Giving a keynote address at the inaugural session, Mr. Shoaib Sultan Khan, Chairman of the National Rural Support Program, in his keynote address on Poverty Reduction through Social Mobilization: Strategy and Challenges talked about the success of the Aga Khan Rural Support Program (AKRSP) and rejected the notion of preconceived projects/programs at the macro level and said that for any program to be successful, its micro-variations at the local level demand consultation and dialogues with each and every community. It must be left “to each community to identify their potential not only as community but also at household level.” He said that there is no dearth of professionals and volunteers in Pakistan. What is needed are the required resources and champions to replicate good causes and models, he said. Quoting Dr. Akhter Hameed Khan, he concluded by saying that development will not come from the top. It will come from the bottom and it shall happen in pockets.
Reported by Sarah Siddiq
The plenary on Communalism in India in the Present Context focused mainly on Indian politics and society but it also encompassed wider South Asian issues including that of Pakistan. Dr. Visalakshi Menon, Reader, Department of History, Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi, India, in her speech warned that Communalism in India is so serious a threat that it can even tear apart the secular fabric of Indian society. She opined that despite the fact that Indian Constitution is secular in nature, the rise of Communalism in India, particularly in the last three decades, has shaken the fragile secular structure of India society. She cited examples of the emergence of right-wing political parties in India such as the BJP, their ascent to power and their impact on the society. She also talked about the Gujarat incident where under a BJP government Muslim minority was massacred.
Dr. Menon remarked that contrary to the perception that Communalism is only rampant in Northern India, the phenomenon is taking roots in the Southern parts of India that are considered more secular. She said that despite this big threat, academic research on Communalism is not done sufficiently.
Reported by Shamil Shams
Mr. Karamat Ali, Executive Director of Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research, also spoke on the issue of Communalism in Pakistan and India. Mr. Karamat Ali shed light on the issue of Communalism from a historical perspective and deemed Communalism as a legacy of colonialism in the Sub-continent. He was of the view that Muslim League and Congress were elite bourgeois parties that used religion to polarize the society in order to protect their economic interests. Contrary to the State perception in Pakistan that Communalism in India has had repercussions on Pakistani society as well, Mr. Ali opined that in South Asian region, where four out of five nations have religious foundations, it is bound to have its impacts on secular India that saw a rise in Communalism in recent times.
Mr. Ali emphasized on practical measures that in his view need to be taken in order to tackle the menace of Communalism, both in India and Pakistan, by letting the people of Pakistan and India meet each other freely, by demilitarizing the two nations and reducing military expenditures. He remarked that a lot more needs to be done to curb the menace of Communalism rather than just defining the issues related to Communalism and Communal violence.
Reported by Shamil Shams
Syed Babar Ali, Vice President Emeritus of the World Wildlife Fund, Pakistan, highlighted the context in which the Pakistani corporate sector operates in his talk on Business, Corporate Social Responsibility and the Environment. He shared positive and negative trends in the corporate sector linked to the environment and nature conservation. He criticized the current system of GNP since it is only a measure of market transactions, which ignores the real and considerable costs of natural resource use and environmental degradation caused by the pursuit of quantitative economic growth. He pointed out that even though an economy needs four types of capital (human, financial, manufactured, natural), the present economic systems were only using the first three forms of capital to transform natural capital into products and services. Quoting the high expenditures of governments, especially the USA on the military, Syed Babar Ali lamented how this industry was destroying the planet, rather than spending resources on more humane causes.
Talking about the issue of climate change, he warned that the climate debate was a public issue threatening not just assets and resources like oil, fish, or timber, but the entire life-supporting system.
Discussing the change in perceptions and trends in Pakistan, he appreciated the decision by the Government of Pakistan to shelve the Satpara Dam, near Skardu, after a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment, which showed how the dam could damage the ecosystem of the Deosai National Park and endanger the Brown Bear and Snow Leopard. “Since Pakistan is a developing country, there is an opportunity to guide future development in an environmentally friendly manner,” he said. He also highlighted various case studies of businesses in Pakistan that were generically environment friendly such as the work of a Belgian company working with the Lahore District Government to convert about 1,000 tonnes per day of waste in Lahore into highly valuable organic fertilizer. Given the popularity of organic foods, he shared examples of an organic bakery in Lahore producing organic bread; innovative farmers producing and exporting organic rice; as well as organic cotton being produced on a pilot scale.
He recommended that the role of industry associations such as the Chambers of Commerce, and manufacturers associations needs to be strengthened, and the Pakistani corporate sector needs to become much more active in partnering with nature conservation organizations to support important conservation work. “The efforts of a dedicated corporate sector professional or an environmentalist will not bear fruit unless these contribute to a holistic future articulated by leaders in a society. If leadership is missing, it is up to groups of concerned individuals, organizations to develop their own visions for the future,” he concluded.
Reported by Sarah Siddiq
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