Call for rewriting history of South Asia
The Nation Islamabad
December 12, 2007
By Our Staff Reporter
The speakers showing their dissatisfaction over existing educational systems, curricula, history and natural resources ownership patterns in South Asia Tuesday called upon the need for alternative knowledge generation mechanisms, coordination among research community to promote a people-friendly research agenda, re-writing history and a change in paradigm for ownership of natural resource in South Asia.
On the second day of tenth sustainable development conference titled sustainable solutions: a spotlight on South Asian research organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) over 25 researchers from across the globe presented their research-based deliberations.
During the session on common history in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh the panelists called for rewriting political history of South Asia as the existing form of history being taught in all three countries was promoting sectarian fanaticism. Visalakshi Menon of University of Delhi, India pointed out that uncomfortable facts of history should be faced rather than concealed. Dr. Aneela Z. Babar of Monash University, Australia, while discussing the Khudai Khitmatgar movement, said that any literature on partition histories of South Asia has been a ‘narration of loss’. Dr. Nathalene Reynolds from Geneva speaking on “Indo-Pakistan Antagonism” also stressed the need for rewriting history, while keeping Kashmiryat a central concept.
During another session on whose right to land, the speakers Nazish Brohi from Karachi, Samina Afridi from Peshawar and Dr. Saba Gul Khattak from Islamabad strongly recommended the enforcement of law of inheritance and its application in FATA. Dr. Faqir Hussain, Secretary Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan lamented that the law of inheritance was the most ignored law in Pakistan and the non-enforcement of it was a major hurdle in the way of women’s empowerment.
Sanaullah Rustamani from Hyderabad discussed “disaster management policies for Khirthar range rivers of Sindh and Balochistan” in the session on disaster management in the South Asian context and recommended stone pitching of flood protection (FP) barrages, release of timely funds for repair and maintenance of FP barrages, issuing warnings to people before the floods, regular monitoring and repair of bunds before monsoon.
Adam Poulter and Abdul Khaliq from Action Aid Pakistan in their presentation called for the formation of citizens’ commissions and making activists aware of appropriate advocacy strategies for disaster preparedness.
Shreekant Gupta of National University of Singapore pointed out lack of emphasis on mitigation related issues because it required long-term political and economic commitments adding that no disaster mitigation initiative could succeed without total participation of communities and training of villagers.
Regional issues discussed at SDPI moot
The News Rawalpindi/Islamabad
December 12, 2007
By Rasheed Khalid
The participants of the 10th Sustainable Development Conference (SDC) on "Sustainable solutions: a spotlight on South Asian research" Tuesday deliberated upon issues of land, disaster management, gender and migration and trade and globalisation challenges in regional perspective.
The conference was organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
Shoaib Sultan Khan, Chairman of the National Rural Support Programme, rejecting the notion of preconceived projects/programmes at the macro level said that for the success of any programme, its miero-variations at the local level demand consultation and dialogues with each and every community.
He said it is up to the community to identify its potential not only as community but also at household level. He said that there is no dearth of professionals and volunteers in Pakistan and we only needed required resources and champions to replicate good causes and models.
Quoting Dr Akhtar Hameed Khan, he said that development will not come from the top. It will come from the bottom and it shall happen in pockets.
Dr Abid Suleri, Acting Executive Director of SDPI, referring to December 10, International Human Rights Day, said that sustainable development is nothing but a basic human right. He lamented that trans-disciplinary research that included people's perspective in defining the research problem, carrying it out, and governments of the world including South Asia rarely appreciated disseminating it.
He regretted that independent research institutions are not recognised by the Higher Education Commission as academic research institutes for funding purposes.
In the session on the gender, panellists called for the integration of a gender-sensitive approach at all policy levels. Aneel Salman from Rensselaer University, USA, said that some countries are being marginalised from the prospects of growth and development due to lack of access to telecommunication services. Imran Sikandar Baloch said that there is a social tendency to exclude women from decision-making, which affects both their lives and participation in the paid work force. He recommended the institutionalisation of gender-sensitive policies.
Dr Babar Shahbaz from SDPI presented an exploratory analysis of stakeholders in the context of interventions in the forestry sector in NWFP. Prakash C Tiwari from Kumaon University Nainital, Uttaranchal, India, said that the Himalayan terrain imposes severe limitations on resource productivity levels as well as infrastructure efficiency.
Scholars stress rewriting South Asian history
The Post Islamabad
December 12, 2007
By Mohsin Babbar
Expressing dissatisfaction over existing educational systems and curricula in South Asia, researchers Tuesday stressed the need for alternative knowledge generation mechanisms and coordination among research community to promote a people-friendly research and rewriting history.
They were speaking in 10th sustainable development conference titled 'Sustainable solutions: a spotlight on South Asian research' organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI)
Over 25 researchers from across the globe presented their research-based deliberations on the second day of the conference.
Dr Vandana Shiva, women's rights activist and writer from New Delhi will address the opening plenary "soil not oil" on the last day of the conference tomorrow. While the closing plenary in the evening will be addressed by Syed Babar Ali, vice president emeritus World Wide Fund for Nature on "business, CSR and the environment".
During the session on common history in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh the panelists called for rewriting political history of South Asia as the existing form of history being taught in all three countries was promoting sectarian fanaticism.
Visalakshi Menon of University of Delhi pointed out that uncomfortable fact of history should be faced rather than concealed. Dr Aneela Z Babar of Monash University, Australia, while discussing the Khudai Khitmatgar movement, said any literature on partition histories of South Asia had been a 'narration of loss.'
Dr Nathalene Reynolds from Geneva speaking on "Indo-Pakistan Antagonism" also stressed the need for rewriting history, while keeping Kashmiryat a central concept.
In another session, scholars drawn across from South Asia, UK, Canada, and Switzerland addressed issues of knowledge production and its uses and abuses. Showing concerns over growing corporatisation of knowledge, they recommended curriculum upgrading to enable students think critically; to preserve traditional forms of knowledge alongside new knowledge; promote research culture at universities.
During the session on 'Whose right to land', the speakers Nazish Brohi from Karachi, Samina Afridi from Peshawar and Dr Saba Gul Khattak from Islamabad strongly recommended enforcement of law of inheritance and its application in Fata.
Dr Faqir Hussain, secretary Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan, lamented that the law of inheritance was the most ignored law in Pakistan and the non-enforcement of it was a major hurdle in the way of women's empowerment.
Sanaullah Rustamani from Hyderabad discussed "disaster management policies for Khirthar range rivers of Sindh and Balochistan" in the session on 'disaster management in the South Asian context' and recommended stone pitching of flood protection (FP) barrages, release of timely funds for repair and maintenance of FP barrages, issuing warnings to people before the floods and regular monitoring and repair of bunds before monsoon.
Likewise for rehabilitation for Sindh and Balochistan, he said there was an immediate need for livestock vaccination, repair of broken roads, bridges, schools and hospitals. Adam Poulter and Abdul Khaliq from Action Aid Pakistan in their presentation called for the formation of citizens' commissions and making activists aware of appropriate advocacy strategies for disaster preparedness.
Shreekant Gupta of National University of Singapore pointed out lack of emphasis on mitigation-related issues because it required long-term political and economic commitments, adding that no disaster mitigation initiative could succeed without total participation of communities and training of villagers.
During the session on addressing the livelihood concerns of the farming communities, Prof Indra Nath Mukherji and Namrata Pathak from Jawaharlal Nehru University, India provided a comparative analysis of legislation on protection of plant varieties and access and benefit sharing (ABS) in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.
Dr Keya Ghosh's paper analysed that the institutional mechanisms provided in the Indian Biological Diversity Act 2002 for ensuring benefit sharing and how the funds raised through this benefit sharing could be channelised and utilised for sustainable development and conservation of agriculture and traditional knowledge.
Alternative knowledge generation tools needed
The Statesman Peshawar
December 12, 2007
Statesman Report
The speakers showing their dissatisfaction over existing educational systems, curricula, history and natural resources ownership patterns in S. Asia, called upon the need for alternative knowledge generation mechanisms, coordination among research community to promote a people-friendly research agenda, re-writing history and a change in paradigm for ownership of natural resource in S. Asia.
On the second day of tenth sustainable development conference titled sustainable solutions: a spotlight on South Asian research organized by the SDPI over 25 researchers from across the globe presented their research-based deliberations on Tuesday.
Dr. Vandana Shiva, women's rights activist and writer from New Delhi will address the opening plenary "soil not oil" on the last day of the conference tomorrow. While the closing plenary in the evening will be addressed by Syed Babar Ali, Vice President Emeritus, World Wide Fund for Nature on "business, CSR and the environment".
During the session on common history in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh the panelists called for rewriting political history of S. Asia as the existing form of history being taught in all three countries was promoting sectarian fanaticism.
Dr. Aneela Z. Babar of Monash University, Australia, while discussing the Khudai Khitrnatgar movement, said that any literature on partition histories of S. Asia has been a 'narration of 10ss'. In another session, scholars drawn across from South Asia, UK, Canada, and Switzerland addressed issues of knowledge production, its uses and abuses. Showing concerns over growing corporatisation of knowledge, they recommended to upgrade curriculum to enable students to think critically; to preserve traditional forms of knowledge alongside new knowledge; promote research culture and genuine inquiry at universities; observe discreet discrimination between knowledge and information; promote independent and institutionally-delinked research with emphasis on young researchers and greater coordination among researchers in S. Asia to enhance a people-friendly research agenda.
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