Meeting of the FNSt Alumni in India

A section of the Alumni

In the lush, tropic environ of Madh Island, a suburb of Mumbai, fifty-five people came together to wrestle with ideas of liberalism. Otherwise a motley collection, these people had one thing in common: they had all been at one time or another to an International Political Dialogue Programme of the Foundation's in Germany – for instance, at the IAF in Gummersbach - or other places in Europe – some as far back as the seventies. And for the first time since, they were meeting as one collective Alumni Group.

Group Work

The meeting was held in the form of a workshop titled "A Liberal Agenda for India". Next to the mutual desire not to lose contact with one another, the main objective of the meeting was to discuss ideas, requests and priorities concerning the future work of FNSt in India, and how to realize them. Many suggestions were brought forward, among which the topics of educational reform, economic freedom and aspects of rule of law figured prominently. Likewise, strategies of how to network more efficiently among the liberal forces in India were discussed. Three FNSt alumni from Pakistan, representatives from the Liberal Forum Pakistan, had been invited to share their respective experiences.

To go beyond the obvious and understand more, to collect at regular intervals and grow as a family of Indian liberals, to have some effect on our larger society are just some of the reasons why it was decided to eventually form a more structured FNSt Alumni Group in India. The volunteer preparatory committee formed on the last day of the meet is already hard at work, giving some framework and teeth to the group. While this newly formed Alumni Group is a work in progress, already hopes are high for its second meeting, to be held in March/April 2007.