Latest news with #Sapan
Scroll.in
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Scroll.in
Beyond the drumbeats of war, the quiet thrum of peace activism
In the heavy fog of artillery fire, drone attacks and shrill rhetoric, the mere mention of peace or even dialogue seems inconceivable. Early on May 7, the Indian military struck nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. Public discourse was triumphant, even encouraging further military action. In a quiet corner of the internet, a petition by the Southasia Peace Action Network or Sapan urging both sides to end hostilities, had garnered nearly 3,000 signatures in the 24 hours since it was issued on May 9. It may be a drop in the ocean but it reflects the tireless efforts of peace advocates like Lalita Ramdas. On Saturday evening, when India announced that the two countries had agreed to a ceasefire, Ramdas was relieved – as, she said, 'any sensible person would be'. 'I hope this will be the start of a positive, constructive dialogue as the way forward,' she said. As far back as the 1970s, Ramdas was an anti-nuclear activist. She recalls how her husband, the late Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas, reacted to India test-firing nuclear weapons at Pokhran in 1998. 'He said, 'this is probably the worst thing we have done because very soon I know what's going to happen',' she said. 'And sure enough, on the 11th of May…was when India detonated the nuclear weapon in Pokhran and on the 28th of May Pakistan followed suit.' India and Pakistan are nuclear-armed states at hand-holding distance, she noted. But now, peace activism in the subcontinent has never been more difficult. 'Many people still ask me where I still find the energy to stay engaged. I happen to be 85 at the moment. I can't answer where it's coming from,' she said. 'For me, and for many of us in the women's movement, the personal actually becomes the political. I believe that contributes in large measure to keep us going.' Ramdas recalls being deeply affected by her husband's accounts of his formative experience as a young boy during Partition when he watched his parents stand up to a mob demanding that they hand over the Muslim family sheltering in their home. Her own efforts through the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom were just as defining: she organised peace marches, helped at relief camps, wrote down the testimonies of Sikh widows and even testified before the Ranganath Mishra Commission of Inquiry knowing it could risk her husband's naval career. 'I think it's important that you have a clear, steady belief in the fact that what you're doing is right, what you're doing is in line with your conscience,' Ramdas said. A week ago, Ramdas wrote two letters of support to Himanshi Narwal, the widow of naval officer Lieutenant Vinay Narwal who was shot dead in Pahalgam. Himanshi Narwal was viciously attacked online. 'Because she talked of peace and love and no hatred for Muslims and Kashmiris – the trolling she's been subjected to that I never thought I'd live to see it,' said Ramdas. 'If we really want peace, we have to look at some of these underlying systems and structures – including militarism, patriarchy and misogyny – which also militate against peace,' she said. 'There are all of these layers and layers that go into making it such a difficult thing to achieve.' 'But we have to keep going.' Excerpts from an interview. What does it feel like to speak for peace in the midst of jingoism and when there seems to be no place for any talk of opposing war? I'm not even using the word peace. I'm saying if one suggests maybe there are other ways, maybe we need dialogue, maybe we need to look at another's point of view…it's then immediately…sort of completely… people scream at you and say therefore you are anti-national when you even make that suggestion. So, all forms of reasoning or dialogue or critical thought are not only seen as negative but are actively discouraged. We need to remember what [Rabindranath] Tagore had written about nationalism being the real menace in India. He was convinced that his countrymen will really gain their idea of India by fighting against an education system which teaches them that a country is greater than the ideas of humanity. Of course, everyone turns around and says 'oh come on now, that's a very long agenda and it will take forever'. But he said this a 100 years ago and we actually never took him seriously. It's gone so deeply into our collective psyche that it is going to take a lot of work – it is like unlearning and then relearning – to look at the whole thing in a different context. I don't know if that is an answer but it's the best one that I have at the moment, to explain I think the place we have arrived at. There is a vacuum in peace activism when it comes to the younger generation, which has only known heightened tensions and the influence of highly polarised societies. We've just had a two-hour-long absolutely wonderful meeting over Zoom where about 50 people from Pakistan and 50 of us from India talked, shared our pain and our feelings. It was so reassuring because we were all saying and hearing the same message, 'no, we don't want war; we need to talk, we need to have dialogue'; but the refrain everywhere was we need more young people. And I think that we have not actually given serious energy and time to bringing in more people to tell them what all this is about. Peace sounds dull… certainly not something which will excite people. [We need to] reach out, talk to young people, get them involved, not by saying 'hello, hi I want to talk about peace'. But let's have conversations, in which these options about what happens with the ugliness of war. And in some senses, in a very perverse way, maybe today is the right time. Because we've seen young people willing to put their freedom on the line, sometimes their lives on the line, because they have stood up for Gaza and the Palestinians. How do we find a way of drawing in young people? Let's hear what they are saying without giving them lectures about what has to be done. I think we have to now clearly focus on that; there's not many of us who'll carry on for much longer.
Time of India
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Sapan makes an urgent plea to India and Pakistan to stop the probable war immediately
BATHINDA: Amid the rising tensions between two neighbouring countries in the aftermath of Pahalgam attack and operation Sindoor, the Southasia Peace Action Network ( Sapan ) has made an urgent plea to India and Pakistan to stop the probable war a statement, Sapan has stated 'we stand in solidarity with all those categorically condemning any form of violent extremism or 'terrorism' and against the cowardly targeting of unarmed civilians, for any reason. The communal and toxic weaponizing of religions currently feeding frenzy in Pakistan and India amplified by media and social media, gives the illusion of a consensus for war'.The statement goes 'We urge the international community to stand in solidarity with the peoples of Southasia. We call upon journalists and social media users to engage with their platforms responsibly and ethically and not fan the fires. The governments of India and Pakistan must behave responsibly. Any war between these two nuclear-armed nations would be disastrous not just for the people of those countries but for the region and for global peace'.We therefore urge the people of India and Pakistan to hold their governments accountable and resist any speech or actions that feed war hysteria. We call on all those who believe that peace, not war, is the way forward, to speak out against the politics of hate, violence, and vengeance, and to stand up for dialogue, cooperation, and a shared future of peace and co-existence", it further from Sapan, many other peace groups have urged the government to exercise restraint aiming to stop the skirmishes into a war. Pakistan India peoples forum for peace and democracy (PIPFPD), farmer organisations have urged the nations to turn towards dialogue.
Khaleej Times
16-04-2025
- Sport
- Khaleej Times
Exiled Afghan women welcome funding pledge with hope and tears
A funding pledge from the International Cricket Council (ICC) has given Afghanistan's exiled women cricketers hope of recognition and the chance to play on the international stage in defiance of the Taliban. The game's global governing body said on Sunday it would set up a dedicated fund to support the Afghan women, most of whom have resettled in Australia after fleeing Afghanistan when the Taliban swept to power in 2021. The ICC declined to provide financial details or a timeline for the disbursement of funds but the players are hopeful the pledge will prove a watershed for the women's game. "We feel inspired and valued," Nahida Sapan, one of the refugee cricketers based in Melbourne, told Reuters. "This news gave us a lot of confidence for the future. "We messaged each other and called each other about it. Some of the girls were crying because we worked really hard for it." Sapan was among 25 women contracted by the Afghanistan cricket board in 2020 who hoped to follow the men's team by playing on the game's global stage. Most have started new lives in Australia, with some moving to Britain and Canada. Captained by Sapan, the Australia-based cricketers played an exhibition match in January against a team arranged by Cricket Without Borders, a non-profit organisation supporting the women's game. It was their first match since fleeing Afghanistan, and while it lacked international recognition it was facilitated by Cricket Australia and supported by local government officials. Afghanistan has an established men's team which enjoys ICC funding despite human rights groups calling on the governing body to suspend the nation's membership and ban them from playing in international cricket. Australia and other countries refuse to play the Afghanistan men's team in bilateral series citing deteriorating human rights for women in the county, where female sport has been crushed. Since returning to power in 2021 the Taliban have restricted women's access to education and work, curbed their movement and forced them to cover their faces and bodies. The Taliban say they respect women's rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law and local customs. The ICC said it will work with the Indian, Australian and England cricket boards to set up a taskforce aimed at sustaining the Afghan women's cricket careers but steered clear of acknowledging the players' hopes of recognition. It declined to comment on whether there was a pathway to recognition for them. Sapan said no cricketers from the Afghanistan men's squad had reached out to congratulate the women over the funding pledge. But that was understandable given the politics involved, she added. "It's difficult. We know about the Afghanistan situation. We know about the cricket situation in Afghanistan because, you know, the Taliban don't want Afghanistan cricket board to support the women's team," she said. "If they support the women's team they might not be able to continue (playing) their matches and it will be like closing the cricket board door for all men."
Reuters
16-04-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Exiled Afghan women welcome funding pledge with hope and tears
MELBOURNE, April 16 (Reuters) - A funding pledge from the International Cricket Council (ICC) has given Afghanistan's exiled women cricketers hope of recognition and the chance to play on the international stage in defiance of the Taliban. The game's global governing body said on Sunday it would set up a dedicated fund to support the Afghan women, most of whom have resettled in Australia after fleeing Afghanistan when the Taliban swept to power in 2021. The ICC declined to provide financial details or a timeline for the disbursement of funds but the players are hopeful the pledge will prove a watershed for the women's game. "We feel inspired and valued," Nahida Sapan, one of the refugee cricketers based in Melbourne, told Reuters. "This news gave us a lot of confidence for the future. "We messaged each other and called each other about it. Some of the girls were crying because we worked really hard for it." Sapan was among 25 women contracted by the Afghanistan cricket board in 2020 who hoped to follow the men's team by playing on the game's global stage. Most have started new lives in Australia, with some moving to Britain and Canada. Captained by Sapan, the Australia-based cricketers played an exhibition match in January against a team arranged by Cricket Without Borders, a non-profit organisation supporting the women's game. It was their first match since fleeing Afghanistan, and while it lacked international recognition it was facilitated by Cricket Australia and supported by local government officials. 'CLOSING THE DOOR' Afghanistan has an established men's team which enjoys ICC funding despite human rights groups calling on the governing body to suspend the nation's membership and ban them from playing in international cricket. Australia and other countries refuse to play the Afghanistan men's team in bilateral series citing deteriorating human rights for women in the county, where female sport has been crushed. Since returning to power in 2021 the Taliban have restricted women's access to education and work, curbed their movement and forced them to cover their faces and bodies. The Taliban say they respect women's rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law and local customs. The ICC said it will work with the Indian, Australian and England cricket boards to set up a taskforce aimed at sustaining the Afghan women's cricket careers but steered clear of acknowledging the players' hopes of recognition. It declined to comment on whether there was a pathway to recognition for them. Sapan said no cricketers from the Afghanistan men's squad had reached out to congratulate the women over the funding pledge. But that was understandable given the politics involved, she added. "It's difficult. We know about the Afghanistan situation. We know about the cricket situation in Afghanistan because, you know, the Taliban don't want Afghanistan cricket board to support the women's team," she said.
Al Jazeera
30-01-2025
- Sport
- Al Jazeera
Afghan women cricketers reunite in first game after fleeing Taliban
Afghanistan's women cricketers have played their first game since fleeing their country after the Taliban's takeover three years ago, coming together for a charity match in Australia that captain Nahida Sapan hoped would prompt 'a movement for change'. Hundreds of women athletes fled Afghanistan as the Taliban took over in August 2021, escaping a hardline stance that essentially banned women's sports and education. Most of the national women's cricket side settled as refugees in Australia, where they reunited for the first time on Thursday to play a charity match in Melbourne. 'Together, we're building not just a team, we're building a movement for change and promise,' Sapan said in the run-up to the game. 'We have big hopes for this match because this match can open doors for Afghan women in education and sport in the future.' The Afghanistan Cricket Board made a significant stride in November 2020 when it handed 25 promising women cricketers professional contracts. But before the fledgling squad had a chance to play together, the Taliban captured capital Kabul and declared an end to women's cricket. 'The situation in Afghanistan is terrible. Women don't have their rights. 'I can live freely in Australia and live my life the way I want. 'But back home in Afghanistan… I can only say it is very heartbreaking and very hard to live in that situation.' Diana Barakzai, who helped found Afghanistan's first women's cricket programme almost 20 years ago, said the match was an 'amazing moment'. 'I'm sure it's a big message for the world, that the world will do something for Afghan women,' she told the AFP news agency. 'Especially for opening the school doors, opening up work for women.' Of the 25 women once contracted by the Afghanistan Cricket Board, 22 are now settled in the Australian cities of Melbourne and Canberra. Some of these players have lobbied the governing International Cricket Council (ICC) in the hopes of forming a refugee team with some kind of official status. 'A profound sadness remains that we, as women, cannot represent our country like the male cricketers,' some players wrote in a joint letter last year. 'The creation of this team will allow all Afghan women who want to represent their country to come together under one banner.' The ICC has so far ignored these calls. Thursday's game was played at Melbourne's Junction Oval, a storied ground where a young Shane Warne once plied his trade. The Afghan side played an invitational outfit representing Cricket Without Borders, a charity that aims to draw young women into the game. Governing body Cricket Australia threw its weight behind the match, pledging to 'advocate' for the Afghan women's side at the highest levels. 'I'm just so proud of everyone across Australian cricket who's worked to support the players since they've been in Australia,' Chief Executive Officer Nick Hockley said earlier this week. Citing human rights concerns, Australia has in recent years boycotted a series of non-tournament fixtures against the Afghanistan men's side.
