Youth forum to focus on Gujarat violence during WSF 2004

Thousands of young people will bring India's recent communal violence in Gujarat and the country's rigid caste system to centrestage at the youth forum on the sidelines of World Social Forum meet.

Thousands of young people will bring India's recent communal violence in Gujarat and the country's rigid caste system to centre stage at a youth forum on the sidelines of the world's top anti-globalisation meeting.

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More than 10,000 young men and women will participate in the youth forum from January 16 to 21, with half of them camping out in tents on the grass of a prestigious private school in the heart of the metropolis, organisers said.

The youth get-together is held concurrently under the umbrella of the World Social Forum, the annual convention of anti-globalisation forces that will feature panels, rallies and concerts for a host of causes.

"Gujarat violence and India's caste system will be the key issues taking centre stage at our forum," said Alex Paynes, 26, a social activist from London.

India faced its worst communal violence in a decade in 2002 after a mob, allegedly Muslims, torched a train carrying Hindu activists, killing 59. More than 2,000 people, most of them Muslims, died in ensuing vigilante violence.

"The communal violence of Gujarat is still fresh in our minds as the most affected were the youth of Gujarat, whether as victims or perpetrators of the violence," Paynes said.

"There are so many reports which claim hundreds of Muslim youngsters from Gujarat are now missing after the riots. Imagine a situation if they met the wrong members of the society."

Organisers of the youth forum said around 500 young people from Gujarat will attend the meet, where they will engage in panels and debates.

"Crime against humanity will be debated and discussed, especially communal violence which is seen as rising in our society," said organiser Priyanka Jasson.

The youth meet, bringing together people under 35, was set up on the sidelines of the World Social Forum to address specific problems of younger people such as access to education and jobs.

University students clad in jeans and T-shirts painted posters and banners or slept peacefully on top of their muddy backpacks on the grounds of the Don Bosco School as they waited for the event to kick off.

"Right now I'm waiting to hook up a computer," said Eshel Herzog, a 24-year-old Israeli volunteer for the forum.

"But I guess I'll be doing everything. I can go clean the toilets or dance for everyone if they want," he said.

"At root I'm an optimist. I believe that if there is hope it lies in the younger generation."

Of the participants, about 1,000 of them are from abroad, mostly Europe, North America and Brazil, although a handful of Pakistanis may arrive later in the week, Jasson said.

Marisol Enyart, 19, from the US state of New Mexico, said she came all the way to India as part of her activism at university against sweatshop labour.

"We want to gain experience and develop networks both nationally and internationally," she said.

Jasson said the youth would also discuss Hinduism's caste system, under which 138 million Indians, known as Dalits, are at the bottom of the social hierarchy.

"The country cannot truly develop if these issues are not addressed," she said.

The caste issue, which India has tried for years to keep off the agenda of international meets, will also take a prominent place at the World Social Forum, where hundreds of Dalits are expected to rally.