People's Democracy

Sahmat Resolution, January 1, 2009

ALL of us � visual and performing artists, writers, intellectuals, journalists, political and cultural activists, and others � who have gathered here today to observe the 20th anniversary of the gruesome and fatal attack on Safdar Hashmi, actor-writer-poet-filmmaker-political activist, wish to raise our voice in support of harmony and peace, causes that were dear to Safdar and which informed a large part of his work.

We are shocked and dismayed by the recent terrorist strikes in Bombay, that has not only led to a tragic loss of lives and livelihoods, but also heightened the tension between India and Pakistan.

We wish to use this occasion to reassert that peace between India and Pakistan must be defended at all cost, that jingoistic calls for retribution and sabre-rattling will only further vitiate an already bad situation, and that the common peoples of the entire subcontinent will pay a heavy price if the war-mongers on either side of the border succeed in their efforts.

We call upon the creative community in India and in Pakistan to unitedly raise their voice in favour of peace, and to call upon their respective governments not to precipitate the situation, and to work towards strengthening and removing all the obstacles in the way of lasting peace.