Event, Mar 26: Two Years of Sapan – Towards Peace and Solidarity in Southasia

Southasia Peace Action Network celebrates its second anniversary! Two years of connecting people and organisations across borders and the diaspora.

We are also excited to honour the acclaimed journalist Lyse Doucet of the BBC at the event, Two Years of Sapan: Towards Peace and Solidarity in Southasia, Sunday, 26 March 2023 (11 am EST / 3 pm GMT / 8 pm PKT / 8:30 pm IST / 9 pm BST)

The award has been initiated by Sapan member Prof. Dr Tayyaba Hasan in Boston, an acclaimed scientist who heads Harvard Medical School’s Hasan Laboratory.

Watch live on YouTube

We are also excited for the launch of the new website for Sapan News syndicated features, presented by peacemonger and editor of eShe magazine Aekta Kapoor in Delhi, and for the announcement of the Sapan music competition winners, judged by TM Krishna in Chennai, Sohana Ahmed in Dhaka, and Siraj Khan in Boston.

Sapan was launched after an extensive online discussion, a brainstorming meeting of over 80 friends and fellow peacemongers on 28 March 2021 deliberating questions like: “How do we go beyond the ideological divide? How do we move the needle on regional peace and socio-economic and gender justice in Southasia?” 

The need for a collective response to these questions led to the endorsement of Sapan’s Founding Charter, calling for greater socio-economic cooperation, resource-sharing, and a visa-free region or at least soft borders reflecting its shared history and inter-connected space.

Our network has grown, with over 40 organisations and over 300 individuals having endorsed the Founding Charter. 

The organisation has developed built on past and current initiatives working to bring peace in Southasia. We have held 16 public discussions on various topics, joined by participants from around the region and the diaspora. 

Discussions have ranged from sportswomen’s challenges and wins, to the rights of the incarcerated, to gender violence, art and music, public health as a basic human rights, and more. 

Hosted by feminist activist Khushi Kabir in Dhaka, Two Years of Sapan: Towards Peace and Solidarity in Southasia, Sapan’s second anniversary event on Sunday, 26 March 2023, will review the coalition’s work over the past two years.

or watch live on YouTube

The review led by Sapan founder curator, journalist Beena Sarwar will include inputs from members like journalist Nalaka Gunawardene in Colombo, educationists Lee Krishnan in Mumbai and Mohsin Tejani in Karachi. 

Suraj Budathoki of Peace Inititiative Bhutan will present the Sapan Founding Charter. Physician Dr Anup Subedee in Kathmandu and activist Irfan Mufti in Lahore will present the In Memoriam section, honouring those whose legacy of peace we are taking forward, and commemorating those lost over the past month.

We will also share future plans and invite suggestions and feedback from participants.

We would like to thank Dr Azra Raza, Richard Murphy, Raza Rumi, Shailaja Rao, Namrata Sharma, and many others for their messages of solidarity at this occasion.

Join Sapan as we review and celebrate our efforts and impact over the past two years and look forward towards the future. This is a marathon, not a sprint. We are in it for the long haul.

Because a peaceful Southasia matters — for us and our coming generations.

Please join us:

Sunday, 26 March 2023

11 am EST / 3 pm GMT / 8 pm PKT / 8:30 pm IST / 9 pm BST

The session will also be available to watch on the Sapan News YouTube channel

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