Joint Independence Day
Celebrations in San Francisco Bay Area
By A.H. Cemendtaur
Glimpses of the joint Independence
Day celebrations in San Francisco Bay Area |
What
does peace in South Asia sound like? In the Bay Area, it
would be a band consisting of people of Indian descent singing
Pakistani songs. And a concert held on August 28 at Berkeley's
International House to celebrate the independence of South
Asian countries from their British colonizers was just such
an occasion.
Antariksh, a local band of very talented musicians, sang
popular songs from both countries. The program was arranged
by the Friends of South Asia (FOSA) and AID (Association
for India's Development).
Being an organization of Indian and Pakistani activists
working for peace in their region, FOSA organized the program
to share its dream of a peaceful South Asia with fellow
community members. The proselytizing part came in shape
of a brief video comprising of clips from the recent Peace
March from Delhi to Multan, which was shown in the middle
of the concert. The footage was shot by Sanat Mohanty, a
US-based participant of the march.
One wonders why an important event like a peace march from
India to Pakistan went without a production of a quality
film being made around it. In this day and age, when an
activist organization's major outreach to the outside world
is not through the participants that attend an event but
through the media coverage the event gets, it seems an imperative
that the activists invest more energies in that aspect of
the program.
The news of the Delhi-Multan peace march had captivated
peace activists on both sides of the border. Imagine the
lasting impact the walk could have if a quality documentary
had come out of it. Imagine the film being screened at schools
in India and Pakistan and the invaluable effect it could
have in winning minds and converting people. Events last
for a short while but their memory, in the shape of news,
audio and video coverage, lives forever -- if efforts have
been made in such archives.
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