People of India and Pakistan want peace

Editor

I am very grateful to the Central Committee of the Communist Ghadar Party of India that it released its statement on the terrible attack on the Samjautha Express; the statement released on 25 th February was most timely.

It has been reported that about 70 innocent lives were lost in the terrible tragedy on the night of February 18. Speculation in the media was rife that this was connected with the visit of Pakistan’s Foreign Minister to India. Many officials were also claiming that this incident will not affect the talks in any way.

It is the ordinary people of India and Pakistan, who want to live at peace with each other, who fall prey to such calamities. Among the victims are many families whose members were separated in 1947. Many of them were unable to realize their aspirations to meet with each other due to the war-like situation that prevailed between the two countries.

It is a fact that while the peoples of our two countries would benefit from mutual peace, the reactionary bourgeoisie in the two countries want exactly the opposite, because it serves them to keep the mutual tension and antagonisms alive, in their game of furthering their respective ambitions to become powerful. Even as the attack took place, the peoples of the two countries helped the victims, while their governments did very little to extend any help, as your statement points out.

Every such incident should be thoroughly investigated and the guilty should be punished. The Indian and Pakistani people are fed up with the war-mongering of their rulers. The attempts at peace between the peoples of the two countries should not be derailed by such events, because those who organize them are enemies of the people. The CGPI will have to play a decisive role in establishing peace between the peoples of the two countries.

A. Narayan
Banglore