by Mumbai Resistance - 2004

`MR 2004 against Imperialist Globalisation and War` to be held parallel to the World Social Forum

Nearly 100 organisations from different parts of India and other countries have come together to organize the `Mumbai Resistance 2004 against Imperialist Globalisation and War`, an anti-imperialist conference to be held between January 17-20, 2004 at Mumbai. The event will consist of a two day seminar, a day of cultural resistance and a massive anti-imperialist protest march on 20th January , which will culminate as a public protest meet at American Consulate. The main Theme of the rally will be against American Occupation of Iraq. It will be held parallel to the World Social Forum (WSF) Mumbai programme.

Details of the perspective and the broad outlines of the programme were finalised at a two day all India meeting held at Mumbai on November 8 and 9, 2003 which was attended by over 100 delegates representing about 50 of the participating organizations.

The constituents of the event include several struggling people`s organizations at the international, all-India, state and local levels representing different sections of society, such as the Bharat Jan Andolan, Yuva Bharat, All India People`s Resistance Forum, Chhatisgarh Mukti Morcha, Bharatiya Kisan Union, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, Vidrohi Sanskritik Chalwal, Muslim Youth of India, International League of People`s Struggles, World People`s Resistance Movement and many others.

More than 100 prominent individuals from different walks of life have expressed solidarity with the event and joined the reception committee which will be headed by Advocate Girishbhai Patel of Ahmedabad. Some of these include Justice (Retd) V. Krishna Iyer, Habib Tanvir, Yashwant Manohar, Prof Manoranjan Mohanty, Gursharan Singh, Gautam Navalakha. A 31 member organizing committee has also been formed.

MR-2004 sees itself as part of the process of building a strong anti-imperialist movement worldwide. It seeks to take the people of the world, including those attending the WSF, beyond the limits of "reflective thinking and debate" towards organised resistance against imperialist globalization and wars. MR-2004 considers itself as a continuation of the militant traditions set in the anti-globalization and anti-war movements that assumed a new intensity after Seattle.

Within India, the MR 2004 will work towards strengthening the resistance to the onslaught on people`s lives being unleashed by the rulers in the name of the New Economic Policies by building broad unity among different sections of the toiling masses. It will also work towards combating the all types of communalism and fundamentalism, and uniting the oppressed castes and religious minorities with other sections of the people to combat the rising communal fascism under the garb of Hindutva.

MR-2004 is not an anti WSF programme, but one with the clear and sharp focus that the WSF fails to provide and is committed to building a strong and genuine anti-imperialist movement. It seeks to unite those who are genuinely opposed to imperialist globalization and wars of aggression. Through a process of sharing experiences and analysing imperialist strategies, MR-2004 aims at developing a perspective that will unite all struggling forces irrespective of the forms of struggle they may choose to take the movement forward to confront and ultimately defeat imperialism.

Over the next two months, the participating organizations in MR will be conducting campaigns all over India and in different parts of the world to mobilize resources and people to make the event a success. We appeal to all genuine anti-imperialist organizations and individuals to join in this programme.

Signed by
Dr. Darshan Pal
Dr B.D. Sharma
Anoop Singh
Vilas Sonawane
AIPRF
Bharat Jan Andolan
CMM
Yuva Bharat

mumbai_resistance@indiatimes.com

Source: Mumbai Resistance - 2004