SOUTH ASIAN COMMUNITY MARCHES AGAINST WAR
N.S. Singh
Approximately 400 people on Oct. 11 attended a three-hour, peaceful, anti-war rally and march through West Rogers Park, a diverse, largely immigrant-based and working-class neighborhood in Chicago.
Attendees and marchers were greeted with the propulsive musical strains of South Asian folk and dance music. While the march and rally were explicitly sponsored by an ad-hoc committee of various socialist, progressive and anti-imperialist organizations, local Pakistanis assisted in the procurement of a neighborhood rally permit.
During the rally, multiple speakers called for an end to U.S. occupation and involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan; additionally, they warned of possible U.S. military intervention in Iran and Pakistan. Speaker after speaker was clear that ALL the troops needed to come home immediately and also addressed other important related political issues, including expressing support and solidarity with Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Following the speeches, the crowd marched six blocks down Devon Avenue, through the heart and central focal point of the Indian and Pakistani communities in Chicago, and was greeted positively by onlookers and neighborhood residents.
(circulated by Rajesh Ramakrishnan [rrajesh31@gmail.com])
(Chicago, Published Oct 19, 2008)