India, Pakistano lawyers come together for peace

NEW DELHI - To encourage people-to-people contact between India and Pakistan, the legal fraternities of both countries will come together to create a common platform for cooperation.

The initiative has been taken by students and alumni of premier law schools in India and Pakistan, and a five-day visit to Pakistan from Dec 22 is being organised by ‘The Jurists’, a registered trust formed by students of all national law schools in India.

The coming together of the lawyers and law students of India and Pakistan is expected to provide a fresh chance to the peace efforts, an official of ‘The Jurists’ said.

During the visit of the 10-member Indian delegation, headed by Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium and former union law minister Shanti Bhushan, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) will be signed between the legal fraternities of the two countries.

Both sides will look into the possibility of resource-sharing between law students and researchers and establishment of a peer-review mechanism for evaluation of legal research works, said advocate Raghav Awasthi, founder of ‘The Jurists’ and the initiative’s national coordinator for India.

The delegation, which will meet Pakistani Federal Minister for Human Rights Syed Mumtaz Alam Gilani in Islamabad Dec 26, will discuss a host of issues, including the draft Pakistani Hindu Marriages Registration Bill - which is expected to be tabled in the next session of Pakistan National Assembly.

The initiative to bring together the legal fraternities of both the countries is aided by Pakistani NGOs SEEPLA and Jaag Welfare Movement, an official said.