KARACHI: To mark International Human Rights Day, a webinar on ‘Prisoners of contention speaking of issues and rights of Indo-Pak prisoners’ was held here on Thursday.
The event was organised by the Pakistan India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) in collaboration with several non-government organisations, including the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF), Edhi Foundation, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), Legal Aid Society, Pakistan, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) and Aman ki Asha.
Most of the Indian citizens in Pakistan’s prisons and Pakistani citizens in Indian prisons are innocent captives of circumstances, destiny as well as the historical contention between India and Pakistan. They become victims of tense relations and do not get released and repatriated on the day of completing their sentences.
DDC polls in J&K recall an unsuccessful experiment in Sri Lanka four decades ago
Sri Lanka offered DDCs as a solution at a time when the Tamil polity was already radicalised. The DDCs became a reality but they did nothing for Sri Lanka’s relations with its Tamil citizens. Updated: December 12, 2020 9:05:10 am
A security personnel keeps vigil as voters stand in queue to cast their votes for the District Development Council elections, at the polling station in Pahalgam. (Express Photo: Shuaib Masoodi)
The ongoing District Development Council (DDC) elections in Jammu & Kashmir call to mind a similar exercise in Sri Lanka four decades ago, when that country’s political leadership tried to stanch Tamil demands for regional political autonomy with almost exactly the same kind of local government for which J&K is voting now.