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June 12, 2002
Pakistani bishops urge India, Pakistan to seek peace, avoid war
LAHORE, Pakistan (CNS) — The Pakistani bishops' justice and peace commission has called on India and Pakistan to strive for peace and not to pursue war.
The worsening situation at the borders has shaken the people of India and Pakistan, said the May 31 statement by Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore, commission chairman.
The statement came as tensions rose between the neighboring countries. India and Pakistan reportedly have amassed 1 million troops on the borders of the disputed territory of Kashmir and have increased their war rhetoric.
"The two countries have seen years of bloodshed, misery and wars waged in the name of religion and nationalism. Weapons and wars have failed in the past and will fail in the future to bring any solution to problems," the statement read.
The military escalation on the borders will affect most severely the common people of both countries, it said.
While recognizing that Pakistan is struggling to deal with its domestic economic, political and structural problems, the commission strongly urged the world community, and especially India, to place realistic demands on Pakistan.
The commission statement also appealed to the Pakistani government to observe "maximum restraint," noting that a war could have catastrophic results on a global scale.
Fears of war and the use of nuclear weapons were heightened in the region after a May 14 attack that killed 34 people in India's northernmost Jammu and Kashmir state.
India blames Pakistan for aiding militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, a territory India claims as its own but which is partly controlled by Pakistan.
Pakistan denies any involvement in the militant strikes against India, but admits giving moral and diplomatic support to a "freedom movement" in Kashmir, which it accuses India of suppressing.
When India and Pakistan became separate nations at the end of British rule in 1947, Muslim-majority Kashmir was ceded to India, rather than Pakistan. Since then, the disputed border territory has become a flashpoint between the two nations, resulting in two wars and a localized skirmish in Jammu and Kashmir.
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