The Film

In May 1998, over a billion people were thrust into the nuclear shadow as India and Pakistan blasted their way onto the world stage as nuclear weapons states. This path-breaking 35 minute independent documentary made in Pakistan, by Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy in association with Dr. Zia Mian, takes a critical look at what the bomb has done for the two countries since then. Senior Indian and Pakistani military leaders assess the consequences of nuclear testing in South Asia and the possibility of war. Heads of Islamic religious organizations and militant groups engaged in jihad explain the hopes they have for the bomb and why they believe it strengthens Pakistan and Islam. Leading peace activists, academics and journalists make the case that nuclear South Asia is spiralling into instability, an arms race, deepening poverty, and an ever-greater threat of nuclear war, both deliberate and accidental. Through interviews, graphics, and archive footage, the film spells out in stark and urgent terms the nuclear danger that now imperils the people of Pakistan and India and the desperate need for peace.  (Source: Blurb from ASHA Film Fest 2001, organized by ASHA for Education, New York City/NJ Chapter)

The Event

A retrospective on the 56 years of South Asian independence, a look at the deteriorating human rights situation, the fallouts of nuclear armament in the region, and the rise of fundamentalist forces, and political will (or lack thereof) for conflict resolution. Also, a look at causes for hope - the growth of grassroots level movements, the increasing demands for peace and resolution from people on both sides of the border. Featuring Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy, a leading proponent of nuclear disarmament and an activist writer/speaker on education issues in Pakistan, and Dr. Angana Chatterji, who has been working with post-colonial social movements in India and internationally, towards enabling participatory democracy, and social and ecological justice.

Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy

Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy received his bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering and mathematics, master's in solid state physics, and Ph.D in nuclear physics, all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has been a faculty member at the Department of Physics, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad since 1973. In 1984 he received the Abdus Salam Prize for mathematics and, earlier, the Baker Award for Electronics. He is chairman of Mashal, a non-profit organization that publishes books in Urdu on women's
rights, education, environmental issues, philosophy, and modern thought.

Dr. Hoodbhoy has written and spoken extensively on topics ranging from science in Islam to education issues in Pakistan and nuclear disarmament. He produced a 13-part documentary series in Urdu for Pakistan Television on critical issues in education, and two other major television series aimed at popularizing science. He is author of "Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality", now in 5 languages. His writings have appeared in Dawn, The News, Frontier Post, Muslim, Newsline, Herald, Jang, and overseas in Le Monde, Japan Times, Washington Post, Asahi, Seattle Times, Post-Intelligencer, Frontline, The Hindu, and Chowk Magazine. He has been an engaged speaker at more than twenty US campuses including MIT, Princeton, Univ. of Maryland, and Johns Hopkins University. He has appeared on several TV and radio networks (BBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, PBS, NPR, Fox) to analyze political developments in South Asia. (Source: Peace and World Security Studies website (PAWSS), Hampshire College, Massachussetts.)

Dr. Hoodbhoy lives in Islamabad, Pakistan. He is currently a visiting researcher at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, in Menlo Park, California.

Dr. Angana Chatterji

Angana P. Chatterji, Ph.D., is Professor, Social and Cultural Anthropology Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Her work focuses primarily on India, and South Asia, and her perspectives have been defined by a lifetime of learning and living there. Since 1984 she has been working with postcolonial social movements in India and internationally, toward enabling participatory democracy, and social and ecological justice. Angana is currently working with issues of globalization and human rights, nationalism, sustainable development and ecological restoration. Since September 11, 2001, Angana has convened the Dialogues for Peace at the California Institute of Integral Studies.

Since 1990, Angana has conducted workshops and lectured in various universities and organizations in India, the United States, Mexico and Europe. She is on the board of directors of the International Rivers Network, Earth Island Institute and Community Forestry International. She serves on the advisory board of Sustainable Alternatives to the Global Economy and the Network of Indian Environmental Professionals, and advisory council of Vasundhara. She also serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Peace and Democracy in South Asia, Stockholm University, and TAMARA journal, New Mexico State University. Angana has published extensively and holds an M.A. in Politics, and a Ph.D. in the Humanities with a focus in Development Studies and Social and Cultural Anthropology. (Source: California Institute of Integral Studies Faculty pages)

Dr. Chatterji lives and works both in India and in the San Francisco Bay Area.

About Friends of South Asia

Founded in the Silicon Valley/San Francisco Bay Area, Friends of South Asia(FOSA) brings together people with roots in various parts of South Asia, as well as other well-wishers of the region. FOSA's mission is to achieve a peaceful, prosperous, and hate-free South Asia--most immediately working towards a demilitarized, nuclear-free South Asia and promoting respect for, and celebrating the diversity and plurality of South Asia. FOSA works to promote amity between countries and communities, working towards a South Asia where the rights of all minorities are respected and protected regardless of religious, ethnic, sexual or other differences. FOSA carries out its work through people-to-people contacts, dialog, and other non-violent, non-exclusionary means; working as a single group and with other organizations that share similar aspirations. FOSA's website is at http://www.friendsofsouthasia.org/.