CHANDIGARH: Congress MP Manish Tewari has criticised a letter signed by over 100 prominent citizens from India and Pakistan calling for the restoration of peace and dialogue between the two countries, arguing that such appeals overlook repeated terror attacks and the history of cross-border violence.
Referring to the Pahalgam attack and a year after Operation Sindoor, the Chandigarh Lok Sabha MP wrote on X: "After Pearl Harbour on 7th December 1941 the US persevered till they obtained the unconditional surrender of Japan in 1945. Post 9/11 the US chased the Al Qaeda and the Taliban to the gates of hell and back for twenty years including neutralising Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad in Pakistan in 2011. From 2003-13 the House of Saud fought a secret war inside Saudi Arabia against the Al Qaeda before driving the remnants to Yemen and other places in the Middle East. From 1999-2009 Russia fought a brutal campaign against Chechen separatists before finally triumphing. The fight against terror requires firmness and steadfastness and the national resolve to stay the course."
"How can people forget the Baisaran (Pahalgam) Massacre within 14 months? And the countless similar atrocities perpetrated over the past four decades that were state sponsored by Pakistan," Tewari questioned.
"To some folks it seems that the misty eyed romanticism of a dialogue with Pakistan is far more important than the lives of innocent Indian Tourists who were identified on the basis of their faith and slaughtered in cold blood by terrorists who came from Pakistan," he added.
"Which is that invisible hand that is incentivising the push for a pseudo normalisation with Pakistan without any verifiable guarantees that Pakistan will dismantle the Military- Jehadi Complex ( MJC) they have spawned over the past 55 years?" he concluded.
More than 100 prominent figures from India and Pakistan, including politicians and public figures, have jointly appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart, Shehbaz Sharif, to take concrete and sustained steps towards restoring peace, dialogue and normal bilateral relations between the two countries.
The appeal, issued by the Centre for Peace and Progress and signed by 117 people — 61 from India and 56 from Pakistan — urged both governments to end the prolonged hostility, saying it was denying millions of young people opportunities, prosperity and a secure future.
The signatories also called for the reopening of the Attari-Wagah land border for trade and travel, the revival of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service, and other cross-border connectivity initiatives.
Those signing the appeal included J&K National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, RJD MP Manoj Jha and AJUP leader Humayun Kabir.
The Pakistani signatories included former Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, former diplomat Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, National Assembly member Isphanyar Bhandara, and nuclear physicist and author Pervez Hoodbhoy.
