August 18th, 2001
8:30 - 9:30 am : Registration and Breakfast
9:30 - 11:00 am : Nuclearisation of South Asia, Screening of Documentary 'India and Pakistan Under the Nuclear Shadow' (35 minutes), made by Pervez Hoodbhoy, Professor of Physics, Quaid-e-Azam Univ., Islamabad and peace activist with Pakistan Peace Council.
Discussion with Zia Mian, Princeton University and peace activist with Pakistan Peace Council. [zia@princeton.edu]
Tea.
11:00 - 1:00 pm : Communalisation of the Education Process
The Pakistan Experience, Abdul Nayyar, Professor of Physics, Quaid-e-Azam Univ., Islamabad (30mins). [nayyar@princeton.edu]
New Education Framework of NCERT in India, S.P. Udayakumar (30 mins). [spudayakumar@yahoo.com]
Discussion.
1:00 - 2:30 pm : Lunch Break
2:30 - 4:00 pm : Tribal and Dalit Issues
The Narmada Story, Venu Govindu [venu@narmada.org]
Fifth Schedule, Shanmuga Subramanian [shanmuga@princeton.edu]
Dalit Movement, Melliyal Annamalai [annam38@yahoo.com]
Discussion.
4:00 - 5:30 pm : WTO and Globalisation vs. People and Democracy
Subbu Sastry [subbu@narmada.org]
Pushpa Achanta [apushpa@yahoo.com]
Discussion.
Tea
5:30 - 7:00 pm : The basic nature of different issues and how they are interconnected, Venu Govindu [venu@narmada.org]
7:00 pm : Dinner.
Screening of documentaries followed by discussion. One or more of these will be screened based on availability of time.
1. India and Free Trade: a closer look at Bhopal [Pavithra Narayanan (33 min)] The focus of the video is on "free trade" and on "winners and losers" in a free market economy. As a case in point, it examines the Bhopal gas disaster and the changes brought about by transnational corporations in India.
2.From Sonali to Seattle [Dir. & Prod. John Hamilton & Vidhi Parthasarathy; 60 min; 2000] Documents the international struggle against the inhumane forces behind corporate-driven globalization. Featuring original and striking footage - from the perspective of struggles originating in South Asia - of the protests in Seattle and Washington, D.C., against the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund.
3.When Women Unite [1996, 80 min, directed by Shabnam Virmani] The incredibly moving story of the anti-arrack (state-supplied distilled liquor) movement that led to the eventual ban of arrack sales in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. A true grass-roots movement with no identifiable leaders even today. This film won the Grand Prize at the 6th Tokyo Global Environmental Film Festival, 1997.
4.Kaise Jeebo Re! (How Do I Survive, My Friend!) [Anurag Singh, Jharana Jhaveri, 1997, 80 minutes] Kaise Jeebo Re! is a story of uprootment, of struggle, of survival, and of human dignity. It records the victims account of this uprootment, in this case caused by dams built on the river Narmada; Bargi Dam in the Central state of Madhya Pradesh. It records the arduous and heroic story of a people who have come together to fight a determined battle for justice.
August 19th 2001
9:00 - 9:30 am: Breakfast
9:30 - 10:30am: Local Action
'Ithaca Hours' - Documentary (27 mins) followed by discussion on Ithaca local hours with Arun Gidwani. [ag59@cornell.edu].
10:30 am - 12:00 noon : Importance of Constructive Grassroots experiments and their role in overall socio-political processes of change
Vinay Kumar [vkumar@ai.mit.edu ]and Subbu Sastry [subbu@narmada.org].
Tea
12:00 noon - 1:00pm : Alternative Institute: A New Initiative
Sanat Mohanty [sanat_mohanty@hotmail.com] and Rajesh Kasturirangan [kasturi@ai.mit.edu]
1:00 pm - 2:30 pm : Lunch Break
2:30 pm - 5:00 pm : What is To be Done and How?
What is our role in addressing different issues? How may we intervene as individuals and groups? Possibilities of Political Initiatives (like Green Party), People's Movements Networks (like NAPM) and Creating political spaces (like lobbying).
Sanat Mohanty [sanat_mohanty@hotmail.com] and Venkatesh Iyer [vriyer@udel.edu].