A coalition of individuals and organizations dedicated to the promotion of peace and social justice in South Asia: The International South Asia Forum (INSAF)

“We, the members of South Asian Diaspora located in North America and Europe, desire peace, harmony and good neighborliness among the countries of South Asia, and social justice and economic wellbeing for the people there. We also have a responsibility to make a contribution in these directions. Over the years many of us have been engaged in individual or organized capacity to work for secularism, democracy, human rights and social justice. Time has come for us to come together and work in concert with each other”.
Thus came into being the International South Asia Forum, INSAF, at a conference held in Montreal, Canada on September 4 and 5, 1999.

Our Supporters

Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia, Boston

Alternatives, Montreal

Ambedkar Centre for Justice and Peace, Toronto

Coalition for an Egalitarian and Pluralistic India, Los Angeles

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Langara College, Vancouver

East Indian Workers’ Association, Brampton, Ontario

EKTA, New York

Institute for the Humanities, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC

NAVRASA Dance Threatre, Boston

Punjabi Literary and Cultural Association, Winnipeg

Secular People’s Association, Edmonton

South Asia Left Democratic Alliance (SALDA), Toronto

South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD), Burnaby, BC

South Asia Partnership – Canada, Ottawa

South Asia Research and Resource Centre (CERAS), Montreal

Young India, Washington, DC

Source: INSAF – International South Asia Forum
URL: http://www.insafbulletin.net
Date Visited: 9 February 2023

We were here before King Wijaya [the first Aryan king] came. We are the oldest living inhabitants in the country – and I want everyone to know that we exist here. I want everyone to know that we have our language, and we want to take it forward.

Source: Gunabandilaaththo (Danigala Maha Bandaralage lineage of Vedda) quoted by Zinara Rathnayake in “Sri Lanka’s last indigenous people” (BBC Travel, 28 March 2022)
URL: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20220327-sri-lankas-last-indigenous-people
Date Visited: 29 March 2022

“You can’t keep quiet on everything. At some point, if you disagree – it’s better to say it then rather than piling it up.” – Former IAS Officer Kannan Gopinathan in a special lecture on “Democracy: Institutions and Individuals” (Asian College of Journalism – ACJ, 2 September 2020) | Democracy >>

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