Women peace builders from two sides of Kashmir meet in Muzaffarabad

A delegation of women from Indian-held Kashmir is meeting in Pakistan-administered Kashmir for peace dialogues. The Dawn newspaper announced that a ten-member delegation of prominent women arrived in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Monday November 4 through a crossing point along the Line of Control that divides Kashmir, where they were warmly greeted by their hosts.

The delegation is attending a two-day intra-Kashmir women’s dialogue, sponsored by the German Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) and arranged by the Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) Women for Peace Organization.

The AJK administration allowed fourteen members of AJKWPO of Pakistan-administered Kashmir to receive their Indian-held Kashmir guests at the crossing point instead of the bus terminal 800 metres before the bridge. The Kaman Bridge is 60 kilometres south of Muzaffarabad and is the crossing point between the Chakothi sector of AJK and the Uri sectors of Indian-held Kashmir. From the bridge, the guests were taken to the girls’ inter-college in Chakothi to a chorus of singing school children.

In addition, three Indian members of the New Delhi-based Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation (CDR) also attended the women’s dialogue conference. They arrived through the usual international border between India and Pakistan.

Hence 70 participants attended the conference, which officially commenced on November 6, to hear women’s narratives on Kashmir, their experiences in the conflict, and the role they can play in peace building. Women’s conferences for peace in Kashmir have occurred since the first intra-Kashmir meeting in 2007 in Srinagar, India-held Kashmir. The difference with this 2012 conference is the permission by India and Pakistan to permit participants to travel through the crossing point along the Line of Control, rather than the international border between the two countries.

http://dawn.com/2012/11/06/peace-delegation-from-indian-held-kashmir-arrives/

Comments

2016 update on Rike Park, Tbilisi: from construction to busy park

From a flat patch of uninteresting dirt, Rike Park in Tbilisi, Georgia, has transformed in four years (from 2014-2016) into a busy park full of trees, flower beds, sculptures, fountains, and events. Rike (Rikhe) Park is on the left bank of the Mt’k’vari River (the Kura River) near the Old City of Tbilisi. The Peace Bridge links the right bank to Rike Park. Rike Park is below the hillside Presidential Palace and, via cable car, it is the starting point for the ride to Sololaki Ridge (with the Narikala Fortress and the Mother of Georgia statue). The glass box-shaped cable car terminus was opened on 23 June 2012, and since then the park has continually developed into a ‘people’s park’ where people can walk around, eat at the nearby restaurants, sit next to the statue of American president Ronald Reagan, climb the steps to Avlabari district, and access the sights of Meidan Square, the Peace Bridge, the Metekhi Church, the Old City, the waterfall, the sulphur baths, and t...

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. ...

Hop on hop off bus tourism comes to Tbilisi, Georgia

City Sightseeing buses have arrived in Tbilisi. The iconic red double-decker buses, a feature of many cities around the world since the company was established in Seville, Spain in 1999, is now in six continents and almost 100 cities. The company established its Tbilisi business in November 2013, with its operations commencing in February 2014. The 90-minute tour stops at 11 major locations in Tbilisi (with 2 to 5 minute waiting times at each location): the Old City (where it commences), Freedom Square, Rose Revolution Square, Marjanishvili Square, the Dry Bridge, Konka, Avlabari, Metekhi, Akhundov Museum, the Sulfur Baths, and European Square. Passengers can hop off at any stop and see the sights, hopping back onto the next bus at any time. Alternatively, passengers can remain on the bus for the whole tour and take photographs when the bus stops at each location. There are one day (24-hour) passes (for 35 lari – about $20) and 48-hour passes for 55 lari, with family d...

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog