For a lasting peace in South Asia! No to nuclear tests! Raising these slogans, a group of about 100 demonstrated in Montreal on June 13. They assembled in downtown Phillips Square, which bustled with Saturday shoppers, to register theïr reactions to the recent nuclear tests by India and Pakistan and the heightened tensions in the region.

The assembly was called by the South Asian Women's Community Centre (SAWCC) and CERAS (Centre d'etudes et recherches sur l'asie du sud). A third of the group were of Pakistani origin, another thîrd were of Indian origin and the rest were individuals concerned with peace. The demonstration commenced to the strains of `Sangam’ the collaborative effort of Pakistan's late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and India's Javed Akhtar.

During the demonstration, varlous individuals spoke including Naushad Siddiqui, Humeira lqtidar and Dolores Chew.

It was pointed out that a gathering such as that in Montreal was now a privilege unobtainable in India and Pakistan, as meetings, talks and protests by eminent scientists, intellectuals and activists against the nuclear tests were attacked.

Those assembled wanted to send a strong message to the governments of India and Pakistan, that as non-resident Indians and Pakistanis, they could work together and support peace initiatives that had begun under the previous Indian government and were being galvanized. Also in countries where 40% of the population lived below the poverty line, increased expenditure on spurious concerns for defense were totally unjustified.