An Assembly Towards a Union of South Asian Peoples
The South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC) was created with the aim of promoting ‘the welfare of the people of South Asia’. Yet, for the most part it has been a forum at which our governments posture against one another or put in place agreements to serve the interests of the ruling class. SAARC has comprehensively failed to take up issues confronted by the people of this region, which is home to the largest number of the world’s working poor. Furthermore, governments in the sub-continent are entertaining and competing with each other in allowing the U.S. to expand its interests in the sub-continent.
These issues have been discussed in various meetings and conferences over the last decade. Some organisations, involved in this process, from Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Maldives, India and Sri Lanka had met in Kathmandu on 13-14 February 2010 to deliberate on the process of People’s SAARC and organising actions around the SAARC summit that will be held in Thimpu, Bhutan on 28-29 April 2010. This process was followed up by a national level meeting on 20 March 2010 in New Delhi in which it was decided to organise People’s SAARC 2010 under the banner of Union of South Asian Peoples’.
In pursuance of this consensus it was decided to hold a conference titled: “An Assembly towards a union of South Asian Peoples” to be held in New Delhi on 22-23 April 2010.
The conference is being organised in keeping with the idea of a Peoples South Asia in the week preceding the SAARC heads of government summit in Thimpu (28-29 April 2010).
The Conference will seek to address the question of a “South Asian Identity” against the imperialist forces. This process should be an open and expanding and will seek to pro-actively bring on board mass organisations and social movements. It should be a non- competing gathering with other conferences, demonstrations, discussions, strategy meeting planned around the SAARC summit. At the end of the conference there could be the possibility of an interface with the SAARC delegates although a mechanism needs to be evolved for arriving at agreements on issues at the end of the conference.
This conference will be preceded by two days of self-organised workshops to be held at the Indian Social Institute (ISI) in New Delhi on 20-21 April 2010. These workshops will allow groups from across South Asia to discuss common issues and possible joint campaigns on these issues. Details of these proposed workshops is attached.
The broad themes of the conference are:
1. Freedom of Movement: Right to Residence and Work
2. Politics of hate: Terrorism and Militarism
3. Climate Crises, Ecological Justice and Livlihoods
4. Building South Asian unity: Nationalism, Federalism and Democracy.
5. Water Sharing and Water Scarcities in South Asia
6. Fighting Imperialism, Deepening Democracy
7. Trade and Economic Cooperation
We call upon you to join in this effort.
An Assembly Towards a Union of South Asian Peoples
Draft Programme, 22-23 April, 2010
Jawaharlal Nehru University, School of Social Sciences Auditorium
Day I – 22 April 2010
9:30 – 10:00 AM Registration
10:00 -11:00AM Inaugural Session
Welcome and Reflections on Peoples’ SAARC so far
11:00 – 11:30 AM Tea Break
11:30 – 1:30 PM Session I – Climate Justice and Economic Cooperation: Impacts on Livelihoods, the Discriminated and Human Rights
1:30 – 2:30 PM Lunch
2:30 – 6:00 PM Session II – Politics of Hate, Terrorism and Militarism; Fighting Imperialism – Building a Peoples’ Foreign Policy
6:00 – 8:00 PM Parliamentarian’s Forum
8:00 – 9:30 PM Delegates’ Dinner
Day 2 – 23 April 2010
9:30 -11:30 AM Session III – Building South Asian Unity through Federalism, Deepening Democracy and the Freedom of Movement
11:30 – 12:00 PM Tea Break
12:00 – 2:00 PM Session IV – Conceptualization of a Peoples Union of South Asia, Review of Peoples SAARC Process so far
2:00 – 3:00 PM Lunch
3:00 – 5:00 PM Planning Meeting of Regional Steering Committee