Revive the 'Bandung Spirit'
THE second Asia-Africa Summit of leaders
of State from these predominant continents of the globe, which opens in
Jakarta today, is solid proof that the "Spirit of Bandung" of 1955, is
continuing to flourish, in the current international political regime.
In fact a commemorative meeting of relevant State representatives, to
mark the golden jubilee of the epochal Bandung conference will open on
April 24 in the same region of Indonesia from which the original forum
took its name.
We have, no doubt, come a long way from those times when Third World
unity and comparatively concerted action was possible on a number of
fronts - economic, political and cultural.
The need for cooperation and solidarity among the world's poor - the
majority of whom were ex-colonies - was so insistent that a Third World
forum, on the lines of that which was held in Bandung in 1955, was a
natural consequence of the commonality of interests which were shared by
these states.
As is well known, countries such as India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka
played a major role in the conduct of this conference, which for the
first time in the history of modern world politics, brought a
considerable section of the world's poor to the same stage for the
purpose of making known, their common aspirations and ideals.
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) which blazed a new trail in world
politics, was a spontaneous outgrowth of the Bandung Conference, which
could have been considered an epitome of the Third World's desire for
political, economic and cultural independence.
Today, in the aftermath of the Cold War, which kept the world divided
on the basis of rival power blocs, it is possible to argue about the
usefulness of the NAM vision, which, essentially, based itself on the
belief that a Middle Path in world politics is best, but there is no
gainsaying the fact that it offered the world's powerless a peaceful and
independent path to development, in contrast to the self-destructive
power politics bred by the Cold War rivals.
Despite the cynical, derisive pronouncements which greet the NAM
today, from some quarters, we say that this movement of the poor and
powerless of the world, which had its origins in the 'Bandung Spirit',
has not lost its usefulness. The proof of this is the summit today of
Asian and African states, which comprise the majority of the world's
populace.
The issues which bring them together were and are the lifeblood of
the NAM - for instance, economic cooperation and independence,
solidarity and self-help among the poor of this world.
Therefore, it could be readily said that the 'Bandung Spirit' should
not merely be revisited but actively revived among the poor. |