The learning curve for our people is still steep. 'Direct Democracy' and 'Popular Sovereignty' are such terms that are on the other side of the hill.
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Amongst the various and multiple activities that we carry out in public interest are such as editing and advising on the following letter drafted for all our immediate neighbours by Quayyum Raja, founder of the recently initiated 'Centre for Jammu Kashmir Public Diplomacy':
A Joint Letter to Jammu Kashmir's Neighbours:
Afghanistan, China, India and Pakistan
Respected Excellencies
Having been involved in the struggle for the reunification of Jammu Kashmir for decades, we recently founded the Centre for Jammu Kashmir Public Diplomacy (CJKPD) in Mirpur, AJK. The Centre doesn't want to confine its outreach to within Jammu Kashmir’s borders, as it is equally concerned with the stability and prosperity of the wider region in its midst, with a view to designing sustainable peace with all our neighbours.
Evidently, at this juncture there is no need to delve into the history of confrontation within the region, though we sense that one of the causes of this region’s vulnerability to conflict is our over-reliance on materialistic influences, at the cost of humanistic imperatives. This has made us vulnerable to policies undertaken by imperialist forces.
We suggest that unless confrontation is not replaced with co-operation for the betterment of humanity, we are unlikely to change the fortunes of this region.
We would like to concentrate on discussing solutions as opposed to reiterating problems that have dogged us, particularly since European colonialism came to the ascendency in this region. Their legacy is evident from the geographic mapping of our respective territories. We are clear that this has stunted our collective growth and hampered the revival of this region as the centre of the world’s economy.
Realistically speaking, it is not an easy task but it has to start from somewhere.
Initially, in our opinion, we suggest people-to-people contact through research organisations or ‘think tanks’, to share concerns and aspirations. Our respective populations deserve a much better future and therefore we hope we can elicit a positive response from each of our neighbours, without prejudice to any of our respective stances on politics, geography or any other subject for that matter.
Yours faithfully,
Quayyum Raja - Chairman CJKPD
Edited by:
JKA PUBLIC AGENCY
15 April 2023
..end of letter
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