[Reader-list] Vigils for Mumbai victims & India-Pk peace

[yasir ~يا سر]

From: Beena Sarwar

Information about vigils:

DEC 4: Karachi, London, & Boston, Worcester (MA) & Providence, RI
DEC 6: San Fransisco
Already held: Dec 2, UPenn

Forthcoming:

Dec 4 (TODAY):

- KARACHI: 5.00 pm, Karachi Press Club, Pakistan India Peoples Forum
for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) & Peace Karachi, candle lit vigil
for Peace against carnage in Mumbai & Karachi. "Plz join us & say no
to War & every kind of Hatred."

- LONDON: 6:00–9:00 pm, India House. Joint vigil by Pakistanis and
Indians to express their grief over the Mumbai attacks and
solidarity; extracts from the draft statement:
"… If the objectives of the terrorists are to be defeated, that
sense of brotherhood, shared grievance, and unwillingness to be
driven apart must extend across the border, to Pakistan. We cannot
allow ourselves to be manipulated and polarised through violence; we
cannot allow the terrorists to win."

- MA & RI: Simultaneous candlelight vigils at City Halls in BOSTON &
WORCESTER, MA and on the State House steps in PROVIDENCE, RI, 6pm,
organized by the Asian American Commission to remember the victims of
the Mumbai killings. Contact: Raj Cell: 508-523-5784

DEC 6, SAN FRANCISCO: City Hall, peace rally by concerned South Asian
Americans -- Pakistanis and Indians -- to condemn the recent Mumbai
Terror attack and call for Pakistan and India to work together in
promoting peace, justice, and prosperity in the region
Press release at: http://docs.google.com/View?
docid=ddkdhzkn_14fqhcz7fd
Event endorsed by:
Friends of South Asia | http://www.friendsofsouthasia.org/
Indian Muslim Relief and Charities | http://www.imrc.ws/
Pakistan American Cultural Center | http://pcc-ca.org
Pakistan Science and Engineering Foundation | http://paksef.org
South Asia Disaster Relief Coordinators | http://sarelief.com
Alliance of South Asians Taking Action (ASATA) | http://www.asata.org

Re: vigil held recently, on Dec 2:
Maria Khan at UPenn writes that students, including Pakistanis and
Indians, held a candlelight vigil at campus on Dec 2 where they
circulated a pamphlet (written by two Indian graduate students at
Penn, one from Mumbai). Extracts from pamphlet, `IN THE AFTERMATH OF
TERROR, THE TERROR OF THE AFTERMATH':

"In the heat and hurt of the moment, we must not lose sight of
important issues and their possible ramifications:
"• …The need of the hour is to recognize the commonality of the
suffering instead of falling prey to jingoistic nationalism…
"• The call to Mumbaikars to get back on their feet is not an
innocuous appreciation for their resilience; rather, such rhetoric
allows the government to evade responsibility. The Indian government
must be held accountable for the massive intelligence failure that
has claimed so many lives.
:• We condemn this act of terror but do not equate terror with Islam
because not only does this false equation play into the hands of
Hindu fundamentalists in India but it also feeds anti-Muslim
sentiments that are being stoked globally in a post-9/11 world.
"• We should act with caution when framing the attacks in Mumbai
as "India's 9/11." We express solidarity with those who lost loved
ones on 9/11, but are apprehensive about taking the analogy much
further. We do not want the Indian government to replicate the US's
responses nor engender the consequences thereof - neither in its
repressive domestic policy nor in the perpetration of acts of terror
in other parts of the globe.
"In the wake of this tragedy, we grieve those we lost and salute
those who gave their lives to save others. We stand in solidarity
with Mumbaikars and with those the world over who have been or
continue to be victims of terror in all its myriad forms.

" Students in solidarity, University of Pennsylvania"