Youth seminar in Calcutta
By Sujatha Fernandes
CALCUTTA — On December 6, young people representing organisations from several countries gathered here for a World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) seminar focused on the promotion of civil and democratic rights in the Asia-Pacific region.
Among the participants were the Lama Sama Samaja Party and Communist Party youth leagues from Sri Lanka, the Democratic National Youth Federation from Nepal, the Bangladesh Youth Union, the Democratic Youth of Bhutan, the Communist Youth Movement of France and Resistance from Australia. The conference was hosted by the All India Students Federation.
The morning session was addressed by Professor Niptu Banerjee and Professor Kamal Mitra Chenoi, who spoke about the way in which globalisation, liberalisation and policies of structural adjustment are enslaving the peoples of the Asia-Pacific to a US-led new world order. They spoke about the need for youth to fight against this new world order.
In the afternoon, delegates spoke of the situation in their various countries. The relevance of the seminar's theme became apparent as speakers described the lack of democratic and civil rights in their countries. The Bhutanese and Burmese representatives, both exiles, spoke of the extreme repression of their respective regimes and the strong movement for democracy.
In the evening there was a seminar on East Timor which addressed the history of the brutal occupation by Indonesia.
The seminar was held in preparation for the 14th World Festival of Youth and Students, to be held in Cuba this year.