Three civil rights organizations, South Asia Solidarity Group, London; Awami Workers Party, Pakistan; and University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) India Society, have “urgently” called upon “warmongers” of India and Pakistan to “draw back from the brink”, insisting, “We want peace in South Asia and call on the Indian and Pakistani governments to work for peace, not war.”
Criticizing the BJP government, in a statement, they have said, the suicide bomb attack on February 14, in which 40 jawans of the Indian CRPF were killed at Pulwama in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), is being used by it to “whip up nationalist anger before the general election due to start in April.” They add, “In doing so the India’s BJP government led by Narendra Modi is recklessly taking the country to the brink of war with Pakistan.”
At the same time condemning “the warmongering and attacks with which the Pakistani military has responded”, the statement urges Pakistan to “to stop further escalation”, adding, the Pak government should “assert civilian control over its armed forces… The failure to do so is a permanent threat to peace in South Asia.”
Warning that “a war between two nuclear-armed countries like India and Pakistan, however limited or short-lived, portends grave danger to the people of the whole South Asian region”, the statement also condemns the “wave of attacks on Kashmiris -- students, traders and others -- across India incited by the BJP and carried out by its affiliates.”.
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