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World Social
Forum 2004
(Nepalese
WSF participants joined in a peace rally during the WSF.)
Bombay, the hometown of Indian film industry - popularly known as
'Bollywood', has recently hosted the 4th World Social Forum (WSF).
Held from January 16-21, 2004, the forum saw active participation
of more than 75,000 delegates from non governmental organisations,
community based organisations, indigenous people's organisations
and many other popular movements.
MS Nepal's participation
Sixteen people from MS Nepal and partner organisations
participated in the WSF. According to Johnny Lindstrom,
participants of the MS-Nepal group involved in the rally on the
very inaugural day and distributed plenty of flyers with slogans
“Nepalis against discrimination” and “Women and men become great
not by caste but by heart”. The last slogan was inspired by Laxmi
Prasad Devkota, the eminent Nepali poet. Other slogans chanted
during the rally were:
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Dalit rights - HUMAN RIGHTS
• Caste discrimination - STOP, STOP
• Gender discrimination - STOP, STOP
• Nepal for - PEACE, PEACE
These
issues were not only of Nepal, but also of others e.g. Japan, Sri
Lanka and India.
Issues discussed
The
participants have discussed and shared their experiences on
different issues and alternative ideas concerning globalisation,
poverty reduction and development strategies, elimination of all
sorts of exploitation and enhancement of indigenous people's
rights. Moreover, the participants also raised their voice whether
WSF is just a network for sharing views and concerns or it should
work to bring concrete outcomes. A woman from Amnesty
International has stressed that WSF is a global movement for
rights of people. It's against discrimination and women violations
and Dalit groups and other oppressed people. One of the Amnesty
International’s slogans has read “Globalise Human Rights”.
DWO's presentation
The
Dalit Welfare Organisation (DWO) organised a rally in which more
than 100 Nepali activists showed their strong participation. Some
other organisations who joined hands with DWO were Center for
Women Development (CWD), Dalit NGO federation, Forum for Community
Empowerment, Equality Development Center (EDC), Gramin Swabalamban
Samajik Kendra (GSSK), Gender Networking Group, Aarohan Theatre
Group, People’s Concern Group, Cultural Change Council and MS
Nepal.
Aarohan presentation
Aarohan, one of the MS Nepal partners, presented a forum theatre
on untouchability and caste discrimination on the second day of
the conference. A huge number of people participated in the drama
through live interaction. Similarly, they came up with statue
theatre on the third day.
Media coverage
After
the rally the India National Television, DD News Team turned up
and visited the Nepali stall. They made some interviews and
recordings of Nepali participants. The DD-News Team again visited
the Nepali stall and made some additional interviews and
recordings. The DD News Team asked about the theatre group, its
subjects and messages to the people in the drama program at WSF.
They also asked about the participating organisations from Nepal
and their working areas.
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Based on the reports sent by Johnny Lindstrom and Yubaraj Ghimire
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Opinion
I
think WSF is a good forum for me. People from many countries
come here with their own issues. There are many types of
issues people share here for solidarity. It is an issue market
with focus on motivated processes. These issues are
highlighted in the world. Primarily, this forum is important
for movement and right-based organisations. I got plenty of
information in this forum.
Actually, I find all the participants keen to prioritise
issues of oppressed people such as Dalits, women and children
as well as many others. Finally, the forum of WSF is useful
for me. I hope these skills will also be transformed to our
country and our organisations. I request MS Nepal to continue
its participation in WSF in coming days.
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Ishwori B. K., Dalit Welfare Organisation (DWO)
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