Sapan Peacemongers call to “find a way to restore some level of civilised interaction, particularly between India and Pakistan” and “forging our own narrative”
BOSTON: December 8 is commemorated annually as SAARC Charter Day, as this was when the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation was formed in Dhaka, in 1985.
The 40th anniversary of SAARC this year again revives the resolution of those who came together on the last Sunday of March 2021 to continue supporting the objectives of SAARC, as stated in the Founding Charter of the voluntary organisation launched that day, the Southasia Peace Action Network, or Sapan as it is popularly known.
The Charter calls upon “the governments and peoples of Southasia to work towards” instituting soft borders — “visa-free Southasia, visa-on-arrival, or at least ease of visas, and economic cooperation – to allow freedom of trade and travel to each other’s countries”.
The Sapan Founding Charter’s second point is to “ensure human rights and dignity for all their citizens,” and the third is “collaboration and cooperation in all areas”.
Some 90 individuals and 10 organisations initially endorsed the Founding Charter, which aims to ‘reclaim Southasia,’ to quote the late journalist I.A. Rehman, one of several mentors and visionaries whose legacy Sapan aims to take forward.
The Sapan Founding Charter has since been endorsed by nearly 135 organisations and hundreds of individuals around the region and diaspora.
Sapan continues to find ways of connecting Southasia — written as one word to uphold the concept that the histories of the counties of the region are intertwined, our futures interlinked, and our struggles deeply connected.
“We have to somehow restore some level of civilised interaction, particularly between India and Pakistan,” says longtime peacemonger Lalita Ramdas in India, a founder member of Sapan along with her late partner, Admiral L. Ramu Ramdas. “We need to continue to uphold a range of shared ideas, issues and common challenges, “particularly between the two largest countries in a region which has witnessed deep and lasting traumas of colonisation and partition”.
In this quest, Sapan passed a resolution in 2023 urging governments in Southasia to work towards convening an official SAARC Summit at the earliest and held a webinar titled “Why SAARC? Challenges and Missed Opportunities” #SapanforSAARC.
In June 2024, Sapan wrote an open letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi commending him for “inviting the leaders of neighbouring SAARC countries to join the people of India in felicitating the new government and Parliament during the oath of office ceremony” while feeling “the absence of an invite to Pakistan”.
“In the spirit of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ – the world is one family – we hope you will revise your stand and extend a hand of friendship to all SAARC countries, including Pakistan,” said the letter.
“We at Sapan pledge to work with you and all governments in the region to continue dialogue and facilitate an easier visa regime for our people.
“We respectfully urge you to call a formal SAARC summit, bringing together the heads of all nations, including Pakistan, to work out a roadmap for peace and good relations.”
In that spirit, Sapan now urges the SAARC Secretariat and its member states to:
- Call for the immediate convening of the Standing Committee and the Council of Ministers meetings, paving the way for the holding of a SAARC Summit at the earliest opportunity.
- Advance the renewal of recognition for SAARC apex bodies and SAARC-recognised bodies whose status remains pending since the Covid-19 pandemic. This includes bodies such as the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), Foundation of SAARC Writers and Literature (FOSWAL), South Asia Foundation (SAF), South Asian Women Development Forum (SAWDF), South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA), among others. Currently, none of these important bodies hold official recognition, which hampers regional cooperation and engagement.
- Take concrete steps to ensure that Afghan nationals residing abroad since the 2021 political transition, as well as representatives of the current Afghan administration, are included in the regional dialogue process. Such engagement would foster constructive discussions on especially peace, development and stability in not only Afghanistan but across the region.
- Provide financial support to students from all eight member states participating in the SAARC Internship Programme, at least for a designated quota of students from each member state. This is particularly important for students from countries where travel costs to Kathmandu, Nepal are prohibitively high, such as Pakistan, where airfare expenses pose a significant barrier to participation.
- To establish a SAARC Youth Advisory Board dedicated to addressing youth-related matters across the region. Such a body would empower young people, ensure their voices are represented in policy discussions, and promote collaborative solutions to shared challenges faced by South Asian youth.
While acknowledging the challenges and difficulties faced in this quest, “we will continue to forge our own narrative rather than reacting to that of others,” said Beena Sarwar, a Southasia Peace Action Network, Sapan co-founder and journalist based in Boston, where the organisation is now registered.
Issued by Southasia Peace Action Network
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