[sacw] Pakistan Peace Conference Declarations

[Harsh Kapoor]

March, 4 1999
FYI
South Asians Against Nukes
___________________________________________

PAKISTAN PEACE COALITION CONFERENCE DECLARATION
Karachi - 28 February 1999

The first conference of the Pakistan Peace Coalition brings together
activists from all over the country on a common platform of resisting
the nuclearisation of Pakistan, of South Asia, and the world. Until
last May, our work for peace, human rights and social justice assumed
continuity of both society and state. Nuclear weapons threaten this
continuity as nothing else has ever done.

The struggle for peace is a struggle over values. We believe that
nothing justifies nuclear weapons, under any circumstances. Nuclear
weapons offer no solution to the fundamental political problems of a
state, they exacerbate them. We reject these weapons and their
attendant nuclear nationalism that is based on hatred and fear, and
reinforces existing systems of patriarchy, class exploitation, ethnic
and religious differences. The most hurt vulnerable groups are women
and children and the marginal and dispossessed.

Welcoming the recent initiatives towards peace by the prime ministers
of India and Pakistan, this Conference calls upon them to go beyond
the symbolism and goodwill generated by the Lahore Declaration and
take concrete steps towards peace and de-escalation of tension in the
region. These include the signing of a no-war, no-aggression pact and
a commitment not to be the first to use nuclear weapons.

Both governments must commit themselves to total disarmament and to
interim, unilateral, bilateral and global steps and treaties that
restrict or prohibit the design, development, manufacture,
deployment, threat of use or use of nuclear weapons and ballistic
missiles.

We call upon the nuclear weapons states, particularly the USA, to
abolish nuclear weapons and missiles. We demand the withdrawal of
military forces from the region, which should be declared nuclear-
free, prohibiting the storage or passage of nuclear materials and
weapons on land, sea or air.

Meanwhile, the areas of tension must be dealt with on an urgent
basis. There must be an end to the confrontation in Siachin, and
Pakistan and India should forthwith implement the accord they reached
ten years ago. The conflict over Kashmir is not merely a territorial
issue but involves the lives and rights of the Kashmiri people. We
demand the withdrawal of troops as well as an end to foreign
sponsored militancy in the region.

Kashmir should not be allowed to hold back Pakistan-India cooperation
in all possible fields, especially trade and culture. This
cooperation can only be possible if the people of both countries are
allowed to emerge from the paranoia that has marked the Pakistan-
India relationship. This requires free movement of citizens between
the two countries, and a sharing of media and culture, including an
exchange of newspapers and periodicals.

This Conference calls for wider public participation in setting
national priorities, especially on defence expenditure, which should
be reduced forthwith. It urges transparency and political
accountability, especially of nuclear-related military expenditure

This Conference denounces the rise in intolerant fundamentalist
ideologies and violence, whether sectarian or communal. This, coupled
with the trend of settling disputes and differences with guns has
negatively impacted vulnerable groups, particularly women, who become
the targets of a male dominated culture that seeks to restrict their
freedom.

The mass media, education system and the practices of everyday life
all contribute to internalisation of an intolerant and violent
mindset. These need to be liberated from this mindset in order to
create a space for the culture of peace and pluralism to flourish and
empower the marginal and dispossessed in our society.

In our struggle, we are joined by fellow activists from South Asia
and around the world. We salute this struggle, and re-commit
ourselves here today to this resistance in all its forms.

Issued by the coordinating committee of Pakistan Peace Coalition

Appendices:

1. Commission on Alternative Security Policy

2. South Asia Peoples' Commission on Minorities

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Resolution: Commission on Security
----------------------------------

The Pakistan Peace Coalition Conference resolves to set up a
Commission on security, comprising Air Marshal (Retd). Zafar A.
Choudhry (convenor), Dr. Mubashir Hasan, Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy, Mr.
Shahid Kardar and Brig (Retd) A. R. Siddiqui and Mr. M. B. Naqvi,
with the following terms of reference.

a) to examine the implications of nuclearisation and suggest
confidence building, arms control and disarmament steps necessary to
protect the people of Pakistan and the sub-continent against the
danger of a nuclear war;

b) to determine the parameters of legitimate security arrangements
for Pakistan;

c) to prepare an alternative defense policy and affordable defense
budget

The commission may coopt new members as and when required and call
upon experts, specialists, and activists for the realization of its
objectives.

The commission is requested to present at least its first report by
May 28' 1999.

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Resolution on Minorities
------------------------

Convinced that the treatment of minorities in South Asian states
contributes to confrontation and conflict both within their societies
and between states, the Pakistan Peace Coalition Conference resolves
to sponsor a meeting of eminent personalities from the South Asian
region to decide on the modalities of setting up a high-level South
Asia Peoples' Commission on Minorities and determine its terms of
reference and procedures. The Conference nominates Ms. Asma Jahangir
as the convener of the eminent persons' group and requests her to
report to the Coalition not later than June 15, 1999.

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The protection of the people around Chagai
------------------------------------------

The conference calls upon the government to undertake a comprehensive
public study involving independent scientists of the effects of the
nuclear tests in Chagai on local communities and the environment and
take all possible measures to protect them from the hazards they may
have been exposed to.

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