This is a call to South Asians living outside South Asia to organize peace events in your local communities in solidarity with the march.

The Indo-Pak Peace March starts from New Delhi, India on March 23rd and is planned to wind its way through to reach Multan, Pakistan on May 11th, 2005.

Please forward this note to other people who might be interested.

In addition, please use the comments section below to tell us where you are located, what you plan to do in your community, and how we can contact you. Alternatively, you could send an email with this information to thesouthasian@gmail.com

Background
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Since the post Kargil era of India-Pakistan diplomacy, there has been a significant and sustained effort between the two governments to explore sustained peace in the region. In this effort community groups, non-government organizations, people-to-people contact and peaceniks – what is generally called track II diplomacy – have had a major role to play.

Knowing the pressures of governments of both countries, we recognize that active exploration of peace is a viable option only as long as it politically profitable, or at least not harmful for the health of the powers-that-be. In such a scenario, increased people-to-people programs build programs for peace, increase confidence among the people through
dispelling of stereotypes and create a positive pressure for peace.

The March
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In this context, Pakistan India Forum for Peace and Democracy has done a remarkable job in sustaining people-to-people contact. Their next effort, driven largely by Karamat Ali, Pakistan Institute of Labor Education and Research and Anjuman Asiaye Awam, in Pakistan and Sandeep Pandey, Admiral Ramdas, Lalita Ramdas in India along with groups of PIFFPD in both countries is the peace march from New Delhi to Multan over a period of about 6 weeks.

It is a first event of its kind where Indians and Pakistanis will walk (based on permission from both governments) through cities and villages, through rural and urban settlements of both countries, talking to people about the lives we live, the hopes we cherish, and the passions that we sustain, the problems we face, the struggles we endure – and the need for peace so that we can focus on these.

The success of such an effort is based on increased conversations on peace, on our shared humanity and on establishment of sustained collaboration. While the marchers walk through communities trying to include the participation of people in such a peace process, we request the expatriate communities from India and Pakistan living abroad to join in a gesture of solidarity with the marchers and a renewed hope for peace in the region.

Local events around the world
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We are calling upon groups vested in the people of the region, and in peace, from across the Americas, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia to organize events – cultural gatherings, dinners, discussion groups, story reading hours, poetry recital/mushaira, lecture panels, study groups – to revitalize the culture we share, the humanity that binds us and explore ideas for establishment of peace between India and Pakistan. We are proposing that groups organize events during the weekend of April 15th -17th (the marchers cross the India Pakistan border on 18th April).

We are also requesting that these gatherings explore means through which such communities can continue to meet and build an increased focus on establishment of peace between India and Pakistan.

For questions, ideas or comments, please contact Sanat Mohanty ... sanat_mohanty@hotmail.com

Details of the march are also available at www.thesouthasian.org