The march brought to an end six days of colourful protests and intense discussions about global economic policy, the war in Iraq andracial and caste oppression, among other issues.
Some 100,000 people, from 132 countries, attended the forum, timed as acounterpoint to the World Economic Forum, which opens today in Davos,Switzerland. The alternative gathering is intended to highlight theparadox of big businesses thriving alongside widespread human despair.
Organisers called it a huge success in mobilising opinion, widening the global network of civil society groups - especially in Asia and Africa - and raising awareness of, and opposition to, the perceived trinity of global injustice: the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization.
The forum is expected to move back to its Brazilian base next year.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1128029,00.html
Tens of thousands of activists brought the Mumbai traffic to a standstill today as they marched through the streets of India's financial capital to mark the end of the World Social Forum - the world's biggest anti-globalisation gathering.
The march was led by protesters carrying a huge black banner that read: "Stop the killings. Stop the lying." Others waved red and whiteflags and showed the thumbs-down sign while shouting: "George Bush, no,no. George Bush, terrorist."
The march brought to an end six days of colourful protests and intense discussions about global economic policy, the war in Iraq andracial and caste oppression, among other issues.
Some 100,000 people, from 132 countries, attended the forum, timed as acounterpoint to the World Economic Forum, which opens today in Davos,Switzerland. The alternative gathering is intended to highlight theparadox of big businesses thriving alongside widespread human despair.
Coca-Cola and Pepsi were barred from the refreshment stands in favour of locally produced sugar-cane juice and lemonade, while the forum'sinformation needs and those of its media entourage were met with the freeLinux operating system rather than Microsoft Windows.
Organisers called it a huge success in mobilising opinion, widening the global network of civil society groups - especially in Asia and Africa - and raising awareness of, and opposition to, the perceived trinity of global injustice: the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization.
"There was an identification of common economic struggles," said Kent Klandt of Black Rock City, Nevada, in the US. "It is crucially important for first world activists to be in the third world."
The agenda of the gathering appeared to have shifted from its central focus on trade and the inequities of global capitalism to splinter into a long list of regional causes. But, whatever its focus, the World Social Forum seems to be gaining momentum. About 50,000 people attended the WTO protest in Seattle in 1999, while at the three previous World Social Forum gatherings in Brazil, participation was put at 20,000 in 2001, 55,000 in 2002 and 100,000 in 2003.
"I think it was a fabulous experience," said Luciano Pitzais, a trade union lawyer from Amsterdam, echoing the sentiment of the majority of delegates at the event, which was held for the first time outside its home in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
But Troy David, an activist from Strasbourg, France, had a different view.
"The big speeches were not so useful," he said. "They just complained and complained about problems. But they did not suggest solutions."
Two Nobel laureates - the Iranian human rights worker and winner of this year's peace prize, Shirin Ebadi, and Joseph Stiglitz, the former World Bank director and past winner of the economics prize, were among the main speakers, as was the former Irish president, Mary Robinson.
José Bové, the French farmer who led the demolition of a half-built McDonald's outlet, and the Indian novelist Arundhati Roy also gave keynote speeches.
Although left-leaning activists formed the overwhelming majority, participants were wide-ranging in their ideas, beliefs and origins: villagers from Kenya, European aid workers, Hiroshima survivors and tribe members from remote corners of south Asia.
"The celebrations and demonstrations are important to show that we are not isolated in our own little regions," said Serg Nuss, 29, from Girona in Catalonia.
The forum is expected to move back to its Brazilian base next year.
Special reports Globalisation Debt relief
Explained 07.09.2001: IMF 04.09.2001: World Bank
Background and resources 31.10.2002: What is globalisation? 31.10.2002: Globalisation: good or bad? 31.10.2002: Globalisation: world-changing or word-changing?
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