Borders no more: A free and fair South Asia

Artists, refugees and survivors of human rights atrocities demanded freedom from poverty and injustice at the 'Imagine a New South Asia' (INSA) peace conclave in Amritsar, Punjab (26-27Oct, 2007).

Apni azadi ko hum hargis bhula sakte nahi – 'We cannot forget our freedom at any cost" – sang theatre performers at the start of the conclave.

Pakistani and Indian Sufi singers including well known names Surraiya Khanum, Arif Lohar, Arieb Azhar and Lakhwinder Wadali brought to life a shared cultural past with renditions extolling peace.

"Cultural programmes are crucial," said Zakia Jowher of ActionAid. "They are not just singers, they are sharing the values of peace and friendship with their words and actions," said Jowher.

Peace activists from across the sub-continent – Nepal , Bhutan, Tibet, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India's North-East, Kashmir and Gujarat, Rajasthan and Punjab called for a "borderless" South Asia to maintain peace in the region. They also sought increased contact between ordinary people of different nations.

Prof. Babu Mathew, country director of ActionAid India said, "Just like in the European Union, a person should have the citizenship of her country and also that of South Asia so that she can move without a visa in the region. South Asians want peace and their free movement is the only way to retain it."

"A people's alliance must be built to promote peace," he added.

Gandhian, Laxmi Chand Jain, a Magsaysay awardee and chair of the ActionAid board, said people need to draw strength from themselves to fight against injustice. "Atrocities against women must end. Women's empowerment is essential for peace."

Usman Peerzada of Pakistan -based Rafi Peer Theatre Group said while people in South Asia are struggling for two square meals a day, their governments are using up huge sums of money in producing weapons of mass destruction.

Sharing the plight of women in refugee camps, Radha Adhikari, from Bhutan , said over 100,000 Bhutanese people are living as refugees in neighbouring countries and that are displaced women are particularly vulnerable to sexual exploitation.

G Ashok Gladston Xavier of Organisation for Ealam Refugee Rehabilitation, which works with Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka , said India is the largest refugee host nation in India and therefore needs a comprehensive refugee law.

"A big noise can't be made by us alone. The Imagine a New South Asia platform gives us a safe space, where we don't have to be afraid of so-called 'anti-terrorism' laws TADA and POTA. Here we have the freedom to talk," Gladston said.

Imagine a New South Asia is an initiative led by people rather than organisations, launched in 2007. This year marks 60 years of freedom from colonial rule and 150 years of what is deemed the First War of Independence – the uprising of 1857.

"We have reasons to celebrate but we also have reasons to look back and rethink if this is how we had imagined our future then. We wanted much more - a future based on trust, solidarity, peace and stability, free from the baggage of history," says Jowher.

"This is not a distant dream – together we can create a South Asia free from want, fear, hunger and despair. Imagine a New South Asia is a vision of hope and possibilities," she adds.

INSA works alongside existing networks, alliances and campaigns across the Indian subcontinent towards a free and fair South Asia. The peace conclave was a two day event held at Amritsar's Spring Dale School.