Indian-Nordic Encounters 1917-2006 - Det danske Fredsakademi

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Social Forum connections and recent initiatives to translate Hind Swaraj and organise Salt march jubilee in Nordic countries. This study can be seen as a work in progress. It is based on an article made for the Salt March jubilee 2005. This article was mainly based on oral history and some Nordic material gathered on the internet. When an international Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam meeting at Tampere in October 2006 decided to publicise a material to be issued at the India Social Forum in November the article was extended primarily building on a work in progress on the Nordic alternative movement 1940 – 1970 by the same author in Swedish and an earlier studies by the author on the UN Conferences on environment in Stockholm 1972 and Rio de Janeiro 1992. The development of the movement in the Nordic countries after 1970 was extended until 1990, after this year there was not enough time to fully complement the first article. During this period the author have participated in the development of the environmental and solidarity movement an visiting regularly all Nordic countries except Iceland. The study of the movement ahs been carried out within the Popular Movement Study Group, a working group started by lay activists in Alternativ Stad 1983. The group runs the homepage www.folkrorelser.nu and organises seminars on popular movement theory and practice. Among the projects of the group are Summit protests since 1968, a global popular movement history the last 2 500 years, the history of Nordic Alternative Movement and a collection of dates from popular movement history. The present text on Indian-Nordic encounters is in need of some further proofreading and addition of some material for the period 1990-2006. To make it accessible it is anyway here presented to those having special interest. It has been a great pleasure writing the material. For some reason Gandhi and popular movements as a subject seems to create a great gift of help during the way and to find fascinating inspiring people doing remarkable things to change society that one never had heard of before. The help has made it possible in short time to get illustrations, help with the first proofreading, finding additional material, and getting the material copied for the India Social Forum. Anastasia Laitala have struggled with late night battles to make heavy emails coming through, and finally making the text copied for the India Social Forum, Marko Ulvila and Louise Pettersson has been the organisational back-up when needed and Vijay Pratap and Thomas Wallgren the supporters of the project. Jan Wiklund made his comments and improved the text, Unto Tähtinen and Ville Komsi helped with more knowledge on how Gandhi was received in Finland, Holger Terp allowed me to use his unique material on Danish women going to India as well as women’s peace movement in the 1980s, Harald Bjørke sent immediate replies of all questions from Norway, Ragnar Arnalds corrected an embarrassing mistake in the text on Iceland and sent photos from his island, Björn Gustafsson sent his great treasure of photografies from the UN Conference and actions in Stockholm in the early 1970, in Copenhagen Per Warming helped to get a picture of love between India and Denmark. Liselott Dahlin, Jakob Donner-Amnell, Jan Fjellander and Maximilian Björsten sent photografies and Roland von Malmborg made it possible to photograph the many activist’s items he have collected. More people helped. I hope you as reader enjoy this study. The version here presented is a slightly more complete version than the material distributed at the Special Forum including some more text and pictures. 6
Dialogue, Constructive Programme and Liberation Struggle 1917-1947 Grundtvig meets Gandhi Anne Marie Petersen, Esther Færing and Ellen Hørup The first Danish - Indian encounter took place when Esther Faering and Anne Marie Petersen visited Gandhi’s Satyagrahaashram at Kocharab, Ahmedabad, for three days January 6 to 9, 1917. There was immediate mutual understanding and care for each other. In a letter Gandhi wrote to Faering soon after they left. ”You were hardly guests to us; you had become members of the family.” It was followed by a continuous South-North dialogue through correspondence with Gandhi, visits and organising practical solidarity work in India and the Nordic countries. Anne Marie Petersen was a woman of strong persuasion and practical mind who already when she arrived in India 1909 had a vision of establishing a Christian National School. She had studied at a free school and a folk high school and was greatly influenced by Niels Fredrik Severin Grundtvig, a philosopher, priest and educator. Grundtvig started a movement to set up folk high schools all over the country for people in common that should avoid focusing only on academic subjects and authorian methods of learning but be based on oral dialogue and include practical knowledge. The first folk high school was set up in 1844 and within half a century the idea was spread to every corner in all Nordic countries strongly contributing to democratising the society and making small farmers capable of joining hands and renewing technology thus modernisising agriculture and at the same time spreading welfare to more people. Later it also became the tool for workers movement to Grundtvig also stressed that the gospel should be taught in the mother tongue respecting each person’s community. His views gave rise to a church movement within the Danish Lutheran State Church, the Grundtvigians, Anne Marie Petersen was in 1916 entrusted by the Danish Missionary Society to prepare plans to establish a high school for girls and was authorised to visit many educational institutions in India. Petersen felt that the church needed to be based in Indian culture in order 7
Page 1 and 2: Indian-Nordic Encounters 1917-2006
Page 3 and 4: Introduction When the Indian Muslim
Page 5: of a high level of confrontation se
Page 9 and 10: ”For me they can do as they like,
Page 11 and 12: Anne Marie Petersen with pupils at
Page 13 and 14: daughter of the anti-militaristic a
Page 15 and 16: was developed into a women’s teac
Page 17 and 18: The key lasting Gandhian influence
Page 19 and 20: territory for the German army and i
Page 21 and 22: spread to Sweden and other parts of
Page 23 and 24: Very soon the young couple decided
Page 25 and 26: speech was finished I received appl
Page 27 and 28: this that the NATO tried to stop wi
Page 29 and 30: anticommunist dependence on the US
Page 31 and 32: In this polarised world it was nece
Page 33 and 34: adical workers and the state was al
Page 35 and 36: The four inspirations were boycotts
Page 37 and 38: efore. On Iceland, Denmark and Norw
Page 39 and 40: swim to the beach the marchers had
Page 41 and 42: The fourth Indian inspired action b
Page 43 and 44: This movement was very influential
Page 45 and 46: The outcome is that in Finland it i
Page 47 and 48: Sweden was similarly influenced by
Page 49 and 50: issue organisations closely related
Page 51 and 52: young Europeans to counteract the W
Page 53 and 54: to implement its stand in any way t
Page 55 and 56: Global Environmental Movement Perio
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around 1960. But primarily non-viol
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The two key organisations in Denmar
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then mostly as a way to establish a
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coordinator could intervene at the
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The Provie movement was closed but
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up his post officially as Secretary
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places." From the politicians, corp
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The obstacles for non-accredited NG
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they had to stand in the line as ev
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Environmental Forum At the Environm
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The content of the debate was heate
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NGOs in the UN system. The governme
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The accusations against the Swedish
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The US press was afraid of the conf
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Jan Fjellander, Oi Committee The yo
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its close collaboration with Aspen
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way where the distinctions between
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Anti-nuclear Power and Alternative
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On the continent strong local resis
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A strong boycott against Nestlé wa
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unions and peace and solidarity org
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promoting or looking positively at
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In Denmark the organisation model f
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In the beginning of the 1980s Nordi
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democratic discussion about the fut
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articles criticising the alternativ
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Chipko movement in India visiting S
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soon followed by other UN conferenc
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The Global Democracy Period 1989 -
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issues on the agenda. Fundamental c
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against further integration of Denm
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there is a Gandhi statue in Copenha
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movements are more blatantly than a
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violence fundamentalism was often u
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during the whole previous century i
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democrats and Marxist-Leninist revo
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Carrying planks for the foot-bridge
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Toni Liversage speaks at citizens
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technology and the social and econo
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We denounce the United States' bomb
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Appendix II The Oeresund Committe f
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V. A struggle for life and for the
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Indian-Nordic Encounters 1917-2006 - Det danske Fredsakademi

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