INPUTS

Input I: Militarisation

Mr. Clement John, Secretary for International Affairs of the Christian Conference of Asia enlightened the participants, as concerned youth, on the growth of militarisation in Asia. He defined the term militarisation and dwelt on the causes of its rapid growth in the region which inter alia were:

1. the injustices prevailing within our societies coupled with the inability of the politicians to find a just and peaceful solution to the issues facing the people.

2. the interest of the superpowers

He stated that the Asian ruling elites after freeing themselves from the yoke of colonialism were never able to rise to the expectation of the people. These ruling elites got bogged down in wrangling for power positions. Having tasted the fruits of power they were not prepared to share it and submit it to the will of the people. In order to perpetuate their self-interest and hold on to their position they resorted to brute force and this paved the way for army interference. The men in Jackboots being well organised and disciplined soon came to have a major say in the affairs of the country.

Two specific examples of countries where there have been rapid growth in military control were Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Input II: Human Rights and Asian Issues

In his second lecture on Human Rights & Asian Realities, Mr. Clement John stated that Militarisation and Human Rights are closely inter-related. When the military takes over power, human rights violations become frequent. The three main institutions, the executive, legislature and judiciary come under the control of the military. Thus, the system of checks and balances, essential for a democratic system is destroyed. Instead, the will of the military commander becomes supreme and all decisions are made in accordance with his whims and fancies.

The institution of Judiciary which is meant to provide safeguard and redress for human rights violations is rendered powerless.

The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was adopted by the General Assembly in 1948 have had a tremendous impact throughout the world. All civilized nations are expected to subscribe to the principles enshrined in the International Bill of Human Rights. But, most of the third world countries are guilty of ignoring them when it comes to the question of implementation.

Towards the end of his lecture, Clement traced the role of the students in the struggle for change. He said the students have often acted as the conscience of the nation and have reflected the hopes and aspirations of the people. In their desire to witness transformation for a just socio-economic and political order, they have rendered many sacrifices - many young lives have been lost - the struggle still continues.

Today, in the Asian Region, we see that practically every Government has tried to impose restriction and control on student activity. This is primarily because the student communities in general are against the status quo and the unjust and oppressive structures of Asian societies.

After dwelling on the student movement in the Asian continent, Clement raised a few questions with regard to SCM's cooperation and collaboration with other national movements that are involved in issues relating to socio-economic and political change in our society. He said that the issues

Clement John addressing

the participants

of human rights cannot be undertaken alone by SCM, alliances have to be formed with others including people of other faiths and other secular bodies.

Input III: People's Movements in Asia

Bessie Rifareal of SCM Philippines, an Executive Committee Member of USCF Asia/Pacific, gave a presentation on People's Movements in Asia/Pacific. She started by enjoining the group in an exercise at identifying issues in the region. In the next exercise, the participants exchanged notes with each other as they tried to describe and analyze the different people's movements they are involved in.

Through these exercises and the very approach of the presentation, Bessie tried to impress upon the group that building people's movements is not done by a single person but by the collective effort of a people who, despite cultural and social barriers, together have the unbeatable power to bring about social change. A people's movement, she said, is any collective and long-term action of a people guided by the just and moral interests and aspirations of that people who are either marginalized, oppressed or exploited by a dominant class, race or sex.

This people should identify for themselves the issues and situations which they want to confront and change based on their own experiences, and from this, project their visions towards which steps will be undertaken such as awareness-building, organising and mobilising people to action. These steps must be guided by clear direction and objectives so that people's power can be sustained and further developed.

Bessie stressed the necessity of coming together and sharing the resources of each other's experiences and faith - faith in God, faith in the people, and faith in the justness of the cause that move people and peoples to band together and fight. She also cautioned the participants that taking an active part in people's movements involves a lot of sacrifices as she shared her own experiences in participating in the people's liberation struggle in the Philippines.

Bessie (centre) speaking on Peoples Movement

Input IV; Peace Movement

Dr. Samuel Lee, Professor of the University of Korea, spoke on Peace in the Korean context. He said that Peace for the Korean people meant a security that is free from any attack or invasion. Peace can include various contents, as the Hebrew word "Shalom" in the New Testament and the Chinese word Wha have implied: wholeness, well-being, growth, harmony, security, equality, development, abundance. But, the Korean people’s aspiration of peace is "remaining in security and health".

He quoted the concept of peace as defined by peace researchers in three dimensions:

The first defines peace in a negative way, as the state of the community where war and violence are not present. Secondly in a more positive sense, peace is the state of the society or nation where the causes of war and violence - such as conflict, antagonism and aggression - are removed, so that latent war may not exist. Thirdly, real peace can be realized when the bases of conflicts and antagonisms are eliminated, that is when a peaceful social structure is established, and when relationships of equality and human rights are guaranteed. The peace movement is, in the first sense, the anti-war movement or anti-nuclear movement, in the second respect, the reconciliation and co-existence movement and in the third dimension, the justice, equality and human rights movement.

They have taken all we’ve got… Helen Boyle ↓

↑ Prof. Lee meets local host committee members

Input V: Minority Movement

Ms. Helen Boyle, Director of Tranby Aboriginal College, Sydney, briefed the participants on Australian Aborigine and Racism in Australia. She gave a brief description of the social structure of the aboriginal people by tracing the history from the time of 1788 when the British convicts and gaolers invaded the peaceful surroundings of their land. The aboriginal people accepted the whites, as they believed that they were spirits of their ancestors and welcomed them into the clan. It was only much later that they discovered that the whites were not spirits, but people who invaded their sacred land. It was too late then, as the whites had already commenced with the process of colonisation.

Helen also drew in comments from Georgette Bartholomew (nominee of SCM Australia) and made her relate her experiences as an aborigine. During the lecture, the participants also actively participated by commenting on the minority situation in their respective country.

Lively discussions followed every input presentation. All the participants felt that the inputs were very enlightening, as it generated much interest in regional issues and spurred many to continue to keep abreast of national, regional and even global realities/trends.