1st INSAF Conference Report

We are very happy to publish the Proceedings of the successful North American Conference on Peace and Human Rights in India and Pakistan held on the Labor Day weekend of September 4 and 5, 1999 at Montreal, Canada. The Conference was hosted by CERAS after consultation with a large number of activists in Canada and the U.S.A about the theme, the main objectives and the timing. It was dedicated to the memory of Eqbal Ahmed, Narendra Singh, Vinod Mishra (Feroz, fill in the names of Pakistanis who were mentioned by me) who recently passed away and whose life-long struggle for peace, democracy, rights of the working masses and social justice was the central theme of the Conference.

It was primarily a conference of activists who stand for harmony among South Asian countries and among its peoples, who oppose forces of religious bigotry and national jingoism, who oppose nuclearization of the subcontinent and above all who stand for democratic and secular South Asia and for the betterment of life for the masses and not only a handful of elite. Given that the relations between India and Pakistan are pivotal to progress and prosperity of the region and well-being of its masses, the focus of the Conference was India and Pakistan within the context of South Asia.

Over one hundred and twenty four delegates participated in the Conference and as noted in the Montreal Declaration , they have roots in different countries of South Asia. Most importantly over 80% of the participants were youth. This was significant since the Conference was planned to draw the young people who are being misled by religious fundamentalist forces for the support of Hindutva in India and a fanatical organizations in Pakistan by organizations such as Rashtria Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS) and Jamat-e-Islami.

The conference was perceived as well-organized, relevant and positive by all participants. It was held in a friendly and pleasant atmosphere. The participation was intense and serious and almost every one had a chance to speak. No one felt stiffened or prevented from expressing her/his views. All the presentations were well-thought out serious and excellent. Almost all interventions were conducive to the spirit of the conference. All sessions abided by the time-schedule and all chairs did an excellent job.

The screening of the documentary "Talking Peace" by Suhasini Mulay and her presence at the Conference, the play, written and produced by the theatre group Teesri Duniya specifically for the Conference, the story of India through Ganges in Kathak style by Shalini Sharma and the skit by the delegation from Vancouver portraying in a humorous style the ridiculousness of constructing points of discord among South Asians not only enriched the Conference but also showed how cultural forum can be used to strengthen progressive and forward looking thinking and to support people's struggle for secularism, social justice and democracy. The "Hunt" choreographed and performed by Aparna Sindhoor in Bharat Natyam style drew well-deserved standing ovation. Hunt is based on a story by Mahashweta Devi. The arrangement for food, accommodation, transport and other needs of visitors were very well taken care of by a team of young volunteers who are preparing to visit India, Pakistan and Bangladesh on a work-study program.

Non-resident South Asians have begun to play more and more important role in the political developments in South Asia. In an in-depth analysis of what role South Asians play , Biju Mathew of New York, a key organizer of Taxi Driver's Union in that city, described how young people displaying banners demanding peace and harmony in South Asia were attacked by Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Friends of BJP contingent at the India day parade in New York city. He stressed that since we have decided to live here we must fight conservatism at all levels in our community, which will go a long way in weakening the support for Hindu revivalism in India.

Christophe Jaffrelot, a French historian and author of "Hindu Nationalist movement in India" gave a detailed account of how Sangh Parivar has infiltrated all levels of civil society in India including the trade union movement and how it has transformed Hinduism from an amorphous collection of sects into a disciplined organization imitating "Semitic" religion. Speaking on the subject of human rights in Pakistan , Beena Sarwar a noted journalist detailed various constraints against autocratic rule such as religious extremism and administrative failures which allowed a civil government to function in an arbitrary way. Krishna Ananth of the prestigious Indian English daily "The Hindu" argued that successive failures of Indian economy have laid the basis of the emergence of a fascistic regime and thus the emergence of BJP as the ruling political party in India was no accident.

The Conference had supported the visit of ten youth to attend the conference and present papers on themes related to the goals of the Conference. They spoke from experience and heart and received the appreciative attention of the delegates. They talked about the role of media (Pavithra Narayan), rise of communalism in Britain (Kiran patel), the politics of the India-Pakistan relations (Kamal Munir), the roots of Hindu nationalism's ascendancy over Indian nationalism (Gagan Bedi), role of South Asian Diaspora in strengthening democracy and human rights (Swati Sharan), roots of communalism in South Asia (Prasanti Rao), and role of rational education in the universities in fighting sectarian prejudices (Daisy Rockwell and Sahana Dharmpuri).

In order to facilitate contribution of all delegates to the Conference, several workshops were held concurrently on the same theme. This was a unique experience. Various points and suggestions raised during the workshops were then presented at the a Plenary session, which has been summarized in this document by Shree Mulay and Dolores Chew.

The Conference enthusiastically established International South Asia Forum (INSAF) and elected members of the Coordinating Committee which is expected to meet again soon and finalize details of functioning. Any suggestions regarding the functioning of INSAF (see Montreal Declaration, page ) will be welcome.

Daya Varma

President
CERAS

 

 

 

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