Belgium: Hei Pasoep sings for Kashmir and donates the revenue to political relief work

Today, Kashmir is one of the poorest regions in the world. On top of the military brutality and the madness of Muslim fundamentalism (often marching together), the poor now have to cope with the trauma of the earthquake, in the bitter cold. Therefore the Belgian solidarity choir Hei Pasoep decided to support them by way of a benefit concert.

Since 1976, the choir, which derives its name from the South African struggle against Apartheid, has been singing against injustice and for a change in society. They collect their songs from all over the world and often the songs are born out of specific liberation struggles.

In line with this tradition, Hei Pasoep decided to donate the money from their benefit concert and their solidarity dinner to the Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign (PTUDC). Jos Gulix of the choir gave the following arguments in the Flemish daily Gazet van Antwerpen: “Kashmir lives under a dictatorship, and in such circumstances it is always unclear whether the money goes to the right destination and is spent well. The PTUDC protests against military violence and the exploitation of women, children and workers. Also, they fight for solidarity across the borders of India and Pakistan, two countries that have lived on the brink of war since their foundation. Because we have personal contacts with this organisation, we have chosen them, without criticising traditional relief organisations like Oxfam for example. Through the singing of songs of struggle, which we find all around the world, we try to do our bit.” (A scan of the full article in Dutch is available on the Vonk website at http://www.vonk.org/images/heipasoep_origineel.jpg )

Indeed, the PTUDC links relief with a political message of (international) solidarity between workers against their oppressors. To explain their choice for the PTUDC instead of the Belgian consortium of NGO’s that bring most of the Belgian relief to Kashmir, Hei Pasoep distributed the following text at the entrance of the concert:

“ Because of its magnificent scenery, Kashmir sometimes is called 'the Asian Switzerland'. Indeed, it could be a paradise… but it is not today. The terrible consequences of the earthquake come on top of the misery and oppression which the Kashmiri people have had to endure for years. For Kashmir is at stake in the ongoing military conflict between two nuclear powers: India and Pakistan.

“ Regrettably, people cannot avoid earthquakes. But we can have an impact on the way the human suffering is taken care of. That the military dictatorship in Pakistan does not care about ordinary people was again proved by their slow and insufficient reaction to the earthquake. After all, the priority of the Musharraf regime is to stay in power. In 2005 they pumped some 277 billion rupees into military business, such as nuclear weapons. Education and healthcare had to manage, together, with a meagre 16 billion rupees. The regime does not want to find a solution to the conflict around Kashmir, because then their alibi for pumping those massive amounts of money into the army disappears.

“ International relief organisations cannot say much about this injustice, otherwise the regime would close the border to them, and then they would not be able to help the victims. But someone has to lodge this complaint. Therefore, Hei Pasoep has decided to support the PTUDC. They do lodge this complaint and on the other hand the regime cannot stop them from organising solidarity caravans from the rest of Pakistan to the place of disaster.

“ Already for many years, this trade union campaign has been fighting against injustice. Immediately after the quake, they decided to support the victims with relief goods, because the regime had failed miserably. They built medical camps in three regions: Rawlakot, Muzaffarabad and Bagh. They sent solidarity caravans with relief goods (tents, blankets, medicines, food etc.) from the rest of Pakistan. The chairman of the PTUDC, Manzoor Ahmed, also elected as an MP for the PPP (a big centre-left party), also made an appeal to the people and MPs of India to send caravans with relief. The local media paid a lot of attention to this relief effort from India. Of course this does not please the Pakistani army. They are rather annoyed by the message behind these caravans from India, namely that ordinary people are in solidarity across the borders. In this way, the military conflict over Kashmir is questioned.

“ Hei Pasoep sings against militarism and oppression. We bring a message of international solidarity. Therefore, we support the campaign of the PTUDC in Kashmir. With the money we collect, they can buy relief goods in Pakistan and transport them to the disaster area. We will also follow-up on this relief effort.”

A success in every field

The concert on January 13 in the Saint Joseph church in Deurne (Antwerp) was overwhelming. The turnout was much bigger than expected, and the church proved to be too small! Solidarity with Kashmir is enormous, as was proven by the fact that many people who attended had never heard of Hei Pasoep before. Also several Pakistani people showed up, including some guests like the MP Manzoor Ahmed (chairman of the PTUDC), the ‘singer-cook’ Rana (Paul) and the Marxist writer Lal Khan.

Hei Pasoep sang magnificently. They performed one of their best concerts in years. Songs of struggle from all over the world sung by a choir of a hundred people, was a moving experience for everyone. Lal Khan said he had never expected something spectacular like this. One of the highlights of the evening certainly was ‘In this heart’, a song by Sinead O’Connor about her unborn baby. Hei Pasoep dedicated it to all the children who had died because of the earthquake. This gesture, together with the serene a cappella performance [without musical accompaniment], went straight to the heart.

After the first part of the concert, the chairman of the PTUDC, Manzoor Ahmed, spoke to the audience. His emotional speech about the devastating situation of the Kashmiri people turned into an indictment of the dictatorial regime of Musharraf. For many listeners this link between the devastation and the regime was new, because the bourgeois media mostly do not consider the question from this angle.

The speech was followed by a song of Rana, a Pakistani political refugee who was tortured during the previous dictatorship and who had to flee the country during the nineties because of the threats from the Muslim fundamentalists. In the tradition of Hei Pasoep, he sang a Pakistani revolutionary song from the sixties, from the struggle against the military oppression. The audience and the choir were really impressed by his beautiful voice. Afterwards, the choir started the second part of the concert, which was as beautiful as the first part.

 After the concert, the audience could enjoy a drink and a snack in the hall next to the church. But again, the hall could not take all of the people! Those who were hungry could have some Pakistani snacks and soup prepared by the ‘singer-cook’ Rana and the Malik family. It turned out to be a very pleasant evening. The people of the choir talked with the Pakistanis present about the situation in their country and in Kashmir. The Marxist writer Lal Khan gave his new book on Kashmir to one of the conductors.

Hei Pasoep also collected before, during and after the concert some 150 large bags (one truckload!) full of blankets and warm clothes, which they sent to Kashmir. In many ways, this was the biggest solidarity activity they have ever organised!

Back in Pakistan, Manzoor Ahmed sent a letter of thanks, which we quote here:

“ Through this letter the PTUDC wants to thank the Hei Pasoep group and the comrades of the Vonk for your moral and material support for the Revolutionary Solidarity Campaign we have launched here for the rescue and relief of the victims of the Earthquake disaster in Kashmir.

“ The photographs and audio cassettes of the concert by Hei Pasoep on 13^th January in Antwerp were shown and played to the activists in the Revolutionary Solidarity Camps in different cities of Kashmir that have been destroyed by the earthquake. (…) We want to express our heartfelt gratitude for this support in a very difficult situation that we were feeling. This financial support has gone towards paying for medicine, blankets, warm clothing and the heavy costs of trucks for supplying these relief goods. In total we sent 29 truckloads of these relief goods up to the Himalayas. We are still continuing the campaign. The activists in Kashmir have also asked me to convey their gratitude to the Hei Pasoep group and the Belgian Comrades.

“ You have proved the truth of the slogan ‘An injury to one is an injury to all’. Once again we thank you and salute your effort with revolutionary greetings.”