“Determined” may be the word that best qualifies the Pakistani civil society actors who have been fighting for months to maintain the World Social Forum (WSF) in Karachi, from 24th to 29th March, 2006. What better example of the strong citizen mobilisation in Pakistan! Be they women, minorities, workers, fishermen or children’s rights organizations... all have worked together in order to make this event a worldwide event. The earthquake that severely hit Kashmir and surrounding regions on October 8th could have forced them to cancel it: volunteers and member organizations of the WSF Organization Committee were mobilized in relief actions and an important part of the financial resources were dedicated to victim support. But they didn’t give up. The disaster forced them to delay the WSF for two months, but didn’t stop these Pakistani women and men pooling their efforts to take up the challenge of this polycentric forum, and to extend and amplify the struggles expressed previously in Bamako (Mali) and Caracas (Venezuela). Being at the WSF to take action with Pakistani people Just back from a mission in Pakistan, Jean-Pierre Dardaud, president of the French association Frères des Hommes, is convinced : “ The Karachi WSF is the appointment not to be missed. Supporting, understanding and acting are the basical stakes of this forum. It will allow us first of all to express solidarity towards Asian actors committed in the construction of another world, on non violent, secular and democratic bases”. A vital solidarity in a regional context where power abuses by religious, military or government spheres are omnipresent, and where the non respect of rights, and women, minorities and workers exclusion are an every day reality. As reminded by Mohammed Ali Shad, leader of the Pakistan Ficherfolk Forum, during his visit to Paris last February, since its creation in 1947, Pakistan has been the scene of successive military regimes that have left no space for democracy. The staging of WSF in Karachi offers then a new opportunity for an open space where everyone, from Asia, Africa, America or Europe will be able to express themselves freely. The women’s group of the WSF is convinced too: this meeting will not prevent the earth from quaking, but will certainly enable the construction of a fairer world! The denial of violence at the heart of international tensions The image of Pakistan most often presented in the international mass media is very general, and this meeting in Karachi is the opportunity to discover the other face of this particularly complex country. This WSF offers us, in fact, the possibility to measure the vitality of the actors of Pakistani civil society and to check the universal significance of the debates and struggles they lead on an everyday basis in this region of the world. The adhesion to non violence principles by social emancipation movements is such an example. Jean-Pierre Dardaud was very impressed to see that most participants at the national meeting of “bounded workers” in Hyderabad applauded judge Ghaus Mohammed when he encouraged them to keep on believing in justice, and not to resort to violence. Finally, the stakes are high at geo-strategic level with the staging of the WSF in this region of the world. This area is, with no doubt possible, the nerve centre of international tensions, as seen recently with the altercations between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency. This race to nuclear arms, in part caused by the power access criteria fixed by western countries, causes a negative impact on the social, economic and also democratic development in these countries: public resources for health, education and employment are virtually inexistent, and the space for freedom of expression gets smaller every day. Pakistan and its neighbour, India (as an example), do not escape this forced militarization, a phenomenon that also contaminates Pakistani society. That is the reason why, explains Mohammed Ali Shah, the WSF represents great hope for change for all the actors of the civil society. A struggle which is also ours Because another world is possible, Pakistani citizens have chosen to challenge the fundamentalist policies and militarization, by taking up the torch lit by their Brazilian, Indian, Malian and Venezuelian friends. For months now, a large awareness and mobilization campaign about the Karachi WSF has been implemented in the whole country. From Karachi to Islamabad, the WSF organizers are every where: at meetings of farmers, fishermen, workers, trade unions, young people or women, they invite people to participate in this worldwide event. Let’s go with them in this struggle, which is also our struggle ! Editorial Committee: Frères des Hommes Source: Frères des Hommes. Extract of this article published in “Altermondes” n° 5 : March – May 2006