Date:08/01/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/01/08/stories/2003010805671200.htm

National

Asia must fight globalisation: Narayanan

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD JAN. 7. Describing the ongoing process of globalisation, ``inspired by a single power to subjugate the world'' as ``mindless march affecting people'', the former President, K. R. Narayanan, on Tuesday, hoped that the Asian countries would come together to drive it away like they did British imperialism earlier.

Addressing the concluding function of the six-day Asian Social Forum (ASF) here, he said, ``Globalisation is a fact today and it is also a fact that it is indiscriminately eating into the lives of the people. It is mindless imposition of policies irrespective of the conditions obtained in each country. The whole world is caught in a debt trap and no country can escape''.

``The ASF gathering here represents India, the weaker sections, children, women, rural people, the deprived and the exploited'', he reminded the large gathering and declared, ``The ASF is a counterblast to the World Economic Forum. It should herald a new people's movement to fight globalisation''.

He said it was upto Asia now to raise its voice against the neo-liberal policy of globalisation, out to subjugate the world. The voice which emerged from ASF here should reach out to all cities and countries of Asia, he said.

``Reforms are necessary, but for whom and for what?'' he asked. They should benefit the people, providing them employment, not throwing them out of jobs. ``We have built the precious State sector assiduously. They symbolise the triumph of India. We cannot privatise them for the sake of profit''. He said people should rise and give a fitting reply to these policies.

Mr. Narayanan also came down heavily on those who believed that socialism was dead and there was no role for the State. He told the gathering that the U.S. President, George Bush had recently announced $300 million assistance to support the country's private sector. ``State support is necessary''. Quoting a U.S economist, who had worked as chief economist with the World Bank, he said, the IMF, World Bank and the U.S. Treasury have come up with a ``Washington consensus'' to usher in a new economic order in the world and the IMF was behaving like a colonial ruler.

``We believe the world is pluralistic with different religions and nationalities. We want it to remain so. We do not want globalisation of a single power. We want it to be multipolar''.

In a recorded message sent here, Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace laureate and leader of Myanmar's democratic movement said, ``Not only should we believe that another world is possible but we have to say that another world must be created in order that we may be able to live in dignity as human beings. Occasions like the Social Forum help all of us to focus on problems of this world. You talk about anti-neo liberalism. I think we have yet to get to the stage in Burma when there is such thing as liberalism''.

Mohideen Abdul Kader of the Third World Network and Multiworld, Malaysia, said the ASF here has indeed been ``a unique expression of people's power and conscience: if properly nurtured, it will make another world not only possible but a certainty''.

Brinda Karat of the All India Democratic Women's Association, said winds of change were blowing across the world against globalisation, as shown by election results in Brazil and Venezuela. Describing the AP Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, as a symbol of globalisation, she called for all-out efforts to root out such neoliberal policy.

Referring to the ongoing Confederation of Indian Industry's meet here, she said while it was for the benefit of Multinational Corporations, the ASF reflected the sacrifices and toil of the masses.