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Saturday, Oct 01, 2005

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National

A parody, a message

Sarabjit Pandher

A `marriage' to expose links between war, economic exploitation

"Do you, World Bank, promise to love and honour the unfettered free market, and twist the arms of hapless borrowers to make them obey this noble idea?"

CHANDIGARH: In an event meant to focus the attention of the developed countries on the Third World's plight, activists, including those from India, have staged a theatrical performance, of a wedding ceremony, where `Ms. World Bank' married `Mr. Pentagon.'

Seeking to emphasise the links between war and economic exploitation, Vineeta Gupta of Stop HIV/AIDS in India Initiative (SHAII) played the World Bank bride, and Sameer Dossani of `50 Years is Enough' played the Pentagon groom, according information available here. `Rev. Paul Wolfowitz' of Market Fundamentalism Discipline, played by Basav Sen of the Mobilisation for Global Justice, presided over the wedding, which was staged outside the World Bank building in Washington. The wedding party featured the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Coca-Cola and Halliburton.

"Most definitely!" was the reply, when Rev. Wolfowitz asked: "Do you, World Bank, promise to love and honour the unfettered free market, and twist the arms of hapless borrowers to make them obey this noble idea?" The parody vows of commitment required international institutions to impose economic inequality over the global South in order to benefit multinational corporations.

In a `wedding invitation' sent across earlier, the bride-to-be and the suitor had announced that the ceremony would be brief — because Pentagon needed to return to his assignment of securing Iraqi assets for privatisation, and World Bank was on her way to Niger and Mali in West Africa on a "critical mission to cause famine." The invitation read: "The happy couple is accepting gifts of Haitian sweatshop labour, Iraqi oil, Guatemalan gold, odious debt repayments from Congo, Indonesia, and elsewhere; and revenues from health care privatisation. High levels of collateral damage sustained from the extraction of the gifts, such as civilians shot dead at checkpoints, children dying of preventable diseases, or HIV/AIDS rendering infants parentless are inevitable and should not deter the guests from gift purchases. In lieu of gifts, you can make charitable contributions of contracts to Halliburton, Bechtel, Enron, Monsanto, and other charitable organisations whom the bride and groom have served for decades."

In a message, the bride said: "You all are already aware that ours has been a great relationship based on mutual understanding, support, common interests and total devotion. Pentagon has been a totally reliable and dependable partner; there to pave the way for me whenever I faced even the smallest difficulty. Despite our open relationship and commitment, some people are still confused or in denial to acknowledge us as soul-mates. To put their concerns to rest, we have decided to formalise our commitment to each other."

The event was timed to coincide with the first of the World Bank/IMF annual meetings to be held since Paul Wolfowitz took over as World Bank President. It kicked off a weekend of protests against war and World Bank policies. Links between the Pentagon and the World Bank became ever clearer when Paul Wolfowitz moved seamlessly from the Defence Department to the World Bank, the organisers said, adding that as a primary figure behind the Iraq war, he had helped advance the interests of U.S.-based corporations .

Ms. Gupta said: "As the tools of the free market and militarism conspire to colonise the economies of poor nations, so too must the movements for peace and economic justice join forces to challenge oppression."

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