As tensions escalate between India and Pakistan, the threat of a nuclear conflict hangs over South Asia and the world.
On February 14, the Pakistani-based organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for a terrorist attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy in the district of Pulwama in Kashmir. Sixty police officers were killed and injured.
Then, on February 26, India launched an air strike on an alleged terrorist training camp in Pakistan. The following day, the Pakistan Air Force shot down two Indian fighter jets over Kashmir.
Socialists in Pakistan and India have responded quickly to the threat of a new war. They have condemned the terrorist attack which sparked this latest aggression, and the war-like responses of both countries鈥 governments.
A demonstration for peace was organised in Lahore in Pakistan on February 28. Farooq Tariq, Awami Workers Party spokesperson told 一品探花 Weekly that the shooting down of two Indian Air Force planes by Pakistan had escalated the danger of a fully-fledged war.
鈥淭hings can get out of control. Two atomic powers going to war can endanger the whole planet,鈥 Tariq said.
鈥淲e need an international anti-war movement to force the two nations [to stop] before this madness becomes a reality.鈥
He said that social movements, governments in South Asia and the United Nations should demand an end to the escalation of threats and counter-threats.
On February 27, the Communist Party of India, (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation a cessation of hostilities between India and Pakistan, saying the situation had 鈥渙nce again reached a near-war flashpoint鈥.
It criticised Indian foreign secretary, Vijay Gokhale, who described the Indian response as a 鈥減re-emptive鈥 counter-terror strike and Pakistan鈥檚 decision to retaliate.
鈥淲e, the people of India, do not want another Pulwama. Neither do we want another war between India and Pakistan.
鈥淲e therefore call upon the governments of India and Pakistan to exercise restraint, stop the situation from escalating and step up diplomatic efforts to prevent terrorism and war and ensure lasting peace across the India-Pakistan border.
鈥淲e appeal to the peace-loving people of both countries to reject the competitive jingoistic clamour in their respective media and strengthen the prospects of peace.鈥
An election in India is expected in April or May, and many believe that the Narendra Modi government is escalating talk of war to whip up support for his re-election.
A by the Jammu Kashmir Awami Workers Party, Radical Socialist (India), Pakistan Trade Unions Defense Campaign and Haqooq Khalq Movement Pakistan (Peoples Rights Movement) on February 23 condemned the terrorist attack in Pulwama.
It called on India to release all evidence relating to the Pulwama attack and for the Pakistani government to take action against Jaish-e-Mohammed.
The groups also condemned Modi鈥檚 use of the attack to talk up war, saying that no matter how reprehensible the terrorist attack was, it should not be used as a launch pad for war.
鈥淔or the Modi government to declare that the attack in Pulwama is just such an act of war is not only wrong but it is politically speaking extremely dangerous, since it raises the military-political stakes so much higher,鈥 the statement said.
It also called for a solution to the militarisation of Kashmir, where more than 650,000 Indian troops are stationed, even though the Indian government estimates that the number of militants is not more than a few hundred.
鈥淭his huge presence of troops is required primarily to monitor and subdue a general population whose alienation and anger against New Delhi has spread wider and deeper than ever before,鈥 the groups said.
鈥淭he path to reducing and finally eliminating attacks such as in Pulwama does not lie in belligerent posturing or 鈥榮urgical strikes鈥 across the border, let alone in escalating military tensions and actions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours鈥
鈥淭he solution of Kashmir lies with the people of Kashmir, not with India and Pakistan. The people of Kashmir on both sides must be the ones who decide the fate of Kashmir.鈥