently in India and Pakistan.
Umesh Agnihotri’s story Lakeer beautifully described
the interaction of two families from either side of the
border now settled in the US. Zafar Iqbal recited Yusuf
Rahat’s poem Shanti that beautifully described the
virtues of peaceful coexistence. The program included a
short video of Peace March from New Delhi to Multan last
spring and poems and songs on friendship and communal harmony.
The program was arranged under the leadership of Dr. Mohan
Bhagat, a senior professor at the University of Maryland
and actively supported by a number of Indo-Pakistan community
workers that include Dr. Pervez Uppal, Dr. Priya Ranjan,
Dr. Sirish Agarwal, Dr. Zafar Iqbal, Mr. Shrikumar Poddar,
Mr. Kaleem Kawaja, Mr. Rohit Tripathi, Mr. Sandeep Gupta,
Ms. Vineeta Gupta, Ms. Nuzaira Azam, Ms. Sultana Kamal and
Ms. Lubna Ejaz. It was sponsored by the Association for
India's Development (AID), in collaboration with like-minded
organizations of Indo-Pak community such as the American
Federation of Muslims from India (AFMI), Aligarh Alumni
Association (AAA), DC Collective of South-Asians, The Organization
of Universal Communal Harmony (TOUCH), Association of Indian
Muslims in America (AIM), Association for Communal Harmony
in Asia (ACHA), Non-Resident Indians for Secular and Harmonious
India (NRI-SAHI), Pakistan Association of Greater Washington
Area, Hyderabad Association Washington Metropolitan Area
(HAWMA), Sadbhav Mission, and Young India (YI).
The attendees signed a petition urging both the governments
to ease all restrictions on cross-border travel at the earliest
possible date.
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