India, Pakistan – stop firing, start talking, urges PIPFPD


India, Pakistan – stop firing, start talking, urges PIPFPD
Cross-border shelling and firing causes damage, casualties and injures on both sides: Indian (Photo: Mukesh Gupta, Reuters) and Pakistani (AFP photo).

The largest and oldest people-to-people lobby group in the region demands an immediate end to Pakistan and India’s Ceasefire violations on the LoC and the International Border

Is it really about who started it, asks the largest and oldest people-to-people lobby group in the region, the Pakistan-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) in a in a statement released on September 3, 2015 urging both governments to immediately stop the cross-border firing and violations of the 2003 Ceasefire.

Both Pakistan and India claim civilian casualties and injuries in the d cross border firing from the other side, points out PIPFPD.

The Indian government claims that there have been 45 violations of the 2003 ceasefire accord in August 2015 and over 240 ceasefire violations along the Indo-Pak border in 2015.

“The situation on both sides of the border is worsening. In the last few days especially, the situation has become extremely tense,” says PIPPFD, echoing the sentiments of many other individuals and groups.

“People on both sides of the border are affected by the ceasefire violations and demand an end to this ordeal. The question that remains is, if this is all about who really started it? Is it actually as simple as saying ‘they’ started it, hence ‘we’ are retaliating?” asks PIPFPD.

A fact finding report released by PIPFPD’s India Chapter earlier this year highlights the damage people have suffered, and looks at the existing ground situation. The number of people displaced from villages near the borders on the Indian side is indeed huge, found the report. However, the government response remains only: “Hum Pakistan ko karaara jawaab denge” (‘we will give Pakistan a befitting reply’). People living on the border have started accepting that this response is the only option, says the report.

However, no matter which government is in power, the situation of the people remains fragile, notes the PIPFPD report. One villager quoted in the report says that the previous UPA government announced a Rs75 crore package through which they would allot villagers at risk five marlas of land to build alternate shelters away from the border but nothing has reached the villages yet. The BJP government “has come with a perfect answer,” he said. “‘If they fire one bullet, fire back with 10. This is the only solution to give a ‘Karaara Jawab’ (fitting reply) to Pakistan’.”

PIPFPD slams this “befitting reply” to either of the two countries as “not an answer” and “unacceptable.”

“In fact, this kind of attitude is nothing but a show of strength which fuels unnecessary hostility and actually leads to actions that escalate loss of life and property. We demand that both countries stop the use of such language,” says the statement.

“We demand that the ceasefire violations stop immediately and peace is restored.

“We demand that appropriate and timely compensation must be paid to the victims of the ceasefire violations and people must be compensated for the damage to life, land, property, household, livestock and injuries.

“Moreover, cancellation of talks at this crucial time is not an answer and a way forward. We urge you to immediately resume talks and come to a common ground for that. Posing conditions in front of each other to resume talks is unacceptable.

“We hope you will uphold our right to peace and security in the region.”

The statement is signed on the Pakistan side by I. A. Rehman, Chairperson, and Khwaja Wasim, General Secretary of PIPFPD (Pakistan Chapter) and by Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal & Asha Hans, Co-Chairpersons, and Jatin Desai, General Secretary PIPFPD (India Chapter).




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