Skip to main content

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).
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That
1 comment
Read more

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass
Post a Comment
Read more

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing
1 comment
Read more