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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (43102)	8/15/2002 7:33:57 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

Yesterday it was in Islamabad.. Hundreds turned out at the August 14 seminar on Peace and Freedom in South Asia organised by Daily Times as part of its launch. Enthusiasm for Arundhati Roy, award winning author and social activist, packed them in at the Marriott. The seminar marked the formal launch of the newspaper here in the federal capital. Senior citizens braved three flights of stairs to get to the auditorium. The overwhelming number of guests delayed the event by twenty minutes. More than 500 guests attended the talk. Many were without invitations but insisted on attending. Among the first to arrive was Iftikhar Arif, chairman of the Pakistan Academy of Letters. Guests included the Islamabad literati and many prominent citizens. The adulation that Ms Roy commands in Pakistan was apparent when she received the first of her many standing ovations as she took to the rostrum. Through it all, Ms Roy was graceful, modest, even surprised. “I have taken this opportunity not to put forward any question but to tell you only this: all of us here in Pakistan love you for your courage,” one guest said during the Q&A session that followed the talk. The crowd seconded the sentiment by thunderous applause. When it was all over, few made their way to the dining gallery. Ms Roy was swamped with requests for autographs and photos. Many of the guests were carrying the special Arundhati Roy supplement printed by Daily Times on Wednesday. Reporters and photographers from the foreign media roughing it out here in Islamabad since September 11 also attended the event deluging the architect-turned-actress-turned-aerobics instructor-turned-author with requests for interviews. Many Pakistanis took offence to this and blasted the foreign media for trying to hog Ms Roy. “She has come to be with us,” one woman shouted at a foreign correspondent. “Not to spend her time with media people!” Speaking at the Peace and Freedom seminar organised by Daily Times on Thursday, former Lt-Gen Naseer Akhtar called on India and Pakistan to dialogue. “It still animates popular thinking in both Pakistan and India,” Mr Akhtar said. “Especially in regards to bilateral relations.” He said the present gulf in communications between the governments of the two countries was dangerous. “The situation is worse than it was at Partition.” Mr Akhtar blamed the “intemperate” statements made on both sides of the border and took strong exception to the issuances of Indian Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani. “These have only reinforced our misgivings,” he said. The former Lt-Gen said the extraordinary spending on the defence of both India and Pakistan had crippled the regional economy and relegated one third of the population of the subcontinent to abject poverty. He said the people of Kashmir had it especially bad. Comparing both nuclear-armed countries to juvenile delinquents, Mr Akhtar said during the Kargil crisis, India and Pakistan exchanged nuclear threats 11 times. He called on both countries to enter into dialogue with each other and work towards the resolution of all outstanding issues including and especially Kashmir. “Only this can ensure peace and freedom,” he said.