PEACE AND JUSTICE IN SOUTH ASIA conference

Organizations in Mumbai have taken the initiative to organize an International Conference on "Peace and Justice in South Asia". This is timely proposed in the background of the aftermath of the 5th Ministerial of the World Trade Organization in December in Hong Kong, the ongoing peace processes in the region and the US role and importantly enough the marked shift in the foreign policy of India.

The Indian Prime Minister's visit to Britain and USA marked a perceptible shift in India's foreign policy towards a uni-polar world dominated by US imperialism. The Indo-US nuclear deal is a valuable instrument in the hands of the US to influence Indian foreign policy. But the Indian Government seems all set to trade away even the pretence of non-alignment. India even raised doubts regarding the Iran-Pakistan-India oil pipeline, just in order to please the Bush administration. The recent stand taken by the government of India on the Iran issue at the International Atomic Energy Agency, is a clear departure from an independent foreign policy.

South Asia

The entire region of South Asia is scarred by poverty and deprivation on one hand, and on the other, by conflict and war. Both India and Pakistan have developed nuclear weapons, and despite all talk of nuclear deterrence, this makes the region extremely volatile and dangerous. India is one of the biggest defense spenders in the world. It ordered $5.7 billion in weapons last year, overtaking Saudi Arabia and China to become the developing world's leading buyer. The huge amounts of money that India is wasting on the F-16s and F-18s being peddled by the US, can be more fruitfully spent on critical developmental needs like health, education, housing, public services and social welfare. And this is what constitutes the real human security. The rejection of this offer would go a long way towards bringing about peace in the region, with Pakistan. It's important to mention here that both have dismal ranking on the Human Development Index: India being 127 and Pakistan 135…

Similarly border skirmishes and migration issues divide India and Bangladesh. Sri Lanka, still staggering under the impact of the Tsunami and then the politics of Tsunami aid, relief and reconstruction, is being systematically plundered by multinationals, while it is still in the throes of conflict surrounding the statehood of the Tamils. Nepal's economy is in deep crises and the monarchy has thrown out all democratic institutions and established a dictatorship in the name of fighting communism. India's foreign policy has been extremely short sighted, centering on achieving economic and geopolitical domination in South Asia and even the rest of Asia, rather than developing friendly ties and strengthening equal regional cooperation. It is important to mention here that the Indian government is also taking about defence liberalization and opening of this sector to private and foreign investments as they feel that the threat India faces from the region is much more than the rate at which the public sector is able to manufacture arsenals. Thus it is imperative to open the defence sector. India wants to curry favour with the US-UK-Israeli axis and become part of the so-called 'war against terror' peddled by the US, which is nothing but a vicious war against ordinary people, only to promote US military and economic interests. It is an illegitimate war against the people of Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan and all the nations of the world.

Trade: War by other means

The US Empire, the corporations and those who control global finance try to maintain their supremacy through their trade and financial institutions, through the neo-liberal market philosophy and by physical force, by war. Trade is considered war by other means and deeply affects human security at all levels. In Iraq, for example, the bombing campaign was followed shortly by the Iraqi reconstruction and imposition of extreme neo-liberal policies of privatization, deregulation and free trade and before its people could elect a sovereign regime, at the behest of the US government they had applied for the WTO membership. The 5th ministerial of the WTO will discuss policies affecting the lives of the ordinary people. The powerful governments of the North will drive hardest bargains possible to gain further access to the resources and markets of the South, without regard for the terrible impact that their neo liberal policies may have on the people of these countries, including South Asia. The main issues to be discussed at the Hong Kong Ministerial are agriculture and basic services, provision and access to which entails real human security and it is possible that at the ministerial the developing countries might have to compromise to the market access negotiations. This could be a denial of services to poorer people in the developing countries. People across the world are actively engaged campaigning against the WTO, and have raised the war cry: "No deal is better than a bad deal". And consequently, working out a strategy for combating the WTO regime remains on top of the South Asian agenda.

Considering all of the above, for lasting peace in South, regional cooperation is crucial at all levels: political, diplomatic and economic. If the resource region stays divided, it provides a profitable opportunity for the global arms dealers, for the international financial institutions, the multinational co-operations, global capitalism, for the US Empire. The people of South Asia must see through the veil of illusion that has been created by the free market neo-liberal profit mongers, they have to reject the nihilist nationalism that is being used by rightist forces to divide and destroy, and they have to come together on the common aspiration for peace and justice for all.

The Event

A three-day conference in Mumbai on February 24-26, 2006 at Keshav Gore Smarak Trust, Goregaon will consist of plenaries and workshops.

The main themes of the conference are:

US Empire building in S Asia, War and trade, India Pakistan Peace process and the nuclear threat, gender perspectives on peace and violence, nationalism and sovereignty, religious sectarian violence and masculinity and militarisation. There will be a plenary devoted to discuss impact of neo liberal globalisation on each country in the region giving rise to conflicts and strife thus threatening the peace and justice.

Partner Organizations:

Mumbai organizations and networks have initiated the process as Peace Mumbai while some organizations and networks both at national and regional level have joined as partner organizations.

Peace Mumbai:

Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP), National Alliance of Peoples Movements (NAPM), India Center for Human Rights and Law (ICHRL), Asia South Pacific Bureau for Adult Education (ASPBAE), Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA), National Youth Federation (NYF), Pakistan-India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), Bombay Urban Industrial League for Development (BUILD), Focus on the Global South, India, Indo-Pak Youth Forum for Peace, Media for People, Vikas Adhyayan Kendra (VAK), Akshara, Documentation Research and Training Center (DRTC), Explorations, Initiative, Institute For Community Organization and Research (ICOR), Movement for Peace and Justice (MPJ)

Support Organisations:
AIPSO, SAAPE, SANGAT, PILER