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Aman Ki Asha: The Indo-Pak Peace project

Interesting Start by Jang group...And TOI
Really I am impressed... They are doing this in the place whwre people like ZAID HAMID lives but still great if these two nations can commence peace..
:pakistan::pakistan:
 
Haleem is a combination of some Pulse and Mutton cooked along with some spices...and pure Ghee...... tastes good if you have it with good ...biryani

Is it something like dalcha (I dont know if i have spelled it right)?

Or is it like our Parsi dhansak ..... spicy dal with seven different vegetables (traditionally) stewed in it with succulent mutton (or chicken if ur the health conscious white meat brigade - disgusting poor man's version I say!) and with carmelised brown rice, with kababs and kachubar (vinegar and jaggery based onion, tomato, cucumber, kaccha mango, dhania and sometimes curd salad) on the side ..... and then a mandatory 2 hour siesta to follow. :cheers:

I like the sound of that goat head broth ..... something new! We need a thread on FOOD ..... best Track II initiative by far ..... I don't think you can kill someone when deeply sated on a full stomach.

Cheers, Doc
 
Is it something like dalcha (I dont know if i have spelled it right)?

Or is it like our Parsi dhansak ..... spicy dal with seven different vegetables (traditionally) stewed in it with succulent mutton (or chicken if ur the health conscious white meat brigade - disgusting poor man's version I say!) and with carmelised brown rice, with kababs and kachubar (vinegar and jaggery based onion, tomato, cucumber, kaccha mango, dhania and sometimes curd salad) on the side ..... and then a mandatory 2 hour siesta to follow. :cheers:

I like the sound of that goat head broth ..... something new! We need a thread on FOOD ..... best Track II initiative by far ..... I don't think you can kill someone when deeply sated on a full stomach.

Cheers, Doc


Wow thats a scary recipe.....But I am sure it tastes much better than it sounds....

The funny part of good food is it looks awful on paper....(when written)....:azn:
 
Great Thread . Pakistan and India should move towards peace . I know one day there will be true peace in South Asia .
 
Great Thread . Pakistan and India should move towards peace . I know one day there will be true peace in South Asia .

YUP! Peace is necessary for sustainable development in the region..
This is the time for us to develop and develop rapidly with our full force.. keep these hostilities away and subdue them because there is lot of time left to fight but very less time left to grow and develop..
Cheers
 
Wow thats a scary recipe.....But I am sure it tastes much better than it sounds....

The funny part of good food is it looks awful on paper....(when written)....:azn:

he he he .... wait till you try our "bheja na cutles" (goat brains dipped in batter and fried till golden crispy fluffy brown) and "khariya ni jelly" (brown jelly made of the gelatinised broth left over while cooking goats trotters/hooves, fed to kids especially to give them super strong bones ..... fingers that stick together after having it!).

Cheers, Doc
 
he he he .... wait till you try our "bheja na cutles" (goat brains dipped in batter and fried till golden crispy fluffy brown) and "khariya ni jelly" (brown jelly made of the gelatinised broth left over while cooking goats trotters/hooves, fed to kids especially to give them super strong bones ..... fingers that stick together after having it!).

Cheers, Doc

my favorite is bheja omlete :pop:

Had this mystery meat khadhi prepared by my dad, my dad gave me a nice surprise after eating it. Aparently i had eaten some goat's tounge:sick:
 
my favorite is bheja omlete :pop:

Had this mystery meat khadhi prepared by my dad, my dad gave me a nice surprise after eating it. Aparently i had eaten some goat's tounge:sick:

Aaahhhh tongue rolls ..... used to be my favorite at JAWS till they shut down ..... now still made by Hite Bar (along with kaleji rolls, bheja rolls, and shawarma) but somehow doesn't do the magic. But this is ox tongue I think. Tried some other "authentic" Irani food .... very bland :sick:. I think part of the reason we guys from the sub-continent have more than our due share of g***d mein aag is all this masala we like in our food.

Cheers, Doc
 
Peace now with Aman ki Asha

The calendar is a structure we put on time; otherwise 1st January is in no different from December 31st. Yet, it feels like a new beginning, a fresh start, a metaphorical wiping of the slate clean. It is also a time to take stock, a personal audit of sins past and a resolve to do better.

As a nation too it should prompt reflection, a cold analysis of what we have done right and where we have gone wrong. There are things that have been thrust upon us and we have had no choice but to respond. The assault of militancy and terrorism being an example.

But, then there are issues that could have been dealt with differently not just by us but also by our adversaries. This would not have made them go away because contradictions and conflict are a part of living. The difference between success and failure though lies in how we address them.

India and Pakistan emerged as independent nations after a chaotic and horrendously traumatic partition. Half a million or more Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims were killed and many others subjected to terrible atrocities by crazed mobs. An entire generation in Punjab and some in Bengal were uprooted from their homes and their ancestral land. It left behind a bitter legacy of hate.

It was also natural that arbitrary lines drawn on a hitherto undivided landscape would leave many issues unresolved. Kashmir is one such festering sore that has deeply coloured relations between the two countries. In Pakistan, it led to narratives of being wronged, of bias and injustice.

India’s involvement in the separation of East Pakistan further embittered an already sour atmosphere. In Kashmir the path of war in 1948, 65, and 99 did not get any of the countries nearer to its objective. India continues to have an uneasy, tenuous hold on the territory and Pakistan is nowhere close to realizing what it considers is its rightful claim.

The resentment that this conflict and the saga of East Pakistan generated also had an impact on what are normal interactions between neighbouring countries. Tourism, cultural and sporting exchanges, and most importantly trade and commerce have been deeply affected. While the Europeans, South East Asians, and countries of North and South America formed regional trading blocs, South Asians remain mired in hate and mutual suspicion.

It is the people of the region and particularly of India and Pakistan that have suffered because our already meagre resources were diverted towards warfare at the cost of human development. Lack of mutual trade and commerce also put a lid on a huge potential of common good between the countries. While Pakistan has lost more because it has not been able to benefit from a vast and growing economy next door, India also has been denied a large and ready market in Pakistan.

The time has come to leave this legacy of hate and suspicion behind. While there are issues that will continue to divide us, there is much in common. There is a commonality of culture, cuisine and language, particularly between Pakistan and North India. There is a shared history that is not all of communal conflict. And, there are common challenges of poverty that call for a total focus on improving the human condition.

It is in this context that the initiative for peace, jointly undertaken by two leading media groups in Pakistan and India, is so welcome. The Jang group in Pakistan and the Times of India group in India have joined hands to promote peace between both countries.

This initiative is focused on mobilising popular pressure for peace on the establishment of both countries. The campaign for ‘Aman ki Asha’ is the first time in the chequered history of the subcontinent that major media groups in the two countries have decided to launch a concerted push for peace. The intention is not to suggest solutions. That is for the governments of the two countries to work out. This initiative seeks to create conducive environment and enabling conditions for a peace dialogue to succeed.

The interesting thing is that the campaign ‘Aman ki Asha’ does not seek to exclude the establishment of the two countries. The Jang group has held wide consultations with the government, with the second major party in the country, the PML N, and with the MQM and others. All have supported the initiative. More importantly in the Pakistani context, the Jang group has also interacted with the military establishment and received its support for the campaign.

I am informed that in India the Times of India group has also interacted with the ruling party and obtained the support of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The group is continuing its interactions with other stakeholders, aiming to get as much public and political support as it can for the ‘Aman ki Asha’ campaign.

This is not a small breakthrough. Given the hardening of positions after the Mumbai massacre and particularly the anti-Pakistan tone of the Indian media, a call for peace by the largest Indian media group is in itself a significant development. This group has the largest circulation English newspaper in India, a widely watched television channel and a host of other publications. Its access to the Indian establishment and its ability to mobilise popular support gives it a unique ability to create the right atmosphere for peace.

The Jang group is also the largest media group in Pakistan and its ability to contribute to peace between India and Pakistan cannot be underestimated. Getting a major Indian group to partner it in this endeavour is a tremendous success for this group.

As a first step a major trade and industry conference is being organised in Karachi in February, in which the largest business houses of India and Pakistan are participating. The concerned ministries from both countries will also be represented, opening a possible door for more interactions in the future. This raises the possibility of a major breakthrough in trade negotiations between the two countries. On the Indian side, a week-long literary and cultural activity is planned in January which will include participants from Pakistan.

These activities will be followed with others over the next three months with more to follow. Both the media groups have resolved to keep the momentum for ‘Aman ki Asha’ campaign going and allocate time, manpower and resources towards its success. To re-emphasise again, the exact contours and substantive content of negotiations are up to the two governments to decide. What this campaign aims to achieve is mobilising popular support for peace.

The ground for this is fertile because opinion polls have conclusively demonstrated that a large majority of the people in both countries support peace. And why not? They want the burden of their existence to become easier. It is elite snobbery to believe that the ordinary people do not equate their poverty to large allocation of state resources towards war.

If there ever were good tidings for the New Year, it is this initiative for peace. If there ever was a resolution for the New Year that needs to be adopted by all, it is the ‘Aman ki Asha’ campaign. Let us all pray for its success. Happy New Year.

Peace now with Aman ki Asha
 
UNESCO Ambassador hails Jang Group initiative

UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Madanjeet Singhhase has thanked "Jang Group" for publishing analysis report at the start of the New Year on Pak-India relations as part of ‘aman ki asha’ – Jang Group’s joint initiative with the Times of India for peace between the two nations.

“May I wish you and your families a very happy New Year 2010, with the message contained in my two interrelated articles in The Hindu: ‘The economic dimension of national security” (September 21, 2009) and ‘South Asian agenda for Jammu and Kashmir’ (December 29, 2009),” Madanjeet Sainghhase said.

In the first piece the focus is on transport infrastructure and a common currency for South Asia that, like the euro, would become the anchor of economic and political stability and incrementally increase the trade and commerce between the SAARC countries.

Like the European Coal and Steal Community that laid the foundation of the European Union, projects such as a ‘peace pipeline’ of natural gas from Iran across Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Indian subcontinent, would create areas of SAARC cooperation.

In the second article, the UNESCO Goodwil Ambassador said, he has ventured to anticipate that in case the "quiet diplomacy" succeeds in making the Line of Control between India and Pakistan "just lines on a map", it would be the first step towards applying the ‘four point’ solution under consideration in Kashmir, to South Asia as a whole.

Essentially my submission, especially to the young people of South Asia, is that at this critical crossroads of history they must unite and look forward towards the future of peace and progress instead of looking backward and stymied in the rut of communal divisiveness, intolerance and violence.

Skeptics may not believe, but communal fanatics can be sidelined in a secular configuration of South Asia's unity in diversity; the European visionaries foresaw that the Basque in Spain, the Italian Catalan, and the Irish IRA terrorists could be reduced to nonentities under the secular umbrella of the European Union.

Barely six months before the Berlin wall crumbled, I recall asking the West German Ambassador in Washington if East and West Germany would ever unite. ‘Not in my lifetime!” he was convinced. But the scenario radically changed and he hosted a grand reception to celebrate the historic event. In our fast moving globalized world miracles do happen.

Hence, I am optimistic that sooner or later we in South Asia, too, shall breach the wall of distrust created by vested interests in India and Pakistan and march in step with ASEAN, African, Latin American, and Gulf countries that are already going ahead to introduce common currencies in their regions.

UNESCO Ambassador hails Jang Group initiative
 
Common men on either side of the border wants peace, but Still we look each other with suspicion. We require some real Confidance building measures. Both sides need to do some compromise on existing Border issues (I dont think this will happen soon)
 
We saw what TOI published. Can someone show here what the Dawn published?
 
Is it something like dalcha (I dont know if i have spelled it right)?

Or is it like our Parsi dhansak ..... spicy dal with seven different vegetables (traditionally) stewed in it with succulent mutton (or chicken if ur the health conscious white meat brigade - disgusting poor man's version I say!) and with carmelised brown rice, with kababs and kachubar (vinegar and jaggery based onion, tomato, cucumber, kaccha mango, dhania and sometimes curd salad) on the side ..... and then a mandatory 2 hour siesta to follow. :cheers:

I like the sound of that goat head broth ..... something new! We need a thread on FOOD ..... best Track II initiative by far ..... I don't think you can kill someone when deeply sated on a full stomach.

Cheers, Doc

Tell you what Doc, when there is peace i shall treat you too the best home made Haleem there is in the world.
;)

BTW great initiative, there is frankly no other way except people to people interaction and media is the best platform for this.
 
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Tell you what Doc, when there is peace i shall treat you too the best home made Haleem there is in the world.
;)

BTW great initiative, there is frankly no other way except people to people interaction and media is the best platfrom for this.

I am diabetic as so many Indians are. Best way for our enemies to kill us is making peace with us and over feeding us with the traditional South Asian rich foods. That will literally be killing us with kindness :D
 
Tell you what Doc, when there is peace i shall treat you too the best home made Haleem there is in the world.
;)

BTW great initiative, there is frankly no other way except people to people interaction and media is the best platform for this.

Thanks buddy ..... and you and your better half are likewise warmly invited to my home anytime you are in India for mutton Dhansak and baked chicken shepherd's pie rounded off with lagan nu caramel custard (we need that sloppy salivating icon!) :D

Cheers, Doc
 

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