Signatures given at the end. Should you want to add your signature to this petition, write to Anuradha Bhasin at anusaba[at]gmail[dot[com]. The petition with the final list of signatories will be sent to the heads of state in both India and Pakistan.

To,
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari,

Dear Sirs,

We, the people of Jammu and Kashmir on both sides of the Line of Control, have been observing with great concern the escalation of tensions at the LoC that have been building up gradually since June 2012 and have suddenly taken an ugly turn since the first week of January, 2013.

We express grave concern at the loss of lives of the soldiers and any casualties to civilians on both the sides. At the same time, we are also concerned about the safety and security of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, particularly the people living at the borders, who are directly hit by sporadic incidents of shelling and firing.

These repeated violations of the ceasefire that has been in place as part of an agreement between India and Pakistan since 2003 have been adversely affecting the lives of the people at the borders. Besides, these also have the potential dangers of reversing the gains of this biggest confidence building measure that has enabled and facilitated interactions, howsoever symbolic, between the two sides of the divided state, provided security and a conducive atmosphere for much needed development for the people living at the borders. Besides, these tensions threaten the very framework of peace for which 10 year long ceasefire at the LoC has been a great bulwark, even though the pace of peace process has been so far tardy and does not fully engages with the people of this state.

We fear that if these tensions at the borders are allowed to prolong, they will compromise the goodwill that has been built and reverse the peace dividends. We also fear that they will cause massive sufferings to the people of not just the border areas, but eventually of the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir, on both sides. Besides, they will provide a greater space to extremist, hawkish and fanatic elements as well as empower the war mongers on both sides. They also have the potential of ushering the whole region into a new cold war destroying hopes of long term peace and economic stability and hamper SAARC-wide integration.

We  deplore the war rhetoric and attempts by political or religious groups for symbolism of Kashmir to justify war mongering and hatred.

At the same time, we call for an immediate end to the hostilities on the Line of Control. We call upon the political leadership in New Delhi and Islamabad to impress upon their respective militaries to immediately desist from this continuum of shelling and firing incidents. We also call upon them to initiate action to begin immediate dialogue for a more long term end to these ongoing tensions, to restore the sanctity of the ceasefire that has been in place since 2003 by replacing strategic insecurities of the two militaries with mutual trust and co-operation.

1. Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal
2. Murtaza Shibli
3. Abdul Majid Zargar
4. Tajamul Hussain
5. Nusrat Andrabi
6. Suraiya Kamal
7. Arif Kamal
8. Tariq Masud
9. Ershad Mahmud
10. Najma Khan
11. Salman Anees Soz
12. Arjimand Hussain
13. Sameer Bhat
14. Akshay Azad
15. Asmat Ashai
16. Shafat N. Ahmad
17. Rekha Chowdhary
18. Badri Raina
19. Rahmat Kamal
20. Ellora Puri
21. Ved Bhasin
22. Nyla Ali Khan
23. Hameedah Nayeem
24. Shaheen Akhtar
25. Prabodh Jamwal
26. Gulam Jeelani
27. Gazalla Amin
28. Ishaq Kullar
29. Danish Khan
30. Anamika Mujoo Girotte
31. Motilal Raina
32. Dr Waleed Rasool
33. Altaf Hussain
34. Mushtaq ul Haq Ahmad Sikander
35. Dr Naseema Jogezai
36. Manmeet Bali Nag
37. Bashir Ahmad Dar
38. Gowhar Geelani
39. Jamshed Naqvi
40. Pyare Shivpuri
41. Shujaat Bukhari
42. Dr Javid Iqbal
43. Narjees Nawab
44. Javed Naqi
45. Shuchismita
46. Shefali Manhas
47. Pawan Bali