A panel discussion titled ‘Troubles in the Neighbourhood: Challenges in Pakistan-India Relations’, to mark the formal launch of the inaugural issue of the trimester journal Zuva: Journal of Cross-Border Conversations will be held on 17 June 2023, at 6:30 pm IST / 6:00 pm PKT.
The journal is a joint effort of Pakistan India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) and the South Asian Solidarity Collective (SASC), aiming to “provide a forum for the people of Pakistan and India to voice their diverse perspectives, concerns and aspirations for peace and progress in the region”.
In the Kashmiri language, zuva means ‘intertwined lives’. The journal aims at “strengthening people-to-people exchanges and solidarities in our common struggles against authoritarianism, and the forces that stoke hate and divide us, so that we may together assert the right to equitable development, justice and dignity for all”.
The journal has a revolving editorship, with well-known journalist and activist Rita Manchanda serving as editor of the inaugural issue.
The inaugural issue of Zuva: Journal of Cross-Border Conversations can be accessed for free online at Scribd.
Speakers for the panel discussion include:
Nirupama Subramanian, national editor of Indian Express
Munizae Jahangir, Pakistani journalist, Lahore
Manoj Jha, Member of Rajya Sabha in Indian Parliament
Imtiaz Alam, Lahore-based freelance journalist and Secretary General of South Asia Free Media Association
Riaz Sheikh, professor at Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology, Karachi
Kumar Ketkar, Indian writer, journalist, Member of Parliament
Anis Haroon, women’s rights activist, Karachi
Sushil Khanna, economist, Calcutta
The programme includes online cultural performances by singer, multi-disciplinary media practitioner and researcher Ananyaa Gaur, and musician and filmmaker Susmit Bose.
The event will be jointly moderated by PIPFPD co-chairpersons Tapan Bose, filmmaker and human-rights activist, and Syeda Hameed, women’s rights activist.
Time: 6:30 pm IST / 6.00 pm PKT
Date: 17th June 2023 (Saturday)
Zoom Meeting ID: 832 3803 5965
Passcode: 618997
Writers for the inaugural issue include Anuradha Bhasin, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Vijayan MJ, Jatin Desai, Imtiaz Ali, Admiral Ramu Ramdas, Syeda Hameed, Anees Haroon, Tahira Abdullah, Beena Sarwar, Anjum Altaf and many more.
The Zuva launch, says the press note, comes “at a critical juncture when people are confronting grave political and economic troubles, which could challenge further the existent strained Pakistan-India relationship”.
The journal founders see it as proffering “the possibility of a cross-border statesmanship like policy breakthrough beginning with support on the economic front. The peoples of Pakistan and India need and want peace. There can be no walking away from neighbours!”
Southasia Peace Action Network 