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The Chávez government had a strong presence in the social forum in Caracas, and there were many panels on anti-imperialism, strategies for fighting neoliberalism, and similar themes addressed in previous forums. The Musharrafic government meanwhile was nowhere to be seen. It was an absence well worthy of a Pinter play.
There were lots of student volunteers around, manning the registration booths, conducting surveys; walking up to people, asking them questions regarding the forum, etc. It was especially heartening to see school-going-children involved at such a level in the organizational committee. However, the organizational committee wasn't much to write home about.
There was a sense of disorganization and chaos at work. Venues were often not to be found, with random numbering. Also, the operating sound systems were not coordinated, with sound spilling over into different sessions.
There was a 100 rupees entry fee. This seemed absurd given the nature of the event and the demography of the people who participated. For urban youth like me, this seems affordable; try marketing this to someone who belongs to the infamous ‘other side’ of the divide. Many of these people had already funded their travel and accommodation expenses, apart from food and shuttling to and from the venue, which were not inclusive of the entry fee.
By the second day, WSF seemed to have traded in its identity – it seemed to have lost its sense of purpose and direction, which had been replaced by entertainment and leisure. We reached the venue at around 11am.
Garbage threatened to overrun the venue. Trashcans and waste disposal areas were conspicuous by their absence at the forum. The result was an overwhelming deluge of waste everywhere. It was of course deeply ironic.
We caught the last bit of the CMKP (Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party) session on land and agrarian transformation , which was a series of resolutions, all voted on by popular demand. They covered a wide spectrum from being opposed to war, imperialism, and globalization and neo-liberal policies of privatization. I wondered out aloud what would become of these resolutions, and I got an all too definite answer: “nothing.” That in a nutshell is the major contention most people have with the World Social Forum. Nothing is ever done.
“Brutally honest discussion needed to take place, alongside critical self-reflection,” said Aasim Sajjad Akhtar of the People’s Rights Movement (PRM). “WSF is valuable in terms of people getting together to discuss and talk openly, which doesn’t happen very often, but even then it was largely dominated by established funded organizations. There were a number of contradictions that lay in the nature of the organizations funding the event, and the actual discussions taking place. Glaring issues were left unaddressed. People feel alienated, or they just haven’t been able to organize themselves in such a manner as to be able to contribute effectively, and enough,” he added. “The overall state of progressive debates was pretty meager. There was a blatant refusal to call a spade a spade. It’s no good just saying we’re against this and against that.” Small wonder that WSF is often dismissed and not paid serious attention too. This year, WSF was boycotted by a section of people for its unapologetic hijack by NGOs and the subsequent domination of the event by a meticulously-planned-agenda.
PRM organized a session on the rising NGO phenomenon in the world. What was said was simple enough to understand, less simple to address – the rise of NGOs in the third world have created a system whereby the State absolves itself of responsibility, more easily and more readily than ever before. Which is true, we are a disenchanted populace, citizens of a state that doesn’t recognize its duties. The burdened question put forward by Aasim Sajjad was this: “Can NGOs build a political movement?” Or are they hindering the process by providing short-term benefits with zero sustainable development?
Many have heaped criticism on the WSF for its unashamed NGO-ization. “The NGOs are no substitute for genuine social and political movements. They may be NGOs in Pakistan but in the global scale they are WGOs (Western Governmental Organizations), their cash-flow conditioned by restricted agendas. It is not that some of them are not doing good work, but the overall effect of this has been to atomize the tiny layer of left and liberal intellectuals,” said Tariq Ali, Pakistani-born leftist.
Yet the WSF has much to its credit as well. In a relatively short period of time, it has come to embody people’s resistance to social and economic inequities, to imperialism, to international capital. Most importantly it has come to represent an annual event where peoples of the world can come together and channel pathways to dissent. Those who reject it as just the “anti-globalization-forum” render it a great injustice. This is a valuable contribution which must not be ignored.
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Hira Nabi
for one day, i want to be a paan wala. just for one day. i want to stand behind the makeshift stall/counter, and have a zillion Lil vials, vessels and caskets in front of me, filled with oddments, spices, colourful condiments, old world scents, and indigenous flavours =)
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