‘We give them 65 million in aid and they give us bombs. How can we support a peace process with them?’ This has been the essence of much anguish since the blasts in Delhi recently, especially when ‘we were doing so much to forward peace’.

Perhaps, it is appropriate to begin with asking who ‘they’ are. Are they the women violated in oppressive communities, the voice of whose shriek of despair has been muted? Are they the bonded slaves unconstitutionally imprisoned in private jails by the feudal-military nexus, slaves who will not be freed by a government too tied to these power structures?

Are ‘they’ the larger civic society of Lahore, Karachi, Hyderabad, Multan or Islamabad held hostage by violence and corruption – perhaps no different from the civic society of Bangalore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai or Delhi – that has lost its voice or will? Are they labor groups

Or are they fundamentalist groups spreading hatred in small towns, in border communities in Pakistan (not too different from similar groups in India), in large cities, provoking people to engender anger for everything wrong in their lives – wrong because of ills of the local community, regional politics and national leadership – and having engendered anger, direct that anger and hatred for fundamentalist gains?

And if indeed, we see such fundamentalism as the reason for this mindless violence that killed people in a market place in Delhi, then how do we end such fundamentalism? How can a society that is based on participative democracy and ethos of humanity and rights for all be built?

Certainly not the American way. The war in Iraq has shown that ‘democracy’ cannot be thrust, nor fundamentalism ended, by bringing in troops and guns. The Americans also showed that economic embargo cannot end a fundamentalist populism either.

Fundamentalism needs to be ended – it is required for sustained peace anywhere. But it can only be ended by an internal grass roots effort based on non-violence, humanity and people’s support. There is no other way.

There are such groups active in Pakistan – working under difficult politics and dangerous conditions. But they are being effective. They are empowering people through education of their rights and by supporting their demands for their rights. They are rescuing bonded slaves, and supporting them as they build free lives and livelihoods. They are providing support to women and to families of women who are demanding justice from oppression and violation. They are strengthening civic society by increasingly having civic society groups make decisions for themselves. They are working for rights of labourers, of small farmers, of minorities and of political prisoners.

They continue to push forward despite being targeted by fundamentalist groups as well as interested government agencies. And they have been effective.

During the quake, while all news agencies ruled government of Pakistan to having been incompetent and even disinterested, a large number of fundamentalist groups were very efficient in organizing relief. In Pakistan, as in India or elsewhere, groups often use disasters to increase their presence or begin increased propaganda – the role of fundamentalist groups thus takes on greater significance.

It is under these conditions that a few charity agencies and rights based NGOs have done significant work in providing support to those affected. These groups have been effective in providing materials for relief as well as following that up with support resources and rehabilitation. While their number has been small, their work has received glowing reviews. Such groups need more support.

Fundamentalism has been the cornerstone of building armies of hatred, willing to decimate the other. It does not matter what the ideology of fundamentalism – it is always ready to annihilate the other. Under these conditions, when the only feasible solution for sustained peace is to end such fundamentalism, we must ask how we can help this process.

The one set of groups that has been effective says that peace is the way. Reduction of rhetoric and warming of relationships between India and Pakistan has made it more difficult (not impossible) to rouse armies of hatred. It is difficult to brand the ‘other’ as evil when the ‘other’ has offered financial, personnel and material support during times of need. When the media is describing the other more favorably, it has become more difficult to tarnish the other as all evil.

It is exactly this process that we continue to support through increased interactions – gatherings, phone conversations, etc – that will make rhetoric of hatred even less effective. In fact, by resorting to bombing, fundamentalist groups are hoping that the Indian government will pull back on the peace process so that such rhetoric can become more effective. And the one group that has been most effective in countering fundamentalism in Pakistan is suggesting that pulling back from the peace process will strengthen fundamentalism.

It might sound counter-intuitive (just like non-violence seemed counter intuitive) but if we want sustainable peace in South Asia, we must stay on the peace process and continue to focus on increased people-to-people interactions. We must listen to one group that has countered fundamentalism – and continue with greater people-to-people interactions.

- Sanat Mohanty

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