The
representative of Network Culture's regional
base in India, Siddhartha, strives to create
links between the various religious
communities in his region, where Hindus and
Muslims clash, sometimes violently. In 1995
participants from Ireland, Palestine, Rwanda,
South Africa, Bosnia, Morocco (living in
Brussels), Mexico, Sri Lanka and a number of
Indian activists were invited to a seminar in
Bangalore. At the meeting the participants
exchanged experiences and held discussions
with representatives from "front-line"
districts and the police, politicians and
with the leaders of religious communities.
Other meetings are planned for the future.
1998
was a watershed year for South Asia. Both
India and Pakistan exploded nuclear devices,
making South Asia one of the nuclear
tinderboxes in the world. Even at the height
of the cold war there were built in
safeguards between USA and the former Soviet
Union. There was a command and monitoring
structure in place and the lag time between a
nuclear missile being fired and its arrival
was 30 minutes. There was at least some time
to check on false alarms and avoid panic
reactions. Between India and Pakistan the lag
time is 3 minutes. There is no way to check
false alarms. Besides, a command and
monitoring structure is an incredibly
expensive proposition and will cost even more
than the nuclear weapons development
programme in each of the countries.
Given
the fact that both India and Pakistan have
governments that are unstable and
fundamentalist in nature only aggravates
matters. It was therefore extremely urgent
for Network Cultures to respond to this
totally unexpected situation. Network
Cultures organised public talks and protest
meetings in India to pressurise the Indian
government to sign the CTBT( comprehensive
test ban treaty). Although the CTBT is tilted
heavily in favour of the Nuclear weapons
states, who have already done their testing
and can now continue with computer
simulation, it was felt that neither India
and Pakistan could afford to wait to ratify
the treaty till the right conditions
presented themselves. Siddhartha published
interviews and articles in Indian and
International newspapers and journals on the
subject. A peace network has been created to
dissuade the leadership of both countries to
desist from proceeding on this perilous path.
To
ease the situation a little, Network Cultures
invited a noted Pakistani writer and
intellectual, Mr.M.B.Naqvi, a leading
Pakistani intellectual and peace activist, to
come to India and give talks and meet peace
activists. This had the effect of building
cross border ties between Pakistani peace
activists and Indian ones. Mr. Naqvi's talk
on the promotion of Islamic Fundamentalism in
Pakistan was an eye opener to many Indian
Muslims, Hindus and Christians. It may be
mentioned that at the time Siddhartha was in
Peshawar, Mr. Nawaz Sharif, the Prime
Minister of Pakistan made a public statement
that what the country needed was to have a
Saudi Arabian form of government with a
Taliban system of Justice. Mr. Naqvi's talk
further underlined the work of Network
Cultures in the region in promoting liberal
and progressive interpretations of Religions
to offset the dangerous interpretations that
fundamentalists were espousing.
Networking
for Peace. An opportunity for cross-border
peace efforts presented itself when the
Pakistan-India Forum for Peace and Democracy
had its convention in Peshawar, Pakistan, in
November1998. Network Cultures used the
ocassion to meet a large number of Pakistani
peace activists, politicians, intellectuals
and feminists in Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore
and Karachi. A number of cross-border
activities are being planned for 1999.
Network Cultures is coordinating these
activities. The first of these cross border
workshops will take place in Bangalore in the
middle of January 1999. The workshop is
titled " Pluralism, Democracy and
Conflict Resolution".
Peace
to the City programme. As part of the
international campaign 'Peace to the City'
Network Cultures organised four training
sessions for slum dwellers, community
leaders, religious leaders, police officers
and politicians to defuse the uneasy Hindu-Muslim
divide created by the rise of Hindu cultural
nationalism in India. Network Cultures has
always believed that we should be partly
involved in direct action, particularly at a
local level, to give credibility and
substance to our international activities.
The peace-committees we have helped to set up
in Bangalore have played a significant role
in defusing Hindu-Muslim conflict in the city.
Rubem
Cesar Fernandez from Brazil organises in Rio
de Janeiro a large campaign against hunger
and violence. He seeks to bring together
those people who wish to mediate between the
authorities, the local police and the various
sectors of civil society (workers, employers,
churches, local communities etc). The chiefs
of police from Rio, Bangalore, Tokyo and New
York were invited to the first meeting, along
with actors in civil society from Africa,
Europe, Asia and North and South America who
experience similar tensions.
Also
see under the same rubric in French on this
site.
© 2000,
South-North Network Cultures and Development