Mumbai International Peace Festival

“Celebrating Life, Our Common Humanity, and Resistance to Empire and War”

Sponsored by Peace for Life in cooperation with the Mumbai Forum on Peace and Justice*

2006 December 1-3 | Mumbai, India

STATEMENT

The Mumbai Declaration on Peace and Justice:
Agenda for Action

We, the participants in the International Festival on Peace and Justice (Mumbai on December 1-3, 2006) from different parts of Asia and the Pacific as well as North America and Europe reiterate our commitment to peace based on justice and reaffirm our solidarity with all those engaged in the struggles of resistance against forces and manifestations of the empire which are the greatest threats to peace today.

As we shared our experiences and aspirations in our struggles through various cultural activities at the Festival, we became more convinced that cultural themes and expressions are an inexhaustible fountainhead from which our groups and movements derive inspiration and sustenance. We are determined to claim and ensure that this terrain of culture will not be allowed to be manipulated and trampled upon by the forces of right-wing religious fundamentalism and fascist ideologies or conquered by imperialism. We reject the mono-culture imposed by western-driven globalisation.

We live at a most critical time in history, when we face unprecedented threats both to the humankind and nature. We recognize that the broader political reality at the beginning of the 21st century is the global empire. Neo-liberal capitalism is the agenda of the empire.

All across the Asian region-in West Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia-there are escalating tensions, wars and preparations for war. Some of the conflicts are vestiges from the Cold War period. Today these are exacerbated and major new conflicts are created by the imperialist War on Terror. This is a war that is limitless, borderless and endless, constantly changing and adding new aims and targets. This is a war for resources, for occupation and conquest. This is a war for economic dominance by the empire and its allies.

A particular cause for alarm is the emergence of new weapon systems resulting from new technologies, merging of conventional and non-conventional weapons and the extension of the arms race to space. We decry the stockpiling of nuclear arms and its spread in the Asian region. The whole of South and West Asia as well as the Korean Peninsula are under nuclear threat. We clearly see a link between the new nuclear doctrines of the US and the proliferation of nuclear weapons in Asia. While the empire’s allies can have nuclear weapons, its enemies are in peril if they develop nuclear technology even for peaceful purposes. Indeed the struggle for nuclear disarmament has to be an important item on the agenda of the peace movement.

One major feature of the political and cultural complexities of this age is the emergence of the Religious Right. Religious revival plays an important role in the rise of neo-conservatism, as in the US, characterised by a strong imperial stance of conquest and assertiveness associated with an uncompromising world-view of “us” versus “them”. Conflict and violence are sustained by the illusion of a unique identity politics. In the same vein global confrontation is often presented as a corollary of religious and cultural divisions of the world.

Thus the rise of Hindutva-revival of a particular interpretation of Hindu traditions for extremist, right-wing political motives-now threatens the secular, pluralist and democratic culture and polity of India. Escalating conflicts between Shias and Sunnis within the Muslim fold are exacerbated by US military intervention. In Japan a revival of the militarist tradition of the Shinto religion has served to sanitize Japanese action in World War II and varied crimes against humanity.

Women are among the prime victims of war and militarized globalization. Yet they have made significant contributions to our understanding of and struggle for peace and justice. The use of women and children as human shield against adversary combatants by warring parties, as in the Sri Lankan conflict, should be stopped immediately.

In the imperial agenda, security is the substitute for peace. Today security has left the domain of the people. People are denied economic, social and cultural rights. The notion of security has shrunk to the security of the regime and the security of the military. This, along with predatory globalization, is a threat to people’s security. In the Philippines political activists opposed to neo-liberal globalisation and its local champions are being ruthlessly slaughtered by death squads with links to a military trained and funded by the US under the pretext of the War on Terror. We reject imperial and national doctrines of security that have only intensified political killings and human-rights violations.

Soon after invading Iraq, President Bush declared: “We have redefined war on our own terms”. Imperial doctrines of war now legitimise regime change and occupation. The empire officially claims the right to intervene militarily in any country and the right of pre-emptive war against any perceived enemy. War is presented as inevitable, as something good, and as a means to peace. It is touted as the route to freedom and democracy. The redefinition of war by the empire has created an unprecedented situation in international relations and has challenged the very fundamentals of the United Nations (UN) Charter

Since war has been redefined for imperialist aims, the struggle for peace has become today a struggle against imperialism in general and resistance against the US empire in particular. The imperialist doctrines of war have to be steadfastly challenged from the perspective of people grounded in people’s sovereignty and integrity of life of all living beings.

While we affirm our support for the UN, we take note of its failures and limitations, and more seriously, the manipulation of the system by the empire. There is urgent need to strengthen the UN and make it more representative and democratic. Reforms should not be a pretext for greater control by the powerful donor countries.

We reject the current dominant culture of war. War and militarization lead to eco-plundering and bio-piracy. This is further compounded by the World Bank/IMF-sponsored agro-export model of development which has led to agrarian crisis and mass poverty in Third World countries.

We assert that peace is the condition for the fullness of life. Human beings can become truly humane only in conditions of peace. Creativity, spirituality, individual and collective achievements attain glory and grandeur only in the salubrious climate of peace. Therefore we are committed to building a culture of peace.

If war is accepted as inevitable then peace becomes dispensable, peace has no space. We affirm our commitment to regain and expand the space for peace and the democratization process leading to an inclusive social order.

Yet there can be no peace without justice. We are conscious of the need to develop our praxis of peace based on the perspective of victims and sections of people marginalized as a result of wars, militarism, and neo-liberal capitalist development being peddled by the gurus of globalisation. A sign of hope in Asia is Nepal where, barring any intervention from imperial powers, the recently concluded peace agreement between the government and the Maoist insurgents may yet succeed in addressing the roots of the conflict, paving the ground for a transformed, peaceful Nepal.

In peace-making we recognize the urgency of building a broader platform based on interfaith, intercultural and inter-ideological cooperation and solidarity. There is need to explore and highlight convergence based on our common humanity as well as to translate the wisdom and insights from traditions, cultures, religions and philosophies into a language that will speak to and motivate the broadest sections of the people.

We, the peace movements, faith-based groups and cultural activists who have gathered in Mumbai on December 1-3, 2006 for the International Peace Festival collectively pledge to promote a culture of peace, including cultural forms of resistance to imperial domination and homogenization. We commit ourselves to deepen our solidarity with one another and to broaden the space for common action and reflection among various faith communities and social movements on the critical issues of peace and justice in Asia and other parts of the world.

AGENDA FOR ACTION

1. Renew commitment to peace and justice, taking into account the manifold threats humanity faces today, in the form of a covenant for action;
2. Mobilize public opinion, rallying support for the peace agenda through organized campaigns focusing on people’s struggle for freedom and democracy by social movements, civil society and faith-based organizations;
3. Encourage intervention and action, to promote active cultivation of peace with an understanding of the root causes of conflict and violence by international, regional and national citizens’ and civil society organizations;
4. Organize campaigns to spread the message of peace and harmony to the wider public, to the youth, teachers, women’s groups and communities at large;
5. Act as channels of communication between parties in conflict, opening up spaces for dialogue and solidarity;
6. Initiate dialogue and explore common areas for action among communities of diverse religious, cultural and ideological traditions on the issues of justice, peace and equality;
7. Promote activities and actions of social movements to facilitate convergence of peace activism with the struggle for justice and equality;
8. Promote linkages and solidarity among various groups involved in peace education, campaign and advocacy against violence perpetuated in the name of religion, ethnicity and caste;
9. Engage in activities to promote non-violence with a view to breaking the cycle of violence; and,
10. Engage in campaigns for the protection of life and human rights as well as raise consciousness in the larger public domain against judicial and extra-judicial killings.

*   The Mumbai Forum on Peace and Justice is composed of, among others, the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism; Movement for Peace and Justice; Focus on the Global South-India; Pakistan-India Forum for Peace and Democracy; National Council of Churches in India-Commission on Life, Justice and Peace; and Student Christian Movement of India

RELATED pages:

• Message of Peace - Report on the International Peace Festival by Irfan Engineer
• Photo Album: Mumbai International Peace Festival