| By Robert Grenier, Alazeera.net, July 16, 2010 | ||
As we await what many hope will be the start, on July 15, of a renewed India-Pakistan peace process, or “Composite Dialogue” – derailed since the Mumbai attacks of November 2008 – I am reminded of two past conversations. The first occurred in 1999. In a meeting with a senior Pakistani official, the topic came around, as it usually did, to US pressure on Pakistan to crack down on militants crossing the Line of Control to engage in “terrorist acts” in Indian administered Kashmir. Such infiltration, of course, was widely believed to be facilitated by Pakistan’s infamous intelligence service, the ISI. Dropping for a moment the usual protests of innocence, the official challenged me to distinguish between a “terrorist” and a “freedom fighter”. |
I was born in Poonch (Kashmir) and now I live in Norway. I oppose war and violence and am a firm believer in the peaceful co-existence of all nations and peoples. In my academic work I have tried to espouse the cause of the weak and the oppressed in a world dominated by power politics, misleading propaganda and violations of basic human rights. I also believe that all conscious members of society have a moral duty to stand for and further the cause of peace and human rights throughout the world.
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