[sacw] sacw dispatch #3 (5 Jan 2000)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch #3
5 January 2000
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#1. Pakistan: News Report on Seminar & Peace activists Resolution
#2. India: January 1, Report of Activities of 'Janam'
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#1.

DAWN
January 1, 2000

RAPPROCHEMENT BETWEEN INDIA, PAKISTAN URGED

KARACHI, Jan 1: The Pakistan Peace Coalition (PPC) on Friday called upon
India and Pakistan to move away from their "maximalist" positions towards
some compromise that respected the wishes of the Kashimiri people as well.

This was spelt out in a resolution adopted at the PPC seminar on
"Prerequisites for peace in the 21st century and the role of Pakistan,"
held at the Karachi Press Club.

At the millennium's end, the resolution stated, it was completely clear
that five decades of confrontation between Pakistan and India had led to
nothing but misery, deprivation, and war.

Apart from draining the resources away from the needs of the people of the
two countries, the nuclear tests in April-May last year had put the
subcontinent under the shadow of a nuclear catastrophe, it said.

The PPC resolved that the Kargil episode was a disaster for Pakistan and it
had worsened the country's relations with India, as well as adversely
affecting Pakistan's credibility and support internationally.

It noted there was no solution to the Kashmir problem in sight and economic
collapse had been a constant possibility since the nuclear tests and
emphasized that "if Pakistan is to prosper, it will have to cut down
military expenditure sharply. It welcomed the recent 5 per cent reduction
in the defence budget, but said it was not sufficient.

It was of the view that Pakistan was at the mercy of international lending
institutions because of consistent diversion of resources away from the
real needs of our people towards heavy consumption by the country's elite
and towards military expenditure sharply.

Recognizing that nuclear war was not an abstract possibility but something
very real, the PPC called upon Pakistan and India to enter into
negotiations on nuclear issues, initially with the aim of creating
confidence-building measures to minimize the chances of their accidental
use, but with complete denuclearization as the ultimate goal. It called
upon Pakistan to sign the CTBT immediately.

The seminar was chaired by M.B.Naqvi, Pervez Hoodbhoy, Dr. Nayer, Hasan
Abidi and Mr. Karamat spoke in the seminar.

Pervez Hoodbhoy emphasized the need for focusing on improving economic
capability to be successful in the next century. He cited the example of
Indian economic gains and folly of dependence committed by Pakistan.

Hasan Abidi expressed concern over the failure of society to provide
opportunities of education to more than a million children of school going
age.

Dr. Nayar criticized the anti-India psyche in Pakistan which, he said, was
rooted in history. He said such an attitude had allowed fundamentalist to
make gains. He was also critical of the new policy on Kashmir announced by
General Pervez Musharraf.
_________

PAKISTAN PEACE COALITION
TEXT OF RESOLUTION ADOPTED AT THE PRESS CLUB, KARACHI,
ON 31 DECEMBER, 1999

At the millennium's end, it is completely clear that five decades of
confrontation between Pakistan and India have led to nothing but misery,
deprivation, and war. Apart from draining resources away from the needs of
our peoples, the nuclear tests of May 1998 have put the subcontinent under
the shadow of nuclear catastrophe. Kargil was a disaster for Pakistan and
has worsened our relations with India, as well as further decreasing
Pakistan's credibility and support internationally. India has lost much,
but Pakistan has lost still more. There is no solution to the Kashmir
problem in sight, and economic collapse has been a constant possibility
since the nuclear tests. In view of the seriousness of the situation, the
Pakistan Peace Coalition calls upon the people and leadership of Pakistan
to:

=B7 Recognize that Pakistan is now at the mercy of international lending
organisations. This is nobody's fault but or own. We have consistently
diverted resources away from the real needs of our people towards heavy
consumption by the country's elite, and towards military spending. If
Pakistan is to prosper, it will have to cut down military expenditure
sharply. We welcome the recent reduction by 5% of the defense budget, but
this is insufficient.

=B7 Recognise that nuclear war is not just an abstract possibility but
something very real. Pakistan and India must enter into negotiations on
nuclear issues, initially with the aim of creating confidence-building
measures to decrease the chances of the accidental use, but with complete
denuclearisation as the ultimate goal. Pakistan should sign the CTBT
immediately.

=B7 Recognize that our position on Kashmir has not brought us any closer to
winning the rights of the Kashmiri people. Pakistan and India must be
willing to move away from their maximalist positions towards some
compromise that respects the wishes of the Kashmiri people as well.

We call upon all people of goodwill in the country to join and strengthen
the Pakistan Peace Coalition. We have reason to believe that a large number
of Indian citizens are also working for the same goal on the other side of
the border. For Pakistan and India, prosperity and progress depends upon
moving away from useless confrontation and towards peace.
_______________

#2.

January 5
Message from Molyshree Hashmi

JANUARY 1, REPORT OF ACTIVITIES OF JANAM [An Indian theatre collective]

Dear friend,
Below is a report of the various activities that Janam did on and after 1
January 2000 to remember Safdar. With greetings for the new year,
Moloyashree Hashmi Convenor Jana Natya Manch Celebrating People's Culture
The first day of the year has become synonymous with Safdar Hashmi, his
martyrdom, with Jhandapur, the scene of his martyrdom, and with the
reaffirmation of the unity of workers and artists. Every year, on the first
of January, CITU and Jana Natya Manch, of which Safdar was a founder-member
and the Convenor at the time of his death, lead thousands of people to
Jhandapur for a cultural programme followed by a mass rally. You will
recall that eleven years ago, on 1 January 1989, Jana Natya Manch was
performing its play Halla Bol at this industrial township barely 14
kilometers from the capital for the CITU, when the group was attacked by
goons with Congress (I) patronage. In this attack, Safdar Hashmi was
fatally wounded, and died the next day. The attack also led to the killing
of a worker, Ram Bahadur. Two days after Safdar =19s death, on 4 January
1989, Jana Natya Manch returned to Jhandapur to complete the disrupted
play, watched by thousands of people. Every year since then has witnessed a
performance by Jana Natya Manch at the site of the attack. This is followed
by a mass rally organized by the CITU. This year too, the new year began
with about 8,000 people thronging the Ambedkar Park in Jhandapur. They were
treated to some beautiful and politically-charged folk songs by workers of
the area. Some of the songs were about Safdar himself, his sacrifice, and
the inspiration that he has become for workers of the area, and indeed of
the country. Others sang about the plight of the workers, about the inhuman
conditions in which they live and work. Still others sang about the burning
questions facing the country, about price rise, unemployment, communal
harmony and secularism. All these songs were written by workers themselves.
This was followed by a play by children of Katha Khazana, called
Pareshanpur ki Pareshaniyan. The play, directed by Shaqeel Khan, was a
hilarious story of the kingdom of Pareshanpur (Land of Travails) where one
difficulty is followed by another and no one has any solutions to these,
least of all the king and his ministers. The latest difficulty faced by the
kingdom is that people throw their garbage all over the place, and no one
is willing to clean up the mess. The residents of the kingdom are fed up
with this situation till one little girl decides to take things in her hand
and inspires everyone to collectively clean up the whole kingdom. This was
followed by Jana Natya Manch's new street play, Nahi Qubool (We Shall Not
Accept). The play deals with the disastrous policies of the BJP-led
government which are undermining the sovereignty of the nation. The play,
which is in the form of a spoof, begins with two saffron-clad ministers
preparing to welcome the President of the USA to India. To please him, they
increase the fees levied on higher education, they make the Indian farmer
dependent on world prices, they withdraw the public distribution service
and prepare to auction off the sovereignty of the nation. In this last
endeavour, they are foiled by the people. The play was a huge success, and
was enjoyed by the thousands who had gathered to watch it. The play was
followed by a mass rally at which M.K. Pandhe, all-India General Secretary
of CITU, was the main speaker. Pandhe, in his inspiring speech remembered
Safdar as the torch-bearer of the cultural movement of the working class.
He emphasized that the working class has to create a culture which is
distinct from the culture of the bourgeoisie, and it is in this effort that
Safdar laid down his life. He reiterated CITU's commitment to this effort.
Every year, apart from the 1st January performance in Jhandapur, Jana Natya
Manch organizes a series of other events as well to remember and to
celebrate Safdar, the communist, the artist, and the very special friend.
Safdar was passionately fond of poetry, and one of the events is a
poetry-reading session. The theme this year was "Woman", and Janam members
and other friends read poems by poets like Nirala, Pash, Neruda and Safdar
himself. The session was held on 2 January, and was conducted by Smita
Sharma. This was followed the next day by a very intimate meeting 'In
Memory of Safdar', where Janam members remember their friend and share his
memories. The speakers at the meeting included the singer Vidya Rao, who
spoke very movingly about her association and friendship with Safdar, and
Janam member Sheela, who only saw Safdar from a distance as a child. On 4
January, Janam members made posters on the theme of 'Women and Violence'
'in memory of Safdar'. It will be recalled that Safdar himself had designed
posters for AIDWA.
(Jana Natya Manch J 147 RB Enclave, Paschim Vihar, New Delhi, INDIA Phone:
(91-11) 558 4822 Email: jananatyamanch@y... )

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(http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex) since1996.