Event, May 30: South Asian Solidarity in the Time of Covid: Sharing Grief, Inspiration, Hope and Strategies

Sapan invites you for the second in a series of curated monthly events themed ‘Imagine! Neighbours in Peace’, a title borrowed from an unpublished volume by Chowk.com, 2005.

Activists from around South Asia and overseas will come together to discuss the common challenges posed by the raging Covid-19 pandemic and adopt a declaration calling on South Asian societies to collaborate to tackle the current pandemic and plan responses to similar challenges in the future.

South Asian Solidarity in the Time of Covid: Sharing Grief, Inspiration, Hope and Strategies

WHEN: Sunday, May 30, 2021

HOW: Zoom meeting

WHO: Over 150 activists, academics, journalists, volunteers and healthcare professionals from South Asia and the diaspora will be joining the meeting to share experiences, plan strategies, consider and adopt the declaration, including Nobel laureate Dr Amartya Sen; Kathmandu-based founder editor of Himal Southasian Kanak Mani Dixit; founder of Greenpeace India Lalita Ramdas; artist Salima Hashmi; Lahore-based activist Irfan Mufti; Chennai-based journalist A.S. Panneerselvan; journalist and public-policy expert Raza Rumi; Dr Rizwan Naeem, past president of the New York chapter of the Association of Physicians of Pakistani descent in North America (APPNA); educationist Dr Syeda Hameed; human-rights activist Sanjoy Hazarika; journalists Nalaka Gunawardene, Ayesha Kabir and Mandira Nayar; activists Irfan Mufti, Khushi Kabir, Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey; peace activists Dinesh Mohan, Kamran Arif and Samir Gupta, besides many others.

UPDATE, 31 May 2021:

Nearly 200 opinion-makers and activists from across South Asia and the diaspora came together to attend the webinar titled: ‘South Asian Solidarity in the Time of Covid: Sharing Grief, Inspiration, Hope and Strategies’.

Academics, journalists, activists and doctors shared experiences and discussed strategies over the two-hour long event, organised by the recently launched South Asian Peace Action Network (Sapan). The plenary session was followed by an interactive discussion with volunteers and healthcare professionals about their experiences on the ground.

The gathering also adopted a resolution describing the pandemic as a wake-up call for regional cooperation, and pressed for equitable vaccine supply across the region.

• Press statement: Fighting the Covid-19 pandemic requires South Asian regionalism, say activists and physicians planning upcoming meet, 20 May 2021
• Press statement: Create economic and healthcare closeness across South Asia during the Covid-19 crisis – Amartya Sen, 31 May 2021

MEDIA COVERAGE:

Times of India	‘Fighting pandemic requires South Asian regionalism’ | Chandigarh News
Kractivist	Create economic and healthcare closeness across South Asia during the Covid-19 crisis – Amartya Sen
Journeys to Democracy	Health is a basic human right; inspiring stories of care and compassion
Naya Daur	COVID-19 An Opportunity For Connectivity, Closer Ties Between India & Pakistan: SAPAN  Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen Calls For Building Connections In South Asia To Combat Health Crises And Poverty, by Iftikhar Alam
Himachal Watcher	“The Pandemic is a Wake-up Call for Regional Cooperation in South Asia” – SAPAN
The Wire – Videos uploaded to YouTube	Artist Salima Hashmi: Let the Current Covid Crisis Lend Strength to the Spirit  Amartya Sen on Covid-19 & South Asia—We Must Create Economic, Healthcare Closeness Across the Region Covid a Reminder that South Asian Cooperation Must Go Beyond SAARC Meetings: Kanak Mani Dixit
The Wire	Amartya Sen on the Class Factor in the Economics of Disaster Opinion piece by Rehmat Merchant, India

MORE ABOUT SAPAN:

The South Asia Peace Action Network, formed on March 28, is a coalition of individuals and organisations joining hands to take forward the principles and ideals of peace, justice, democracy and human rights that mentors and leaders like I.A Rehman, Asma Jahangir, Dr Mubashir Hasan, Nikhil Chakravartty, Nirmala Deshpande, Kuldip Nayar, Rajni Kothari and others envisioned and worked for.

We believe that the way forward lies in greater socio-economic cooperation, resource-sharing between nation states and regions, and a visa-free South Asia or a confederation of nations.

Follow SAPAN on social media: @southasiapeace on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube