M A I N   N E W S

Pak MPs arrive for candlelight vigil
Varinder Walia and Pawan Kumar

Wagah (Amritsar), August 14
Amid shouting of “Hind-Pak dosti” slogans a 12-member delegation of parliamentarians from Pakistan today entered India from the Wagah joint checkpost, waving their national flag and a white flag. They will participate in the candlelight vigil on the eve of Independence Day at zero line for the first time. The MPs have arrived here on the invitation of the Hind-Pak Dosti Manch, which is headed by Rajya Sabha member Kuldip Nayyar.

The Pakistan MPs, led by Mr Aitazaz Hassan, while talking to the mediapersons here, sought to defeat the designs of fundamental forces. They condemned all types of terrorism in India and Pakistan.

Ms Fauzia Wahab, a member of the National Assembly from Karachi, said while there was a “saffron brigade” in India its Pakistani counterpart was the “mullah brigade”, which has been vitiating the atmosphere in the region.

Mr Hassan said while Gen Pervez Musharraf had entered India with his military, they (Pakistan MPs) had brought love and affection from the common masses of Pakistan. He said all bilateral issues should be resolved peacefully. Ms Wahab added that war was no solution to problem.

Earlier, as the delegation from Pakistan crossed zero line their supporters raised slogans for promoting friendship between India and Pakistan, which was reciprocated by their Indian counterparts. A large number of persons had assembled at Wagah (on the Pakistan side) to celebrate Pakistan’s independence day. The delegation was received by senior officials of the SGPC, led by its chief secretary Manjit Singh Calcutta.

UNI adds from Kangra: More than 20 journalists representing different newspapers and news agencies in Himachal Pradesh on Thursday left on a “sadbhavna yatra” to the India-Pakistan border at Wagah in order to light the candles on the eve of the Independence Day.

Kangra district police chief S.Z.H. Zaidi and SDM Ashwani Kumar flagged off the motorcade of the journalists from the local tehsil chowk.