International Seminar on “Comparative Contexts of Discrimination: Social Exclusion and Equal Opportunity Policies in Asia” 6-8 May 2008, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi A Report Introduction Discrimination and exclusion of certain groups due to their identity based on social origin, ethnic and religious background, race, colour, gender and nationality is common to several societies. It is also true that the nature and forms of discrimination and social exclusion have undergone changes over time. While it has changed to fluid forms, practices of discrimination overwhelmingly exist in the social, economic, political and cultural spheres of every society, irrespective of the existence of legal safeguards and equal opportunity policies. This seeks to extend discussions to the changing nature and forms of discrimination and social exclusion, both in specific and comparative contexts. The nature, practices and consequences of discrimination vary from one context to another. In Asia, discrimination largely refers to caste discrimination, gender discrimination and discrimination based on religious, regional and ethnic identities with variations in specific forms and extent across regional and social contexts. Caste and other descent based discrimination is largely a pan-Indian phenomenon; nevertheless recent studies have noted that it has transcended this cultural entity and the practices of discrimination based on caste are also prevalent among groups of non-Indian origin in countries like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. In other countries of the region viz. Malaysia, Philippines, Japan and China, discrimination is primarily grounded on ethnicity, religion, regional identity and culture. In several situations, discrimination has interlocking nature, which is operating through the complex relationships of caste and ethnic identities as in Sri Lanka; caste and representation as in Pakistan and Bangladesh; and gender and every other premise of discrimination as common in the entire region. Discrimination has multiple ramifications related to exclusion from economic entitlements, basic services and opportunities on one hand and humiliation, subordination, exploitation and denial of citizenship rights on the other. It is widely recognized that discrimination and social exclusion leads to widening of income inequalities, degree of poverty and deprivation by denying equal opportunities and access to resources and services. Discrimination along the lines of caste, race, ethnic identity, work and representation is prevailing in all spheres of life viz. education, health,
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International Seminar on “Comparative Contexts of Discrimination: Social Exclusion and Equal Opportunity
Policies in Asia”
6-8 May 2008, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
A Report Introduction
Discrimination and exclusion of certain groups due to their identity based on social origin, ethnic and religious background, race, colour, gender and nationality is common to several societies. It is also true that the nature and forms of discrimination and social exclusion have undergone changes over time. While it has changed to fluid forms, practices of discrimination overwhelmingly exist in the social, economic, political and cultural spheres of every society, irrespective of the existence of legal safeguards and equal opportunity policies. This seeks to extend discussions to the changing nature and forms of discrimination and social exclusion, both in specific and comparative contexts.
The nature, practices and consequences of discrimination vary from one context to another. In Asia, discrimination largely refers to caste discrimination, gender discrimination and discrimination based on religious, regional and ethnic identities with variations in specific forms and extent across regional and social contexts. Caste and other descent based discrimination is largely a pan-Indian phenomenon; nevertheless recent studies have noted that it has transcended this cultural entity and the practices of discrimination based on caste are also prevalent among groups of non-Indian origin in countries like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. In other countries of the region viz. Malaysia, Philippines, Japan and China, discrimination is primarily grounded on ethnicity, religion, regional identity and culture. In several situations, discrimination has interlocking nature, which is operating through the complex relationships of caste and ethnic identities as in Sri Lanka; caste and representation as in Pakistan and Bangladesh; and gender and every other premise of discrimination as common in the entire region.
Discrimination has multiple ramifications related to exclusion from economic entitlements, basic services and opportunities on one hand and humiliation, subordination, exploitation and denial of citizenship rights on the other. It is widely recognized that discrimination and social exclusion leads to widening of income inequalities, degree of poverty and deprivation by denying equal opportunities and access to resources and services. Discrimination along the lines of caste, race, ethnic identity, work and representation is prevailing in all spheres of life viz. education, health,
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employment, housing, trade and business, labour market, etc in countries of Asia, Latin America, Africa and Europe and the severity of consequences varies depending on the level of vulnerability among the discriminated.
Recognising the consequences of discrimination and social exclusion, several countries have formulated equal opportunity policies both to compensate the excluded groups for the denial of rights and equal opportunities in the past and developed legal and other safeguards against it. Recent literature has also brought out the ubiquitous character of discrimination and social exclusion and the efforts by social scientists to develop global perspectives based on the experiences from different parts of the world.
In this backdrop the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, New Delhi (IIDS) organised an international Seminar on the theme “Comparative Context of Discrimination, Social Exclusion and Equal Opportunity Policies in Asia” to deliberate on the changing nature and forms of discrimination and specific problems of discriminated groups in the select countries in Asia, Europe, USA and Latin America.
Focus of the Seminar IIDS has recently completed studies on decent based discrimination in nine countries of Asia. We have also been working on labour market discrimination and discrimination operating through non-market channels such as education, public health services and schemes related to food security in India. The seminar is planned to share some of our work with scholars working on similar themes from different parts of the world. The specific questions around which the seminar is organised are:
i. The forms and nature of descent based – caste, ethnicity, religion, race - discrimination and social exclusions in its multiple manifestation in economic, social, political, cultural and other spheres in selected countries of Asia.
ii. The interlocking character of discrimination and its compounding effects.
iii. The Consequences of discrimination and social exclusion on citizenship rights, access to income earning assets, employment, education, poverty, political participation and participation in governance, economic inequalities and inter-group conflicts
iv. The policies adopted by the countries to surmount the consequences of discrimination and social exclusion, with focus on provision in constitution, legal measures and other policies of economic, social and political empowerment.
v. The lessons from the policies in other countries.
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Presentations and Discussions
Inaugural: 6 May 2009 Indian Institute of Dailit Studies (IIDS), New Delhi organised an international seminar on the theme entitled ‘Comparative Contexts of Discrimination: Social Exclusion and Equal Opportunity Policies in Asia’ on 6-8 May 2009 at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. Scholars from various countries such as Bangladesh, China, New Zealand, Philippines, Sri Lanka, UK and India participated in the seminar. About 100 participants attended the seminar
The seminar was inaugurated on 6 May at 4:30 p.m. by the Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee while Surinder S. Jodhka, the Director of IIDS introduced the seminar to the audience. The inaugural session was chaired by Sukhadeo Thorat, Chairman, University Grants Commission (UGC). The Lok Sabha Speaker highlighted the work done by IIDS, along with the need for a comprehensive research on Dalits for policy makers, so that an affirmative action policy could be initiated. Vani K. Borooah, Prof. of Applied Economics, Ulster University delivered the keynote address and Sobin George, Fellow & Programme Coordinator extended the vote of thanks.
Hon’ble Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee Making inaugural Speech at Seminar
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7 May 2009, Plenary Session
Chair: Ravi Srivastava, Professor, Centre for the Study of Regional Development,
JNU, New Delhi
Speaker: Vani K.Barooah, Professor of Applied Economics, University of Ulster,
Northern Ireland
Paper Title: “How Effective has Job Reservation been in India?”
In his, presentation, Prof. Barooah explained the principle of diminishing marginal utility. Focusing on “Controlled Experiment” methodology, which is often used in the US, and which is not possible in countries like India because of universality of the laws unlike the US where laws differ in each state, he suggested an alternative methodology for India and referred to it as a “Thought Experiment”. Prof. Barooah raised the counterfactual hypothetical question: what would have been the situation had there been no job reservations in India? What would have been the situation had the people, not yet included, been included within the ambit of job reservation? In answers to these questions, he offered the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) data that distinguishes very fine gradation of castes, religions and communities.
Prof. Barooah making a presentation on the effectiveness of job reservation in India
Prof. Barooah suggested that when it comes to employment, qualification requirements for different employment avenues differ. He categorised employment avenues into three different types: self employment; casual wage labour; and regular salaried wage
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employment. Out of the three, regular salaried wage employment is the most sought after option for graduates whereas casual wage labour mostly involves illiterates, he argued. He informed that almost 33 per cent of the caste Hindus followed by 18 per cent Dalits and 13 per cent Muslims are employed in regular salaried wage employment. He pointed out that despite possessing required qualification for employment the group identity deprives the Dalits and minorities of the available employment opportunities compared to the caste Hindus. People come to labour market with a bundle of qualities/attributes but when it comes to sell themselves they command different prices as per their caste or religious identities, he added. For analysing this trend, Prof. Barooah suggested the use of econometric analysis.
Participants are fully engrossed with Prof. Barooah’s Speech
Prof. Barooah, at this juncture, raised a pertinent question: what is the probability of identity of an individual, chosen at a random, employed in a regular salaried job? The answer, he explained, depends on the ability of the person. He pointed out that the standard to enumerate desired eligibility could be age, caste/religion, land holding and education level. On the strength of these qualities, he explained, a caste Hindu has a high probability of being in the regular wage employment. He emphasised the need to do research on this aspect by focusing not on aggregates but individuals. He cited the example of being a graduate as an attribute in employment, as for caste Hindus, literacy raises the probability by 50 per cent to be in regular wage employment and 23 per cent in self-employment. But if a person is a Schedule Caste (SC) graduate, self employment goes down, casual employment goes up and regular wage employment is not affected much. He illustrated the point that if there is comparison between percentage of caste
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Hindus in regular employed jobs and that of Dalits in regular employment, the latter faces deficit.
At this, Prof. Barooah raised counterfactual questions: what are the causes in the employment deficit among the SCs? Is it because of unequal treatment or is it that they are unable to perform that work? In conclusion to these questions, he observed that affirmative action policy works in favour of SCs in regular wage employment because they are protected by reservation.
Prof. Barooah opined that SC deficit is due to literacy as a primary rule. But when it comes to Muslims, difference between caste Hindus and Muslims in terms of regular wage employment is 27 per cent, and nearly 31 per cent of this percentage is due to discrimination and 63 per cent because of educational qualification. However, 1/3 of the deficit in Muslims is because of their religious identity, while changing the name of a Muslim with a Hindu name raises the opportunity of getting employment. He pointed out that Muslims, if provided with protections like reservations, will perform better in availing regular wage employment opportunities. In order to check the validity of the argument, he suggested considering a proxy group like OBC Muslims as an observation. If SCs are treated as Muslim OBC, which means no reservation, there would have been a fall in regular wage employment of SCs from 19.4 per cent to 15.2 per cent.
Prof. Barooah concluded his presentation by making an observation that even the minimal gains from reservation may appear very modest in number it should be seen as an increase in confidence of the particular group. He suggested that the availability of incentives to a deprived group raises its confidence and increases its probability of getting employed in a regular wage employment.
Chair’s Observations Ravi Srivastava, while praising Prof. Barooah for clubbing all types of regular employment in his presentation, opined that affirmative action policy in respect to SCs applies to public sector. He informed that in India, the regular employment is divided into different categories: Class I, II, III and Class IV. SCs are mostly comprised of Class IV, for exampke, Safai Karmacharis. He further added that though there is 36-45 per cent growth in informal employment since 2000-05, the formal jobs are contracted, and due to this, the ambit of affirmative action for the SCs is reducing in this sector.
Questions and Comments Prof. Kalinga Tudor Silva, Professor of Sociology, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka asked: why are SCs concentrated in Class IV jobs only? Is it because of discriminatory practices or lack of job qualification? Prof. Iftikar Chaudhary, Professor of Sociology, University of Chittagong commented that reservations become problematic when
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migration occurs in fulfilment/availing of quota. He asked: Is reservation quota meaningful in the elimination of discrimination?
Prof. Ehsan ul Haq, a professor at JNU, New Delhi asked Prof. Barooah whether Muslims are at par with SCs and whether the reservation is the only solution. He also commented that reservation cannot be benefited unless the socio-economic change takes place. Prof. Ghanshyam Shah, Former Professor, Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, School of Social Sciences, JNU pointed out that discrimination by caste Hindus towards SCs is different from that of Muslims. In response, Prof. Barooah stated that he was taking reservation policy as a fact of life, and if it is to be extended then the Muslims have a strong argument in the extension of reservation. Prof. Barooah further said that regulation similar to what is there in the US, needs to be put in place where even the private companies have to maintain the levels of employment in proportion to population of various groups.
Session I (7 May 2009):
Presentations from South-East Asia and South Asia Chair: Ghanshyam Shah, Former Professor, Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, School of Social Sciences, JNU, New Delhi
Speaker: Antje Linkenbach, Lecture, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Paper Title: “Ethnicity, Religion and Culture based Exclusion and Discrimination in Aoteraroa/New Zealand”
Antje Linkenbach, in her presentation, focused on the indigenous people of New Zealand known as “Maoris”. Outlining the historical overview of the colonial domination from 800 AD to 1300 AD, she provided demographic details of New Zealand, which comprises of 67.6 per cent of Europeans (also called Settlers), 14 per cent Maoris, 11 per cent Asians and 8 per cent Pacific Islanders. She informed that while English and Maori languages are spoken in New Zealand English dominates other languages. She stated that in order to stop the land acquisition and uncontrollable settlement a treaty called Waitangi Treaty was signed between Europeans and Maoris in 1839 that tried to merge the interest of both the communities. In February 1840, another treaty was signed between the Settlers and Indigenous People (IPs). This original treaty was signed by the tribal leaders was translated into Maori language, which further created perplexity to the land grabbing problem as the English version and Maori version recounted contrary statements, she argued.
Linkenbach, while throwing light on the Colonial land appropriation and Maori resistance from 1840s to 1960s, pointed out that this period saw the passive resistance from the Maori community in realisation to the depletion of land and resources. Moreover, Maori
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were forced to sell their lands to settlers, which triggered off long sequence of protests against the Settlers. Then she narrated Kings Movement (Kingitanga) of 1850 and New Zealand Wars of 1860s-70s in Waikato and went on to describe the then political situation of New Zealand whereby political representation and special electorate was awarded to the Maori people. In 1840, the crown policy in New Zealand was governed by the concepts of ‘amalgamation’ and ‘assimilation’. After two decades of sustained effort, Maori secured four electorates reserved for their community in 1867, she informed. However, in the 1970s the Maoris rejected the policy of assimilation and stood for recognition and constituted and constructed themselves as IPs, she added.
Diedre Boyd responding to a query from the participant
While putting emphasis on the continuing significance of the Treaty of Waitangi, Linkenbach put forward two set of justice in dealing with Maoris case: reparative justice and distributive justice. The reparative justice has been dealt with the Treaty of Waitangi I and II, while distributive justice remained unfinished. In 2005, she informed, only 6 per cent of the total land remained with the Maori and 94 per cent was under the possession of the Settlers (Pakeha). She also examined the disadvantages due to this uneven distribution of land and the socio-economic gaps between the Maoris and Pakeha. For example, Maoris’ performance in education, health and other sectors have been far below compared to Pakeha though they are over represented in prisons.
Linkenbach presented various strategies, programmes, fields of action to enhance social equity in New Zealand along with government’s attempts to internalise modes of good practices at various policy levels. She informed that Maori succeeded in availing reservation in the Parliament, as well as a separate Maori Development Ministry and the
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Resource Management Act, 1991. In addition, the government has brought about policies on protection and promotion of culture, language and cultural policies, promotion of traditional practices and educational policies for Maori. She pointed out the proposed action for the Maoris like communication, health promotion policies, Maori initiative pathway, etc. However, these measures were cloudy rhetoric since declaration of intent pointed to the lack of concrete measures, she reasoned.
Linkenbach pointed out current development in restraining Maori rights and legislations, vote against the adoption of UNDP on the rights of Indigenous people 2008, New Zealand report on special rappourteur of the Commission in Human Rights 2006, etc.
Questions and Comments Prof. Iftikar Chaudhary asked the reason for high prison rate among the Maori people, while Prof. Thorat asked about the nature of employment and education policy in New Zealand. Prof. Ehsan ul Haq commented on the role of kinship in discrimination, while Sandeep Chachra of ActionAid India asked about self-determination of Maori and Pakeha. Commenting on the land rights in New Zealand, Prof. Thorat stated that in India, the Untouchables according to the law of caste system were not allowed to hold any property, while according to the British law of 1901 they were disallowed from holding the land until the law got abolished in 1946. One participant commented on the policy of reparation in New Zealand, asking if Australia has apologised from their indigenous people, then why not New Zealand?
Linkenbach, responding to the first question, replied that the prejudicial mindset has been the reason behind high prison rate of Maoris, in addition to the fact that they also indulge in violence at home and street for which the entire community is stereotyped. On the educational policies, she said that for Maoris land is more important than anything as it is associated with the self-determination and recognition of nativity. Referring to the role of kinship, she said that it played the task of collaboration not competition. Replying to the reparation policy of Australia vis-à-vis Nezealand, she declared that there is no reparation policy adopted by New Zealand Government.
Speaker: Dr. Erlinda M. Burton and Dr. Chona Echave, Philippine
Paper Title: “Indigenous Communities of Mindanao: Their quest for Ancestral domain and Self-Determination”
In this presentation, Dr. Burton stated that there are two types of population in Philippines: the lowland majority and the indigenous peoples (IPs). IPs is different from the mainstream Filipinos, and is discriminated politically, socially and economically. They have the least access to health, education and economic opportunities. Moreover, IPs has lost their domain over mining and industrial agriculture. She informed that IPs is distributed over various islands of Philippines, and are of two types: Lumads (non-
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Islamised) and Moros (Muslim). Dr. Burton outlined the issues and concerns of Lumads of Mindanao, i.e. the loss of their ancestral land and discrimination against their right to self-determination along with putting them at par with the majority.
Dr. Burton making her presentation on the problems of Indigenous People of Philippines
Dr. Burton said that Philippines had a bloody history and has been contested by countless players over the centuries. Ever since, it has been a home to Muslim peoples and the tribes of Lumads, who do not have a single language and speak respective individual ethnic languages. Most of these languages are unintelligible except when they are closely related as the languages of the greater Monabao family of languages. These tribes have their own customary laws and many of them are converted to Christianity, she informed. Speaking on the current state of Lumads, Dr. Burton said that the Republic Act 8371 of Philippines known as Indigenous People Rights Act (IPRA) recognise and promote rights of Indigenous people. While talking about the problems and issues, she said that the Mindanao region has the highest poverty rate, with region’s contribution to the total poverty in the country is about 31 per cent.
Dr. Burton informed that there are certain new issues affecting Lumads such as devastation of not only their cultural tradition but also their natural environment. They have to contend with migrant Settlers from the mainland and with the influence of religion, schools and use of technology to extract natural resources by outsiders. Not also this they also have to face the destructive/ aggressive development projects such as dams, irrigation projects, she argued.
Dr. Burton opined that the unstable peace and order condition in Mindanao is because of presence of two factions of rebel groups: National People’s Army (NPA) group and the
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Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that are fighting against military forces. The issue is that the IPs is close to the combat area and youth are the most vulnerable to get involved with rebel groups. MILF in order for a peace negotiation with the government panel asked for the recognition of the ancestral domain for the Muslim Filipinos who have the autonomous region for the Muslim Mindanao comprise of five ethnic communities, she added.
From here on, Dr. Echave took over the presentation and further added that among IPs there are several groups in Philippines who are subjected to relative deprivation, marginalisation or minoritisation. She talked about need-based theory and discussed issues of acceptance, access needs and security needs of IPs. She explained that empirical analysis shows that as a protracted social conflict state has not satisfactorily responded to access, acceptance and security needs of the Mindanao. Earlier, IPs was so ashamed of practising their culture because of the migrants influence, she argued. She brought to light that IPRA drew the attention of civil society to the fore. The loss of ancestral land has incited Lumads to declare their fight for self determination and have now become participants in this social conflict, she concluded.
Questions and Comments A participant asked whether the role of Christianity worked as a unifying factor in Philippines and whether there has been any change of attitude after conversion, or ethnic identity is dominant even after conversion. Another participant asked about the relationship between the state and IPs. Prof. Ehsan ul Haq asked about the role of socialisation of education in resolving the ethnic conflict. Another participant questioned the relationship and contestation between IPs and Neo-Islamic groups.
On the role of Christianity, Dr. Burton replied that the Spanish dominates 83 per cent of the society as Roman Catholics, while IPs are victims of prejudices for being ignorant, savage and thereby face severe kind of discrimination. In order to receive education, they convert to Christianity and also change their ethnic identity though discrimination still prevails even after conversion. Responding to the socialisation of education in resolving the conflict, Dr. Echave said that the government is coming out with new programme like ‘peace education’ from elementary to college level, which is to be carried out at home as well. About the differences between the Muslims of Philippines from other Muslims, she said that the ethnic people still practice the old traditions and practises making them distinct from other Muslims, while the Christians are now converting back to Islam, and are called as Balic Islam means ‘returning back to Islam’.
Speaker: Nidhi Sadana, IIDS, New Delhi
Paper Title: “Burakumin in Japan: Study of their Origin, Problems and Solutions”
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Nidhi Sadana, in her presentation, made a brief outline of the Burakumin minority community of Japan. The word Burakumin, as she explained, is a Japanese word and is used only in the 19th century, which was previously used as ‘eta’ (outcaste) and ‘hinin’ (non-human). She discussed the history and origin of Burakumin that is tracked back to 1000 AD and went on to explain that in Japan, there were five feudal classes: samurai, farmers, artisans, craftsmen and merchants. The outcasts existed outside these classes and were considered ‘polluted’ because they were employed for executing criminals and slaughtering animals, she added.
Highlighting the Buraku Lists scandal of 1975, Sadana informed that 200 private companies took lists of Baraku people so as not to hire them. Other discrimination that the Buraku people have to face is derogatory remarks at workplaces and lower valuation of their properties. In social sphere, they are restricted to inter-group marriages and are physically isolated from the rest of the communities with a controlled interaction with other communities, she argued. Moreover, there are separate temples for Buraku community where family registers are kept to record the families of the community so that the government could determine the social status of individuals. Buraku people have limited access to income and education and have a lower percentage in stable employment, i.e. only 1/3 of them are in stable employment and their unstable employment is three times higher than the national average, she informed.
In terms of political organisation, Sadana continued, Buraku people have formed a Buraku Liberation League (BLL) that describes the discrimination as deeply embedded against the community and has adopt a strategy of denunciation of this practice. BLL has made it mandatory that whoever is found to discriminate with Buraku person would be made to apologise publicly. She mentioned that the government has taken several measures to change the condition of Buraku people like funds for the improvement of Buraku areas, educational scholarships, aid to small Buraku businessmen, etc. Also, the Government of Japan allowed autonomous areas to Buraku community, which was done under the Law on Special Measures for Localities of Burakumin, 1969. But this law was terminated in 2002. In its place, the government ratified policies that would educate and promote protection of human rights, which has been active since 1992.
Sadana concluded by noting that the Burakumin have been historically discriminated and the causes are limited access to income and education that led to economic marginalisation of the community. She suggested that the Law on Special Measures for Localities of Burakumin should continue as the purpose has not yet been realised. She opined that BLL has demanded a fundamental law for Burakumin Liberation since absence of such a law is an obstacle to the elimination of discrimination, she argued.
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Questions and Comments Prof. Silva from Sri Lanka asked as to how far Buraku people themselves assert their identity or whether they have a Dalit kind of identity. Prof. Ehsan ul Haq asked how the culture of Burakumin community is defined. Paul Diwakar observed that, apart from the regular discrimination from the society, Burakumin people also face Internet violence. Painter Savi Savarkar observed that the Zen masters are from the Brakumin community and the artistic potential is very high in this community. One of the audiences remarked that the discrimination of Burakumin seems at par with Chamars in India. Another participant asked whether there is any civil society intervention against discrimination to the Burakumin people. Answering the above questions, Sadana said that Burakumin community, although faces similar kind of discrimination from other dominant community, their number is small. Referring to the question on civil society, she said that BLL as an organisation is very strong for their community, which works directly with the government.
Chair’s Observation
Prof. Ghanshyam Shah compared the discriminatory practices and the social exclusion of Burakumin community with Indian outcastes particularly the temple registry and rituals of the Burakumins of Japan and Dalits in India. He referred to the need for the qualitative and quantitative studies to evolve the strategies and to minimise the discrimination. Also, he emphasised need for joint anthropological and sociological study to understand Burakumin community in a better way.
Chair: Patricia Johnston, Professor and Head of School of Indigenous Graduate Studies, Whakatane, New Zealand
Speaker: Dr. Fengwei Liu, University of Light Industry, Zhengzhou, China
Paper Title: “Ethnicity, Religion and Culture based Exclusion and Discrimination in China”
Paper Written by: Dr. Li Xing, Ms. Nulina Yumiy and, Dr. Fengwei Liu
Dr. Lui informed that there are 56 different nationalities in China, out of which Han is the largest group comprising of 91.6 per cent of the total population, while the other 55 groups are relatively small. Talking about China’s policy for ethnic minorities, he said that the government has granted regional autonomy to the ethnic minorities and works for the protection, promotion and development of their culture. He stated that the Chinese government has certain preferential policies for the ethnic minority such as preferential financial, preferential taxation and preferential population education policies. Similarly, there are other assistance like industrial development policies, agriculture development policies, and ethnic trade policies adopted to ensure the inclusion of ethnic minorities in
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Chine. The government has adopted lenient approach towards them in terms of number of children; as the majority can have only one child per couple but for minorities government has allowed 2-3 children. The Chinese Government has also started certain opening up and integration policies such as economic integration policy, hand in hand aid policy, policies for opening up to the outside. Not only this, the government has a separate preferential employment policy for ethnic minorities, he added.
Dr. Liu presenting his paper on exclusion and discrimination in China
Dr. Liu, in his presentation, took up two provinces for empirical study: Gansu and Guizhou. According to 5th National Survey of China, almost 54 of 56 ethnic minorities are present in Gansu Province. Within Guizhou Province, he took up Pudin County as a case study which is the poorest in Guizhou and did a comparison of income and corruption between Han and minority groups. The empirical results in Gansu Province show that the economic development in ethnic minorities is lower than non-ethnic minority but the growth rate in ethnic minorities is faster than non-ethnic minority. In Pudin County, poverty is still a severe problem in rural villages of western China especially amongst ethnic minorities and ethnic variable significantly affect household income, he informed. He remarked that Chinese preferential policies promote the economic growth of ethnic minority at large, but due to multiple reasons, social and economic development level of ethnic minorities is very low. These reasons, according to him, are natural environment, historically ethnic minorities living in backward areas and also their population is small as well as distributed in a scattered manner and are poverty stricken.
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No Questions due to language problem.
Speaker: Prof. Iftekhar Uddin Chowdhury, Professor of Sociology, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh
Paper Title: “Caste-based Discrimination in South Asia: A Study of Bangladesh.”
Prof. Iftekhar Chowdhary, while addressing the problem of Hindu Dalits and Muslim Dalits in Bangladesh, stated that there is no term called Dalits in Bangladesh and he has taken this term from Indian literature to study the outcastes of Bangladesh. He presented the overall profile of Bangladesh where there are three most prevalent religions include: Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Bangladesh consists of different ethnicities and races but predominantly the Bengali culture dominates other cultures. With 89.6 per cent of the total population, Muslims are the majority group while non-Muslim contributes 10.4 per cent. Outlining the objective of the paper presentation that aims to bring out differences and commonalities of Hindu Dalits and Muslim Dalits, including various patterns of discrimination and exclusion in the society.
Prof. Chowdhury presenting his paper on caste-based discr5imination in Bangladesh
Prof. Chowdhary outlined distinction between the ‘clean’ and the ‘unclean’ communities as Hindu Dalits and Muslim Dalits are mostly identified by their professions. The unclean communities are the most marginalised, depressed and living in the worst undesirable living areas and conditions. Though there is no literal data available with the government or any other organisation, he said he took up historical facts to find out the caste structure among Hindus in Bangladesh. He opined that during the Mughal period many people migrated to Bangladesh from other regions of India and they carried the caste identity
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along with them. The Muslim Dalits are identified as Tele, Napit, Darji, Harijan, Bhera, Kasai – mostly related to the unclean profession. Prof. Chowdhary illustrated the discriminatory practices by demonstrating the findings of living conditions, nature and extent of discrimination of entry in the houses of non-Dalits to cook, wish, greet, and attend religious practices and strict restriction against entering the temples though this practice does not pertain to Muslim Dalits.
Prof. Chowdhary presented extensive data to confirm the exclusion and discriminatory practices against these two communities. He informed that renting rooms in hotels and houses, differential treatment in providing public services such as selling milks, utensils, etc., are common discriminatory practices. He stated that the practice of bowing head in respect, or touching feet, or taking off shoes are common, and marriage with other religions and caste groups is strictly prohibited. Issues of forced labour, eviction from the land and political rights are also very discouraging for both communities, he argued. Besides, different forms of violence and atrocities are also perpetuated against these communities making their lives more miserable. In conclusion, Prof. Chowdhary offered various recommendations to minimise the discriminatory practices such as promotion of awareness, mobilisation, providing lands, proper employment and shielding them with laws favouring their socio-economic growth, etc.
Questions and Comments Prof. Thorat asked whether there exists any particular policy or special educational programme for Dalits in Bangladesh. One participant enquired about the role of civil society in solving these persisting problems. Another audience posed a question as to what was the total population of Hindu and Muslim Dalits in Bangladesh, including geographical location where Dalits live. Prof. Ehsan ul Haq asked: “what is the cultural and structural origin of caste divisions among the Muslims in Bangladesh and where do they placed in Islamic ritual?” Prof. Chowdhary replied that there is no constitutional provisions, laws, and acts designed to curb the discriminatory practices. On education programmes, it is not exclusive for Dalits but Bangladesh has a policy of education for all. On civil society’s role, he said it is not functioning in an efficient and partial manner and also it seldom addresses exclusionary practices. He stated that there are 3.5-5.5 million Dalits belong to both religions exit in Bangladesh though the government data shows only 500 Dalits. Prof. Chowdhary argued that Muslim Dalits have cultural origin as they have carried through historical caste like divisions of Hindus among the Muslims. About the location of Dalits in the ritual spaces of Islam, he clarified that the Muslim Dalits are lowly placed.
Speaker: Kalinga Tudor Silva, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
Paper Title: “Caste Based Social Exclusion and Discrimination in Sri Lanka”
Paper Prepared by: Kalinga Tudor Silva, P.P. Siva Pragasam, Pransothy Thanges
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Prof. Kalinga Tudor Silva raised the issue of caste based discrimination in Sri Lank, which is prevalent in the Tamil society, Tamil plantation workers and in the Sinhala society. He pointed out that people in Sri Lankan society have willingly been blind towards the caste practices and are tight-lipped on the discriminatory tradition. Pointing out the academic research on caste issues at the functional level analysis that was initiated in 1960s, he presented different methodologies such as secondary data analysis, rapid ethnographic research and group discussions, and key interviews to address this age old phenomenon.
Prof. Silva making a point during his presentation casted-based discrimination in Sri Lankan society
Prof. Silva, while presenting an ethnographic study of different regions across Sri Lankan society, described the caste system in Sinhala society as Chakkiliyar, Parayar, Kinnara, Rodi, Nalavar, Pallar, Gahala, Humu, Karawas, Patti, etc. Illustrating caste discrimination, he opined that there is no notion of untouchability in Sri Lanka and secular caste hierarchy is deeply maintained. He explained that the caste service has been formalised in Kandy State of Sri Lanka. Projecting the demographic representation, he said that 15-20 per cent is comprised of the depressed castes (e.g. Wahupura, Batgana) and outcastes communities (e.g. Kinnara, Gahaa) contributes less than one per cent of the total population. He informed that on the caste and economic status, poverty and landlessness are common among the low caste communities. There is no official recognition of caste by the state since no reservation can be given to them, he argued. Presenting a case study of Henewala region, Prof. Silva offered a detailed population and occupational structure of the low caste. Then, he explained the caste grievances reflected
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in Sri Lankan politics, including the role of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in exploiting caste injustices to their political benefits.
Prof. Silva, while addressing the caste issues in Sri Lankan Tamil society, said that in Jaffna (a Tamil dominated region) has a similar Indian essence of caste practices, which is religiously sanctioned, dominated by Vellala community, one of the dominant caste groups. In Jaffna, 18 per cent population is Panchamar (outcastes), and some of the castes in this category are: Vannar, Ampatar, Pallar, etc. He stated various discriminatory practices against Panchamar castes, including 24 prohibitions for them that are related to dress, behaviour and so on. From 1970s onwards, there have been several movements and organisations that have come up to fight the caste prejudices, for example, Forum of Depressed Classes Tamil Labourers of 1927, Northern Sri Lankan Muslim Tamils Mahasabha 1943, Tea Shop Entry Movement 1958, Temple Entry Movement 1968, etc. Of late, there has bee caste discrimination in the refugee camps created for the displaced people caught in the war between the government and the LTTE, he argued. He pointed out the plight of Tamil Plantation workers who are facing strong discriminatory practices in the living areas and at the work sites.
Prof. Silva discussed the urban outcaste communities who are engaged in the menial sanitation jobs. They are known as Mahaiyana in Kandy state and are also visible in other urban cities of Sri Lanka. With the arrival of Englishmen they settled in the cities to do the sanitation works. The Mahaiyana community is one of the worst among the other castes in terms of living conditions, education ratio and access to other services, he argued. He drew interplay between caste and ethnicity and its role in Sri Lankan society and said that the low castes are victims of ethnic violence, double discrimination (caste and ethnicity) and use of low caste people by the ethnic groups. He also put forward some remedies to end the age-old caste discriminatory practices. Rather than being blind towards caste the people must open up and address this issue in their society since caste atrocities are directly associated with human rights, he reasoned. So the human rights organisation should take up the issue and address it to create a better society, he concluded.
Chair’s Observations In response to the questions and comments, Prof. Patricia pointed out that discrimination is a common phenomenon in Asian countries like Bangladesh, China and Sri Lanka. She stated that rights, equal opportunities and confidence can address ethnicity, bring indigenous people and religious groups together to find a solution. She accepted that discrimination and exclusion are complex, dynamic and multi-faceted problem and difficult to solve. Moreover, she concluded that tyranny of discrimination would take time to go way in spite of the fact that presentations have addressed wide issues and also offered certain remedies for an optimistic result in near future.
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Session II (8 May 2009):
International Experience of Equal Opportunity Policies
Chair: Deirdre Boyd, Country Director, UNDP, India
Speaker: Prof. Sukhdeo Thorat
Paper Title: “Theoretical Perspective- Lesson from Theory for Equal Opportunities”
Prof. Sukhdeo Thorat presented his paper focusing on three points: definition of social exclusion, consequences of exclusion, e.g. economic growth and poverty, and remedies against discrimination. Analysing the features of exclusion, he said that exclusion is embedded in social relations, and its outcome is dual: access to sources of income as well as education and employment. Exclusion operates through market and non-market transaction. And there exists ‘individual’ as well as ‘group’ exclusion, he argued. He explained that there are common rights to everybody but certain groups are culturally, racially, socially deprived of the opportunities in availing these equal rights. Market discrimination becomes basic as it is where commodities and goods are available. There are sectors controlled by the government because prices are not controlled by market, but still some groups can face discrimination, he argued. Bringing in A.K. Sinha’s theorisation, he argued that exclusion occurs through social relationships that certain people exclude certain people, particularly by the dominant group. He also stated that there are certain fair exclusions along with certain unfair exclusions, unfair exclusion imposed on certain people lead to adverse consequences.
Prof. Thorat explaining theoretical perspectives for equal opportunities
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Prof. Thorat pointed out that there are two types of exclusion: ‘individual’ exclusion and ‘group’ exclusion; in individual exclusion, the individual lacks certain basic qualifications and gets excluded, while in group exclusion, the members of a group possess those qualifications but are not allowed to possess. He stated that distinction between these two types of exclusion becomes necessary and important in order to draw a policy. Inclusion, if happens, also takes place with a differential treatment, for example, anyone can participate but he/she will not be able to avail its goods at the same level as other group, he reasoned.
Drawing upon the exclusion, Prof. Thorat said that the consequence of economic exclusion depends on the functioning of the economic institution and degree to which they are exclusionary in outcome. Market discrimination involves denial of access to market and/or access with differential treatment in terms of exchange, he argued. He pointed out that economic growth has been hampered by market discrimination because it hampers mobility of labour and capital and it gives rise to a fragmented labour and capital and also affects the investment in the human capital. He further said that poverty and inter-group inequalities occurred due to denial of land and business opportunities to Dalits and women, and inter-group conflict has emerged due to the inequality generated by exclusion and discrimination.
While suggesting the remedies against economic discrimination and exclusion, Prof. Thorat cited two views: market competitiveness and market intervention and said that introducing competitiveness will do away discrimination as the market supports productivity. He argued that individualists are of the view that competitiveness should take over but structuralists are of the view that only individual qualities do not matter. Decision making takes place by the society in term of group; therefore, group behaviour is key to decision making in society as well as market, he reasoned. In order to deal with exclusion, he suggested that in the India Constitution there is a provision for laws to stop discrimination, but empowerment is necessary and can take place through compensation for denial of rights in the past along with safeguards against discrimination in the present. There is a dichotomy between laws and society as the policy formulation and its implementation remain two different issues, he added.
In terms of remedies, Prof. Thorat suggested that a strategy of economic and educational empowerment has to be followed. He favoured redistribution of land and non-land assets, encouraging capital and entrepreneur skills of the excluded group in business, enhancing educational opportunities and addressing issues like housing and providing social amenities as the ways to address the question of group exclusion. In addition, he suggested that there should be safeguards against discriminations in the present through legal safeguards like anti-discrimination laws, policies and schemes for equal shares in income earning, assets, employment and also safeguards in executive and governance.
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Another important observation by him was that the data system should work to make invisible visible through a transparent approach, he concluded.
Questions and Comments Dr. Joseph Marianus Kujur asked for elaboration on the concept of self exclusion for STs, while Prof. Sachindanand Sinha wanted to know how these legally created mechanisms are performing against safeguards. One participant asked how behavioural transformation mechanisms are built, while citing Amartya Sen’s description of exclusion as ‘active exclusion’, which relates to governments policy leading to displacement and deprivation and ‘passive exclusion’ due to which intended benefits are negated. In reply, Prof. Thorat stated that the social capital of the STs is so weak that they do not have the resource to get integrated or interact with larger society. On safeguard, he said that anti-discriminatory laws exist in India but Untouchability still persists because society’s way of response is not yet changed. However, he went on to add that at least in public sphere such discrimination will not be allowed.
Speaker: Prof. Patricia Johnston
Paper Title: “Diversity, Discrimination or Difference: Case study Aotearoa/ Newzealand”
Starting her presentation with the effects of colonisation on Maori people, Prof. Patricia Jonhston pointed out that racial beliefs resulted in specific discriminatory practices where education system was a major issue of Maori knowledge. Maori was seen as an inferior language/culture to be eradicated which resulted in limited access to knowledge in education curriculum though attempts were made to assimilate Maori into British education system, she informed.. Addressing the discriminatory practices, she stated that in 1960, Hunn Report highlighted huge disparities for Maori people: Maori boys were referred to as ‘farmers’ and Maori girls as the ‘wives of farmers’, and little has changed. Maori people were unlikely to be employed which resulted in many Maori people migrating to Australia. They had poor access to health and education, less likely to own a house, likely to be discriminated, high end users of social services and likely to leave school early, she argued.
In 1960s the government, Prof. Johnston continued, looked at Maori socio-economic backwardness as ‘deficits’ in cultural terms, while in late 1960s it became ‘deprived’ in environmental terms, in 1970s it became ‘disadvantaged’ in social terms, and in 1980s onwards it looked at Maori people through the lens of ‘cultural difference’. In terms of analysing the colonial space she divided it into four types: ‘occupying space’ in terms of non-indigenous educators; ‘supportive space’ in terms of support to indigenous educators; ‘unnamed space’ in terms of ‘Pakeha’ culture as an unstated norm; and ‘disruptive space’ in terms of agitation by non-indigenous educators. She informed that since 1981 Maori people started setting up their own schools. Deriving her theoretical
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vocabulary from various scholars she analysed ‘hegemony’, ‘need for decolonisation’, role of ‘organic intellectuals’...to develop consciousness of own, ‘demystifying power relationship’, ‘seeking autonomy and the right to self determination’, ‘a resolution of the mind’ etc.
Prof. Johnston informed that prior in the year 2000 there were only 50 Maori people with PhD degree, but now after certain initiatives it has risen to 500. She analysed the indigenous space into four kinds of sub-spaces when Maori take charge of their system. She categorised this indigenous space into ‘supportive space’ which supports non-indigenous educators, ‘breathing space in terms of time out, ‘disruptive space’ in terms of decolonisation of the own and ‘positional space’ where Maori people are the decision makers. Taking PhD programme as a case study she elaborated her argument and said that the Maori Tribal University started by IPs has resulted in high expectations from the students. The whole programme is embedded in Maori philosophy and epistemology and takes Maori goals into account, she concluded.
Questions and Comments Avinash K Mishra of IIDS asked about the feeling of IPs due to exclusion, while Prof. Barooah commented that there is a contrast between Maori language and Irish language and what matters is that who speaks the language. In Northern Ireland, Prof. Barooah continued, people hide that they speak Irish. He suggested that people should involve in decision making process and create space for decent living.
Speaker: Dr. Aryma
Paper Title: “Exploring, Patterns and Practices of Discrimination: Some reflections”
Dr. Aryma started his presentation by putting up four critical questions in equal opportunity policy. Identifying beneficiaries, analysing instrumentalities involved, looking at the size of the interferences and forging a consensus about what constitutes a fair share between groups, he elaborated that caste, race, ethnicity, gender, disability, geographical location, etc., are the axis of discrimination and exclusion in the countries with equal opportunity policy. Taking the debate further and capitalising on the public-private debate, he stated that the public and private spheres are seen as mutually exclusive but there exists an overlapping area within them. He observed that there is a need for dynamic and fluid interaction between these two spheres.
Questions and Comments One of the participants asked whether we can separate public and private in a sanskritised society to which Aryama said yes.
Speaker: Dr. Nidhi Sadana
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Paper Title: “Equal Opportunity Policy: Analysis of Global Best Practices”
Dr. Nidhi Sadana presented international norms for employment and issues around it. She used the framework of International Fair Trade Organisation (IFTO) vis-à-vis policies in various international companies for looking at employees’ wages and employment policies. She drew examples from various regulatory bodies like UN Global Compact Norms, United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC), Organisation for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD), Sullivan norms and International Labour Organisation (ILO), which have set a good practices code. These good practices are proactive measures whereby signatories to these pacts and norms or code of conduct commit themselves to implement the good practices code, she argued.
Talking about the affirmative action in Indian private sector (CII Code of Conduct), Sadana pointed out that preferences are to be given to groups suffering from exclusion. She informed that the private sector also provides entrepreneurial training to such people along with various scholarships for SCs, for example, eight British companies in India like Shell, Unilever, Cadbury Schwepps, Standard Chartered, and HSBC have signed the UN Global Compact. In conclusion, she observed that there is an international framework but there is not a formal mechanism as yet. In order to ensure fair practices, companies should monitor their supply chains and ensure minimum wage for direct and indirect employees, she argued. For improving the employment system of companies there is a need for deeper analysis and research, she added.
Questions and Comments One participant commented that international organisations may perpetuate discrimination by paying low wages to the labourers. Prof. Sachidanand Sinha commented on chains of sub-contracts though the world is yet to know about the nature/character of these contracts. He suggested to generate data from these chains. In response, Sadana said that there is no data available on the discrimination to the international organisations.
Session III (8 May 2009): Problems of Multiple Groups in India
Chair: Arthur Van Diesen, Senior Social Development Advisor, DFID, India
Speaker: Dr. Gobind C. Pal and Dr. Rasmita Das Swain
Paper Title: “Caste Based Discrimination: Socio-Psychological Perspectives”
Dr. Gobind C Pal spoke on caste based discrimination as a psychological phenomenon. He emphasised that discrimination can only be understood by focusing on the psychology of the discriminated and the discriminators. Using the feeling and reaction analysis, he
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categorised discrimination emerging out of psychological conditions. Illustrating various types of responses that emerge when people look at welfare as unfair, he explained the lens of inflated sense of ego, trapped in tradition, answering back, settling of scores, self defeat, and compulsion etc. He reasoned that parties to discrimination may understand discrimination in different ways such as not just, unfair behaviour or treatment toward each other, distance and avoidance, conventional labelling of each other, real and relative disadvantaged positions. However, he looked at it from objective (perceived status) as well as subjective (self-defeating) point of view. He also explained that discrimination may lead to adverse consequences such as social withdrawal of the victim, hostility and aggression in victim, low self-esteem in him and may also destroy social bonds.
Sharing the presentation Dr. Rasmita Das Swain observed that psychological studies in Indian context reveal that the Dalits are in ‘deficit’ positions. They are in conditions of alienation, helplessness, anxiety, depression, insecurity, somatisation etc. She added that now studies should focus on systemic and structural micro level variables because past studies have been confined to comparative studies only.
Questions and Comments Prof. Silva asked whether any psychological dynamics exists to show the feeling of discriminated lots. One participant commented that going back to the Geeta will not help, while Prof. Iftekhar Chowdhary quipped that Sigmud Freud becomes important as the discriminator gets pleasure out of discrimination. Dr. Sushma Yadav of Indian Institue of Public Administration (IIPA) asked whether there is a need for research on aggression and low self-esteem. Prof. Ehsan ul Haq asked whether there is dichotomy between objective and subjective discrimination. In response, Dr. Pal said that there is no subjective and objective discrimination, rather it is a continuing process.
Speaker: Surinder S. Jodhka, IIDS, New Delhi
Paper Title: “Dalits in Business”
Prof. Surinder S. Jodhka informed that his study that looks at the entrepreneurs in Dalit community in the context of post-liberalisation is based on empirical survey in Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh (Saharanpur district). He pointed out that there are very a few visible Dalit entrepreneurs which made him to title his paper as “In Search of a Dalit Entrepreneur”. In the first phase of his study, he followed interview schedule study and identified 321 Dalit entrepreneurs and observed that Dalit business is a post-liberalisation phenomenon in India. In most of the cases, their business comprised of small shops and they do not employ labour and mostly are run within the family members. He informed that most of the respondents were young and were first generation businessmen, who started their enterprises with very small investment. The resources were mainly self-earned and the Dalit entrepreneurs did not normally get bank loans and had personal borrowings from informal sources, he added.
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Prof. Jodhka observed that in most of these cases the motivation was to come out of the caste occupation. He said that the two most important difficulties they faced were finance and a place to set up the business. That is where caste becomes important. The social universe of business is controlled and dominated by certain groups and Dalits find it very difficult to compete with them, he argued. For the Dalit entrepreneurs, in time of crisis no one turns up, and lack of confidence is the main reason why Dalits hesitate to come up to cities for business purposes. He informed that 96 per cent of Dalit entrepreneurs are members of political parties or civil society organiations (CSOs). For them, social and cultural space is difficult to enter, as political space provides a window to enter and is not a lack of social capital, he added.
Questions and Comments Prof. Silva asked whether there are networks among Dalit entrepreneurs, while Dr. Sukumar commented that in Andhra Pradesh, during 1970-80, the government came up with a policy to build a separate shopping complex for SCs. Although it was a novel idea it created another kind of discrimination as less number of people visited these shops and they are excluded from the universal space that led to further ghettoisation of such groups. In response, Prof. Jodhka said that at metropolitan level, there are initiatives of networks among Dalit entrepreneurs, for example, in Ludiana, Football industry is dominated by Dalits and hence they dictate terms. In Saharanpur, Dalits are moving into education entrepreneurships. When a Dalit opens a shop in slum area he faces less discrimination as all of his customers are migrant labourers. State has done only tokenism and has not taken proper measure for enhancing or promoting entrepreneurship among Dalits, he concluded.
Chair: Surinder S. Jodhka, Director, IIDS, New Delhi
Speaker: Satish Deshpande, Professor of Sociology, Delhi University, Delhi
Paper Title: “Dalits in Muslims and Christian Communities”
Prof. Satish Deshpande stated that his paper is based on available quantitative data. He raised two questions: when does a group exist for the state? And when does the state take a group seriously? He argued that caste identity of a person may not change even if the person has undergone conversion, as mere membership of Muslims in Dalit community does not provide for the court to formulate a law. The difference must be shown in co-religion as well as from other Dalits. He also discussed the nature of social contract in terms of visibility and invisibility of a group and raised a question that why there is so much stability about this anomaly of discrimination. He suggested that the ‘life boat’ argument also does not hold good in this context because these ‘new’ Dalits comprise of only 2 per cent. In addition, he observed that there is pressure on Dalit Muslims from upper class Muslims not to raise this question. In his concluding remarks, Prof.
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Deshpande pointed out that until the concept of meritocracy is unlearned, exclusion can not be tackled.
Prof. Deshpande speaking on the Dalits among Muslims and Christians
Question and Comments Prof. Ehsan ul Haq asked whether there is Dalit type category in Muslims and sought the presenter’s opinion on guaranteeing reservation to these Muslims. One participant commented that Muslims, as a category, exist differently in Tamil Nadu, where they are not perceived as invaders but have become an integral part of the society. Dr. Aryama commented that policies in India are not made by considering data. In response, Prof. Deshpande said that condition of Dalit Muslims is very much similar to that of other Dalits. On reservation, Prof. Deshpande argued that in India ‘I’ the upper castes give ‘You’ the lower castes the reservation kind of attitude exists, as dominance and charity is the attitude of upper castes.
Speaker: Joseph Marianus Kunjur, Indian Social Institute, New Delhi
Paper: “Social Exclusion and Discrimination of Dalit Christians”
Prof. Joseph Marianus Kunjur, in his presentation, provided a brief introduction of Dalit identity and explained the perpetuation of exclusion with an attempt to understand the concept of “Dalit Christianess” and “Christian Dalitness”. He highlighted the structural and institutional questions of exclusion of Dalit Christians, including their right to full citizenship and a dignified life with a platform to voice their democratic rights. He
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explained that social exclusion is ‘capability deprivation’, which can lead to deprivation from other platforms as well. He observed that denial of governance, political participation and representation cannot be ratified by increasing per capita income only.
He pointed out that one thing in the process remains permanent, i.e. inequality. He argued that Dalit Christians are also excluded within Dalit mainstream as a result of which no Christian is deemed to be a Dalit/SC. He emphasised that Dalit Christians face ‘triple discrimination’: by other Dalits, by government and by other Christians. He opined that such structural problems have to be solved structurally since this is not only an exclusion issue but a human rights issue as well. Dalit Christians will not experience and enjoy Indian democracy if equality is taken as a strong measure to map it.
Question and Comments John Dayal commented that the whole debate on Dalit Christians took place on a dangerous platform and large volumes of work produced by Justice Mishra Committee vanished and a loss to the people working on Dalit Christians. Politics of polemics in Dalit discourse and Muslims have evolved itself by taking this movement further now. There is a conspiracy of permanent silence by the administrators and bureaucrats on this issue, he added.
Speaker: Amit Thorat Research Scholar, JNU, New Delhi
Paper Title: “Social Composition of Populations Employed in Various Occupational Categories in India”
Amit Thorat made his presentation to gauge the level of representation of groups in various occupations in India, including some specific occupations. He used the NSSO Employment and Unemployment Survey 2004-05 as data for his study and concluded that ST/SC are under-represented in permanent wage labour and high level jobs, whereas OBCs/others enjoy overrepresentation. He observed that SCs/STs are over-represented in occupations based on manual labour. The methodology of his paper comprised of Individual Level Analysis whereby he examined individual in the labour force particularly in the private sector. His study was focused on social background of groups and respective occupations of these groups as the observed variables.
Valedictory Session (9 May 2009)
Chair: Prof. Kalinga Tudor Silva
Topic: “Civil Society Organisations and Inclusive Policies”
Speaker 1: Belinda Bennet, Christian Aid, New Delhi
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Belinda Bennet spoke on a very important issue that was directed on the role of civil society organisations (CSOs). Little critical of CSOs for not inculcating those attributes that they work on or do advocacy about, she said CSOs have failed to keep discrimination at the heart of their analysis. She drew an analogy between CSOs and White Elephant. She observed that in international agencies, application of inclusive policy has not captured the nuances of discrimination. She further pointed out that there is no micro-level segregated data on discrimination and exclusion available for study.
Speaker 2: Sandeep Chachra, Action Aid International
Sandeep Chachra emphasised on the celebratory nature of CSOs and lauded their role in making inclusive policies possible. He remarked that the present results are because of hardcore popular mobilisations and complained that the states offer a half-hearted commitment to the issues of discrimination. He emphasised that the spaces for CSOs need to be highly protected. He categorised three elements within CSOs: revolutionary and reactionary elements. He pointed out that there is a problem of solidarity in CSOs and they must have a Common Minimum Agenda, otherwise it will result in the fragmentation of the progressive bandwagon.
Sandeep Chachra also noted that CSOs have played various roles like making policy processes, influence on decision making and decision on open spaces for participation. He was of the view that without institutionalising CSOs space, political space will not work. CSOs enrich policy processes progress by looking at the nature of the problem and open doors for devising alternative policies, he argued. CSOs should play the role of a watch-dog rather than a lap-dog, he suggested.
Speaker 3: Arthur van Diesen, DFID, India
Arthur van Diesen informed about the Policy launched in 2005 by DFID to address the problem of social exclusion in India. Talking about the initiatives taken by DFID he stated that the organisation attempts to collect evidence of exclusionary practices in India. The policy launched in 2005 aims at knowing the status of socially disadvantaged group and sets up specific targets. DFID also has an International NGOs Partnership Programme where seven NGOs are looking at different aspects of social exclusion in India, Christian Aid and IIDS are partners in this programme. He emphasised that the CSOs need to focus on actions aiming at the problem of social exclusion.
Speaker: Prof. Abhijit Sen, Member Planning Commission, Government of India
Topic: “Inclusive Development Approach in the Eleventh Five Year Plan”
Prof. Abhijit Sen observed that since independence India has kept the idea of social justice not only at the centre of its development programmes, which provide for constitutional treatments of some categories of rights but also it has addressed it in terms
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of economic gains. India’s successive five year plans have an element of social justice. He pointed out that though the 11th Five Year plan was entitled ‘Inclusive’, i.e. the process of growth for which India has been admired all over the world has not filtered down to the deprived people. He questioned as to how India can bring more people under the ambit of benefit sharing lots. In India, he continued, whatever one does, one finds a similar set of people dominating at the bottom of the pyramid. In India’s inclusive approach, there lies the question: what is it that India can spread? Redistribution of wealth (land) is not on anyone’s agenda in today’s world, he argued.
Prof. Sen presenting his views on Inclusive Development Approach 11th Plan
Prof. Abhijit Sen noted that the two areas in which the present government has made a great deal than the previous governments is in widening the ambit to include the Muslim community and a massive expansion in terms of educational opportunities by means of special scholarships. Prof. Sen emphasised that a fundamental way of tackling exclusion is Universalistic solutions. But India has to take into account that there are groups who want to live with a difference. “What we can do is that we can think about social schemes in a right based manner”, he concluded.
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A View of Book Launch Session at the Seminar
Prof. Abhijit Sen released two poetry books: Samaye Ki Aadamkhor Dhun and Naye Shitij Ki Ore by Jai Prakash Lilwan and published by IIDS and Anamika Publications, New Delhi. It was followed by concluding remarks and vote of thanks in which Surinder S. Jodhka extended his hearty thanks to all the persons, institutions and funding agencies that were engaged in making the event a success.
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List of Participants
S.No. Name/Designation Address
1 K. Tudor Silva Professor of Sociology
University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
Mobile: 0094777810118
2 Tanveer Kazi Christian Aid
D-25 South Extension-II, New Delhi- 110049
Mobile: 09350183804
tkazi@chritian_aid.org
3 Prof. Iftikhar Uddin Choudhury
Professor of Sociology
University of Chittagong, Bangladesh
Phone: 0187-772363
4 Tengwei Liu Dongfeng Road, Zhengzhon, China
Phone: 00371-63556795
5 Prof. Patricia Johnston Sir Edmund Hillary Marg
Chanakya Puri New Delhi – 110021
Mobile. 0274222619
6 Nidi Sadana D-II, Road No. 4, Andrews Ganj,
New Delhi
7 Kristohper Saiba Ba Doctoral Fellow, Jawahr Lal Nehru University,
New Delhi-110067
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8 Shmti M.P. D- I/Z, Bharti Nagar, New Delhi- 110003
Phone. 011-24636556
9 S. Venkatesan Dan Churchaid, South Asia Reg. Office,
14, Palam Marg, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi
Mobile: 09868464212
10 Erlinda M. Bhrton Department of Sociology & Anthropology
Xavier University, Cagayhn Deour, Philippines
Mobile. 09063769114
Fax: 08822-723228
11 Chond R. Echavez Research Institute for Mindanao Culture
4/F Social Science Building, Xavier University
Philippines
Phone 43-8822-723228
Mobile. 639177120742
echavez@[email protected]
12 L. David Lai WZ. 236- A, Indrapuri, New Delhi – 110012
Mobile. 9899426855
13 Abhiruchi Ojha 135 (Girls) Chandrabhaga Hostel
JNU, New Delhi
Mobile. 9953850409
14 Javed Iqbal Navi 121-B, Chandrabhaga Hostel
JNU, New Delhi-11067
Mobile: 9953129139
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15 Sandeep Tirkey Christian Aid
D-25/ D, South Ex.-II, New Delhi-110049
Mobile: 9431584602
16 Jerome Daw Church Aid
Palam Marg, Vasant Vihar
New Delhi- 110057
Mobile: 9810334190
17 Prof. S. K. Thorat
Chairman, University Grants Commission (UGC)
Bahadur Sah Zafar Marg
ITO, New Delhi-110001
18 Prof. Ghanshyam Sah
Ex-Professor, JNU, New Delhi
19 Vinod Kumar Yadav 42, Tugalakabad Institutional Area,
New Delhi
Mobile: 9971349424
20 Dr. Joseph Marianus Kujur Indian Social Institute, 10, Institutional Area,
Lodi Road, New Delhi-110003
Mobile: 9968115911
21 Prof. V. K. Borooah Professor of Applied Economics, University of
Ulster, Northern Ireland
22 Amit Thorat PhD Student, JNU, New Delhi-110067
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Mobile: 9811553346
23 Dr. Anula Maurya
Flat No. 22, Data Ram CGHS
Sector- 18, Rohini
Delhi-110085
Mobile: 9810353171
24 Julia Sanchez A-3, Defence Colony
New Delhi 110024
Phone: 43562539
Mobile: 9717911325
25 Dr. Mallica Misra B9-6D, DDA Flats Munirka
New Delhi- 110067
Mobile: 9810839141
26 Ujjwal Rabidas 28 (old wing), Brahmaputra Hostel
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi-110067
Mobile: 9868561050
27 Jugal Kishore Christian Aid
D-25/D, South Ex.II,
New Delhi-110049
28 Prakash Kumar Urma Nirsa, Dhanbad, Jharkhand-828204
29 Dr. Samson. L. Chiru 23 E, Mahanadi
JNU, New Delhi-110067
Mobile: 9213630987
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30 Prof. S.K. Kejariwal
Professor, Group of Adult Education
SSS-(I), JNU, New Delhi-110067
Mobile: 9968304855
31 Seeta Prabhu UNDP
55, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi
Mobile: 9004313039
32 Dr. Ragini Sahay
Independent Researcher
102, Apartments, Swasthya Vihar
New Delhi-110092
Mobile: 9868886407
33 Nina Ellinger DAN Church Aid
14, Palam Marg, Vasant Vihar
Mobile: 9811268012
34 Viggo Brun DCA, 14 Palam Marg
Vasant Vihar, New Delhi-110057
Mobile: 9899579524
35 Md. Irfan 278, Periyar Hostel
JNU, New Delhi-110067
Mobile: 9871533448
36 Prof. E. Haq Professor Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi-110067
37 Amit Rahul 249, Periyar Hostel
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JNU, New Delhi 110067
Mobile. 9971862039
38 Trilok Narayan SIS/ JNU, New Delhi- 110067
Phone: 011-24692224
39 Dr. Vimal Thorat Professor, IGNOU
C-1/6, Pandara Park
New Delhi-110003
40 Anoop Kumar G1436, Basement
CR Park, New Delhi- 110019
Mobile: 9313432410
41 Prof. Virendra B. Shahare Department of Social Work
Jamia Millia Islamia University
New Delhi-110025
Mobile: 9868561196
42 Abdul Rahim 40-A, Nasigarh West Delhi
Mobile. 9940506113
43 R.N. Singh CPC, Doordarshan Bhawan
Copernicus Marg, New Delhi-110001
Mobile: 9811109619
44 Satyendra Kumar Centre for Inclusive and Equality
West Patel Nagar, New Delhi
Mobile: 9910901634
45 Dr. Arvind Kumar LSR College for women
37
University of Delhi
Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi-110024
Mobile: 9868850379
46 Nini Mehrotra Action Aid
E-88, II floor, Saket, New Delhi-110017
Mobile: 9213425525
47 Dr. Rasmita Das Swain National University of Educational Planning &
Administration (NUEPA)
16-B, Shri Aurbindo Marg, New Delhi
Mobile: 9868535225
48 Dr. Narender Kumar Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi-`0025
Phone: 011-26121551
Mobile: 9810114467
49 N. Majumdar B-1/21, Safdarjung Enclave
New Delhi-10016
Phone: 011-26713476
Mobile: 9968270387
50 Garima Singh GH 5&7/ 382
Paschim Vihar, New Delhi-110087
Mobile: 9999561054
51 Ashutosh NCDHR
14-B, Jangpura, Delhi-110014
38
Mobile: 9958890171
52 Dr. Antje Linkenbach Fuchs University of Canfesburg
School of Social and Political Sciences
Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand
Phone: 0064-3-3642987 (office)
0064-3-3321805 (home)
53 Dr. D. Parimala Department of Education
University of Delhi-110007
Mobile: 9953256296
54 Seema Khadekau 2316, B-2, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi-110070
Mobile: 9810821703
55 Vijay Khandekar 2316, B-2, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi-110070
Mobile: 9810421703
56 Savi Sawarkar Mobile: 9968149430
57 J. John
Director, CEC, 173-A,
Khirki Village, Malviya Nagar-110017
Phone: 011-29541851
Mobile: 9868164009
58 Ajit Pal P-69/A, Mahavir Enclave, New Delhi-110018
Mobile: 9910986768, 9818810304
39
59 Dr. D.K. Lahiri. Choudhury Centre for Jawaharlal Nehru Studies
Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi-110025
Mobile: 9868853231
60 Dr. Nand Kishor 354, Sutlej Hostel
JNU, New Delhi-110067
Mobile: 9868733189
61 Sarita Bhoi Center for Education and Communication
173-A, Khirki Village, New Delhi-110017
Mobile: 9868732991
62 Deepa Kadam Sakal Group of Publication
INS Building, Rafi Marg New Delhi-110001
Mobile: 9910029194
63 Chitrangada The Hindustan Times
Mobile: 9999013361
64 Puja Rani Gargi College
Mobile: 9811765495
65 Dr. Amit Prakash Associate Professor
Centre for Study of Law and Governance
JNU, New Delhi-110067
Phone: 011-26704021
66 Dr. Pramod Mehra #191, Sector- 19B, DDA Flats, Sanskrit
Apartments, Dwarka, New Delhi-110075
40
Mobile: 9818209985
67 Annie Namala 38/6, West Patel Nagar, New Delhi-110008
Mobile: 9350171639
68 N. Paul Diwakar NCDHR
14-3, Jangpura, New Delhi-110014
Mobile: 9910046813
69 Parthasarathi Jena Centre for Labour Studies
30, Khirki Village, Malviya Nagar
New Delhi-110017
Mobile: 9899170837
70 Dalip Katheria Dalit Lekhan Sangh
L-239, Phase-3, Nagloi, New Delhi-110041
Mobile: 9811135667
71 Narottam DDA Flats No. 12 Fase-3
Nangloi, New Delhi-110041
Mobile: 9899317667
72 Sajnjay Rathore Moh. Hathi Thunjal Nagar
Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh
Mobile: 9889052972
73 Dr. C. K. Simon
50, Jindal Farm
Kapashera More, New Delhi-110037
Mobile: 9718174485
41
74 K.S. George 50, Jindal Farm
Kapashera More, New Delhi-110037
Mobile: 98111065579
75 Dr. Belinda Bennet Christian Aid
D-25/D, South Ex.II, New Delhi-110049
Phone: 011-26268068
76 Dr. Purnima Chattopadhayay Dutt
Christian Aid
D-25/D, South Ex.II, New Delhi-110049
77 Jennifer Plot No. 19A, Hoz Nanda Devi Apartments
Sector 10-Dwarka, New Delhi-``0075
Phone: 011-26268068
78 Arthour Van Diesen DFID, India
Mobile: 9953595066
79 Seema Mathur 8/1, 2nd Floor, South Patel Nagar
Delhi-110008
Mobile: 9958890161
80 Sangita Nigam 8/1, South Patel Nagar
Delhi-110008
Mobile: 9958890172
81 Dag Erik Berg University of Bergen
Christresqt, 17
5007 Bepsen, Norway
82 Prasanta Kumar Pradhan 29D/3b, Ward No. 1,
42
Mehrauli, New Delhi-110030
Mobile: 9871565088
83 Deirdre Boyd UNDP
55, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi110003
84 Dr. John Dayal 505, Link Apartments 18, I.P. Extension
New Delhi 110092
Phone: 22722262
Mobile: 9811021072
85 M.S. Chalia Chief Commercial Manager (FM)
Northern Railway Board House
Copernicus Marg New Delhi-110001
Phone: 23413477
Mobile: 9968254658
86 Rajeev M PG Student Dr. K.R. Narayanan Centre for Dalit
Studies, Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi-110025
Mobile: 996847221
87 Roselin Sekho Mata Sundri College, University of Delhi-110002
Mobile: 9891476253
88 O.P. Sawhney A-104 (3rd Floor) Paryavaran Complex
Neb Sarai Road, New Delhi.110030
Mobile: 9873444385
89 S. Anand Navayana Navayana, 120, Ground floor
Shahpur Jat, New Delhi-110049
43
Mobile: 9971433117
90 Lakshmi Narayan 17-B, Sri Aurbindo Marg
New Delhi-110016
Mo. 9350196926
91 Amrita Lamba K. 32, II floor
Green Park Main, New Delhi-110016
Mobile: 9811440234
92 Dr. Kaushal Panwar House No. 072
RK Puram, Mohammad Pur
New Delhi-110066
Mobile” 9999439709
93 Sakhi Khurana Centre for Health and Social Justice
3C-H, Saket, New Delhi-110017
Mobile: 9899116470
94 Dr. N. Sukumar Department of Political Science
University of Delhi
Mobile: 09968058907
95 Dr. Shailja Menon Centre for Dalit and Minorities Studies
Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi-110025
Mobile: 9968058908
96 Gitanjali Centre for Health ad Social Justice
44
3C, H Block Saket, Delhi-110017
Phone: 011-26536041
97 S. Shinde CSRD, SSS-1
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi-110067
Phone: 011-26741956
Mobile: 9868354019
98 Prof. Sushma Yadav IIPA, Indraprastha Estate, Ring Road
New Delhi-110002
Mobile: 9810074667
99 Gorden Sharnon Christian Aid
D-25/D, South Ex. II, New Delhi-110049
Mobile: 9818391609
100 Dr. Achan Mungeng X-6, FF
Green Park Main, New Delhi 110016
Phone: 011-26511207
Mobile: 9868240809
101 Jaifferali Arackal MA Sociology
Department of Sociology, Jamia Millia Islamia
New Delhi-110025
Mobile: 9968021807
102 Ramya Subrahamaneam UNICEF
73, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi-110003
Phone: 011-24606241
45
Mobile: 9811397616
103 Ratna M. Sudarshan ISST, IHC
Lodi Road, New Delhi-110003
Mobile: 9810508452
104 Saumya Kapoor 70, Lodi Estate
The World Bank, New Delhi-110003
Phone: 011-41479275
105 D.D. Nigam Department of Social Work
Dr. Ambedkar College, University of Delhi
Mobile: 9990207121
106 V. P. Chopra 6 Main Market
Lodi Colony, New Delhi- 110003
Mobile: 9212256712
107 Claire Noronha Cord, G18/1, Nizammuddin West
New Delhi-110048
Mobile: 9811550720
108 Meera Semson G 18/1, Nizamuddin West, New Delhi-110048
Phone: 011-24356085
Mobile: 9811765290
109 Satish Deshpande Professor, Department of Sociology
University of Delhi
Phone: 011-27666249
Mobile: 9810044269
46
110 Vijay Kumar DVJ, New Delhi
Mobile: 9210350694
111 Bezwada Wilson Safai Karamchari Andolan
36/13, Ground Floor
East Patel Nagar, New Delhi-110008
Mobile: 9311234793
112 Ramesh Kumar E-105, Ganesh Nagar, New Delhi-110092
Phone. 011-22022531
Mobile: 9810865366
113 Ruchi Dabas A-2/129, Paschim Vihar, New Delhi-110063
Mobile: 9818605625
114 Prof. Ravi Srivastav CSRD, SSS-1, JNU, New Delhi-110067
Phone: 011-26704103, 26741829
Mobile: 9810863346
115 Franklin Caesar Thomas National Coordinator
National Council of Dalit Christian
F-11/750, Ganesh Nagar, Sakkarpur, New Delhi
Phone: 22465445
Mobile: 9818805668
116 Zarin Ahmad CSH, 2, Aurangjeb Road, New Delhi-110001
Phone: 011-30410070
117 Rajesh Kumar 5B/16F, Gali No. 16
Gurudwara Mohalla
Maujpur Delhi-110053
47
Mobile. 9278210309
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