Attacking BRICS for falling in the trap of liberalisation, globalisation and market-led agenda of global power centres, activist Medha Patkar, opening the two-day meeting of People’s Forum ahead of the BRICS summit, on Thursday said the BRICS summit gave “us an opportunity to review what is happening at global power centres.”
Ms. Patkar, who represents National Alliance for People’s Movements, took note of various struggles of people across the country including Goans successful fight against special economic zones and also against illegal mining and appealed to the people to build solidarity in the resistance against neo-liberalism and corporate globalisation “which has also not spared BRICS.”
In a hard-hitting speech delivered at the Xavier Centre of Historical Research here, Ms. Patkar said,“Our fora is not parallel to BRICS but of communities. They (official BRICS) are in the market-game to channel funds away from common people’s fulfilment, which is real development we feel.”
Attacking the BRICS, she said that they only make a show that with the Development Bank they will change the impact of globalisation, but the changes they make in labour acts and other legislation affecting the people are aimed at competing with global powers.
“We want swadeshi, not of Modi or the RSS, but the one that incorporates self-sufficiency and equitable distribution, which challenges disparities in harnessing community resources,” she said. Speakers from South Africa, Brazil, China and also those representing various movements in India spoke on diverse issues like students movement and workers’ protests in South Africa, protests of the intellectuals in Brazil and other issues and came up with people’s alternatives built by social movements in BRICS countries as a counter to neo-liberalism.
