South Asian Assembly of Peoples Movements and Organisations Begins in Bangladesh

A two-day assembly of peoples movements and organisations from South Asia and South East Asia began in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Friday. The ‘South Asian Assembly of Peoples Movement and Organisations’ is part of the global mobilisation for the international conference of people’s movements and organisations which will be organised in Caracas, Venezuela in February this year.

The assembly was inaugurated by Rashed Khan Menon, the Minister of Social Welfare (Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh) and President of Workers Party of Bangladesh. “The principal objective of neoliberal capitalism continues to be the endless accumulation of capital and the creation of profits for a tiny elite”, said Menon.

Noting that this model of neoliberalism capitalism survives by denying all basic rights to a majority of the world’s population, he observed that ‘Asia is no exception and most countries in our continent follow the same model of capitalist development.’

Menon said that this unjust and exploitative system could be challenged through the building of solidarity and not through fragmented movements in our countries.

Mujahidul Islam Salim, the President of the Communist Party of Bangladesh, delivering the opening address said “ the working class people and the masses have to flight to get rid of capitalism. Imperialism shifts the burden of the crisis on the shoulder of dependent countries of the third world and also shoulder of the working class of advanced capitalist countries.”

He reiterated that the fight has to be global in character.

Madhav Kumar Nepal, the former Prime Minister of Nepal and member of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) gave the keynote address and elaborated about the recent resounding victory of the communist parties in Nepal. He said that mutual understanding and greater solidarity would strengthen our struggle against neoliberalism and capitalism.

Speaking about the need for unity of struggles, he said that very soon the two left parties in Nepal- Communist Party of Nepal (UML) and Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) - would be united to form a single party.

“We live today in a deeply unequal world where financial capital, supported by technological and military power, exercises power on the entire range of human activities in most parts of the world. Capitalism is experiencing a prolonged crisis and is forcing structural changes in the global economic system to perpetuate its hegemony,” noted a statement issued by the assembly.

Arguing that these changes are devastating the livelihoods of people and promoting conflicts and wars in different parts of the world, the assembly said, “there is a need for popular movements across the globe to get to know each other and dialogue to seek solutions for the problems that are affecting our peoples.”

The South Asian assembly, along with other regional assemblies of people’s movement and organisations being organised in different parts of the world, attempts to forge a global alliance of local and regional struggles.

“We need a global movement that aims to organise people’s aspirations for a democratic, revolutionary and radical social transformation, to extract humanity from its current state and to resurrect the ideal of human and social emancipation.”

The South Asian assembly, which will be attended by leaders and members of people’s movements and organisations from South Asia and South East Asia, is deliberating upon four broad themes- fundamentalism and authoritarianism; Neoliberal economy and its impact; People’s struggle on livelihood and democracy; And the challenges and experiences in building socialism in the 21st Century.

The Caracas assembly to be held in Venezuela will be the first step towards forging the solidarity of movements, guided by common ideas, and committed to anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist resistance.