INDIAN Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and All Parties Hurriet Conference leaders at their meeting held in New Delhi on Monday focused on human rights violations and the demand for troops reduction in the occupied part of the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir. According to Mir Waiz Umar Farooq, former APHC Chairman, the Indian Prime Minister was briefed on mass arrests of thousands of APHC workers by occupation forces and was asked to consider troops reduction in the state so as to create an enabling environment for the resolution of the core issue which is the root cause of conflict in South Asia. APHC has demanded repeal of repressive laws and release of all political prisoners languishing in Indian jails. Indian Prime Minister has assured APHC that India would actively consider their demands. Mir Waiz has termed the APHC dialogue with Dr. Manmohan Singh as part of tripartite talks and supported the continuation of the ongoing peace process in the sub continent. APHC leaders would continue their talks with Indian Prime Minister after he had met Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf later in the month on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly session in New York. APHC delegation which will be in New York to attend OIC meeting will also meet President Musharraf.
Mir Waiz has observed that India now recognized the need for settlement of the decades-old issue. He has further disclosed that APHC would submit its detailed proposals on conflict resolution at APHC’s next meeting with Dr. Manmohan Singh. The APHC leader sounded optimistic about the outcome of the ongoing efforts aimed at finding a lasting solution to the problem for durable peace in the region. The release of political detainees in IHK will hopefully start soon after the modalities have been sorted out. The issue has indeed become complex and it would take time to arrive at an honourable settlement acceptable to the three parties involved—Pakistan, India and Kashmris. The bottom line is that India appears to be sincere in resolving the dispute. Of course, final settlement will call for sacrifices from all concerned but hopefully at the end of the day it has the approval of the main party—the Kashmiris. Time and again President Musharraf has stressed that Pakistan is prepared to go extra miles provided India reciprocated. Now, it seems the ice is melting and APHC’s optimism is not misplaced.
The final settlement will be possible if the Indians realize that keeping the Kashmiris under perpetual bondage is neither in their interest nor will it to serve the cause of peace in the sub continent. Peace between two nuclear-armed nations is now more vital as world and regional peace hinged on amity and understanding between the two neighbours. Palestine issue is inching towards the last phase of resolution. There is all the more reason that Pakistan. India and Kashmiris finally resolve this issue. Hopefully the parties involved, especially India will show courage and vision to appreciate ground realities. The millions will eagerly await the outcome of the summit meeting between Pakistani and Indian leaders next week.

Heritage under threat

The blistering attack on the Madinah municipal authorities by the head of the Kingdom’s tourism commission, Prince Sultan ibn Salman, for demolishing the city’s Hejaz railway bridge brings into focus the whole issue of the country’s attitude to its antiquities. The country’s history is either crumbling or being bulldozed away at breakneck speed. What has happened to the bridge in Madinah is happening all over the country. Traditional houses and buildings are being abandoned or demolished or concreted over. Go to old Jeddah with its alleyway upon alleyway of world-class but dilapidating buildings; go to Riyadh’s Dira district; go to hundreds of towns and villages across the country, places such as old Yanbu, a treasure trove of old buildings and traditional architecture. In all of them, buildings are being left to rot and decay.
The problem is twofold. First, heritage is under threat from people who either do not realize its importance or, far worse, who simply do not care. Elsewhere in the world, heritage is treasured, old buildings lovingly restored and given a new lease of life as arts, educational and conference centers or even homes and hotels; here, on the other hand, there is the notion, at every level of society, that anything old is rubbish and should be demolished.
That attitude has resulted in the second aspect of the problem. There is no working system for the protection and restoration of the country’s heritage. What is needed is a commission for the care of historic monuments with the power and authority to ensure that they are protected. Such a commission needs to have the powers that similar bodies have in other countries — the power to force owners to restore buildings at risk and the power to refuse permission for their demolition or redevelopment. But there also needs to be carrot as well as stick. There should be generous grants available for the restoration work. Without such protection, the Kingdom’s heritage will continue to crumble.
What is incomprehensible about this is that no one seems able to see the financial rewards from restoration. Saudi Arabia wants to develop a tourist industry in order to provide massive employment opportunities; tourists are not going to come to see the very same architecture and cityscapes they can see at home. An old Jeddah restored, however, humming with shops, restaurants and, most of all, people, would pull them in.
That is the other side of the restoration coin. Places such as old Yanbu and old Jeddah must not be saved simply as empty echoing rooms, dead and desolate. They need to be full of life, of children’s laughter, of human voices. There is no reason why the old houses people have abandoned cannot be brought up to date with all the conveniences of modern-day life but still retaining all their traditional charm and beauty.
This is not something that can wait. A few more years and there will be nothing to restore. The only option will then be some Disneyesque reconstruction — without soul, without character. Where is the heritage in that?

—Arab News