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Kashmiri children call for permanent and durable peace





The Eurasia Review (September 22, 2012) reported on an appeal by the children of Kashmir for both India and Pakistan to maintain peace at the Line of Control.

In the Neelum Valley in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, close to the Line of Control that divides Kashmir from the India-controlled region, both countries were urged to avoid violations and conflict for the sake of civilians and children.

On World Peace Day, Friday September 21, Press for Peace organized a rally and a walk for children at a village community school near the town of Athmugam close to the Line of Control. Carrying peace banners and placards, with messages to retain the cease-fire truce and to give peace a chance, children, parents, principals, and teachers marched to celebrate World Peace Day. The walk was a call, by the children of Kashmir, for the preservation of permanent peace, tolerance, harmony, and co-existence.

Currently a cease-fire pact has placed the Line of Control in an atmosphere of near-normalcy. Over the years, since 1947, conflict has led to a lost generation of children.

At the time of the Partition in 1947, Kashmir had not chosen whether it wanted to be part of India or Pakistan, leaving the issue unresolved. Subsequently both countries claim the region as their own. On January 1, 1949, the United Nations created a ceasefire line, known as the Line of Control. The Line of Control cuts Kashmir in half, with one side administered by Pakistan and the other side by India. Azad Kashmir, a region in northwest Kashmir, is administered by Pakistan. India controls the central and southern portion known as Jammu and Kashmir and an area called Ladakh. China controls the northeastern section (Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract). However these claims are still disputed with India claiming their area and the parts ceded to China (in 1963) while Pakistan claims the entire region excluding the Chinese controlled areas.



The photographs were kindly provided to me by Zafar Iqbal, Founder Press for Peace, http://wwwpressforpeace.org.uk


(http://www.eurasiareview.com/22092012-kashmiri-children-appeal-to-india-and-pakistan-to-maintain-peace-agreement-on-loc/)







MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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