KARACHI: It was an unusual gathering at Karachi’s Cantt railway station, where over 100 people from civil society organizations and political and trade unions, along with intellectuals and journalists, had gathered for a peaceful cause. Sixty of those gathered, including more than a dozen women, were part of a Peace Caravan that left Karachi on 13 February for Peshawar to express solidarity with the people of Peshawar and the North West Frontier Province (NWFP). The idea of organizing a Peace Caravan emerged at a consultation meeting of the Pakistan Peace Coalition (PPC) at the Karachi Press Club in November 2009. Civil society participants underlined the need to form a delegation to visit terrorist-hit areas of the NWFP. The objective of the caravan was to express solidarity with people of the province; mobilize the working class, civil society and political parties against terrorism; build pressure on the government to fullfil its responsibility of maintaining law and order; raise a voice against the US-led international “war on terrorâ€; and create harmony among working people in these difficult times. When the train whistle announced the start of the journey, caravan participants and their friends on the platform raised pro-peace slogans. Many people at the station were happy to see civil society organizations expressing solidarity with the working class, which is facing economic hardship due to faulty economic and political policies. In Hyderabad, the second largest city in the Sindh province and the first stop for the caravan, a large number of civil society activists were anxiously waiting to join. Men, women and children showered flower petals over the caravan members and raised slogans: “We want peace not war†and “We want peace not bombs.†The Joint Action Committee (JAC) Hyderabad issued a statement supporting the initiative, saying that the people of Sindh, the land of Sufis, are against all kinds of terrorism. The caravan made its way to Khanpur, a small city in Pakistan’s Punjab province, where only two activists joined the caravan. At Multan, another city in Punjab, intellectuals, labor leaders, writers, journalists and residents also joined. “Silence is criminal and we appreciate those who have broken this silence,†said local leader Saleem Lodhi. Dr. Alvin Muran pointed out the diversity of those participating: “There are Muslims, Christians and Hindus in this caravan, which depicts a true picture of Pakistan.†Arriving in Lahore in the evening, the caravan was greeted by hundreds of trade union and civil society activists and workers of the Awami National Party (ANP), a leftist political party, as well as several civil society organizations including the South Asia Partnership (SAP-PK), a civil society movement striving to empower marginalized sections of society and influence policies in favor of the people; Strengthening Participatory Organization, an organization that supports community organizations and public interest institutions of Pakistan; Bonded Labor Liberation Front, an organization that aims to eliminate bonded labor and child labor; GIYAN, a foundation in Lahore that works for culture and human rights; and PILER, the Pakistan Institute of Labor Education and Research. The main purpose of the visit was to celebrate Peshawar and the resilience of those living in the midst of terror. During its two-day stay in Peshawar on 16 and 17 February, more than 100 caravan participants enjoyed a warm welcome. SAP-PK and Aman Tahreek, a representative body of civil society organizations, hosted a lunch for the participants at the city’s Grand Hotel. Aman Tahreek's representative, Dr. Syed Alam Mehsood, lectured on the conflict and the root causes of “Talibanizationâ€. Later, caravan participants staged a demonstration and raised anti-war and anti-Taliban slogans on the main road. On the evening of 16 February, the delegation also visited the mausoleum of Rehman Baba, a 17th century Sufi poet, which was bombed by Taliban militants in March 2009. Caretakers of the mausoleum explained the losses sustained by the mausoleum to the delegation. The caravan also participated in a public meeting in Hayatabad, in which more than 1,000 workers participated. The evening was concluded at a Pakistan’s People’s Party-Sherpao reception hosted by Sikandar Hayat Sherpao, an elected member of the NWFP Provincial Assembly who was previously injured in a suicide attack, and Senator Haji Ghufran. The following day, at a lunch reception, NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani stated that the visit of the caravan had boosted the morale of the people and would be a major breakthrough in reducing public fear of the Taliban. A similar theme was discussed at the Peshawar Press Club, where the caravan paused to express solidarity with journalists who were targeted in December 2009 by a suicide bomber. As a final stop, the delegation visited Bacha Khan Markaz in Peshawar, headquarters of the ANP. Senior ANP leaders and representatives of the delegation, including Mian Abdul Qayom, a labor leader from Faisalabad, engaged in discussion. The ANP leadership expressed hope that the peace caravan initiative would bring together people from different parts of the country. ### * Shujuaddin Qureshi is Senior Research Associate at the Pakistan Institute of Labor Education and Research (PILER). This abridged article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (CGNews). The full text can be found at www.dawn.com. Source: Dawn.com, 24 February 2010, www.dawn.com BM
