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Massive Peoples Protest against the 39th ADB AGM in Hyderabad |
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Wednesday, 17 May 2006 |
The Asian Development Bank held its 39th Annual Governors' Meeting (AGM) in Hyderabad, India, from May 3-6. It was after several years that an ADB AGM was held in an Asian country where protests are possible.
Planning for the counter events started in early Sept 2005, but only picked up speed in January 2006. In a regional planning meeting in Hyderabad in mid-January 2006, the Peoples' Forum Against the ADB was formed. In Shillong the Forum website was launched http://www.asianpeoplesforum.net. A Call to Action was also finalised and signed by 97 organisations and movements from across Asia.
The Peoples' Forum Against the ADB (PF) held a series of events starting with a press conference on May 2, and ending with a closing plenary where a peoples' pledge (also called the Hyderabad Pledge) was adopted. The PF programme included events organised directly by the PF, and also by other organisations such as APMDD (Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development) and Bank Information Centre (BIC). The PF programme consisted of an inaugural plenary, a plenary on Displacement, a forum for elected representatives called "Reclaiming Democracy," a protest march and rally, a plenary on Militarisation and Development, a sit-in protest in a public site, and three press conferences on May 2, 4 and 6 respectively. APMDD held seminars on power and water privatisation, and BIC held a special session of testimonials by project-affected peoples.
In total there were over a thousand participants in the PF events, and
on the day of the protest, about 5000-6000 estimated to have protested
against ADB on the roads of Hyderabad. This was not a huge protest for
India, but it was big for mobilisation against an institution that is
not so well known, and whose projects are scattered far and wide. The
Reclaiming Democracy forum really caught the attention of the press,
the public and government because here were elected representatives
from national to local levels discussing with activists how the
bureaucracy and IFIs subvert democracy, and push through these
destructive and unaccountable ways of doing business. The elected
representatives who were there were also very enthused by the process
and many decided to push forward with special state level sessions on
this.
On May 3, the Left unions had a protest march against the ADB and the
PF sent a solidarity delegation to march with them. This solidarity was
really good for strengthening long-term mobilisations against the ADB.
PF members had agreed that Indian PF members would not enter the AGM
venue, but it was fine for friends from outside India to do so. And
they raised some very tough questions to the ADB president Kuroda about
corruption and lack of accountability and liability on the part of the
ADB (which Kuroda could not answer and which was also reported by the
press). The foreign PF delegates also pasted the ADB Quit Asia sticker
all over inside the AGM venue. This is the first time that this has
happened inside an AGM venue, and this opens the door to more such
actions in the future.
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