[sacw] S A A N Post | 29 Nov. 00 [India: Anti Nuke Conference report etc]

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asians Against Nukes Post
29 November 2000

__________________________

Documents from National Convention for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace in New
Delhi.
[India] Coalition for Nuclear disarmament and Peace (CNDP)

#1. National Convention for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace, [New Delhi]
November 11-13, 2000
a report by Praful Bidwai

#2. India: CNDP Action Plan

#3. Charter For Nuclear Disarmament and Peace [adopted at the Delhi Conference]

#4. Resolution on TMD & NMD
__________________________

#1.

A People's Movement Landmark:

National Convention for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace, November 11-13, 2000

A Report by Praful Bidwai

They came from near the uranium mines of Jaduguda and the nuclear test site
at Pokharan. They represented the Adivasis of the Narmada Valley, the
industrial workers of Mumbai, the artisanal fisherfolk of Tamil Nadu, and
the peasants of the Gangetic delta of West Bengal. They came from schools
and colleges, from art studios and science laboratories, from community
health organisations and right-to know campaigns. From the semi-desert of
Baluchistan, the lush-green south of Sri Lanka, the paddy-growing plains of
Bangladesh.

They were feminists and social activists, trade unionists and kisan sabha
workers, writers and journalists, physicians and engineers, teachers and
students, environmentalists and peopleís science activists, Gandhians and
post-modernists, human-rights campaigners and social scientists, artists
and film-makers, musicians and theatre people, even former generals and
admirals. They also came from Japan and England, Holland and Malaysia,
America and Australasia, South Africa and France.

They came with hundreds of one-metre-by-one-metre cloth banners signed by
thousands, and with scores of posters and paper-crane buntings. They spoke
Oriya and Rajasthani, Sindhi and Telugu, Chhattisgarhi and Gujarati,
Punjabi and Tamil, English and FrenchÖ

The 600-plus delegates to Indiaís first-ever National Convention for
Nuclear Disarmament and Peace held in New Delhi comprised the most varied
gathering of peace activists ever assembled in India. It was, as former
Chief of Naval Staff L. Ramdas put it, ìa veritable peace festÖ and an
altogether exciting historic landmarkî.

The Convention was the culmination of a one-year-long process of meetings
and consultations involving nearly 120 groups and organisations, as well as
individual peace activists, in more than 10 Indian cities. It was also the
beginning of a new phase in Indiaís broad-based Rainbow Coalition-type
movement for nuclear weapons abolition.

The Convention offered Indian peace activists the first national-level
opportunity to debate a range of theoretical and practical issues, exchange
experiences, and achieve a degree of clarity on aims and methods. It
established Indiaís first-ever Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace
(CNDP), a network with a 50-member Coordination Committee.

The Coalition gives Indiaís peace movement an organised national presence
and profile. This fills a major void. Since the 1998 nuclear tests, there
have been sustainedóand growingóprotests in more than 40 cities against
weapons of mass destruction and Indiaís nuclear policy volte face. These
tended to be discrete, and unconnected to a coalitional structure with a
national (and international) presence, profile and perspective.

Matters changed with networking among different groups early in 2000 and
the holding of three preparatory meetingsóin Nagpur (on March 26 and July
31), and in Delhi (on October 7), interspersed with an intense and very
robust email debate on the Conventionís concept, function, programme,
organisation, composition, finance and logistics.

Three-fourths of the Conventionís delegates came from outside Delhi. They
all paid for their own travel and on an average spent a week in preparing
for and attending the Convention.

There were 50 delegates from Pakistan (down from 60 owing to nasty visa
problems), 15 from the rest of South Asia, and about 20 peace activists
from Australasia, Northeast and Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe and America.
They included star campaigners such as Bruce Kent and Jeremy Corbyn (MP)
from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), representatives of the
Abolition-2000 network, and Japanese activists, besides the Pakistan Peace
Coalition.

The Programme of the Convention, spread over three days, was divided into
five Plenaries, 22 Working Group sessions in four broad categories, and
cultural events culminating in ìCelebration of Peaceî, with live music,
theatre and poetry recital, in Central Delhi.

The venue for the first two days was Springdales School (Dhaula Kuan). The
Final Plenary was at Lady Shri Ram College (Lajpat Nagar), followed by the
Mandi House public event.

The flow of the Conventionís deliberations led from an analysis of recent
international and national developments; discussions on how to construct a
strong moral, legal, political and security-based case against nuclear
weapons and their impact; understanding the experience of peace movements
regionally and globally; and developing strategies and campaign tools for
an abolition movement in South Asia.

The deliberations ended with the adoption of an Action Plan and an Interim
Charter, and the election of a Coordination Committee. The Action Plan
includes a number of specific programmes and campaigns, including regional
disarmament conventions and sectoral meetings of professionals, advocacy
and lobbying of political parties, ìtwinningî of 10 anti-nuclear weapons
schools and colleges in India and Pakistan, institutionalising a ìNuclear
Disarmament and Peace Weekî from August 4 to 10 every year, and setting up
a national federation of radiation victims, besides enhancing the South
Asian peace movementís presence in international peace forums.

The Inaugural Plenary, chaired by Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande and social
scientist Rajni Kothari, set the tone and broad agenda of the Convention.
The speakers included novelist Arundhati Roy, former Admiral L. Ramdas (on
Nuclear Abolition: The Task Ahead), energy scientist A.K.N. Reddy (The
Immorality of Nuclear Weapons), Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar
(The Case for Peace) and M.B. Naqvi and Karamat Ali (both from Pakistan
Peace Coalition), besides Praful Bidwai (who introduced the Conventionís
rationale), as well as the two chairs who read a few of the 30-plus
solidarity messages received from peace networks and organisations and one
government (New Zealand).

The principal thrust of the speeches was on the immorality of nuclear
weapons, the fallacy of nuclear deterrence, the crucial importance of
comprehensive or human security, and need to build the broadest possible
social coalition for peace.

Following the Plenary, the first set of Working Groups dealt with ìThe Case
against Nuclear Weaponsî, with five sessions on Nuclear Doctrines, Peace
and Security Issues in the Global Scenario; Security Issues and Nuclear
Weaponisation of South Asia; Militarisation and the Scientific
Establishment; Indian Security and the Draft Nuclear Doctrine; and Nuclear
Restraint Regimes: CTBT, FMCT, De-alerting, etc.

The discussions were initiated wherever possible by mixed teams from India,
Pakistan and elsewhere, and encouraged full participation from all present
in Indian languages (with informal interpretation) as well as English.

The Groups stressed the deterioration in South Asian security caused by
nuclearisation, the further hardening of Indiaís (Pakistanís) nuclear
postures since 1998, and the growing danger of a new arms race from U.S.
anti-ballistic missile programmes. Differences between participants
remained sharp on the issue of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, although
there was better appreciation of divergent positions. There was complete
unanimity that there must be no further nuclear tests, no acquisition of
fissile material and no research on nuclear weapons. (See the attached
tentative Charter.)

The second category of Working Groups dealt with ìThe Impact of Nuclear
Weapons on the Peopleî, with sessions devoted to the Culture of
Militarisation and Male Supremacism; Communalism, Nationalism and the Bomb;
Connections between Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Power and Issues of Safety,
Transparency and Efficacy; the Economic and Social Costs of the Bomb;
Legitimising Nuclear Weapons: The Role of the Media; and Effects of Nuclear
Explosions/Accidents.

These Groups generated a potent critique of the ideology of nuclearism and
its contribution to virulent nationalism, communalism, and
male-supremacism, with an emphasis on nuclearisationís onerous economic and
social costs and harmful impact on health, food security, employment and
education. The mainstream mediaís role in promoting chauvinistic
nationalism and in legitimising nuclearism through unbalanced news and
comment came in for widespread criticismóitself validated by the
appallingly poor media coverage the Convention received.

Surprisingly, the issue of the nuclear power-weapons link, and of the
viability and desirability of nuclear power generation, which was widely
expected to generate heated debate, produced a remarkably sober discussion,
with even the staunchest proponents of nuclear power conceding that in
their existing designs and operational practices, most nuclear
installations are far from safe or economical.

They did not contest AKN Reddyís computation of the high cost of nuclear
electricity, or his support for cheaper alternatives. There was a dispute
over the inevitability of the power-weapons nexus. But there was full
unanimity that there must be no compromise on health, safety standards or
transparency.

Physicist M.V. Ramana made a significant presentation on the effects of
nuclear explosions and accidents, building upon his earlier work, Bombing
Bombay.

The Evening Plenary, chaired by Perin Romesh Chandra, heard summaries of
the discussions in the Working Groups.

November 12 opened with a Plenary, chaired by Syeda Hamid, Zaki Hasan
(Pakistan), Kuldip Nayar, Bishop William Moses, and heard a series of
presentations on the activities and concerns of delegates representing
different regions, sectors and constituencies.

The Plenary discussed the movementís progress in different parts of India,
in South Asia and the world. Of particular importance were reports from the
states, the semi-urban areas of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu,
besides campaigns in major cities like Calcutta and Bangalore.

This Plenary was the main forum at which the international delegates spoke
about their activities in national movements and in international
coalitions like Abolition-2000 (a network over 2000 peace groups), New
Agenda Coalition (comprised of Brazil, Egypt, Mexico, Ireland, New Zealand,
South Africa and Sweden), the Middle Powers Initiative, the World Court
Project (which led to the legal verdict against nuclear weapons in 1996),
and the Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone Network, etc.

The speakers outlined the opportunities available to peace activists to
lobby international disarmament forums. They emphasised the significance of
the growing South Asian peace movement for abolition efforts worldwide, and
more important, for the global peace movement. Some said the centre of
gravity of the global movement is shifting to South Asia. Some others
argued that the South Asian abolition campaign has already become an
indispensable input into the international movement, one which would
rejuvenate it, and help it get out of the state of decline into which it
has drifted in many NATO and former Warsaw Pact countries after the Cold
War ended.

Following the Plenary was the third set of Working Groups, on building a
'Movement in India Against Nuclear weapons: Sectoral and Statewise
Strategies'. Simultaneous with these, there was a special Session on the
ìCampaign for Safety and Environmental Aspects of Nuclear Power and Uranium
Miningî, chaired by Dhirendra Sharma and Ghanashyam Biruli, the grassroots
activists from Jaduguda uranium mines.

The eight Working Groups focused upon specific sectors; including Statewise
Strategies; Scientists and Doctors; Media; NGOs, Panchayats, States; Women;
Trade Unions; and Artists.

Their deliberations produced specific proposals on how to put nuclear
disarmament on the agenda of youth, NGOs, medical and scientific
associations, trade unions, the womenís movement, etc, by underscoring the
practical impact of nuclearisation on their priorities, as well as on the
larger society and politics. Of particular relevance was the Working Group
on sensitising the Media to non-conventional notions of security.
This was followed by the screening of an award-winning documentary by Shri
Prakash (Jharkhand), ìThe Buddha Weeps at Jadugudaî, which depicts the
havoc wreaked upon the health of uranium miners and their families by
patently unsafe practices and avoidable exposure to radioactivity and other
toxins.
The fourth (and final) session of the Working Groups was devoted to the
nitty-gritty of developing ìNetworking, Methods, Forms-Campaign Experience:
Methodologies and Campaign Materials for Different Constituenciesî.
These sessions focused on educational material and cultural products,
including videos, films, theatre, songs, dance, posters, cartoons, etc and
discussions on Networking and Resource-Sharing and Advocacy. Another
Working Group produced a draft ìPlan of Actionî to be presented to the
Final Plenary.
The Evening Plenary of November 12, chaired by feminist-social activist
Lalita Ramdas and fishworkersí unionist Tom Kocherry, heard reports from
the four Working Groups, besides watching an educational slide-show by
Chennai-based scientists, simplifying complex facts of nuclear physics, on
how the Bomb works, and what makes it an illegitimate weapon of mass
destruction.
The Closing Plenary at Lady Shri Ram College on November 13 discussed the
Plan of Action, adopted a (tentative) Charter for Nuclear Disarmament for
Peace and, most important, established a Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament
and choose its Coordination Committee. The Plenary Panel consisted of
Prabir Purkayastha, Jaya Velankar, S.K. Biswas, J. Sri Raman, Ilina Sen and
Sandeep Pandey, chaired by L Ramdas.
There were more than 30 interventions and many amendments to the Draft
Charter, itself subjected to an intense debate over six months. Some
speakers questioned the Draft statement of Indiaís nuclear policy after the
first Pokharan test of 1974. Several underlined the importance of
broadening the concept of peace.
Many speakers noted the uneven development of the movement in different
regions, and underlined the need to strengthen it especially in Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala, the Northeastern states, etc and to address special
constituencies like environmentalists, educationists, political leaders,
and Dalits.
However, so numerous were the Charter amendments, both substantive and
stylistic, that the chair felt they could not be all incorporated into a
document to be adopted that very morning. The Plenary broadly accepted that
it adopt a one-page summary of the thrust of the Charter, leaving the final
document to the Coordination Committee. This summary was accepted (and
later released to the press).
The Plenary adopted the Plan of Action (attached below) and resolved to
work on a clearing house of information and campaign material, on advocacy
and lobbying, besides implementing the specific campaigns outlined in
programme.
The Plenary established a Coalition for Nuclear disarmament and Peace
(CNDP) based on the principles contained in the Draft Charter and Plan of
Action. Finally, the Plenary voted for a 50-member Coordination Committee.
This Committee will have a Secretariat of 12 members, no more than five of
whom will be from Delhi.
Forty members were proposed by the Nominations Committee (formed in the
first Plenary, which had received over 90 names). It selected the 40 on
the basis of their contribution to the movement, as well as regional,
gender and sectoral balance. The other 10 members will be co-opted later.
The Closing Plenary ended with a vote of thanks to the participants, chairs
and speakers, the numerous institutions which helped, the artistes and
musicians who performed, and not least, the 50-plus volunteers who looked
after the practical arrangements: accommodation, food, transportation,
registration, etc.
The volunteers included activists of Delhi Science Forum (which acted as
the Convention coordination centre), a large number of students from Delhi
University, and National Federation of Indian Women.
Springdales School, Lady Shri Ram College, Indian Social Institute and
Instute of Social Sciences provided generous support.
The final item on the Convention agenda was the five hour-long Public Event
at Mandi House, in which 12 different ensembles/troupes performed.

Among the highlights were street theatre (Nishant Natya Manch and Mazdoor
Kisan Sangharsh Samiti), folk music (from Chhattisgarh), Zohra Sehgalís
recitation of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, qawwalis by the Wadali Brothers, Baul
singing by Devdas and Kartik, and sufi/folk music by ìParvaazî and Madan
Gopal Singh.

end

____

#2.

ACTION PLAN

The Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace has undertaken to implement
over the coming year ending 31 December 2001, the following programme:

1. Establish a central "clearing house" of information to help individuals
and groups wanting to get necessary materials (videos, printed matter,
experts, etc.) to generate popular awareness about nuclear weapons and lack
of safety and transparency in the nuclear power sector.

2. Co-ordinate ongoing efforts towards regional and then national
conventions of anti-nuclear weapon activists. Such regional meetings in the
North, South, East, West and Central India to be convened over the next 6
months. There will be separate national conventions for trade unions,
scientists, doctors, journalists, artists, lawyers, musicians etc.

3. Will press for institutionalization of "Nuclear Disarmament and Peace
Week" from August 4-11 every year in as many schools and colleges as
possible.

4. Will actively engage in dialogue at an official level with all political
parties and mass organizations as well as with professional associations of
all kinds, including industry, religious bodies etc.

5. Undertakes to support organizations in Jharkhand fighting the cause of
victims of nuclear radiation in whatever way possible to highlight their
plight including official dialogue with the new State government of
Jharkhand.

6. Will support the efforts of concerned people in Rajasthan regarding
secretive government nuclear-related activity including possible dumping of
radioactive wastes in their areas.

7. Help to set-up within one year a national federation of radiation victims.

8. Liase with the Pakistan Peace Coalition (PPC) to bring out within a few
months a report on joint Indo-Pakistan civil society initiatives that
should be carried out to highlight the dangers posed by nuclearisation of
South Asia.

9. Work with the PPC to identify 10 schools and 10 colleges in India and
Pakistan respectively, which will be termed as 'sister schools' and 'sister
colleges'.

10. Work fraternally with all other genuine nuclear disarmament groups and
individuals globally as well as establishing links of mutual support with
the Indian and South Asian Diaspora in Europe, North America and elsewhere.

____

#3.

INTERIM CHARTER FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT AND PEACE

This National Convention for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace resolutely
opposes nuclear weapons in India, South Asia and globally. Nuclear weapons
are evil and immoral. They divert resources from real needs, promote
insecurity, are genocidal, undermine democracy, endanger the environment
and future generations. This Convention unequivocally condemns India's
entry into the Nuclear Weapons Club in 1998 which represents a betrayal of
its own past positions. This Convention resolves to bring together largest
members of groups, organizations and individuals on a common platform with
the following Agenda. To carry forward this Agenda we constitute ourselves
into a National Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace.

India:

To halt and roll back India's nuclear weapons-related preparations and
activity we demand the following measures to be implemented immediately:

No assembly of nuclear weapons, no induction and deployment of nuclear
weapons. No acquisition and development of nuclear weapon-specific delivery
systems.

Advanced research into nuclear weapons to be halted. No to explosive
testing, sub-critical tests, or production or acquisition of weapons-usable
fissile material tritium.

Complete transparency and independent monitoring of governmental activity
in this regard and full public accountability on nuclear development and
energy matters.

Proper compensation and reparation to all victims and their families for
damages to health and local environment by activities related to all
aspects (from uranium mining to reactor operation to waste disposal) of the
nuclear fuel cycle. Priority must be given to remedial measures for all
environmental damage.

Other Nuclear Capable and Nuclear Weapons States

We demand similar immediate measures of nuclear restraint and roll back
from Pakistan. Given the tensions and potential for war in West Asia, we
demand complete dismantling of Israel's nuclear weapons regime.

All the N-5 or Nuclear Weapons States (USA, Russia, Britain, France and
China,) must immediately de-alert their nuclear weapons systems, make a
pledge of No First Use and stop all research into advanced nuclear weapons.
No to all efforts to construct an anti-ballistic missile system or missile
shield.

We demand the rapid, systematic and continuous reduction by the N-5 of
their nuclear weapons down to zero level through unilateral, bilateral and
multillateral commitments and pacts.

We demand that the Indian Government go back to being among the pacesetters
in matters of global nuclear disarmament.

We want a nuclear weapons free world and we support all genuine efforts in
pursuit of this goal. In this effort we commit ourselves to the global
nuclear disarmament movement and will strive to strengthen international
solidarity in this endeavour.

____

#4.

Resolution
on
Nuclear Missile Defence and Theatre Missile Defence of the USA

This National Convention for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace condemns
unequivocally the proposal of the US Government to deploy so-called
National Missile Defence (NMD) and Theatre Missile Defence (TMD) systems.
While this programme may be currently on hold under the Clinton
administration, it is more than likely that the next administration under
the pressure of defence contractors will actually deploy Nuclear Missile
Defence and Theatre Missile Defence systems.

The promotion of the Nuclear Missile Defence and the Theatre Missile
Defence in the US political arena has all the hallmarks of the manner in
which the US nuclear programme has been expanded, refined and sharpened.
Fraudulent test (or improperly designed ones) are used to argue that the
technology for this exists and can be developed and deployed. International
treaties like the Anti Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty are sought to be
circumvented or undermined or rejected. New bogus threats, like the danger
of nuclear weapons in the hands of so-called 'rogue states' are created to
justify the programmes. Objective opinion concurs that even against
'nuclear' terrorist threats, NMD and TMD make little sense.

The very discussion of the proposals for the NMD and the TMD in the US have
evoked strong reactions from other Nuclear Weapon States (NWS) and any
pursuit of these programmes will only harden the nuclear doctrine,
strategies and postures of the other NWS. The pursuit of the NMD and the
TMD will be a serious blow to the cause of global nuclear disarmament. This
conference considers it a crucial task of the global anti-nuclear weapons
movement to mobilize vigorously against these programmes. This conference
calls on the Government of India to resolutely and forcefully record the
opposition of the Indian people to the NMD and the TMD in all international
fora.

13/11/2000
New Delhi
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Organising Committee,
National Convention for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace,
C/o Delhi Science Forum, B- 1, Second Floor, LSC, J- Block, Saket, New
Delhi 110017

Tel: 11-962-4323; 11-652-4324; Telefax: 11-686-2716
E-mail: natcon2000@f...