Author:
Publication: Zenit.org
Date: January 16, 2004
Convoked by Bishops' Commission
for Interreligious Dialogue
[Note from Hindu Vivek Kendra:
Why were no Hindus included by the Pakistani bishops?]
Christian and Muslim representatives
marched together along the India-Pakistan border to affirm their desire
for peace in Kashmir and support initiatives for dialogue in both countries.
The march, organized by the Pakistani
bishops' Commission for Interreligious Dialogue, was led by Capuchin Friar
Father Francis Nadeem, and took place Tuesday in Kasur, 55 kilometers (33
miles) south of Lahore.
At the end of the march, participants
lighted a symbolic torch and planted a tree for peace at the border. Christian,
Sunni and Shiite religious leaders offered prayers.
"The aim of the initiative was to
start a new reciprocal consideration among the citizens of India and Pakistan,"
Father Inayat Bernard, Kasur parish priest and executive secretary of the
Commission, told the Vatican agency Fides.
"The participants prayed for both
peoples as well as their respective political and civil leaders," he said.
"But peace begins at home, in our thoughts and in our deeds."
The first signs of peace in Kashmir
have given hope to the local population. Following the cease-fire declared
in December, and the recent meeting between the heads of state of India
and Pakistan -- who have relaunched the dialogue -- on Jan. 22 the Indian
Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani will receive representatives of
the All Party Hurriyat Conference comprising various movements and activist
groups in Kashmir, demanding independence from India.
Father Nadeem said, "Every effort
must be made to support the India-Pakistan dialogue. Every citizen, every
social organization, every political group must strive to adopt a change
of attitude and rediscover a constructive approach which will bear lasting
fruit. Peace will help both countries to eliminate poverty and promote
development."
Abdul Khabeer Azad, a Sunni imam
of a mosque in Lahore, one of the Muslim leaders who took part in the march,
said: "Islam is a religion of peace, and the Muslim community in Pakistan
intends to support the peace process started by the government."
With "this and similar initiatives
we want to show the governments that we want peace for the tormented region
of Kashmir," said Shiite imam Waqar-ul-Husnain Naqvi.
Of Pakistan's 143 million inhabitants,
75% are Sunni Muslims and 20% are Shiites. Christians represent 2%; Catholics
number about 1.2 million.
The province of Kashmir of Muslim
majority, divided between India and Pakistan, has been the cause of disputes
between the two countries since their independence from the British Empire
in 1947 and the reason for two wars.