PENANG, Malaysia, Apr 4 (IPS) - Compared to the massive anti-war street protests in the West, the street demonstrations in many Asian cities have been relatively smaller, prompting many activists to wonder how best to speak with a louder voice.
This is because Asia's fledgling peace movements are still isolated as they try to break free of exclusive national mindsets and internal tensions, discussions at a meeting of activists here this week show.
From Korea to Palestine and Iraq, from Afghanistan to Indonesia, wars, conflicts and tension have been a shared reality. As activists reflect these days, as the U.S.-led forces move closer to Baghdad, they find they share a common perception about the source of this heightened insecurity: the United States' pursuit of its 'war on terror' and global hegemony.
Perhaps nowhere is this tension felt more than in South Korea, where there is a widespread sense that after the war on Iraq, North Korea, under pressure after it admitted to a secret nuclear programme, could be next.
Until recently, the focus of Korea's social movement was on globalisation and reunification as well as concerns related to U.S. military bases there, says Francis Lee, the deputy secretary of the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, which has 13,000 members. Concern over Washington's intervention in South Korea's political and military affairs has always been an issue.
''Almost all of the progressive social movements are concerned about how to reunify North Korea and how to diminish the (likelihood of a) clash between North and South Korea,'' says Lee. ''And many of them identify that U.S. intervention is one of the main causes interrupting peaceful reunification.''
About 85 percent of South Koreans are against war, says Lee. ''I don't think the Korean government is fully supportive of the United States (in the war on Iraq) but there are structural constraints.''
These constraints include a permanent mutual defence pact with the United States, which according to Lee overrides the Korean Constitution that prohibits the invasion of foreign nations.
It is not only activist groups that have launched anti-war campaigns, young Koreans are also connecting with each other and organising spontaneously over the Internet.
Neighbouring Japan faces a somewhat similar if contradictory situation. More than 70 percent are against the war on Iraq, but 50 percent of Japanese support the Koizumi government's position in support of the United States, notes Ichiyo Muto, a writer on political and social affairs involved in the anti-war movement in Japan.
But there has been a qualitative change in the protests, he observes: "Now young people are coming into the streets, which never happened in the past 20 years." Thousands of high school students have hit the streets on their own for the first time.
So many groups are getting involved and there is no one centre of mobilisation, he marvels. Though the street protests are relatively smaller than in the West, they have been held all over the country.
Over in Hong Kong, where debate on regional peace and security issues can often seem muted, a 1,000-strong rally on Feb. 15, the day of global war protests, has encouraged activists.
Despite the scare surrounding the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), the invasion of Iraq continues to be of concern to many groups, points out Jean Aida Manipon, an anti-war activist based in Hong Kong.
Manipon is part of a new No War Coalition, which brings together workers, teachers, students, and others. "It shows that even in Hong Kong where people are very worried about health issues, where the media often presents a facade of prosperity, there is a lot of concern and public outrage about the war."
There is surprisingly little difficulty in organising public rallies. ''We are able to assembly peacefully without much problem,'' she says. ''It's easy to get a permit.''
The crowds are a little larger in India, but not by very much. In New Delhi, for instance, 7,000 people demonstrated on Feb. 10 against the war, though they were not given permission to gather outside the American Centre.
Activists say that the relatively small turnouts are strange, considering that they see that the majority of people are against the war.
''The pro-war sentiment is extremely weak, completely marginal,'' says Harsh Sethi, chairman of the Asian Regional Exchange for New Alternatives, a network of scholars and activists.
But the main tension, he says, lies in the degree to which countries in Asia should distance themselves from the war and the language used in distancing themselves whether it should be mild, strong, or action-oriented.
The numbers turning out at anti-war demonstrations have not been very impressive. "It's not because the state is being awkward about it," points out Sethi. "It's really that (anti-war groups) are finding it difficult to sell."
One reason for this is a feeling of resignation, a sense of "how does it make a difference (if we demonstrate)?'' Another possible reason is the perception of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein as an unsavoury dictator.
South of the border in Sri Lanka, activists believe the vast majority are against the war in Iraq even as Sri Lankans wonder if peace really will prevail on the home-front after two decades of their ethnic conflict between Tamil rebels and the state.
Fr Guy De Fontgalland, a priest who coordinates United Plantation Action (UPACT), a network of seven plantation activist groups, describes the double standards of the country's political opposition over its position on Iraq.
''Indirectly, they want the war (in Sri Lanka) to continue, whereas they want peace in Iraq,'' he observes, pointing out that they are not ready to offer Tamils self-determination.
''But the whole of Sri Lanka is against this war,'' he says. About 2,000 people protested in Colombo while other districts have organised their own anti-war campaigns. And all the daily papers have provided anti-war coverage, he points out.
While anti-war sentiment in individual countries is strong across Asia, the challenge lies in building pan-Asian networks to surmount the lack of a common language and the exclusivity of entrenched national political frameworks.
''We are at the beginning of a long and challenging process of formation of global people's alliances, focusing our efforts on Asia,'' says Ito. ''Under the impact of the American war with all its dire consequences befalling us, we have stepped into this dynamic process." (END/2003)
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