Dear Mr. Inder Kumar Gujral,
You will recall the one to one meeting I had with you at 5 Janpat Road during my last visit to Delhi on the invitation of Indian Council for South Asian Cooperation & India International Centre to participate in a seminar on South Asia’s Competitive Advantage.
We discussed a lot about Indo-Pakistan’s problems but today due to the policies of Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, we are back to square one. Is the war only solution? History proves that wars have never solved any problem, the foundation of 2nd World War was laid in the treaty of Versailles in 1918. So far as India and Pakistan are concerned you are a witness to the fact that the partition of India has been a result of a settlement between the Indian National Congress and All India Muslim League.
I still recall the day, which I am sure you also, when a few urchins were celebrating in streets of Delhi the victory over Pakistan, the arch enemy of India in a cricket match, the great Jai Parkash Narain rushed to Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru to say that please stop this because partition has been the result of a settlement between two major political parties struggling for independence from the British. Let us bury the hatchet and forget the past, turn over a new leaf of fraternity and brotherhood as the Indian Muslims are still in India in spite of this partition. We do not have any problems with our Hindu brothers in spite of the fact that our Muslim brothers are being killed simply because they are Muslim in Gujrat – Is it not a fact that Musalmans in Gujrat and elsewhere would still have been killed even if partition of the sub continent had not taken place.
Do you want Mr. Gujral, a victory for BJP at the cost of fourteen million people? Is Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee working for his own name and fame, may be in black letters and get BJP again in power. You will appreciate that the war is not the solution of any problem whatsoever including Kashmir and the so-called war against terrorism.
What is this false sense of prestige of the Indian Prime Minister that he is not prepared to sit across the table and discuss matters with the President of Pakistan. What is the false sense of prestige, which makes the Indian Prime Minister to refuse arbitration? This would make history to record that Indian case on Kashmir is not strong enough to face an independent arbitration.
God has bestowed upon you the position, the opportunity and a duty to ward off the angel of death from taking the lives of the people who will fall victim of this mad frenzy of the Indian Prime Minister.
People like to fish in troubled water and whatever may be the intentions of the Indian Prime Minister and his programme, the world media is taking full advantage and fanning the panic and creating headlines for their newspapers. The policies of every country including our friends Great Britain, United States and Russia are not for the benefit of these two warring neighbours – India and Pakistan. The meaning of the word friend and foe changes according to the national requirement of the powers that are. I would therefore earnestly appeal to you, to put your weight on the side of peace and hold a tripartite conference of India, Pakistan and Kashmiris to settle the matter for ever and make Pakistan and India to live like friendly neighbours and devote their energy and resources to the service of the motherland.
Sincerely,
Ali Ashraf Khan
Mr. Ali Ashraf Khan is a Pakistani Businessman and Ex-Politician who bid good bye to politics in order to concentrate on more useful service benefit of the political intrigues prevalent in the National Political life of Pakistan. He frequently writes for English and Urdu newspapers in Pakistan.
