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Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Karamat Ali receives South Asia Peace and Justice Award
KARACHI: Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) Executive Director Karamat Ali has received the South Asia Dadi Nirmala Deshpande Peace and Justice Award in Patiala, India, on the occasion of a regional seminar on ‘Exist of NATO Forces from Afghanistan and its Impact on India and Pakistan’.
The event was held on the occasion of the 84th birth anniversary of Didi Nirmala to pay tribute to her for her role in promoting peace in the South Asian region and ending extremism and hatred among the people.
The inspiring ceremony, organised by Folklore Research Academy Amritsar and Akhil Bharatiya Rachnatemak Samaj, attracted scholars from leading universities, journalists, writers and peace activists from Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. The participants shared their thought-provoking opinions regarding the issue, as it has been declared that the NATO forces may start leaving Afghanistan gradually from October 2014.
This prestigious South Asia peace and justice award is given to peace-promoting individuals of the region on October 17 every year on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Didi Nirmala.
Ahmed Fashim Hakim, a peace activist from Afghanistan, Prof Kamal Mitra Chenoy from Jawahar Lal University, Senior journalist and teacher Qamar Aga from New Delhi, Dr Sarfaraz Ahmed of Area Studies Centre Peshawar, Dr Riaz Shaikh of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Social Sciences and Technology (SZABIST) Karachi, Karamat Ali of PILER, Mohammed Tahseen of South Asia Partnership (SAP) Pakistan and others discussed the issues of the entire region, linking it to Afghanistan, which is passing through a transitional period.
The speakers also talked about the role of NATO forces and US allies, as well as threats to peace and prosperity in the South Asian region due to their actions.
“In fact it is the issue of war-torn Afghanistan; only the people of that country (Afghanistan) could decide about their future. Pakistan and India should pay heed to their own issues and find a permanent resolution of their mutual issues, keeping in mind the people’s sentiments,” said Dr Riaz Shaikh of SZABIST.
“Pakistan and India should address the issues like trans-boundary issue, particularly that of Sir Creek, strengthening people-to-people contacts and promoting trade and socio-cultural relationship, and let the people of both the countries come close to each other and remove years’ long grievances,” he said.
The other scholars asked both Pakistan and India to start slashing at least 10 percent of their respective annual military budgets. They said that there should be ‘no-war pact’ within the South Asian nations, as people do not like a nuclear race; they want peace, hence Pakistan and India should announce abolition of war initiatives and take step for demilitarisation in the interest of their own people.
Karamat Ali, after receiving the award, said, “Since Didi Niramal (Deshpande) was my elder sister, I am proud of this achievement that the South Asian peace promoter friends chose my name for the first award.”
He further said, “The South Asian countries should adopt austerity measures like signing a no-war pact, nuclear weapon-free South Asian zone and deduction of expenditure on purchasing of weapons in order to give fundamental rights to people who have migrated from one SAARC nation to another, besides relaxing visa norms for South Asian people in order to ensure peace and stability in the region.”
The second award distribution ceremony will be held next year in Pakistan.
At the beginning of the event, Farhat Fatima of PILER read out the paper written by BM Kutty to pay tribute to Didi Nirmala Deshpandey for her role in promoting peace in the South Asian region. The organisers, paying tribute to Didi, said they wanted to continue her mission to promote peace in the entire region.
In the evening, a cultural show was organised to exhibit the role of artistes in promoting peace and strengthening the relationship among the South Asian countries.
Noted performing artists and classical dancer Sheema Kermani also gave a wonderful performance on the poetry of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, which was applauded by the audience. pr
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk