Challenges and Way Forward for Democracy and Peace in South Asia*

I attended this conference at Kathmandu and presented a paper on Role of Civil Society for democracy, Peace and Justice.
I prepared this paper with our experiences of Sea Plane Struggle at Negombo lagoon and the work related to Platform for Freedom.[PfF]

Herman Kumara
10.07.11

*Kathmandu Declaration*

We, the delegates from all countries of South Asia representing various
political ideologies, mass organizations, trade unions, civil societies,
NGOs, academia, youths and peopleâ?Ts movements representing women, Dalit,
indigenous peoples and other groups of people met together to deliberate on
the challenges and way forward for democracy and peace in South Asia on
01-02 July 2011 in Kathmandu. We affirm that, ****

South Asia, which is very rich in cultural and natural heritages, is
passing through a difficult period. On the one hand, the inter-state
relationships are marred by different levels of mistrusts, hostility and
conflict, on the other hand, the exogenous forces are adding to the crises
by inflicting militarism, debt domination and securitization. These together
have created a situation of despair and vulnerability. The people lack an
enabling environment for fulfilling their aspirations in a manner which
needs to be bottom-up and participatory. The current model of representative
democracy is mostly benefiting a minority affluent class, while the majority
populations are drowned in deep poverty, exclusion, denial of fundamental
human rights and alienation. Political fragmentation of the region by power
brokers has indeed accelerated this process of deprivation and
underdevelopment. The dominant development paradigm in South Asia which is
being promoted by varieties of international aid architect so far has
grossly failed addressing the aspirations and needs of majority people. **

There is a general consensus among the people of the region that peace is
the only way to shared prosperity and meaningful democracy. They reject the
present â?~growth-oriented development modelâ?T based on indiscriminate
exploitation of human labour and plundering of natural resources that
maintains, promotes and perpetuates patriarchy and discrimination. The
challenge of the time is to put the balance in the right perspective to
ensure optimum participation with economic, social, cultural and ecological
justice.****

The way forward is to link grassroots communities for unified and
continuous struggle for the common cause of shared prosperity and pave the
way for lasting peace. This requires radical changes in the mind-set and the
processes of the present systems of governance in the countries of South
Asia, thus relocating priorities and resources to areas that deliver the
most for the majority of the population. ****

It is of utmost importance to rise against divisive forces that propagate
and promote religious and political extremism, arms race, ethnocide and
racism. The hierarchical social and political structures must be demolished
to foster the era of freedom, peace, gender equality, social inclusion and
justice, which are the ultimate guarantees for sustainable democracy.
02 July 2011
Kathmandu, Nepal