Editorial

 Visas for WSF delegates

ORGANIZERS of the World Social Forum have complained that the government is dragging its feet over issuing visas to thousands of delegates who plan to attend the forum being held in Karachi later this month. The organizers have a point when they say that unless resolved quickly, the problem could affect attendance at the forum and give the country a bad name. Some weeks ago, a WSF delegation had met the interior minister in Islamabad and had received assurances that there would be no delay in issuing visas to the participants. Lest the government bureaucracy, especially those manning the interior ministry and our embassies overseas, forget, the World Social Forum is a high-profile event that is periodically held in different countries and its successful convening will be a feather in the country’s cap. Considering this, and given that improving the country’s image seems to be an issue close to the president and the prime minister, it is difficult to understand why visas are not being issued promptly.

The organizers have pointed out that many delegates are coming from countries where there are no Pakistan embassies. In such cases, delegates should be given visas on arrival if they have an invitation letter with them. Given that several thousand cricket enthusiasts from India were given visas when the Indian cricket team played here, there seems to be no reason for not extending the same courtesy to the WSF delegates. Unfortunately, some elements in the government have always been wary of NGOs and that, other than bureaucratic apathy, could be one reason for the delay. In any case, a successful holding of the WSF here would be good for the country’s reputation and image and since such opportunities are hard to come by, the government should do all it can to facilitate the event. Perhaps, intervention at the highest level is required to cut through the red tape.

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 KMC Sports Complex to host all WSF events

By Our Staff Reporter

KARACHI, March 20: Organizers of the World Social Forum (WSF) have decided to change the venue of the opening and closing plenary of the event from Lyari Football Stadium to the KMC Sports Complex, Kashmir Road.

This was stated by Karamat Ali, a member of the organizing committee, at a media briefing held here on Monday. He said the decision was taken in view of the logistical problems arising out of the ongoing development work in the city.

He said that all the events would take place at the KMC Sports Complex where activists from around the world would gather and interact with each other. The WSF programmes and activities would start on March 24 and end on March 29. Leader of the All Parties Hurriyet Conference (APHC) Mir Waiz Umer Farooq has confirmed participation in a major plenary on Kashmir issue to be held in the context of the ongoing Pakistan-India peace process, Mr Ali said.

He said that visa issue had been resolved as the WSF was informed on Monday that about 48 delegates from various European, African and Asian countries would be granted visa on arrival, though for a 72-hour stay in Pakistan. The permission for such a short stay, he said, was ridiculous as these people were coming from Albania, Angola, Armenia, Benin, Burundi, Congo, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Palestine, Senegal, Venezuela, Zambia, Taiwan, Togo, etc.

According to him, the event is significant because it will focus on the issues that have a direct bearing on the lives and livelihood, and the very existence of billions of people around the globe. Militarization and armed conflicts in South Asia, politics of interests and wars, disaster management, land mela and dignity forum would be among the major issues to be deliberated up, he added.

In the context of the Pakistan-India peace process, a major plenary on Kashmir has been planned by the WSF in which Mir Waiz Umer Farooq would be a major speaker. In addition, the issues of women, patriarchy and social changes, politics and religion, people’s resistance movement, global and regional governance, WTO and struggle against neo-liberalism, politics of World Bank and IMF, as well as the matters connected with media, would also be major topics of discussion at different events.

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 KARACHI: WSF event begins with voice against imperialism

By S. Raza Hassan

KARACHI, March 24: The World Social Forum-2006 hosting more than 400 events with the participation by delegates from 58 countries kicked off here on Friday evening at the KMC Sports Complex amid a festive mood and slogans against imperialism, social injustice and discrimination.

‘Stop racial discrimination’; ‘No to WTO’; ‘No to privatization of water and power’; ‘Surkh hai surkh hai - Asia surkh hai’, ‘Mazdoor kay khoon say - Asia surkh hai’; ‘Stop army operation in Balochistan’; ‘End child labour in the textile industry’; were among the slogans raised by the local and foreign delegates while entering the venue of the events.

At a point on the way to the complex, an effigy of a Guantanamo prisoner was put up by Rabia Tahmina Shoaib. A group of Palestinian peace activists sang liberation songs while standing beside the effigy.

Buddhiyagama Chandraratne Thero, a Sri Lankan Buddhist and secretary at the Centre for the Study of Human Rights, expressed his pleasure to be here to attend the events.

“Around 300 delegates from Sri Lanka are attending the WSF,” he told Dawn through an interpreter. He will deliver his lecture during a seminar on Peace and Harmony are Basic Requirement for Development on March 26.

Bhola Bhattarai, representing Federation of Forest of Nepal, spoke of the problem of sanitation in the city. Asked if he felt uneasy here, he said: “people of Karachi are very friendly and helpful.”

Mr Bhattarai leads an 11-member delegation of the federation while another 200 delegates representing different organizations of his country are taking part in the WSF.

Chairman of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front Yasin Malick said that at the Forum’s event in India two years back, he had raised the voice of the oppressed people of Kashmir, and had also expressed his determination to do the same at the WSF Karachi.

The Palestinian delegation also attracted much attention of the public as it passed by holding the Palestine flags and singing liberation songs.

Among some of the major events to be held during the next two days are panel discussions on the emerging issues relating to Jummu and Kashmir. A programme to be held on Saturday on the subject includes speeches on Kashmiriyat: 5,000 years of Syncretic History by Balraj Puri, a senior journalist and peace activist; Delhi to Srinagar via Washington DC: Kashmir and the Politics of Cold War by Sonia Jabbar, a writer, photographer and peace activist.

A dialogue on Transcending Boundaries - Role of Civil Society in a Changing World is also scheduled for Saturday at 10 am.

On Sunday, the address on Why we took up the gun, why we renounced it by the JKLF chief Yasin Malick; and a speech on What do the Indo-Pak Peace talks mean for Kashmir by APHC chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq are to be made.

A peace walk will be held on Sunday from Mazar-i-Quaid to the KMC Sport Complex. It would be led by Archbishop of Karachi.

A seminar on Peace and harmony are basic requirement for development and another one on Globalization and Anti-globalization will be held during the WSF event.

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 KARACHI: Threats to democracy, peace highlighted: WSF events

By Our Staff Reporter

KARACHI, March 25: The Kashmir issue and India-Pakistan relations remained among major points of deliberations in different events and activities with a number of rallies and demonstrations having been held by different social and political groups on Saturday, the second day of the six-day World Social Forum now under way at the KMC Sports Complex.

The session on ‘The role of civil society in the changing world’ was addressed by chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Yasin Malik.

He said: “Muslim countries have been failing to establish and maintain a democratic set up within them. Majority of the Muslims does not believe in democracy and that is why more than often they are subjected to excesses and injustices.”

Unfortunately, in the Muslim countries where there is democracy, the opposition would launch anti-government campaigns soon after suffering defeat in election, according to him.

He said that India and Pakistan were involved in negotiation on Kashmir and Kashmiris too believed in dialogue. However, if the dialogue failed to resolve the issue, it would be considered as political victory of Kashmiris and nobody could say that Kashmiris did not want negotiations. He said that people of India and Pakistan would compel their respective governments and rulers to resolve the Kashmir issue.

A member of the British parliament, Jeff Brown, said that democracy in his country was not on a sound footing. “Aspirations of people are ignored,” he said, adding that democracy provided for resolving problems that people were faced with in their routine life. He suggested that trade unionism could play a basic role in establishing a true democratic set up.

A former federal minister Javed Jabbar said that the issues like Palestine and Kashmir gave grounds to feel that world was after Muslims. He said that ten of the Muslim countries, including Pakistan, Somalia, Chechnya, Iraq and Sudan, had been declared unsafe for foreigners, which was unfair as only two years back Pakistan was among the countries found ‘most suitable’ and was underlined for its hospitality.

He said that despite the fact that elected institutions did exist in South Asian countries, their internal situation was not very much encouraging. There was a need to work for the improvement of democracy and the civil society could play a major role in that direction, he added.

Speaking on ‘Politics of Interest and Wars’ Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party MP and Vice-President of the Anti-War Coalition, UK, said the world needs to fight for social, political and economic rights in the face of the US imperialism threat of achieving an unjust political agenda to meet its energy needs, agencies add.

He observed that since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the sole super power and built its military bases for its hegemony. He said 9/11 incident, which was a wrong by all means, provided US an opportunity to form a coalition to threaten other states. He said a plan in this regard surfaced by invading Afghanistan and extending it to Iraq through lies of WMDs.

On Iran’s nuclear programme, Mr Corbyn said there had never been any substantial and physical evidence. However, Iran, unlike other developing states, set its face against US imperialism.

Renowned activist, writer and novelist Tariq Ali said the imperialist US could be defeated through peaceful political struggle emerging in Latin America. Venezuela and Cuba are helping Bolivia in its rebuild where first in history a lower-class leadership emerged.

He said holding of WSF was earlier cancelled due to the devastation of October-8 earthquake in Azad Kashmir and NWFP areas of Pakistan.

Among others, HRCP Chairperson Asma Jahangir and representatives of the different social organisations from South Africa and Ecuador attended the event.

Jamal Juma of the Stop The War Campaign, Palestine, said Zionists were backed by British colonialist after World War-I, with weapons, tanks, and army uniforms to destabilize Middle East.

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 KARACHI: Kashmir issue taking centre-stage at WSF

By Omar R. Quraishi

KARACHI, March 25: The World Social Forum being hosted at the Karachi Sports Complex and scheduled to run till March 29 has a mela-like atmosphere to it. As far as the conferences are concerned, a four-day long series seems to be taking centre-stage, with All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Mir Waiz Omar Farooq and JKLF chief Yasin Malik scheduled to speak on Sunday morning.

The speeches to be made by both leaders, and by some peace activists on Saturday, will assume importance given the offer to Pakistan of a ‘friendship treaty’ by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday.

On Saturday, several conferences and plenary sessions were held. In the morning, the second session of ‘Intractable Disputes: South Asia in Conflict’ was held with Indian journalist and peace activist Balraj Puri speaking on ‘Kashmiriyat: 5,000 years of syncretic history’, activist/writer/ film-maker Sonia Jabbar speaking on ‘Delhi to Srinagar via Washington DC: Kashmir and the Politics of the Cold War’. Mr Puri is a recipient of India’s highest civil award, the Padma Bhushan, and is a widely respected rights campaigner as well. He has also written a history of Kashmir that dates back 5,000 years and tries to make sense of the area’s background and legacy.

His talk focused on the need for regional autonomy for Kashmir, something that he has frequently written on and spoken about. In fact, when the National Conference was ruling over Indian-administered Kashmir, Mr Puri was made working chairman of the ‘Regional Autonomy Committee’ (he was removed from the post after some time). Mr Puri, who hails from Jammu, said that it was important that both Pakistan and India give paramount consideration to the wishes of the people of Kashmir since the dispute and the resulting conflict directly affected them.

He said that people had a misconception that Jammu was majority Hindu and that Ladakh was majority Buddhist when the reality was otherwise - in an interview that he gave in Sept 2005 to the Hindustan Times, he had said that 35 per cent of Jammu’s population was Muslim and a substantial minority was Sikh while half of Ladakh was Muslim. He also said that Kashmir has a rich and vibrant culture, one which had an ancient legacy but which was unfortunately not given its due status in India.

Sonia Jabbar, the other speaker, made a critically-acclaimed documentary in 2003 called ‘Autumn’s final country’ (66 mins) which she made after being asked to arrange displaced Kashmiri women to come and testify at the South Asia Court of Women.

Besides this, a plenary session on ‘Politics of interest and wars: US-led militarism, military complexes and nexus between war, arms and weapons sale, nuclear weapons and politics of oil/natural resources’ was held as well. It was organized by the Pakistan Peace Coalition. Another plenary on ‘Women, patriarchy and social changes: War against women, women against war’ was also held.

Smaller conferences were held in the separate enclosures. Hundreds of foreign delegates can be seen at the WSF.

One of the conferences focused on child rights and their education situation. Several participants in this particular conference were foreigners and that provided for some good interaction. For instance, a westerner working with an NGO in Kabul focusing on getting children back to school was sharing his experiences and his remarks were followed by an activist and aid worker from Balochistan.

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 KARACHI: Local products await customers}

By Arman Sabir

KARACHI, March 25: People visiting the World Social Forum 2006 on the second day, Saturday, showed their interest in various events and activities taking place there whereas separate stalls were organized by various NGOs and individuals to help the delegates acquaint themselves with the Pakistani culture and traditions.

As thousands of delegates from 58 countries are taking part in the mega event, the organizers are naturally faced with some difficulties in managing the things. The people who have brought their products for display and sale were found complaining that the response from WSF visitors, especially foreign delegates, was not up to their expectations.

A tent was pitched near the stadium where many people were sitting with their merchandize. Most of them have come from Sindh interior and Punjab.

A woman sitting with her daughter in a stall said: “We have come from Hyderabad... We have been given a table and two chairs under one large tent. The organizers have not allowed us to display our products. When the product is not on display, people will not take any interest in it. Local and foreign delegates do come over here but they don’t take interest as we don’t have enough space to display our products.”

Another woman, from Cholistan near Bahawalpur, said foreign delegates were taking interest in knowing about the cultures and traditions in Pakistan but they seemed not interested in shopping from the stalls.

A man from Hyderabad said: “The organizers have not given us proper space. They should have given us cabin-like space so that we are able to display our products.” He said all those who had brought their products here had been spending their own money on their boarding and lodging. He expressed the apprehension that they would hardly get any return, rather, they might suffer losses.

Various organizations have also put on display the photographs depicting the devastation caused by the October-8 earthquake with the objective of highlighting the sufferings and miseries of the victims. There are many stalls of fast food and local foodstuff at the WSF venue but a few stalls offer proper traditional food.

Besides, the Federation of Community Forestry Users, Nepal, has displayed some unique products of their country which are not for sale.

Many rallies and processions were held by different groups and NGOs from various countries.

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 KARACHI: US seeking dominance through globalization, WSF told

By S. Raza Hassan

KARACHI, March 26: Speakers at a seminar on “Democracy in South Asia” criticized the ‘formal’ democracy in India which, according to them, was accepting dictates of globalization at the cost of the people’s welfare. They suggested that better relations between the South Asian nuclear powers were vital for a ‘substantive’ democracy which would ensure strengthening of institutions and judicious use of resources for public good.

The seminar was held on Sunday, third day of the six-day WSF moot.

Prof Kamal Mitroy of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, pointed out that 40 per cent population of India lived in poverty. Globalization has increased pressure on the democracy. It is also increasing insurgency as resources are being spent on weapons since 1991. He also noted an increased unemployment.

Prof Mitroy said that President Bush, during his recent visit to the subcontinent, had made some ‘sweet’ deals with India in order to ‘further trap’ the country in the process of globalization. He was of the view that US was spreading ‘global democracy’ which was visible in Abu Gharib jail, Falluja, etc. He pointed out that the close cooperation between US and Pakistan had also led to the destruction of democracy in Pakistan since Gen Ayub’s era. It created an impression in Pakistan that no government could survive without Washington’s support, he pointed out, and said that friendship between India and Pakistan was needed for ‘reforming’ the democracy.

He said that India had 74 per cent poverty in its rural areas and 40 per cent in urban areas. The trade deficit stands at $27.8 billion. Expenditure on education has decreased, due to increase in defence budget, and the dropout ratio was around 6-7 per cent. “Only elite class may reach the university level in India now... Education has increasingly become elitist and may be restricted further,” Prof Kamal apprehended.

He deplored that US was bent upon implementing its policy of ‘full- spectrum dominance’, initiated by Bill Clinton, over land, sea and ‘minds.’ The imperialist designs, he said, could be challenged through global efforts, and for this purpose, initiative should be taken by South Asia through peace and reconciliation in the region.

At a separate seminar, on the ‘State of Human Rights in Balochistan’, speakers said that the federal government had usurped the rights of provinces.

Rasool Bukhsh Palejo of Awami Tehrik said that his party was not against any ‘nation’ but the policies pursued by the rulers. He alleged that the rulers were killing Baloch and Pakhtoon people now after meting out the same treatment to Sindhi people.

He rejected the government’s claim that the crisis in Balochistan was created by three particular sardars, and said that all other sardars of Balochistan were like waderas of Sindh who had sold their loyalties for seeking privileges.

He claimed that provincial autonomy was enshrined in the 1940 Pakistan Resolution.

Kaiser Bengali, Akber Zaidi and others spoke at seminar on the ‘State of Education Under Globalization’.

The Women Welfare and Development Organization arranged a workshop on problems being faced by women factory workers.

Several rallies were held by different organizations and groups during the day at the WSF venue. The Awami Tehrik held a rally against controversial water projects in the country and demolition of old villages in Karachi. The Aurat Foundation staged a demonstration against honour-killings, jirga system and violence against women.

Baloch and Sindhi nationalists held a rally to protest disappearance of political activists, and demanded that Nawaz Zaur, Muzaffar Bhutto, Dr Haneef Sharif and other people be produced before courts.

Dalits from India and Nepal also staged a demonstration to demand restoration of Dalits’ due rights.

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 KARACHI: Pace of peace process slow, says Mirwaiz: WSF conference on Kashmir

By Omar R. Quraishi

KARACHI, March 26: The chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, told a conference here on Sunday that he was “disappointed” at the pace of the peace process between India and Pakistan. The moot was also addressed by a sitting minister of the government of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir and by community leaders from Ladakh.

Speaking at a conference organized by the WSF and the Dawn Group of Newspapers at the Karachi Sports Complex, Mirwaiz said that “a lot more could be done” with regard to the peace process so that the lives of people affected by the conflict could improve. He said that responsibility for doing more fell “primarily” on India because it could rein in its security forces in Jammu and Kashmir, release all political prisoners, check human rights abuses by its forces and encourage people-to-people contact across the Line of Control.

Mirwaiz said that the time had now come for the fate of the people of Kashmir to be decided. He said there were various proposals and suggestions on a possible solution which needed to be discussed at the appropriate forums. He also criticized the role of international organizations such as the UN saying that they had often failed to deliver when their assistance and guidance was needed.

The APHC chief also seemed critical of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s suggestion that the issue of Kashmir be de-linked during the ongoing peace process. “De-linking it does not help. It needs to be given top priority and solved with urgency because Kashmiris are dying every day,” he said. The conference provided an instance - perhaps the first time - of leaders from both sides of the LoC and various parts of Jammu and Kashmir meeting and speaking. However, several speakers were interrupted at times by a rowdy section of the audience, comprising mostly activists of the Balawaristan National Front and the Karakoram National Party, who kept on chanting slogans demanding independence and self-rule for Baltistan and the Northern Areas and “sardar ghaddar hai” (a reference presumably to Sardar Abdul Qayyum who was one of the speakers and also heckled.

The speakers also included a sitting minister of the government of Ghulam Nabi Azad whose coalition of the Congress party and the People’s Democratic League rules over Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir. Minister for housing, transport and forests Tariq Hameed Karra spoke on behalf of his PDP party. He seemed conciliatory and said that the proposals presented by President Pervez Musharraf on resolving the dispute needed to be looked at objectively. He said all proposals should be judged on merit and not judged on the basis of who made them.

He said the Kashmir issue had entered a “defining moment” and that specific solutions now needed to be presented and discussed. He said his party wanted that the police should be given more responsibilities in internal security in Jammu and Kashmir. The PDP, he said, did not believe that the autonomy granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution was the same as self-rule. During his speech, at one point he agreed with the position taken by President Musharraf saying that the general had himself ruled out self-rule and independence.

The head of his own faction of the APHC, the leader of the Jamaat-i-Islami, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who was invited but could not attend the WSF conference because his passport remains with Indian authorities, sent a message which was read out. He said India should make a public declaration that Kashmir is a disputed territory and that the dispute was not territorial or even a bilateral one. Mr Geelani said that the right to self-determination “cannot be extinguished unless it is exercised”. He also demanded that the Indian government withdraw its troops from the territory, release all political prisoners and check human rights abuses. He said, there was no visible outcome of the talks so far, or of the confidence-building measures (CBMs) which had been initiated but whose impact had yet to be felt on the ground.

The chief of the JKLF, Yasin Malik, spoke on why he gave up the gun and took a peaceful road. He recounted his involvement in the struggle which, he said, began in 1984 when as a student leader he made a sticker showing a map of independent Kashmir, for which he was interrogated by the Indian military and sent to jail for three months. He also criticized the World Social Forum, saying that it was slowly losing touch with its primary objective, which was to give ordinary people a platform to speak. He said the forum was being taken over by intellectuals and that was not a good thing because intellectuals do not achieve anything because they are conformists. He said his “friend Arundhati Roy” was not attending the WSF in Karachi because she had told him that she was “getting tired of such events and because there was no follow-up”.

The President of the Muslim Conference and former AJK prime minister, Sardar Abdul Qayyum, spoke briefly, though he spent much of his speaking time addressing a section of the audience who had heckled him, telling them that he had thought the event was one where serious ideas and views would be exchanged and not where parties would show their muscle power. He spoke of the need for civil society to educate activists of political and citizen groups who could fight for their cause in a manner that governments would pay heed. He said a lot of distance had to be covered before the solution to the dispute was to be reached and that measures like demilitarization and self-rule were important milestones to that end.

A National Conference leader from Uri and a former finance minister in Farooq Abdullah’s government, Mohammad Sadiq Uri, also addressed the conference. He said his party recognized the “new reality” and had said so in a document that it prepared in 2004 when it was in power. He also disagreed with Mr Singh’s suggestion to de-link Kashmir from the ongoing peace talks.

The general secretary of the CPI(M) in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, Yusuf Tarigami, also spoke to the audience. He was critical of both India and Pakistan for spending billions on weapons and on being obsessed with national security when their citizens did not have enough money to buy food or enough water to drink.

LADAKH: Two speakers came from Ladakh, which is part of Indian-administered Kashmir. One was Chailing Dorjae Lakruch who was introduced as head of Ladakh Hill Tract Development and chief of Ladakh Union Front. He came from Leh, Ladakh’s chief town. He said various Kashmiri leaders demanded various things and that people from Ladakh did not agree with them but wanted to remain with India. He said Ladakh was 50 per cent Buddhist and 50 per cent Muslim and the basis of what he was saying was language and culture.

Mohammad Raza Abbasi came from Kargil to speak. He was introduced as general-secretary of the Youth Volunteers Forum. He said he had relatives in Baltistan in Pakistan and that the whole area had a different identity but was given no representation in any discussions on Kashmir (something that his colleague from Leh had said as well). He said the people of his area want an open border so that they could meet their relatives across the LoC easily. He said they would like to be part of undivided Kashmir and if that was not possible than part of Greater Ladakh, which he said should include Gilgit and Baltistan as well. He said he was not happy to see that not a single speaker from that area had been invited to the conference.

JKLF chief Amanullah Khan, JKLF activist Farooq Siddiqui, JK People’s Forum head Farooq Rehman, Sardar Anwar Khan of the APHC (Geelani), Khalid Ibrahim, Indian journalist and rights campaigner Balraj Puri and Kashmiri journalist Anuradha Bhasin Jamawal also addressed the conference which was moderated by Hameed Haroon.

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 KARACHI: Pakistan, India urged to lift visa restriction

By Arman Sabir

KARACHI, March 26: Pakistani and Indian governments should go one step forward in taking the confidence-building measures by lifting visa restriction and provide the peoples of the two countries with the opportunity to come closer, said the Indian visitors of the World Social Forum 2006.

Priti Tiwari, the assistant programme director of an NGO, Ekta Parishad, narrated her experience of travelling to Pakistan. She is a member of the 14-member Indian delegation participating in the WSF events.

“I told my family over cell-phone about going to Pakistan just before crossing the Wahga border. My family was shocked to learn about my departure. I was also nervous as I have never been to Pakistan,” Ms Tiwari said.

She said that she got love and affection from Pakistani people beyond her expectations. “We did not buy foodstuff all along our journey from Lahore to Karachi by train. Locals in the train gave us a warm welcome and offered us food, tea, soft drinks, and other foodstuff. The moments became unforgettable for me,” she remarked.

Ms Tiwari, hailing from Bhopal, in Madhya Pradesh state, said that she did not know how the response of Indian people towards visiting Pakistanis in India was but she got a warm welcome, love and affection, which she could not scratch from her memory.

She was of the view that the peoples of the two countries - India and Pakistan - were not hostile to each other and they wanted to come nearer. “I think the visa restriction should be lifted so that peoples of the two countries could travel freely and share views and experiences,” she suggested, and added that the delegation had raised slogans all along the journey from Lahore to Karachi that the visa restriction be lifted and peoples of the two countries be provided a chance to come closer.

Another member of the delegation, Ms Varsha Belais, said that the role of media was important in highlighting the issues in their true perspective, besides apprising people of accurate information.

Ms Belais regretted that the media in both the countries had not been playing its due role in bringing the peoples of the two countries closer and helping them understand each others.

Various foreign delegations are participating in the WSF-2006. Azrin Zizal Bin Abdul Aziz represents a global peace organization known as ‘Malaysians for Peace’.

He goes to every person visiting the WSF venue and advocates his stance on peace. He says that “peace is the essential condition for the survival and well-being of the human race”.

He was of the view that the killings in war were as criminal act as killings within societies in peace times. Therefore, killings in wartimes must be subject to the international law of crime, he argued.

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Features

 Impact of the WSF process

THE World Social Forum (WSF) being held in Karachi from 24-29 March could possibly have a significant impact on Pakistan’s political scene, if past WSF meetings are anything to go by. The annual WSF gathering was born in January 2001 in the city of Porto Alegre in Brazil as the poor man’s counter to the World Economic Forum (WEF), the annual gathering of the world’s political and economic elites at Davos in Switzerland.

In contrast to the WEF, the WSF is a low budget anti- neoliberalism forum usually attended by tens of thousands of social and peace activists.

Multinational brands such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi are known to be banned from WSF functions, while WSF conference computers are run on Linux, a free-operating system that is an alternative to Microsoft Windows.

The first three WSF gatherings were organized in Porto Alegre but in 2004, it shifted to Asia where it was organized in Mumbai in India, where the Pakistani rock group Junoon performed in an opening concert.

The year 2006 is the first time that the WSF gathering is polycentred in three continents with meetings held in Caracas (Venezuela), Barnako (Mali) and Karachi.

Given our government’s economic policies, which have tended to be neo-liberalist, benefitting the upper and middle classes to the detriment of the poor, it is significant that such an event like the WSF is being held in a city in Pakistan.

The decision to hold the WSF in Karachi, however, seems to have had the blessings if not approval of the government. President Musharraf had visited Brazil in November 2004 and two months later, it was announced that the decision of having a polycentric WSF in 2006, with Karachi being one of the three centres, was made during a meeting of the WSF International Council in Porto Alegre held in 24-25 January 2005.

Activists in Egypt had apparently also tried to vie for the WSF 2006 to he held in Cairo but could not succeed. WSF 2007 is due to be held in Kenya.

Apart from anti-neoliberalism, the other prominent characteristic of the WSF process is its anti-imperialist and specifically anti-American nature. The success of the global anti-war mobilizations in February 2003 just before the occupation of Iraq, as well as the anti-war demonstrations in major cities of the world in March every year marking the anniversary of the occupation of Iraq, have been attributed in large part to the Social Forum process.

More than just an open platform for activists and intellectuals to discuss peace and strategies of resistance to globalization and imperialism, WSF meetings have proved to be precursors to significant domestic political changes in the countries where WSF gatherings have taken place.

The first two WSF meetings took place in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in January 2001 and January 2002 respectively, at a time when Brazil was undergoing a political transformation, moving towards the left.

Eventually in October 2002, socialist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of the Workers’ Party won the presidential elections in a wide ranging political alliance with other left-leaning political parties under a social platform.

Similarly in India, the WSF meeting was held in January 2004 in Mumbai. Five months later in May 2004, the centre-right BJP government headed by Prime Minister Vajpayee was surprisingly defeated in general elections which brought into power a new left-leaning coalition led by the Congress Party called the United Progressive Alliance.

The WSF process in Brazil and India seemed to have helped stimulate the development of a national left-leaning front against the ruling right-leaning governments. The results of the elections in Brazil in 2002 and in India in 2004 had voiced a rejection of the previous governments’ neo-liberal economic reforms that were seen to benefit the countries’ upper and middle classes only.

But it remains to be seen however whether this socialist front is just only an electoral bloc or whether it will be a long-term collective alliance of left-leaning parties, social movements and progressive non-governmental organizations. And it also remains to be seen how far the economic policies of the new left-leaning governments are different from the policies of the governments they replaced, and how far the former economic policies are actually benefiting the poor.

With soaring elite consumption and widening inequality in Pakistan, can WSF Karachi 2006 help to bring the same kind of socialist forces together to make an impact on the general elections in 2007?

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 KARACHI: Donor bodies termed bane of developing nations: Fourth day of WSF

By S. Raza Hassan

KARACHI, March 27: Speakers at a plenary session on “People’s Resistance Movements”, held on the fourth day of the World Social Forum 2006, accused the international donor agencies of exploiting the downtrodden people of the under- developed countries.

They also criticized the government functionaries of such countries for misappropriating the grants and funds meant for development projects.

Speaking on the occasion, Subhashini Ali, representing the All-India Democratic Women Movement, said that dowry was still the most sensitive issue in Pakistan and India. For their daughter’s marriage, parents would appear ready to go to any extent in fulfilling the demands made by the groom’s family.

She said that women still appeared to be the most oppressed section of the society in the two countries. However, she pointed out, war against globalization could not be fought without the emancipation of the womenfolk.

Preety Sampath, representing the Mazdoor Kisan Samgathan, said that the civil society should, first of all, find out that what the government was offering while negotiating loans with the international donors. In this context, she made mention of people’s interests often being put at stake. She pointed out that off and on, scandals did come to light exposing the kickbacks and misappropriation by government functionaries.

However, she said, after the recent legislation giving people access to the information viz-a-viz government departments, things had improved and any one could now obtain information about any project undertaken by the government, unless security concerns were involved.

Sikandar Brohi, representing movement against the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, said that the international donor agencies were directly affecting the life of the people of Sindh through their funding in dams construction.

He warned that the people of Sindh would not allow the IMF and WB to impose any mega project affecting their life.

Qadir Ghangro of the Fisher Folk Forum said that Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had introduced the licence system in the fishing sector. Later, Sardar Mumtaz Bhutto introduced the contract system which was in force till date and had become a tool to exploit the poor fishermen.

Representing the Seraiki Nationalist Movement, Abdul Majeed Thaneo said that Seraiki people were the downtrodden section of society in Pakistan despite the fact that they constituted 40 per cent of its population.

He said that without forging alliance with the Saraiki people, no nationalist movement could ensure its success.

Others who spoke on the occasion included Waqar Awan, Sandip Panday and Ghinva Bhutto.

Ms Ghinva Bhutto, chairperson of the PPP-SB, speaking at a seminar on ‘Peoples Resistance Movements’ called for a vigorous struggle against imperialist policies, adds PPI.

She said that the minority upper class continued to rule over the majority lower class which was denial of democracy. She felt that people’s representative should go for any mega project in Pakistan without monetary assistance having been sought from the IMF and World Bank.

She stressed on prioritizing the aspirations and interests of people instead of forcing them out of their villages and katchi abadis.

She deplored that the ruling class was depriving people of their rights.

Ms Bhutto urged people to fight for their rights and democratic dispensation. She observed that people of Iraq and Afghanistan were fighting against imperialist forces.

She said that Iran and Syria, which were being ruled by their people, were being threatened with dire consequences by the United States, which was contemplating invasion of the two countries.

Leader of the Pakistan Seraeki Party Taj Mohammad Langah said that after collapse of the USSR, several oppressed nations in the union had got an opportunity to achieve independence and get their rights restored.

He said that the ruling class in Pakistan should realise that the situation in this country was also aggravating due to denial of rights to different nations. He urged the Baloch, Sindhi, Seraeki and Pakhtoon people to forge unity for a struggle against the exploitative forces.

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 KARACHI: Urbanization increasing class disparity

By Maheen A. Rashdi

KARACHI, March 27: “The commercialization of urban centres is responsible for severe environmental fallout and the eviction of poor communities from city centres,” said architect/town planner Arif Hasan at a plenary session on urban issues on the third day of proceedings at the World Social Forum.

To outline the city issues faced by urban centres, Karachi’s noted figures, involved in different civic development programmes, had gathered at the evening session on Sunday for a discourse on how to address the rising chaos engulfing Karachi vis-à-vis the education, transport, land and environment issues.

Addressing the small group of people, Mr Hasan went on to emphasise that the gaps in our education facilities were resulting from urbanization, pointing out that the emphasis has shifted from vocational training to mostly university level programmes while polytechnic institutes having almost disappeared from the city.

This marks rise of an elitist society where the gap between the rich and the poor is actually being institutionalized. With globalization commanding only high technology development, the poor class finds itself with no space to live in the cities either and those who resist evictions have their settlements burnt down.

He claimed that 3,500 houses had already been burnt down, and this was a recorded proof.

Hence, the land development schemes have resulted in mass evictions and sent the poor class towards the city fringes.

And now the rising middle class finds itself crushed under financial pressures resulting from high living expenses and the burden of private education since the government level education is substandard and only opted for by the very poor.

Pointing out the socio-economic changes resulting from mismanaged urban planning, Mr Hasan blamed these circumstances in Karachi for creating a disgruntled and disparate society where the rich were too far removed from the reality of the poor and the lower middle income group which comprises almost 70 per cent of Karachi.

Since this informative discourse on Asian cities was just one of the many sessions being held simultaneously at the Kashmir Complex, the attendance, despite the subject being the core issue of governance regarding Karachi, was rather poor.

In fact, attendance at most of the sessions after four days of continuous activity has been relatively low.

While issues of Kashmir and Palestine having caught the attention of political activists, the prevalent feeling has been that the WSF is not gathering mass appeal as visitors are primarily those which represent the numerous participating NGOs or the political activists of large and small parties. However, the ambience, despite heat and dust making the environmental conditions rather arduous, is one of continued rallying with protests and free speech giving it a colour not seen before in the city. It is, in fact, a large scale speaker’s corner.

Upon entering, one is bound to encounter a rallying assemblage merrily waving flags and chanting out their demands which may be anything from wanting to give their regional language its due status or from dissenting against the Kalabagh dam.

With the WSF mandate being staunchly against globalization, wanting corporations and governments to change their ways and, “do more for the people and nations of the developing world,” the intention of this polycentric event in Karachi has probably been fulfilled.

However, with regards to its slogan of ‘another world is possible’, as one colleague commented, it is quite difficult to change the world with the heat and dust slapping rudely in your face!

But ironically, the common man in our city, for whom this medium should be the ideal platform to vent anger, does not appear to be bothered about the ‘hugeness’ of the World Social Forum either.

As per Arif Hasan’s statistics which point out 70 per cent of urban Karachi to comprise of lower income groups, how can they even think about indulging in the luxury of speaking of their issues when they are battling with so many other compelling forces on an almost hour to hour basis?

The commuting nightmare for those using public buses has turned a 40-minute distance into a three-hour trek. How will that blue-collar worker take time out to attend the forum?

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 KARACHI: Foreigners lauds peace, hospitality

By Arman Sabir

KARACHI, March 27: People from various countries taking part in the events of the World Social Forum-2006 on Monday said that the WSF provided the peoples of different countries an opportunity to gather at one place and raise their voice against the Establishment.

The WSF 2006, which was kicked off on Friday, is being organized at the KMC Sports Complex, where plenary sessions, seminars, debates, and discussions are being held on various global and regional issues. Many social, human rights and trade organizations stage protests in groups against the Establishment and raise voice for their demands.

A South Korean trade union activist Yung Chan Choi said the WSF was a platform where peoples from various countries could assemble and they could voice for their rights and demands. “It is good and fantastic opportunity to share experiences and views with people of various countries,” he remarked.

He said he was the trade union activist and he had met with different trade union activist of Pakistan. “I have participated in the events of trade union activists in this Forum to mark solidarity with trade unionists. I think that trade unionists of South Korea and Pakistan should meet and share their experiences and views which may be good for the two countries,” he added.

About Karachi, Mr Choi said that he had been told that the city was not safe for foreigners but he went round the metropolis and visited the crowded business area of Express Market. “I have not got any harm from the people of this country, rather they are friendly and polite. I have never been to Karachi before. My impression about Karachi is that it is the safe city but people stare at foreigners at crowded places which looks odd,” he added.

Another trade union activist, Leopoldo, who came from Italy, said: “I do not know that by organizing WSF events in various countries, we can change the world, but one thing is for sure that this Forum provides us an opportunity to sit together and raise collective voice against social injustices.”

He said that the seminars and discussions were the very good initiatives to make efforts to bring a change for the suppressed people of the world. He said that the WSF was the best forum for common people to come and voice for their rights.

As far as Karachi is concerned, Mr Leopoldo said, it appeared safe for foreigners. “We have read in newspapers and watched in TV the reports about riots and explosions in Karachi but we have not seen with our eyes. This is our first visit to Karachi and we are here for the past four days. We have found its people friendly and talkative. I have been to Baghdad and Kabul and comparing those cities with Karachi and found it much better place,” he added.

Dina Mani Pokharel, a social and development activist from Kathmandu, Nepal, said that apart from the benefit of organizing the forum, it provided the people of suppressed class an opportunity to come forward, apprise the world of their grievances and voice against Establishment.

He was very critical about the deteriorating state of the poor in South Asia and held the governments of South Asian countries responsible for the situation. He said that irrespective of the King’s rule in Nepal, army rule in Pakistan and democracy in India, no government in its respective country could make the difference or elevate standard of its people’s life. He said that India was one step ahead in the process of struggle for the rights of poor and suppressed class but the governments of all other countries did nothing for the deprived class of the society.

About Karachi, he said that it was his first trip to the city and he found a lot of beggars in every street. “One thing which I feel is that there is a mobility problem for women and they usually travel with their male counterparts. Besides, the people of the city are friendly, polite and they are very good in hospitality.”

He said that the impression of the people of Pakistan was negative about the people of India, and the same situation was in India, which was strange. The impression was developed by the governments of the two countries but the peoples of both the countries were very good. The media could play its due role in dispelling the wrong impression. Opportunities should be provided to the people of the two countries to meet and understand each other, which was necessary to build confidence.

A labour rights activist Preethi Hermen from Bangalore, India, said that the WSF was a unity point for different activists where they could show solidarity with each other. She said that Pakistani people were polite and friendly.

“We were told to be careful while travelling to Karachi but here we have moved around and whoever knows about us at any of the food outlet here, he would not charge us saying that we are their guests from India,” she said, and added that Karachi was not the dangerous place as depicted in the media, rather its people were friendly beyond our expectations.

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 KARACHI: Iraq war part of oil politics: WSF delegates

By Arman Sabir

KARACHI, March 28: Iraqi people have defeated the US forces and their allies in military war and now the latter are trying to control their resources to win the war, an Iraqi student visiting the World Social Forum claimed here on Tuesday. Nadia Muhammad, a student pursuing her studies in London, said that people in Iraq had been fighting against the forces, who wanted to occupy their country. “It is not the war. It is a blatant occupation by the western powers and their allies on the huge reservoirs of oil in Iraq,” she said.

She was of the view that the US forces had entered three years back to conquer the country and its resources, particularly oil. The government forces did not put up resistance that Iraqi people had been expecting and the US with its allies entered the country with facing least resistance. However, she said, the US forces and its allies had not been expecting strong resistance from the people of Iraq who believed that the US forces were not messiah but the occupiers.

She said that not all of the Iraqi people had been putting up resistance but there were different groups, which had been formed after the occupation by the western powers. The groups had been struggling to get their country freed from aliens.

She maintained that the ratio of unemployment had enormously increased and the jobless youth, who did not see their career in near future, picked arms to fight against the foreign forces. They believed that their country would only progress if they got it freed. “I know arguably this is the biggest resistance,” she added.

She was very happy to be in Pakistan and the World Social Forum 2006 saying that Pakistani people were just amazing. “I am the strong supporter of the WSF and that is why I am here,” she added.

An Irish trade union activist, working for a Chicago-based NGO for the rights of the trade union workers, Caoiwhe Butterly said that she had been to Palestine and then Iraq for the past some years.

About her experience in Iraq, she said: “Americans are losing the war but one has to remain focussed on the fact that the war is also an economic occupation”.

She was of the view that Americans had controlled the economic resources of Iraq including the oil reservoirs. Now they had been selling them up to the multi-national companies.

Later, at a special session of the World Social Forum devoted to Iraq and Palestine, the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions demanded immediate and unconditional withdrawal of occupation forces.

The organisation representing 30,000 workers called for ensuring human rights, and no intrusion of foreign firms in oil sector. The IFOU’s message, read out by Caoiwhe Butterly, said that it would stand firmly against all those who want to ‘tamper with the security of Iraqi people.’

“We will not allow the intrusion of foreign firms in oil sector and producing sharing deals, and we will stand with our force against monopoly firms such as Halliburton, KBR, Shell and others,” the IFOU vowed.

It urged the patriotic forces, the anti-war movement and peace-lovers to support the anti-privatization drive.

The oil workers demanded unconditional cancellation of Iraq’s foreign debts as the same never benefited the Iraqi people but served the buried regime.

Jamal Juma, a Palestinian activist, said that nothing could be more troubling than your houses being demolished. He pointed out that a woman in Gaza whose two sons were killed by Israel told the visitors not to shed tears for her sons and if she had more sons, she would have sacrificed them for freedom. “With a woman like her, we would never be defeated,” he said.

Ms Leila, another Palestinian activist, also addressed the session.

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 KARACHI: Govts, NGOs waste much of uplift plans’ funds: WSF seminar told...

By S. Raza Hassan

KARACHI, March 28: Speakers at a seminar held on Tuesday, the fifth day of the World Social Forum-2006, expressed their concern over the fact that a major chunk of the funds meant for development projects was being spent by the government and NGOs on hiring consultants, setting up offices and buying vehicles.

Referring to the ADB’s Rural Development Project as an instance, they pointed out that the project had been launched in four districts of Sindh in 2004 with the estimated cost of around $63 million but $3 million had already been spent only on consultants and offices.

Dr Anita Rajpa from India told the seminar that “land is a symbol of human feelings and a source of livelihood and existence for rural people, but in urban areas, it is a commodity for sale and purchase.”

She said that people were being displaced from their land holdings and deprived of their abodes to accommodate mega projects, which brought destruction instead of relief to the people.

Rajab Memon, a former vice-chancellor of the Agriculture University Tando Jam expressed concern over the degradation of the Indus delta, and pointed out that the number of creeks in Sindh dwindled over the years. As a result of water shortage, he said, only 13 out of 27 creeks were left were there at present. He said that up to one million hectares of land had lost to the sea intrusion. Similarly, the mangroves forests had suffered widespread destruction owing to the shortage of Indus water.

He deplored that current public sector projects had been designed implicitly by bureaucracy without the stakeholders having been consulted. Thus, the initiatives lacked genuine devolution and the participatory and sustainability approaches, he said.

Others who spoke on the occasion included Natho Khan Lund, Mr Mashkoor, Mustafa Talpur and Mohammed Ali Shah of the Pakistan Fisher Folk Forum.

At another seminar, Dr Abdul Hayee Baloch, President of the National Party, said that there was a negligible number of canals in Balochistan, hence much of water was being wasted.

He regretted that Balochistan had been denied its due share in the revenues from the gas deposits, discovered in 1950s, while its people were being deprived of jobs and gas consumption. He was of the view that the crisis in Balochistan was political in nature and, therefore, should be resolved through political means.

Criticizing feudalism, Dr Hayee said that India had done away with the feudalism soon after the partition, but it continued to flourish in Pakistan with the collusion of feudal lords and ambitious military generals. He urged people to come out of the sense of ‘victimhood’ and make themselves stronger and powerful through unity.

Ms Shabnam Rashid, speaking at seminar on the issues relating to water, said that there was no judicious distribution of water in the country. She claimed that there were many inherent flaws in the system which were creating the problem of salinity. She said that due to ‘green revolution’ in 1960s, water requirement for agriculture purposes had increased up to 300 per cent.

She believed that the tendency of installing private tube-wells was also on the increase which had further compounded the problem.

Irfan Mufti suggested that the South Asia People’s Water Commission should monitor the distribution of water and do a damage-assessment of lands and crops independently.

Hasan Lashari, Mohammed Tehsin and Ms Uzma Zareen also spoke at the seminar.

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 KARACHI: Hundreds march against imperialism}

KARACHI, March 28: Hundreds of activists from the working class on Tuesday marched on Karachi’s streets chanting slogans against forces of exploitation, imperialism, the WTO and the oppressive system the world over. The rally was part of the World Social Forum’s plenary from the platform of the World Labour Forum. The rally started from the Quaid’s Mausoleum and terminated at the KMC Sports Complex.

Political organisations, NGOs, community-based organisations, student bodies, foreign delegates, representatives of international fisherfolk organisations, rights activists, social workers, intellectuals and writers participated in the rally, a scheduled feature of the WSF.

About 60 per cent of the participants were women and children.

The participants were carrying placards and banners inscribed with slogans against imperialism, the World Bank, the IMF, occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and military operation in Balochistan, etc.

‘Stop Nuclear Arms Race in South Asia’, ‘Our Land is of Saints and Sants’ were one of the slogans.

The participants also demanded for an end to military operation and human rights violation in Balochistan, halt to the construction of controversial water projects, rights of fishermen, women and children. They also condemned the razing of centuries-old villages of Karachi.

The participants said the WSF offered opportunities to bring together popular forces from varied constituencies to develop constructive alternatives that would defend the majority of the world population from attack on fundamental human rights, and lead them to move on to break power concentrations and extend domains of justice and freedom.

A large number of fishermen participated in the rally. They said exploited forms of fishing, marine pollution and commercialisation in the fisheries sector had caused devastation in fishing resources.

The Chairman of the Pakistan Fisher Folk Forum (PFF), Mohammad Ali Shah, said fishermen were against the contract system in the fisheries sector and were struggling against it.

Sindhi and Baloch nationalist organisations including the Awami Tehreek, Jiye Sindh Qaumi Mahaz, Balochistan National Party, Jamhoori Watan Party, Baloch Students Organisation, Sindh National Party, etc, also attended the rally.

The participants were holding their party flags, banners and placards. They raised slogans against the construction of Thal Canal, Kalabagh Dam, military operation in Balochistan and other anti-Sindh and Balochistan issues.

Family members of many missing political workers also participated in the rally. According to them, a large number of political workers had been picked up by the law enforcement agencies in Balochistan and Sindh and their whereabouts were yet unknown.

An NGO, Aurat Foundation, also took out a rally on Tuesday to inform the forum’s delegates about the problems confronting their community in Pakistan.

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 No let-up in global struggle for peace’

By Arman Sabir

KARACHI, March 29: The six-day World Social Forum 2006 concluded here on Wednesday with the determination to continue the struggle for global peace and people’s progress.

The forum was attended by nearly 40,000 delegates from 46 countries.

At the concluding session, some delegates spoke about their experience of the WSF 2006. A song, dedicated to the WSF, written by William Pervez and sung by Nayyara Noor, was played on the occasion and groups from Rajasthan, Balochistan, and Palestine performed folk songs.

The ceremony was held in the KMC Sports Complex’s stadium where tents had been erected for the participants. A part of the celeberations was marred by a power breakdown which affected the improvised ventilation system. However, most of the people braved the ordeal.

Secretary of the Pakistan chapter of the WSF Irfan Mufti said that the six-day forum had made an impact and sent its message to Washington and other parts of the world.

“We will create a new world of peace and prosperity and the struggle will continue until our goal is achieved,” he said.

Ms Wahu Kaar, member of the WSF International Organising Committee, announced that the next WSF would be held in Nairobi, Kenya.

She said that the struggle for alleviating poverty and against the exclusion of the majority of the global population from decision-making would continue, adding that the spirit to survive was evident everywhere, be it Karachi or Nairobi. “The struggle has to continue and the process of finding solutions will now find a new venue.” She concluded with a note of thanks for organisers of the WSF in Karachi.

Social worker Jaya Singh from India said she enjoyed her stay in Karachi and thanked the people of Pakistan for “their hospitality and warmth towards Indians”.

She said she was disappointed that a lot of people, who had been planning to come to Karachi, could not make it because of visa problems. “However, I am glad that I am here, and my perception about Pakistan has changed.” She said that she was nervous before leaving for Karachi because of the negative image of Pakistan in India. “Now I can go back to India with a better image of Pakistan,” Ms Singh said.

Malathy Apputhurai from Sri Lanka termed the WSF the voice of the weak and the poor and said: “We have to strengthen this movement for a better world.”

J.P. Dardaud, president of the Freres des Hommes of France, said: “The pressure that the civil society is confronted with is the state suppression. It is too difficult to survive under these circumstances and here I see so much vibrancy. I get the impression that (the society here) is very robust. Compared to you, ours is quite dull. I’ve seen many events in the whole word but the enthusiasm and the zeal that the people here have is absolutely marvellous.”

Caoiwhe Butterly, an Irish citizen working with trade unions in Palestine and Iraq, said: “I am completely overwhelmed by the experience. I know how moved and inspired our Iraqi comrades would’ve been if they could have been here and seen how the Pakistani people are vehemently supporting our causes.”

Over the past six days, various plenary sessions, seminars and discussions were held on topics ranging from the Kashmir conflict to the political and socio-economic situation in the region. Heated debates were held on key issues like political and economic rights, gender discrimination and bonded labour.

Political leaders from both the parts of Kashmir and social activists, mediapersons and educationists were invited to deliberate on the conflict with a realistic and objective approach.

The participants rejected globalization and unanimously resolved to resist global imperialist forces to foil their designs for global colonisation. In this context, the US policy, especially on Iraq, Iran, Palestine and Afghanistan came under severe criticism.

A large number of local and foreign delegates took interest in the issue of demilitarisation, nuclear capability, war on terror, global militancy and freedom movements, global water crisis, operations in Balochistan and Waziristan, climate change, women’s and children’s rights, HIV/Aids and other health-related topics. Debates were also held on issues like education, freedom of expression, rights of peasants, labourers and fishermen and the role of socialism and communism in the present geo-political situation.

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 ‘WSF outcome better than expected’

By Afshan Subohi

KARACHI, March 28: It concluded without a resolution, but the six-day World Social Forum (WSF) held in Karachi reinforced the fading belief that the world would be transformed some day into a more equitable, efficient, democratic, peaceful and humane society. It expressed the will of the people for a change.

The organisational situation and ideological confusion at the gathering reflected that the journey ahead was long and arduous. However, the vigour, enthusiasm and willingness of participants for a dialogue reaffirmed that history was still in the making - and had not ended, after all.

It was like a grand reunion at the KMC Sports Complex where activists seemed to be rejoicing and celebrating their coming together.

Foreign delegates and hundreds of people from different parts of Pakistan were fully involved in a variety of activities at the forum. All of them felt they had gained from the interaction. They saw the event as a huge success, despite any shortcomings it may have had.

“I think attendance of different actors of global and local civil society more than make up for minor organisational flaws,” Maria, a young peace activist from the United States, told Dawn. “The outcome was better than what even organisers had expected,” said another visitor.

Many scheduled seminars were dropped but participants felt that inter-mingling and exchange of ideas and contacts would be useful for those involved in social movements. Several speakers at seminars that covered a wide spectrum of issues related to conflict resolution, privatisation, social sector, media, militarisation, urban issues, religion, children and youth over the last four days were critical of current power structures, particularly the WTO, World Bank and IMF, and the US government that patronises these institutions.

The issue of revival of democracy in Pakistan was also hammered by most Pakistani speakers. The Musharraf government was vehemently criticised for being insensitive to the needs of poorer sections that are denied such basic amenities as water, sanitation, education and healthcare. The government was also criticised for blindly following the dictates of donors at the cost of local interests.

As expected, the event did have radical overtones with cultural tidings, but the government on its part did allow it to happen.

The city government actually facilitated the forum by offering a prime location, arranging for traffic police and security beside hosting dinner for foreign delegates and honouring dignitaries.

A delegate from Latin America arrived at the airport without a visa as Pakistan does not have an embassy in Chile. Auec Kirk said he was moved by the hospitality of Pakistanis. He said that although he had arrived without proper papers local immigration officials helped him to acquire the same.

The World Social Forum, which will formally conclude on Wednesday (today) after non-stop meetings, demos, theatrical performances and cultural programmes, was surprisingly unique for the people of Karachi.

It was different because of the multi-ethnic composition of people and the level of participation by younger people. For the first time, at least a section of the city’s youth was visible as volunteers in a major socio-political event.

Children from local private schools in their uniforms accompanying their teachers were also spotted. A team of girls and boys from Karachi University admitted that WSF was “the experience of a lifetime” and said they were happy to be a part of the forum.

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Editorial

 WSF - successes & failures

THE World Social Forum that closed on Wednesday in Karachi proved to be an event of significance. It brought together thousands of people - those who normally do not make headlines - together on a common platform, clearly establishing that the city is potentially a vibrant one, all its civic and law and order problems notwithstanding. The forum also provided a rich ground for input from human rights and women’s rights activists, thinkers, intellectuals, trade union leaders, youth and others who have the potential of creating the “other world” that is on the agenda of the WSF. The foreign delegates and visitors from outside Karachi found this a useful occasion for networking and interacting with each other. That is the stuff social movements are made of and one hopes that Karachi’s experience will give a boost to the forces of change in different parts of the world.

But will the WSF make an impact on Pakistan’s social movements - whatever we have of them? The main function of the WSF, the poor man’s reply to the rich man’s club at Davos in January every year, is to create awareness of the alternative that is available to the market-driven capitalist system that dominates the world today. The WSF is also designed to be an exercise in mobilization. In that respect the Karachi edition of the WSF fell short of the expectations it had aroused. This is to be attributed to organizational deficiencies. In the absence of proper planning and efficient management, the optimum use could not be made of this occasion to spread the message of the WSF among the people. Although some sessions were very well attended - notably the ones on Kashmir and women’s issues and the dignity forum - many more had to be cancelled because of organizational drawbacks. At times the programme and schedules were not announced well in advance and on other occasions failure to observe punctuality deprived some sessions of the audience that could have been there if the organizers had attended to these seemingly small details which make all the difference. In any case, the organizers would do well to evaluate their performance and draw lessons from this exercise for the benefit of all.