BurmaNet News, Jan 29, 2004

[editor at burmanet.org]

Jan 29, 2004 Issue # 2414


INSIDE BURMA
BBC Monitor: Burma criticizes US resolution calling for sanctions

BUSINESS / MONEY
Business Standard: Myanmar in talks for gas pipeline
PTI: India plans to export diesel to Myanmar
AFP: Three private Myanmar banks to reopen after last year's crisis: bank

REGIONAL
Hindu: Travelers may be screened

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: Kofi Annan receives EU rights prize for UN
Haaretz: African and Asian nations are most at risk for genocide

OPINION / OTHER
Mizzima: Truce with Ethnic Rebels Gives Junta a Boost
US Dept. Of State: Daily Press Briefing
Irrawaddy: World Social Forum: Challenging the Global Elite



INSIDE BURMA
___________________________________

Jan 29, BBC Monitor
Burma criticizes US resolution calling for sanctions

Text of Information Sheet No. C-2917 (I/L) issued by the "Myanmar
Information Committee" in Rangoon on 28 January, carried in English by
Myanmar Information Committee web site on 28 January

The government of Myanmar (Burma) noted with surprise Washington's recent
"sense of the Congress" resolution that the United Nations Security
Council "should debate and consider sanctions 'against Myanmar' as a
result of the threat to regional stability and peace" posed by the
government. Washington offered no evidence of this "threat to regional
stability", nor did it explain how sanctions would help regional
stability. Perhaps that is because the evidence suggests that the
government of Myanmar has, in the past fifteen years, made huge
contributions to regional stability, including:

Negotiating cease-fire arrangements with almost all of the armed ethnic
insurgent groups in Myanmar. Through diplomacy, the government has
replaced decades of armed conflicts with cooperation among our national
races. All of these constructive cooperation have made Myanmar a more
stable and peaceful nation.

Joining the international community. Under the previous government, the
Burma Socialist Programme Party, Myanmar was isolated from the rest of the
world. Not even tourists were allowed to visit. But under the current
government, Myanmar has opened its doors and is joining hands with the
outside world in trade, diplomacy, scientific cooperation, humanitarian
work, and many other areas. Under this government, Myanmar joined the
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), and has been a
responsible, contributing member since 1997.

Fighting drug production. Since the opium trade was introduced by Great
Britain in the 19th Century, drugs have been a problem for Asia and the
world. This government has waged a war on drugs which has cut opium
production by 70 per cent in the past five years (according to US State
Department figures.). Major drug traffickers have been put out of
business, and billions of dollars worth of drugs have been destroyed. And
Myanmar has waged this war with virtually no help from the outside world.

Developing the Myanmar economy. Until the late 1980's, Myanmar was an
isolated, socialist, agricultural economy, dominated by state-owned
enterprises. But under this government, international trade and investment
have grown, entrepreneurs have been encouraged, and the economy has
broadened into new fields including housing, tourism, oil and gas
development, and manufacturing. Myanmar has been moving steadily towards a
free market economy, in which all its people can participate and prosper.

Moving towards democracy this past August, Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt
announced a seven-point road map to democracy, including a National
Convention to write a national constitution. The National Convention,
which will include representatives from all parts of Myanmar society, is
scheduled to begin this year. This road map has received praise and
support from Myanmar's neighbours and partners in the region.

All of these steps forward have made Myanmar more stable and peaceful than
at any time in history. Myanmar has no territorial ambitions. It has no
weapons of mass destruction. It is on good terms with all its neighbours.
It is on the road to democracy. It poses a threat to no one. It is among
the most peaceful and stable countries in the world.

The United States, meanwhile, has consistently attempted to destabilize
Myanmar. It has imposed sanctions, undermining the economy and creating
hardship for the Myanmar people. It tried to prevent Myanmar's admission
to ASEAN. And, even though the United States is the world's largest market
for illegal drugs, Washington refuses to help Myanmar fight narcotics.

Moreover, Washington gives tens of millions of dollars to various Myanmar
expatriate groups, with no accountability or responsibility. These groups
have made no contribution towards stability in the region, and often raise
tensions in the region instead. One expatriate group, the "Vigorous
Burmese Student Warriors", even attacked the Myanmar Embassy in Thailand
in 1999 and took 38 hostages at gunpoint. Other expatriate groups have
attacked civilians, and even a hospital in Thailand. Are these the kinds
of activities that contribute to regional peace and stability?

The government of Myanmar therefore urges the US Congress to abandon its
misguided attempts to destabilize Myanmar. Sanctions, as our partners in
ASEAN recently noted, create problems instead of solving them. Instead, we
encourage Washington to join with us and our regional partners in
developing a peaceful, prosperous and democratic Myanmar. The government
urges the United States to be a positive partner in democracy and
prosperity. This is better than promoting poverty, instability, drugs and
armed conflicts.

Source: Myanmar Information Committee web site, Rangoon, in English 28 Jan 04


BUSINESS / MONEY
_____________________________________

Jan 29, Business Standard - Pradeep Puri in New Delhi
Myanmar in talks for gas pipeline, GAIL may invest Rs 4,000 crore to move
the gas

An India-Myanmar gas pipeline is in the offing, with Myanmar’s Energy
Minister Lun Thi meeting Petroleum Minister Ram Naik to discuss the issue.

The ministers will meet here tomorrow to consider the possibility of
exporting natural gas to India from a newly-discovered gas field in
north-west Myanmar.

The vast gas field has been discovered by an Indo-Korean consortium,
comprising ONGC Videsh Limited, GAIL (India) Limited, Daewoo International
Limited and Kogas.

The estimated recoverable reserve of the discovery is in the range of 4 to
6 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas, which is equivalent to 700 million to
1.1 billion barrels of oil.

GAIL has already announced plans of investing around Rs 4,000 crore to
transport the gas from this field to India.

Under the production sharing contract (PSC), the Myanmar Oil and Gas
Enterprise (MOGE), a department of the government of Myanmar, has a 65 per
cent share of the production, while the consortium reserves the right to
market the remaining 35 per cent.

GAIL has a signed a memorandum of understanding with OVL and an
understanding with Daewoo International Corporation to market the gas
produced, in India. It is expected that GAIL will have access to around
2.1 TCF or more for the Indian market.

GAIL is also in discussion with MOGE for transporting the surplus gas
after the domestic demands of Myanmar are met. The exploratory well,
spudded in November 2003, produced gas at a significant rate under the
drill stem test.

The commercial production from this field is expected to start by
mid-2006. GAIL will spend the next 5-6 months assessing the availability
of gas, the various transport options and the best route to adopt.

This transportation can be undertaken either through an offshore pipeline
with the landfall point in south Bengal or through an onshore pipeline
laid across Myanmar to enter India at a suitable point in Mizoram.

This pipeline would traverse the Northeast to finally emerge in north
Bengal as a part of the National Gas Grid. The final route will depend on
two more structures in the same block, which are being currently explored.

It will take about six months to determine their potential.
____________________________

Jan 29, Press Trust of India
India plans to export diesel to Myanmar

India will export surplus diesel to Myanmar even as New Delhi was
exploring the possibility of building a pipeline to import gas from the
offshore area of that country.

"Numaligarh Refinery Ltd is to begin exporting diesel by road to Myanmar
likely by July," Petroleum Secretary BK Chaturvedi told reporters after
meeting Myanmar's Energy Minister Lun Thi.

NRL will also explore the possibility of laying a pipeline to Rangoon for
supplying diesel.

Chaturvedi said Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) will conduct a
feasibility study for bringing gas from A-I Block in off-shore Myanmar
where four to six trillion cubic feet (TFC) of gas reserves were
discovered earlier this month.

ONGC Videsh has 20 per cent stake in A-I Block while GAIL has 10 per cent
stake.
____________________________

Jan 29, AFP
Three private Myanmar banks to reopen after last year's crisis: bank

Three of the six private Myanmar banks forced to close most operations
last year amid a major financial crisis have been cleared to resume normal
business next week, banking sources said Thursday.

"The crisis committee formed last year to investigate banking
irregularities of six leading private banks has given the green light for
Myanmar Oriental Bank (MOB), Myanmar Universal Bank (MUB) and the Kambawsa
Bank (KB) to carry out normal banking business from February 2," a KB
official told AFP.

The crisis committee conducted a months-long investigation into banking
practices, another bank source said, but the fate of the remaining three
banks, two of which have been accused by the United States of money
laundering, remained uncertain.

Myanmar suffered a crushing banking crisis beginning last February with
the failure of 14 financial services groups to pay investors. The groups
were operating outside government regulations and offering high returns of
about 60 percent a year -- six times higher than public institutions.

The scandal prompted a panic run on the country's 20 private banks and a
dangerous liquidity crunch ensued.

The military junta which runs Myanmar was forced to intercede by imposing
strict limits on withdrawals, suspending cheque and credit card services,
banning new loans, and bailing out banks with several billion kyat (860
kyat to the dollar at current unofficial exchange rates).

The junta blamed the crisis on "uncertainties created by baseless rumours".
____________________________

Jan 29, World Markets Analysis
India Considers Developing Energy Linkages to Myanmar

The Indian government is looking at a number of ways to develop its energy
links to Myanmar, including a subsea gas pipeline between the countries.
Earlier this month ONGC Videsh and Korean partner Daewoo Corp. announced
major gas discoveries at their A-1 concession on the south-west coast of
Myanmar. India is seen as its most viable end market, although any
pipeline would have to bypass Bangladesh's territorial waters (see
Myanmar: 16 January 2004: Daewoo and ONGC Videsh Find Gas in Myanmar).
India's Nurmaligarh Refinery Co. is also hoping to deliver surplus diesel
production to the country across its land border, starting later this
year. Deliveries will initially be made by road, but India is hopeful that
an overland pipeline may eventually be built.

Significance: Myanmar was once one of the largest oil-producing countries
in Asia, but political instability and economic restrictions mean that
production has dwindled over the past two decades to just 20,000 bpd and
the economy is reliant on imported fuel products. Indian officials
therefore realise that Myanmar can serve a useful strategic purpose to
India, both as an end market in the short term and potentially as a major
supplier of oil and gas further into the future.

Depositors have since been restricted to weekly withdrawals of just
100,000 kyat (116 dollars), but this is expected to ease soon, the sources
said.

KB officials said they were expecting brisk business upon reopening next
week despite the widespread assumption the public had lost confidence in
private banks.

"Our bank has not only paid up the government's bail-out loan but is now
solvent enough to resume normal banking business," a senior bank official
said, but added that credit card services will remain suspended.

In December Myanmar said it launched an investigation into two private
banks accused of money laundering by Washington, which blacklisted Myanmar
for failing to crack down on irregularities.

Myanmar's economy, hammered by both harsh international sanctions and
gross internal economic mismanagement, has long teetered on the edge of
complete collapse.


REGIONAL
____________________________

Jan 29, The Hindu
Travelers may be screened

India might resort to screening passengers from Pakistan and Myanmar -
like during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome scare- as a precaution,
in view of the bird flu or avian influenza epidemic in these countries
(although Myanmar disputes it). With nearly four million chickens having
succumbed to the influenza in Pakistan and reports of spread of the
disease in Myanmar, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying under
the Ministry of Agriculture has sought screening of people travelling into
India from these countries, at airports and sea ports. The States
bordering these countries have been asked to be vigilant.

In Punjab, a red alert has been sounded in three border cities, including
Amritsar, Ferozepur and Gurdaspur. Special teams of veterinary doctors
have been constituted to assist customs authorities at the Wagha border
for checking illegal imports of any domestic and wild birds, chicks,
turkeys, eggs and meat. The State Animal Disease Emergency Committee is
closely monitoring the situation.

Even as the epidemic shows signs of spreading, the Department of Animal
Husbandry is considering imposing a total ban on imports of domestic and
wild birds, and their products from any foreign country, including Europe
and the United States. It has so far restricted imports from
widely-affected Pakistan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Japan.
The virus that has killed flocks in Pakistan, Laos and Taiwan is a
different, milder strain of avian flu, not the same kind that is a threat
to people. New cases have been reported from South China.

The influenza, which is a serious disease of domestic birds, particularly
chicken and ducks, can infect humans as well if the virus undergoes
mutation. Ten human deaths have been reported - eight in Vietnam and two
in Thailand, although there is no transmission from human to human. There
is no evidence that the virus is being passed through eating chicken
products. Heat kills viruses.

In its advisory, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United
Nations said that despite Vietnam having rapidly applied control measures
such as killing several thousands of chickens, disinfection, quarantine,
control of animal movements and general surveys, the situation continues
to be a cause for concern, with possible new outbreaks.


INTERNATIONAL
____________________________

Jan 29, AFP
Kofi Annan receives EU rights prize for UN

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan Thursday received the European
Parliament's prestigious Sakharov human rights prize in honour of UN staff
killed trying to bring peace to the world.

Parliament president Pat Cox handed over the 2003 prize to Annan during an
emotional ceremony attended by the widow and son of Sergio Vieira de
Mello, who was killed along with 22 others in a bomb attack in Baghdad in
August.

The prize was accorded, in the words of the citation, to Annan "and all
staff of the United Nations, in special memory of Sergio Vieira de Mello
and many other UN officials who have lost their lives in carrying out
their work for peace in the world".

The Brazilian, one of the UN's best-known diplomats, was Annan's special
representative for Iraq. He was killed by a suicide truck-bomb attack on
the UN headquarters in the Iraqi capital on August 19.

Annie de Mello blinked back tears as she was given a standing ovation by
EU lawmakers at the award ceremony. Several other relatives of victims as
well as survivors of the Baghdad attack were also in attendance.

Others present were past recipients of the prize, named after celebrated
Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, including East Timorese President Xanana
Gusmao, Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova and Chinese dissident Wei
Jingsheng.

Cox paid tribute to other recipients unable to attend the ceremony --
Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest,
Kurdish lawmaker Leyla Zana, who is jailed in Turkey, and Cuban dissident
Oswaldo Paya.

Annan said he was "deeply touched" that the parliament had chosen to
honour Vieira de Mello and other UN staff killed in the line of their
work.

"This prize for freedom of thought is not only a worthy recognition of the
ultimate sacrifice that they made in the cause of peace," he said in a
speech.

"It is also a welcome acknowledgement of the kinds of people they were.
The brave men and women we lost in Baghdad on 19 August -- UN staff and
others -- were free spirits and free thinkers," he said.

"Like many who survived the blast, the United Nations itself carries deep
wounds. But our determination is stronger than ever, and we value the
solidarity of friends like you."

The Baghdad blast contributed to Annan's decision in October to pull
non-Iraqi UN staff out of the restive country.

On Wednesday the UN chief said he remained concerned about security in
Iraq, which would be the "determinant" factor in deciding when to send a
UN team back to Baghdad.
____________________________

Jan 29, Haaretz
African and Asian nations are most at risk for genocide, international
forum is told

STOCKHOLM - The danger of genocide exists in five countries in Africa and
Asia, according to an American expert who yesterday addressed the
Stockholm International Convention on the Prevention of Genocide.

Barbara Harp, of the U.S. Center for Conflict Management, said there was a
high risk of genocide in Sudan, Myanmar, Burundi, Rwanda and the
Democratic Republic of Congo.

She told the forum that eight other countries - Somalia, Uganda, Algeria,
China, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Ethiopia - were also at risk.

Asked by Haaretz about the dangers in Israel, Harp said that experts at
the center did not believe there was a strong likelihood that Israel would
carry out genocide against the Palestinians. Some of the central
indications for genocide and, in particular, the ideological basis, did
not exist in Israel, Harp said.

"Israel behaves badly at times, and even very badly," she said, "but it is
a normal country."

Zimbabwe is the most likely candidate

The question of where genocide was likely to take place in the world today
was the main concern of the experts at the Stockholm meet. Samantha Powers
of Harvard University and the U.S. Center for Conflict Management said
that in her opinion, the most likely candidate was Zimbabwe. Most of the
experts agreed that at present, the African continent was the most likely
breeding ground for genocide.

The international forum concluded its deliberations yesterday with a
resolution taken by the 55 participating countries.

At Israel's request, incitement to genocide was added to the phenomena
mentioned in the resolution on the prevention of genocide. Israel did not
object to the Swedes' request to include Islamophobia alongside
anti-Semitism and xenophobia in the resolution.

The Swedish media reported yesterday that the United States and Israel had
prevented an initiative to have the resolution include a mention of the
International Criminal Court at The Hague as the main body designed to
prevent genocide. Israeli delegation sources denied this.

The court was currently studying complaints of genocide in five countries,
its chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, told the gathering. He said one
of the countries was Congo, but refused to reveal the other names.

Israeli delegates expressed satisfaction with the international forum's
outcome. The fact that there was no criticism of Israel at such a large
international gathering was unusual, Foreign Ministry official Nimrod
Barkan said.

Ministry officials also praised the Swedes for not inviting prominent
pro-Palestinian speakers such as Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa.

Israel was especially pleased that Prof. Yehuda Bauer, the academic
adviser to the forum, and Dr. Yigael Carmon had been invited as genocide
experts.

A call by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to set up a special UN
supervisory mechanism to prevent genocide was not included in the final
resolution, which spoke in general terms of examining the various options
to prevent genocide, including the one raised by Annan.


OPINION / OTHER
_____________________________________

Jan 29, Mizzima via IPS
Truce with Ethnic Rebels Gives Junta a Boost – Larry Jagan

An official ceasefire agreement between Burma's military leaders and
rebels with the Karen National Union (KNU), which may only be weeks away,
promises to give Rangoon a key publicity victory.

BANGKOK, Jan 29 (IPS) - After all, the KNU is the largest and most
significant ethnic group that has been waging a guerrilla war - for 55
years now -- against the military government. Rangoon, for its part, has
long been anxious to negotiate ceasefire agreements with rebel groups.

The KNU and the Burmese regime are planning to meet again in the next few
weeks probably in Pa'an, the capital of northern Karen state, which
borders Thailand. A formal peace agreement may be agreed at that meeting.

The turning point in peace negotiations came in mid-January, when the KNU
military leader Gen Bo Mya went to Rangoon and agreed in principle to a
peace deal with Burmese Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt. ''But there'll have
to be many more meetings before there is a formal arrangement,'' said the
Karen spokesman David Taw, after returning to Bangkok on Jan. 22.

Until now the Karen rebels have been labelled bandits and terrorists, but
Prime Minister Khin Nyunt even hosted a birthday party for Gen Bo Mya in
Rangoon.

Resolving the ethnic rebellions has been a crucial part of the military
government's claim to legitimacy. It is also a central part of Khin
Nyunt's plans for ''national reconciliation'' - as the regime describes
its proposed political reform.

''Peace talks between Prime Minister Khin Nyunt and General Bo Mya clearly
show that the Burmese leaders are pushing ahead with their process of
national reconciliation,'' said Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart
Sathirathai after meeting the Karen leader on his return to
Bangkok.

''It shows that Khin Nyunt is seriously moving forward with his road
map,'' he added in an interview.

The Burmese government is keen that all ethnic groups, which have a long
history of chafing at Rangoon's rule, should participate in the National
Convention due to be reconvened later this year to draw up a new
constitution. This is the first step in the prime minister's seven-stage
road map to democracy.

For the KNU's part, the ceasefire may well be a recognition of the toll
that war has taken. Its headquarters fell nearly a decade ago and it no
longer has the same support from the Thai military, which had been keen to
see it form a buffer zone with Burma.

More than 120,000 Karen live in camps along the Thai border and some
200,000 are believed to be internally displaced, driven away by what
dissidents and human rights activists say are military campaigns by
Rangoon's armed forces.

If the KNU enters into a peace pact, the handful of other ethnic rebel
groups still fighting are likely to follow.

The Karenni (the Karenni National Progressive Party or KNPP) and the Chin
(Chin National Front or CNF) are already discussing a truce with Rangoon
through intermediaries.

More than 20 ethnic rebel groups and factions already have ceasefire
agreements with Rangoon. The first were negotiated in 1989, including one
with the Wa (United Wa State Party) which has the most powerful military
wing with over 20,000 armed troops under its command.

All these peace deals are informal arrangements with no signed agreements.

However, rebels with the Kachin ethnic group, the Kachin Independence
Organisation or KIO were an exception and signed a formal ceasefire
agreement with the local military commander after they successfully
negotiated their truce in 1994.

For years the issue of a possible ceasefire agreement with Burma's
generals has cause division and resentment within the KNU.

There has been intermittent contact between the two sides for the past 10
years. Prior to the latest initiative, the last real talks between the two
sides took place in 1996.

But communication channels have remained open between Gen Khin Nyunt as
the military intelligence chief and Gen Bo Mya. For instance, the Burmese
leader has continued to regularly send a bottle of special Burmese fish
sauce only available in Rangoon to the Karen military
leader, say Burmese military intelligence officials.

In recent months, Gen Bo Mya has seized the initiative. He sent a personal
delegation to Rangoon in mid-December to explore a possible ceasefire. At
the time this was not well received within the KNU, especially among t the
political wing of the organisation and some senior Karen military
commanders.

But in the last few weeks, the Karen have united behind the initiative and
agreed a strategy for continued talks with the Burmese regime.

Their priorities are the negotiation of a ceasefire agreement, setting up
a process of monitoring infringements of the truce, and deciding how to
deal with the 'internally displaced people' in Karen state that number
more than quarter of a million people, according to aid workers along the
Thai-Burma border.

The Burmese government has already informally invited the KNU to
participate in the national convention. However, Taw said, ''The KNU will
only decide on that after a formal agreement on a ceasefire.''

For Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt, getting the Karen involved in the
National Convention would be crucial. All the other ceasefire groups have
already pledged their willingness to participate. But most of these groups
have privately urged the regime to include the ethnic groups still waging
armed struggle, especially the Karen, and declare a nationwide ceasefire.

It would seem that this may have helped motivate Gen Khin Nyunt's latest
overtures to the KNU, though the Thai government has also been urging
Rangoon to resolve the remaining conflicts, particularly with the KNU. 
But as Khin Nyunt tries to ensure that all the ethnic groups participate
in the National Convention, the date of its reconvening may be further
delayed.

''It will start some time in 2004,'' is what the military intelligence
officer in charge of preparations would tell the visiting Karen
delegation. That runs counter to previous hints from Burma's Foreign
Minister Win Aung that it should begin its deliberations in the first few
months of this year.

''The National Convention will start soon,'' said Surakiart, ''now that
the Karen are on board''.
____________________________

Jan 28, US Dept. of State
Daily Press Briefing, Richard Boucher, Spokesman
Washington, DC, January 28, 2004

[The following excerpt has been taken from the daily press briefing, Jan
28, 2004.  For the full transcript please visit:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2004/28557.htm - Ed]

QUESTION: The Burmese Government has accused the U.S. of trying to
destabilize it by way of persuading the UN to impose sanctions. Do you
have any comment on that?

MR. BOUCHER: The comment that was made really raises a number of issues.
The first is the question of stability in Burma. For there to be stability
in Burma, there need to be substantive discussions among the government,
the democratic opposition, the ethic minorities, that lead to national
reconciliation and restoration of democracy. The lack of that dialogue,
the lack of progress in the direction of real democracy, is the reason for
any instability there.

It is the responsibility of the government to allow such substantive
discussion and the first step toward that end will be the immediate and
unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other prisoners.

Our policy towards Burma, the second aspect that's raised, including
sanctions, is designed to encourage that kind of dialogue and that kind of
progress towards real democracy that can lead to stability and prosperity
for the people of Burma, as well as greater respect for human rights.

The third issue that's raised is the economic situation. The economic
situation in Burma is the result of the military junta's mismanagement of
the Burmese economy. The reason the economy is poor there is not because
of a lack of capability of Burmese people or Burmese national resources;
it's because of the way the government manages the economy. And that's
where the focus needs to stay.

____________________________

Jan 29, Irrawaddy
World Social Forum: Challenging the Global Elite - By Tom Fawthrop/Mumbai

The World Social Forum (WSF) defies any simple description. Far more than
the sum of the 1,200 events focussed around the slogan "Another World Is
Possible," it was a multimedia extravaganza of non-stop documentaries,
films, live music and theater. It symbolized an alternative festival of
the UN with 130 countries represented, and proceedings conducted primarily
in three languages: Hindi, English and Spanish.

The average daily crowd of 120,000 participated in an all-embracing global
experience, where alternative Asian dreams danced to the sound of African
drumbeats. The WSF was conceived and born in Puerto Alegre, Brazil, and
the torch was passed to Asia for the first time this year. More than 150
Brazilians, including two government ministers and several close advisors
of the president, made the long journey to Mumbai to support the
transition.

Forums, videos, and daily processions of protestors created a synergy of
total activity that was both exhausting and exhilarating. Hundreds of
Tibetan refugees based in northern India marched every day in spectacular
color, appealing for China to permit their land to become a zone of peace.
Militant Korean students and the determined Japanese Railway Workers Union
demanding an end to the privatization of public resources made a big
impact with their lively drumbeats and disciplined marches.

For the media it was mission impossible. Everytime you retreated to the
excellent media center to email a story from the computers, you missed out
on one or two episodes at the carnival of the world’s marginalized people.

The organizers practiced what they preached. Multinationals Coca Cola and
Pepsi were banned. Instead, vendors provided sugar cane and a range of
fresh fruit juices. Even Bill Gates and Microsoft Word were sidelined by
the international media center, with Indian software manufacturer Linux
providing an alternative operating system.

The WSF is still a growing infant, born only three and a half years ago in
Puerto Alegre. This conference was the forum’s fourth, but the first one
to be hosted in Asia, with hundreds of Asian NGOs, political activists,
and analysts in attendance. Bhutanese and Tibetan refugees, Korean and
Japanese trade unionists, Filipino NGOs, and a 30-strong delegation from
Vietnam were there. So too were representatives from Burmese human rights
groups, media outlets, women’s groups and ethnic organizations. One of the
Burmese participants estimated that almost 20,000 people visited the Burma
exhibits, which featured photo displays, political literature and Burmese
food.

Globalization as it has been advocated seems to replace the old
dictatorships of national elites with new dictatorships of international
finance. —Joseph Stiglitz

No less than 10 different forums concerned issues about the dictatorship
in Burma were held. They included the road to democracy, the impact of
tourism, gas pipelines, and networking with democratic voices from
Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nepal.

But the WSF was above all important for India, due to the light it shone
on the modern day outrage of the caste system, and the rare unity it
forged among a huge variety of leftist parties, campaigns and NGOs in
opposition to the corporate globalization of this vast Asian economy.

The high priests of the Hindu caste system proclaim that Dalits, or
untouchables, should not be allowed to sit on the same bus seat as higher
caste Indians. But the Dalits have started marching for their rights and
some 25,000 joined the WSF to huge cheers from the mass gathering. The
rights of Dalits and all other peoples suffering race and class
discrimination was adopted as one of the five major themes for the WSF
panels and forums.

Victorio Agnoletto, an Italian doctor and member of the WSF coordinating
council, hailed Mumbai as, "a great success because it as added Asia to
the previous Latin America, US and Europe base." He added: "Also here in
India there has been a major shift from mostly middle class to the
marginalized, the workers and the poor."

It is a measure of the growing international respect for the WSF that a
wide spectrum of distinguished personalities agreed to participate in
various forums, including the most recent Nobel peace laureate, Iranian
human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi; Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz; a
whistle-blower from the World Bank, Mary Robinson; and former UN human
rights chief and veteran heroine of the Vietnam War, Madame Nguyen Thi
Binh.

Representatives of several UN agencies including the World Health
Organization (WHO) and the UN Development Program (UNDP) participated in
debates on HIV/AIDS and human development. UNDP chief Mark Malloch Brown
recognizes that globalization has increased a lot of suffering around the
world, and the UNDP is striving to distance itself from World Bank
strategies.

 The WSF was above all important for India, due to the light it shone on
the modern day outrage of the caste system, and the rare unity it forged.

Ex-World Banker Stiglitz commented: "Globalization as it has been
advocated seems to replace the old dictatorships of national elites with
new dictatorships of international finance." But unlike many activists he
still maintained that globalization "could be fixed," and the World Bank,
the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
could be reformed.

Professor Walden Bello of FocusSouth, which is based at Chulalongkorn
University in Bangkok, disagrees. He cited the founding articles of the
Bretton Woods charter for the IMF and World Bank that poor nations must be
forced to pay off their debts rather than be bailed out by the rich
nations.

The Brazilians are optimistic about the WSF’s future. After the second
forum, grassroots mobilization helped to finally catapult trade union
leader and WSF stalwart Lula into the presidency, inspiring hope all over
Latin America.

And much was achieved in Mumbai. Christians from Latin America joined
Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs in a spirit of eceumenical tolerance
and mutual respect. The joint declaration of the National Council of
Churches in India and the Christian Conference of Asia proclaimed the WSF
as the most important development in Asia since the "spirit of Bandung
Conference in 1955."

Tom Fawthrop is a journalist based in Phnom Penh and Bangkok.
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