Day2 Openforum: Re-imaging South Asia.

Re-imaging South Asia.

Re-imaging South Asia. This was the theme of the second Open Forum session held today, May 12, 2007 at the VIBGYOR Film Festival.

Placing the theme in the context of the films being shown at the festival, the session moderator CS Venkiteswaran, well-known film critic and writer, raised questions about the role of the post-globalisation emergence of new communication technologies, which while revolutionizing communication has also concentrated power in the North. He also raised questions about the role of the nation state in countries of South Asia.

Thaw Reh, a Burmese refugee associated with the organization Burma Issues (www.burmaissues.org), was the first speaker. He talked about the military takeover of 1962 in Burma; the establishment of the 4 Cuts Policy and 3 zones (SDPC controlled zone, armed struggle zone and free fire zone); the ensuing killings, disappearances, rapes, torture and forced displacement of millions of civilians ever since. He pointed out that problem of Burma was not a problem of the people of Burma alone- it also affected Indians. As citizens of a democratic country, Indians must oppose the support extended by the Indian government to the Myanmarese military junta.

Anton Jayananda of Janasetha Action Foundation, Sri Lanka, spoke next. He is part of a forum that tries to build bridges of peace between the Sinhalese and Tamil people in war-torn Sri Lanka. He expressed this sentiment in a song in both languages: Let us stand against all forces of death! Let us march in a harmony that promotes life! Criticising Colombo-centric politics, Anton Jayananda stated that a military solution to the problem in Sri Lanka would never work.

The next speaker, the Bangladeshi filmmaker, Yasmeen Kabir, said that she was struck by the commonality of issues in countries of South India whether they be issues of migrant workers or refugees. She urged everyone to break out of the “SAARC” mode and engage in genuine people to people dialogue.

Benny Kuruvilla of the Focus on the Global South focused on the politics of international finance in his talk. Pointing out that all the countries of South Asia, except Burma, were borrowers of World Bank/ADB loans, Benny stated that the issue of international financiers and those of Indian business interests was that the climate in these countries was not leading as quickly as they desired to predictable investment frameworks. He added that for the first time in 2006, the outward flow of foreign direct investment exceeded the inward flow. This meant that Indian business was now getting ready to flex its muscles and the first region it would do so would be in south Asia. Re-imagin film"g south Asia would perhaps require us to look at more progressive governments, such as the new political dispensation in Nepal, to work out alternatives.

The discussion round threw up several interesting and significant comments and questions.

• The need to remember that nation states in south Asia were no older than 100 years and therefore the need to disrespect boundaries and stress on cultural commonalities;
• The need to understand that on the one hand, state. borders were being dismantled to allow free trade and on the other restricting the free movement of labour and migrants.
• The need to look at India's role as a bully in South Asia and work towards building pressure to reverse this role.
• The need to understand that the forces of state reside within each one of us, in families and other institutions
• The need to look at alternatives to development
• The need to re-image our own language and concepts; the need to speak in narratives and move from the personal to the political