Sangat celebrates decades of feminist learning and solidarity

Dhaka, 1^st October 2010: Some of South Asia’s finest and most well-known women’s and human rights activists, intellectuals and artists gathered at the Bangladesh Shilpkala Academy to celebrate decades of work by Sangat, one of the oldest feminist capacity-building networks in South Asia. The event began with Sangat’s Core Group members, resource persons, participants and alumnae lighting candles. The venue was decorated with colourful banners that carried feminist slogans about peace and South Asian solidarity. Among others from Sangat Bangladesh and its alumnae network, the event primarily was facilitated, organized and hosted by Khushi Kabir and Fawzia Khondkar.

Khushi Kabir and Sultana Kamal, eminent social workers and activists from Dhaka, spoke and sang on behalf of Sangat’s alumnae network (1983 and 1986, respectively) and expressed their gratitude to the personal and professional mentoring they received through it. Speaking at the occasion, Kamla Bhasin, Sangat’s Advisor and one of its founders said, “We made no walls and we turned existing walls sideways to make them bridges. We connected with others and so our work was owned by others. All our activities, all of them, have been done in partnership, with friends and partners”. Kamla has been the rallying force behind Sangat’s nearly 35 years of work in South Asia. She also thanked the solidarity and support from partners in Europe—EED and MISEREOR who she referred to as Sangat’s “partners, not just donors”. (Click here for Kamla Bhasin’s speech).

The event was attended by the High Commissioners of Pakistan and India as well as leading social activists such as Sir F. Abed, the Founder-Chairman of BRAC and Dr. Zafarullah Chowdhury, founder of the Gonoshastha Kendra. Others present were senior resource persons from Nepal, Sri Lanka, India, Afghanistan such as Binda Pandey (member of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal), Sunila Abeyesekera (well-known international human rights activist), Dr. Hameeda Hossain besides 39 women from South Asia, Burma, Bhutan and Iran who are participants of Sangat’s XVth feminist capacity-building course currently being held at the BRAC Centre in Dhaka. Speaking on behalf of all South Asian participants, Setareh Masoumbeiki, a participant from Iran said in her speech, “It didn’t seem to matter any longer that we were a woman from Kashmir, a Maoist Party assembly member from Nepal, a Christian from Pakistan, a Tamil in Sri Lanka, a Nepali in Bhutan, a police officer in Bangladesh. We felt connected. We celebrated the diversity. It didn’t seem to matter any longer that we were speaking Bengali, Dari, Panjabi, Hindi or Myanmar. We sang along songs of all languages, so loudly, so freely. We felt as if we were born again, this time we felt as one”. All participants sang and danced on a song that was written by Kamla Bhasin. They wore colourful stoles that had been gifted to them by Sangat.

Sangat emerged out of the FAO-NGO South Asia Programme and a South Asian workshop of gender trainers that it organised in 1988 in Koitta, Bangladesh. It drew an overwhelming response from women and men from across South Asia and Europe. Over the course of the workshop, participants discussed and deliberated various issues, shared their respective experiences and opinions, and came to a unanimous conclusion—the space for transformatory gender work in South Asia was declining steadily. That the need to create a network of South Asian gender activists and trainers was both urgent and critical was strongly felt and articulated by the group. Sangat was born out of this realization 11 years ago. The Sangat Secretariat was first hosted by Rozan (Pakistan) before it moved to Jagori (India). Ever since then, it has been coordinated by Kamla Bhasin (who also coordinated the FAO-NGO programme from 1975 to 2002). Speaking at the occasion, Kamla said, “Working for Asian solidarity and cooperation has been a privilege. Helping young South Asian activists develop their capacities has been challenging and fun. 35 years of this work has been an incredible learning. I was 29 years old when I started this work. I am 64 now. I have enjoyed my work thoroughly”.

Sangat’s capacity building courses started in 1976 and have ever since drawn an increasing number of participants from South Asia and outside. Proshika, Nijera Kori, Ain O Salish Kendra, Gonosasthya Kendro are some of the civil society organizations from Bangladesh that have been active members of Sangat’s network. Sangat works in collaboration with its partners in different South Asian countries through its 21 Core Group members. Sangat's main work has been supported by progressive European organisations such as EED and Misereor.

The network was named Sangat merely because the acronym clearly projected its identity—South Asian Network of Gender Activists and Trainers. However, ‘Sangat’ is also a word in some South Asian languages – such as Hindi and Urdu – which means a gathering or community of like-minded people, working for a worthy, socially useful cause, and that Sangat certainly is! Sangat has worked with like-minded individuals, non-government organisations and civil-society groups across South Asia on issues of gender, sustainable livelihoods, democracy, peace, pluralism and human rights.

Over the years though, however, Sangat has outgrown its name, along with its mandate. Sangat’s team and partners too felt compelled to introspect. Its network of women peace activists and trainers decided to broaden the focus of activities to include work on human rights, justice, peace and democracy. Cross-border dialogues through people-to-people contact, peace delegations, cultural exchanges, joint signature campaigns and so on have been arranged, facilitated and co-organised by Sangat in the recent past.

Sangat is currently running its XVth all-women month-long course at the BRAC centre in Rajendrapur. Its participants are 43 women from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The resource persons are eminent feminist scholars and activists from South Asia. This course is being financially supported by EED, Misereor, Action Aid International and ICCO.

These month-long courses are aimed at building a multi-dimensional conceptual understanding of South Asian region with a gendered perspective. In addition, participants develop a South Asian consciousness, learn yoga, sing and dance, watch relevant documentaries and visit innovative projects in the country.