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 Re: WORLD SOCIAL FORUM - MUMBAI-INDIA (Re: Elmamoun khider)
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WORLD SOCIAL FORUM -- 3rd Day / 18 January / Report
by Dr. Leo Rebello
Today, 18th January, 2004, some 650 Parliamentarians organised the World Parliamentary Forum
on Another World is Possible theme. It will continue tomorrow.
The opening session, instead of at 10 am, started at 11.30 am, but the lunch break was
sharp on time, proving thereby, that when it comes to eating, business can wait!
The intentions were good, speeches so-so, and from Indian side following MPs were
present : Ram Vilas Paswan, R.S.Gavai, Ramdas Athavale, Abu Asim Azmi and Manoj
Bhattacharya. R.S.Gavai chewed tobacco and discreetly removed it from his mouth and
threw it on the ground where he was sitting next to me in the front row, when he was
called on the stage. I am sure he must be following this loathsome habit in the Parliament too,
because old habits die hard.
Outside, the Tibetans protested silently against Mr. Nilotpal Basu, Coordinator of the Preparatory
Committee of Indian Legislators for the WPF 2004, because he wrote to them to "conform to the
formal position of many participating countries" and was not able to accept the participation
of the Tibetan parliamentarians. Mr. Pema Jungney, the Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile,
who later spoke at a panel discussion on Tibet, also pointed out this discrimination to the participants
in Hall A-10, at the WSF. The topic was Make Tibet a Zone of Peace and Ahimsa (Non-violence).
In the afternoon, at the WPF, two sessions were held on War and Peace and Post Cancun :
G20, G95, EU.... I was asked to speak. I said that UN headquarters should be shifted to India,
talked of Asian Union (my pet suggestion for last 10 years) with one currency, open boundary, like
we have between India and Nepal between SAARC countries, diverting the military funds for
development, not allowing Israel to build the 300 kms, 60 feet high wall to keep the Palestinians
away from Jerusalem, dismantling World Bank, World Hell Organisation, WTO, etc. so
that poverty, depravity, inequality is ended.
Today being Sunday, there was bigger crowd at the WSF and more pageantry, including fire works
display. I participated in following forums : AREANA's discussion on How to defeat Imperialistic Hegemony,
where I repeated the above ideas again, to thunderous applause. On the atrocities on Dalits, their leaders felt
that the discrimination should be stopped at once. At the Communist Writers Forum, speaker after
speaker vent his spleen against communalism, fascism, criminalization, etc. They forgot Corruption.
And no solutions were offered.
I asked the Head of the Media Centre as to why when we are supposedly looking out for Alternative Vision,
the same wrong paradigm HIV=AIDS=Death and more ARVs, cheaper ARVs, easy availability of ARVs
etc. was discussed ad nauseam? He had no answer. So, I suggested that he should facilitate and organize
a Press Conference for me so that I can bring it to the notice of the world that HIV/AIDS is a racket, that
we need to work FROM AIDS SCARE TO AIDS CARE, that there are cheaper, safer, more effective
herbal, homoeopathic medicines available and that one need not live or die with AIDS. He has reluctantly agreed.
Only time will prove whether he meets his commitment or this HIV/AIDS lie will continue to misguide people
even at the WSF.
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Elmamoun khider
فيس بوك
تويتر
انستقرام
يوتيوب
بنتيريست