As part of the centenary celebration of the Arzi Huqumat –e- Azad Hind (Provisional Government of Free India), established by Netaji Subash Chandra Bose in Singapore in 1943, the Bangladesh Bharat Pakistan People’s Forum (BBPPF) is going to organise a three-day South Asia People’s Conference in Kolkata from Oct 16.
The conference will be held at Public Hall, Baghajatin, Kolkata.
More than 200 representatives of democratic, secular and progressive organisations from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan will take part in the seminar.
“These organisations aspire for a closer-knit South Asia and pitch for better people-to–people contacts between nations, respecting each nation’s sovereign aspirations,” BBPPF General Secretary Manik Samajdar said in a media communiqué.
The three-day conference seeks to rekindle the spirit of anti-colonialism epitomised by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and hopes it will serve as a beacon of hope to bring together, rather than divide, people cutting across national boundaries or set a part by cast, religion, ethnicity or creed.
Many representatives from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Myanmar, and Maldives are also likely to join the conference, seeking to expand its scope beyond the three countries, on which the forum is now based.
As part of the centenary celebration of the Arzi Huqumat–e-Azad Hind, South Asian Youth Conferences have already been organised successfully at Ferozpur and Hussaniwala border in India’s Punjab from March 22-24 this year.
In the conference youth representatives from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal discussed problems faced by those involved in struggle for democracy and against religious fundamentalism.
“We propose to organise a similar conference in Kathmandu later this year to expand our reach to all over South Asia and bring together more and more people involved in people’s struggle in the region,” Samajdar said.
BBPPF proposed to hold the Kathmandu conference coinciding with the SAARC Summit in Nepal in November this year.
“In 2015, we are planning to hold Kabul to Moirang (Manipur) and Kathmandu to Kolkata cycle rallies to bring together a region that was once united in the struggle against colonialism but has since been hopelessly divided in the post-colonial era and ravaged by violent conflicts,” Samajdar said.
“At a time when neo liberalism, capitalist aggrandizement , religious fundamentalism and ethnic sectarianism is further dividing South Asia, often violently, we intend to carry forward the spirit of anti-imperialist, socialist and secular struggle epitomized by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose,” he added.
Source: bdnews24
