Meet the two Bangladeshi partners of ICAN

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), is a nuclear disarmament group that has won the Nobel Peace Prize 2017 for its decade-long activism against atomic bombs. The ICAN was launched in 2007 as a concern of the International Physicians for Prevention of the Nuclear War (IPPNW), a leading medical-NGO campaigning for a treaty to ban and delegitimise nuclear weapons. The ICAN describes itself as a coalition of activist groups of 468 partners from 101 countries including two Bangladeshi voluntary organisations. The Bangladeshi partners of ICAN, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Bangladesh (PSR,B) and Centre for Bangladesh Studies (CBS), have given the country a share of the glory for winning the nobel prize.

Physicians for Social Responsibility - Bangladesh (PSR,B)

The Physicians for Social Responsibility, Bangladesh (PSR,B), started its journey in 2005 as an affiliated organisation of IPPNW, with an aim to work for the improvement of public health service. The PSR,B is also working to create awareness against nuclear war, terrorism, violence and conflict at both national and international level. The voluntary organisation is comprised of 100 doctor-members and 200 student participants. The financial cost of running the organisation comes from membership fees. After the inception of ICAN, as an affiliation of IPPNW, PSR,B started working with international advocacy group against the use of nuclear weapons. The PSR,B is campaigning against the use of nuclear weapons in a regional context, as there have been nuclear tension between two of Bangladesh’s neighbouring countries, India and Pakistan. “All members are professionals at their fields, so we have to carry out our organisational activities in a tight schedule. We work to create awareness against the use of nuclear weapons, and proper application of nuclear medicine through discussion programmes and publications,” Kamrul Hasan Khan, President of PSR,B told the Dhaka Tribune. Khan, also the Vice-chancellor (VC) of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, further added: “Bangladesh is a peace-loving country and our contribution towards world peace has been acknowledged.” The PSR,B president congratulated the Bangladesh government for signing the nuclear disarmament treaty.

Centre for Bangladesh Studies (CBS)

The Centre for Bangladesh Studies (CBS) is a non-partisan, non-government, non-profit, and multi-disciplinary institution, formed in 2013. The organisation has been conducting research, social dialogue, publications and social education on Bangladesh’s society, economics, ecology, politics, history, culture and philosophy. The CBS is run by a five-member trustee board, five active members and an advisory board. The financial cost of the organisation is totally depended on donation. After becoming a partner of ICAN in 2014, the CBS published a Bangla book titled Keno Paromanobik Ostro: Keno Ekhoni Nishiddho Kora Uchit (Nuclear Weapon: Why it should be banned). Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Arup Rahee, General Secretary of CBS said: “As a nation, Bangladesh has a history of relative peace and our organisation always campaigns for peace.” “We joined ICAN in 2014 and have strongly protested the use of nuclear technology as weapons. We represented Bangladesh’s stance on the issue through peaceful protests against nuclear weapons across the globe.” He also said: “As a voluntary organisation, our funding is scarce but, we are working hard to spread awareness on the issue.” Congratulating the Nobel Committee, Rahee hoped that ICAN being awarded the Nobel Prize would help the CBS in carrying out its movement in the coming days.