Deixo aqui o último editorial que escrevi na revista Think South Asia enquanto Editor. As próximas edições da revista ficam muito bem entregues ao alemão Djan Sauerborn, da Universidade de Heidelberg:
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| Think South Asia #09 |
As this is a summer special edition of Think South Asia, we suggest a travel by some of the South Asian countries, as the Maldives, India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. As I am moving to new projects, this is also my last edition as editor but, before I get there, let me call your attention for the contents you can find in the next pages: an article about the rising religious extremism in the Maldives by the future editor of Think South Asia, Mr Djan Sauerborn; a very good business profile of the Indian building market, by the civil engineer Mr Pedro Baptista Pinto; and an informative update of the situation in Nepal, by Mr Narayan Guimire.
Then, we have an outstanding article about the 1971 genocide in Bangladesh “Our conscience in an Iron Cage” and its consequences, from our esteemed adviser, Dr M. A. Hasan from Bangladesh. You should not miss his article for several reasons: Dr Hasan is well-known as a fighter for independence, as a physician, as a scientist, as a philosopher, as a poet, as a human rights activist and much more. From Afghanistan we received and publish a very important article about “eliminating prejudices in school curricula and materials”, by our well known Doctor Massouda Jalal, who is a former Minister of Women’ Affairs in Afghanistan and currently working on women rights as Head of the Jalal Foundation.
Last but not least, we interviewed the Executive Director of the South Asia Democratic Forum, Mr Paulo Casaca. He made some very important statements we should write on the rock for future memories:
• “We are now in a global era with much more powerful destruction devices than the ones we had some decades ago.”
• “In order to prevent a catastrophic scenario it is absolutely imperative to stop terrorism, especially the export of terrorism.”
• “Europe learned the hard way that cooperation is the only way to succeed.”
• “The full respect of cultures, languages and histories within Southern Asia and the full understanding of the values of co-operation, respect and tolerance is the only way to overcome existing conflicts rooted in the region.”
• “The European Union should stop to appease totalitarian ideologies.”
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| Malala Yousafzai, @United Nations HQ, New York - USA |
Mr Paulo Casaca also makes some questions and recommendations, and remembers the young 16 years old Pakistani girl Malala Yousafzai, who on the 12th of July made a remarkable speech in the United Nations. She quoted Mohamed, Jesus Christ, Buddha, and Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Gandhi, Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa. She quoted them to ask for the right of every child, boys and girls, to education. As Malala said, “education is the only solution.” We fully support this idea that you can see developed in Doctor Jalal’s above mentioned article.
Finally, I must say it is with mixed feelings of nostalgia and confidence that I write my last Editorial here. On one hand, there is nostalgia for this fantastic year of 2012/2013, which was the beginning of this beautiful project called Think South Asia. Wonderful moments of discovery and big debates happened in this platform between very important politicians, distinguished diplomats, eminent academics and representatives of NGO’s. This fruitful debate constantly informed all those who read and make this magazine each month: policy makers in Europe, North-America and South Asia, our dear general readers all over the world, esteemed authors and, of course, myself. I learned a lot with you about South Asia, Europe, politics, business and culture. I was also able to receive lots of congratulation notes and critics for the quality of this magazine, but in fact the credits are all to be shared between the guest contributors who made from this magazine a successful reference among the periodic publications about South Asia, and you, dear reader, because as you know, this magazine is specially made for you. My deep thanks to all the guests who wrote, were interviewed or contributed in other ways for the success of this magazine. But I must personally thank to Mr Paulo Casaca from the South Asia Democratic Forum (www.sadf.eu) for all the invaluable support and expertise he gave to this project; and also to Mr Hugo Almeida and Mr Diogo Alves from Popular Jump (www.popularjump.com), who were the responsible for this fantastic design you are used to see here.
On the other hand, I would like to leave here a word of trust and confidence. I am very much confident than my successor as Editor will keep improving the Think South Asia magazine and letting it reach more and more people. I hereby present to you Mr Djan Sauerborn, who is writing here for the second time about the situation in the Maldives (for his first article, please check the October 2012 edition). Mr Sauerborn is an expert on South Asia from the University of Heidelberg, and so he is the right captain to take this ship into deeper waters and discover new horizons. The Think South Asia magazine is in very good hands and I whish all the best to Mr Djan Sauerborn in this endeavour. I am sure we will keep and develop this contact and cooperation, so that we can always Think (in, about and with) South Asia.
Thank you very much!
And feel free to contact me:
