Racism at the 6th ICAAP: Reply from ICAAP

[Guest guest]

Subject: FW: [] Racism at the 6th ICAAP

Dear Indrani,

Your email posting on made its way to the ICAAP

Secretariat and we were sorry to learn that you had an

unsatisfying ICAAP. Those of us in the secretariat who have

worked for a year or more on this conference wished that no

one would leave feeling that way.

Since I, like you, don't know what Dennis and Ashok were

arguing about, we shall have to leave to them to air it in

public if they wish.

You have, however, related other experiences or notions

that should be responded to. Truly, things are not as you

suggest:

" Over all this is the most racist ICAAP I have ever been to "

ICAAP SECRETARIAT RESPONSE: We are sorry that you feel that way,

and we sincerely apologise for any actions on our part that may

have led to it. I am glad to say that your experience was

certainly not the norm, to judge from other persons' comments.

" Brown skinned persons were reduced to the recipients of the

conference. They were systematically excluded from the decision

making process of the 6th ICAAP. "

ICAAP SECRETARIAT RESPONSE: I truly don't know how you could

come to such a conclusion. Perhaps the most obvious example

of how wrong this is would be to reply that two of the four

ICAAP themes (as well as the Indigenous & Ethnic Minorities

Stream) were chaired by " brown skinned persons " .

" Only the cronies of Mr. Dennis managed to have any say in the

way the conference was organised and in the selection of the

themes of the conference "

ICAAP SECRETARIAT RESPONSE: This is untrue. For a start there

were three Co Chairs of Sixth ICAAP, and I can assure you that

they didn't always agree and Dennis didn't always " win " .

Much more importantly, however, is that the congress themes

were a collective decision taken at a meeting of the International

Advisory Committee in Kuala Lumpur in January 2000. The IAC is

overwhelmingly " brown skinned " .

Once the themes were set, their development was the province of

the Program committee, whose meetings the Co Chairs rarely attended.

Selection of abstracts took place at ICAAP's marathon meeting in July

2001. Those invited to participate in that meeting - frequently at our

expense - were drawn from the entire region.

" The organization of the conference also, was very poor. There was no

Asian Food for an Asian Conference! And they were serving pork at the

lunch to delegates. Are not Muslim delegates very angry at this or did

they eat it? "

ICAAP SECRETARIAT RESPONSE: ICAAP, unusually, provided free lunch for

all participants. Rice and/or noodle dishes were provided every day. At

least 1500 halal lunches were provided every day. I would agree that

the catering staff could have been more forthcoming in explaining or

signposting the dishes they were serving and we did repeatedly ask for

this.

As for the pork (in one offering on one day) that was an error we have

yet to get to the bottom of. It was to have been salmon. We were

embarrassed when it occurred and on behalf of the Convention Centre, the

PCO and the secretariat we apologise to anyone whose religious beliefs

were offended.

It is worth pointing out, incidentally, that most of the comment about

this has come not from Muslims - who took this mistake gracefully and in

their stride - but from people who would take offence on their behalf.

In closing, I do hope that you found opportunities to learn and to share

at ICAAP, whether in sessions or simply in the corridors. Can we not be

so angry with one another, or so unforgiving and eager to take offence?

We're all pulling in the same direction and there is so much to be done.

Kind regards,

Tom Seddon

ICAAP Secretariat

E-mail: <tom.seddon@...

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[Guest guest]

I think Indrani Mukerji's outbursts are somewhat unfortunate, especially

since Ms. Mukerji has admitted to not having full information. It is

natural that there would be some grievances, and no conference is perfect.

However, I think as responsible adults we must first verify our facts, talk

to others who have felt or received similar complaints (in this case it

should be easy, since the majority of participants were brown-skinned or

non-white), write to the organisers in case clarifications are needed, build

up a case - if there is such a case to be built up - and then go to the net.

A bit more restraint and informed discussion would be welcome in this group,

rather than sullen outbursts.

Indrani Gupta

E-mail: <indrani@...>

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