[sacw] S A A N Post | 7 August 00

Harsh Kapoor aiindex@mnet.fr
Mon, 7 Aug 2000 02:00:26 +0200


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South Asians Against Nukes Post
7 August 2000
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#1. In Pakistan, giving peace a chance (by Beena Sarwar)
#2. response to the Article by Beena Sarwar
#3. India: Verse and candles mark Hiroshima Day
#4. Thousands of Japanese gather in Hiroshima
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#1.

Indian Express
6 August 2000
Analysis

In Pakistan, giving peace a chance

by Beena Sarwar

`No more Hiroshimas'. The slogan raised by anti-nuclear activists, most
strongly in Japan, has since May 1998 found echo in South Asia, miles
away from the places where Little Boy and Fat Man created atomic hell on
August 6 and August 9, 1945. There were anti-nuclear sentiments earlier
too, but the nuclear tests at Pokhran and Chagai brought the danger
closer home. The capacity of India and Pakistan to wreak similar havoc,
most likely on each other, was celebrated by jingoistic governments and
their supporters in both countries when they emerged from the nuclear
closet. There was dancing in the streets and sweetmeats were
distributed. Noses were thumbed at the other party and dares and
challenges thrown out in the style of wrestlers in a ring.

But not everyone was celebrating. There was deep mourning and fear in
both countries by those who understood the significance of this step.
Far from being `mutually assured deterrence', in the case of India and
Pakistan, MAD stands for `mutually assured destruction'. The bombs are
referred to as the Hindu and the Islamic bomb by those who refuse to
realise that weapons have no religion. Tension between the two
neighbours has never been as severe as it became post-testing. In these
troubled times, the voices of those calling for peace become even more
significant, as they persist in their stand despite being pilloried as
traitors, enemy spies, anti-nationals, even anti-religion.

Strengthening the voices of peace activists in Pakistan is a recently
formed group in Lahore. The Lahore Peace Forum (e-mail
lahore.peace@u...) comprises activists who have been involved in
raising awareness since May 1998, and who have been advocating peace
between India and Pakistan for long before that. Many are members of
groups affiliated with the Joint Action Committee (JAC), an umbrella
group of 30-odd NGOs.

Two years ago, JAC was recognised for its efforts with the UNESCO
Madanjeet Singh Peace Prize, alongside an Indian peace worker. ``We felt
it was necessary for a group to be developed in Lahore that would focus
on peace and the anti-nuclear issue alone,'' explains Farooq Tariq,
General Secretary of the left-wing, trade-union oriented Labour Party of
Pakistan, and de facto convenor of the LPF.

There are already such groups in Islamabad and Karachi, such as the
Citizens Peace Committee (CPC) and Action Committee Against Arms Race
(ACAAR). Anti-nuclear sentiments are also strong in Balochistan
province, where there is anger at being `used as guinea pigs', as Sardar
Ataullah Mengal of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) said in his
protest after Pakistan's nuclear tests. The BNP protested the tests
being conducted without asking the permission or even informing the
Balochistan government about them. The demonstration organised by the
party in Quetta last year on the anniversary of Pakistan's tests drew
some 5,000 people. The event was largely ignored by the media.

All these groups are affiliated with the Pakistan Peace Coalition, an
umbrella organisation at the national level. And although the momentum
against nuclear weapons picked up only since the tests of 1998, the
Movement for Nuclear Disarmament has been active in Islamabad for some
time. It organised the first public anti-nuclear event in Pakistan in
1985 on the anniversary of Hiroshima in Rawalpindi. Those involved are
still active in the issue, like Dr A.H. Nayyar and Dr Zia Mian, both
physicists.

This year's leitmotif is the `Cloth Banner Campaign', initiated by
Wajahat Malik, a poet and activist in Islamabad. Picked up by groups all
over the country and also in India, the campaign comprises using white
cloth divided into square pieces of a metre in length. A slogan for
peace in bold letters in the middle is surrounded by messages for peace
or against nuclear weapons, written and signed by members of the public.
The pieces are stitched together and used in various ways, for example,
to create banners. Activists hope to use these banners `as a vote of no
confidence against nuclear weapons by the subcontinent's silent
majority'.

Activists face a threatening atmosphere, created by religious right-wing
forces and police. As the government glorifies the nuclear tests every
year and right-wing forces make aggressive noises against those opposing
this glorification, peace demonstrators prepare to be attacked in
public. Yet, passers-by and onlookers are, if not openly supportive, at
least not hostile. Some hesitantly join in or watch, others drive by
flashing victory signs, and yet others take away pamphlets to read or
further distribute.

The LPF, in collaboration with JAC is holding a seminar titled `No More
Hiroshimas' on August 6. Cloth banners with signatures calling for peace
will be draped around the Lahore Press Club and a youth theatre group
will present a play Ananas aur Atom Bomb, by the late Khwaja Ahmed Abbas
of Bombay. A public meeting will be held in Quetta as well. Similar
protests are being organised in Balochistan, where around 2,000
signatories have recorded their protest against nuclear arms race.

Balochistan province, in fact, observes May 28 as Black Day to protest
being used as a site for nuclear tests that caused a famine that has
killed around 300 people and displaced 3 million people and 8 million
cattle from their ancestral homes.

(Beena Sarwar is a Pakistani journalist)
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[...]

Readers can send feedback to focus@e...

Copyright =A9 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.

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#2.

[response to the Article by Beena Sarwar]

Letter to the editor
Indian Express

Dear Sir:

I very much appreciated Beena Sarwar's article -- very caring person
for peace and harmony. I will appreciate, if you can forward copy of this
email to Beena Sarwar.

Thanking you,
Arvind Amin.

---Attached Message---

Dear Sir:

I wish t thank the Indian Express for publishing the article from Beena
Sarwar about the peace activists and the disarmament-the nuclear weapons in
Pakistan. For the first time, there is a ray of hope for peace from
Pakistani nationals.

It's a great courageous step taken by both Beena Sarwar and the Lahore
Peace Movement, specially under the Pakistani Army dictatorship. I wish
them good wishes and luck for the movement to become strong and attract
more Pakistanis of every walk of life and help bring abut peace between
India and Pakistan.

The pre-1947 India suffered great loss under the British of the country's
wealth to a tune of Dollars 144 trillion. Both countries have armed them
selves to the teeth and the youth of both nations are killed on the
borders. Billions of dollars are wasted by both India and Pakistan on
armaments, whereas they should be spent on raising the standard of living,
education and health. After all we all have come from the 8400 years old
Indus Valley civilization. The fact is, we all are one people, with one
culture, one heritage and one way of life. GOD FROM ANY ONE RELIGION DOES
NOT ASK TO KILLANOTHER HUMAN BEING.

If we love GOD, then why the killing goes on, day in and day out?

Arvind Amin.
________

#3.

The Hindustan Times
7 August 2000

Verse and candles mark Hiroshima Day

HTC
(New Delhi, August 6)
VERSE AND candles marked the solemn ceremony spearheaded by women at the
Gandhi Smriti to commemorate Hiroshima Day. Using August 6 as a rallying
point, Women's Initiative for Peace in South Asia renewed its appeal for
peace and took a pledge.

While the guest of honour was former Prime Minister I.K. Gujral, the
signatories to the pledge included peace activists Mohini Giri, Syeda
Hamid, Nirmala Deshpande and Kamla Bhasin among others.

The pledge asserted in unequivocal terms that countries should stop
sinking precious resources in building arms and instruments of mutual
destruction: "Those of us who have become recent nuclear power should
never repeat their follies...." the pledge stated.

________

#4.

Voice of America

Thousands of Japanese gather in Hiroshima.

TOKYO, Japan, 6 August 2000 (VOA):
Tens of thousands of people gathered in
Hiroshima, Japan, Sunday to commemorate the 55th
anniversary of the world's first atomic bomb attack.
As Correspondent Amy Bickers reports from Tokyo,
people throughout Japan paused for one minute's silent
prayer in memory of those who perished.

Japan paused Sunday in solemn remembrance of the
day 55 years ago when the United States dropped an
atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, leading
to the surrender of Japan and the end of World War
Two. Police say more than 30-thousand people,
including aging survivors of the bomb blast, gathered
in the city's Peace Memorial Park to join in the
event, with thousands more across the country also
taking part in a moment of silence at the time when
the bomb was dropped (8:15 AM).

Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba delivered a peace
declaration, calling for Hiroshima to make further
efforts to see an end to atomic weapons in the 21st
century. He noted that the city's hope to see nuclear
weapons abolished by the end of this century had not
been realized. He pledged that the city would continue
to work towards achieving peace on the international stage.

Japan's Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, also in attendance,
expressed his deepest sympathy for those who were
killed and injured. He also pledged to promote global nuclear
disarmament.

About 140-thousand people died in the attack on
Hiroshima. Three days later, the United States dropped
a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, killing another 70-
thousand people. Japan surrendered less than a week later.

On Sunday, the names of 5,021 people were added to the
list of the dead. The new names are those of people
who died recently and have been recognized by the city
as bombing victims. Each year at the time of the
anniversary more names are added.

Following the ceremony, more than one thousand doves
were released into the sky, while several hundred
children sang a song of peace.