S. Asian forum against communalism launched

By Haroon Habib

DHAKA, JUNE 9. Civil society leaders of five South-Asian countries formed a ``South- Asian People's Union'' as a platform against fundamentalism and communalism at the end of their two- day conference here recently. ``... Hence we ... establish a South-Asian platform, South-Asian People's Union against Fundamentalism and Colonialism to join hands in resisting all forms of fundamentalism and communalism in the region,'' the leaders announced in a unanimous resolution, the Dhaka Declaration.

The declaration called upon states, Governments, political parties and civil society organisations to uphold inter-ethnic, inter-religious and inter-faith equality as inalienable democratic principles.

Leading politicians, academics, professionals and cultural activists of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal who exchanged opinions on communalism and fundamentalism also pledged to ``harness their energies for promoting social justice, peace, gender equality and secular democratic values'' and work together for bringing all perpetrators of crimes against humanity and war crimes to justice.

The 10-point declaration affirmed the need to de- communalise and secularise South-Asian societies, through active reconstruction of ethnic and religious identities in a spirit of equality, interdependence and mutual respect.

It noted that fundamentalism and communalism have been undermining the vitals of the societies of the region, eroding democratic values, norms and institutions. ``Women, children and people belonging to ethnic and religious minority groups are particularly being victimised by fundamentalist and communal forces,'' the declaration stated.

The declaration acknowledged that some political and social groups were using fundamentalism for their petty interests and urged all political parties and groups to fight such attempts. It also stated that a section of the media is increasingly becoming the means for propagating fundamentalism, communalism and extremism.

The declaration called upon media institutions and personnel to uphold the principles and ideals of democracy, pluralism and secularism in order to promote values of diversity and tolerance.

Earlier, taking part in the conference, the former Pakistan Air Force Chief, Air Marshal Asghar Khan, blamed ``debauch Generals and landlords'' for the genocide of 1971 in the then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, even as speakers at a session called for trial of the war criminals. He said in the last elections, 74 per cent of Pakistanis did not exercise their franchise marking their protest against the political parties.

Prof. Riyaz Panjabi, chief of Indian Information Centre for Peace Studies, warned of the trend of using religion as a tool in power games. ``The lessons learnt from the Afghan experience also cautions us against efforts to use fundamentalism for political purposes'', he said.

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Section  : International
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