KARACHI: KMC Sports Complex to host all WSF events
By Our Reporter
KARACHI, March 20: Organizers of the World Social Forum (WSF) have decided to change the venue of the opening and closing plenary of the event from Lyari Football Stadium to the KMC Sports Complex, Kashmir Road.
This was stated by Karamat Ali, a member of the organizing committee, at a media briefing held here on Monday. He said the decision was taken in view of the logistical problems arising out of the ongoing development work in the city.
He said that all the events would take place at the KMC Sports Complex where activists from around the world would gather and interact with each other. The WSF programmes and activities would start on March 24 and end on March 29. Leader of the All Parties Hurriyet Conference (APHC) Mir Waiz Umer Farooq has confirmed participation in a major plenary on Kashmir issue to be held in the context of the ongoing Pakistan-India peace process, Mr Ali said.
He said that visa issue had been resolved as the WSF was informed on Monday that about 48 delegates from various European, African and Asian countries would be granted visa on arrival, though for a 72-hour stay in Pakistan. The permission for such a short stay, he said, was ridiculous as these people were coming from Albania, Angola, Armenia, Benin, Burundi, Congo, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Palestine, Senegal, Venezuela, Zambia, Taiwan, Togo, etc.
According to him, the event is significant because it will focus on the issues that have a direct bearing on the lives and livelihood, and the very existence of billions of people around the globe. Militarization and armed conflicts in South Asia, politics of interests and wars, disaster management, land mela and dignity forum would be among the major issues to be deliberated up, he added.
In the context of the Pakistan-India peace process, a major plenary on Kashmir has been planned by the WSF in which Mir Waiz Umer Farooq would be a major speaker. In addition, the issues of women, patriarchy and social changes, politics and religion, people’s resistance movement, global and regional governance, WTO and struggle against neo-liberalism, politics of World Bank and IMF, as well as the matters connected with media, would also be major topics of discussion at different events.
