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IN-FOCUS
The Power of Truth
The Morung Express WEDnEsDAy 17 DEcEmbEr 2014 volumE IX IssuE 347
‘Rule of the People’
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n today’s political order, democracy as a political system constantly needs to be questioned and its origins revisited. The dominant worldview has increasingly defined democracy through a narrow framework of what is acceptable and what is not. From its Greek root, ‘democracy’ simply means ‘the rule of the people.’ Consequently, more democracy implies more power to the people, and more freedom. Most essentially, democracy is intended to a way of life. But is it? Democracy has been reduced to a process of open elections, and, in most cases, is synonymous with the State itself. These types of circumstances have increased the tension between democracy and freedom. All too often, this dilemma or reality is experienced in many parts of the world where the process of open elections have produced and re-elected governments that continue to deprive its citizens of their basic rights. In some places, elections have even paved the way for dictatorships. In such oppressive situations, the gap between democracy and liberty could not have been greater. If a country holds competitive, multi-party elections, it is called “democratic.” But, in reality it needs to go beyond this minimal requirement for a country to be labeled democratic. A government produced by free and fair elections may turn out to be inefficient, corrupt, irresponsible, and absolutely incapable of adopting public policies essential for good governance. While such a government may be detrimental, this does not necessarily make them undemocratic. Democracy, therefore, cannot be considered as the one and only public virtue. Democracy actually emerges through a process that is deeply interconnected to other public virtues which makes a shared humanity possible. If democracy is widely accepted as a process of selecting a government, it also needs to ensure that such a process is inherently related to other public virtues such a justice, freedom, inclusiveness, participation, respect and liberty. A truly democratic government needs to safeguard social, political, economic, cultural and religious rights which are contextually relevant and consistent within the broader ambit of universal rights. Democracy cannot be limited to the procedures for selecting or designing a government; it needs to honestly reflect the people’s aspirations and ensure that the approach it takes to realizing them is consistent with their ethos. Democracy that emerges in this context is vibrant and responsive as its constancy is grounded and guided by the people. As people living in the world’s largest democracy, Nagas too need to critically question why liberty is not flourishing and vibrant. This includes people questioning why power controlled by a few continues to perpetuate the abuse of power, lack of transparency, accountability and inclusive participation. Electoral politics based on family, clan, and tribe needs to be summarily rejected because they are divisive and contradictory to the foundation of participatory democracy. After all, there is no democracy without liberty!
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Devika Mittal Countercurrents.org
How Can Human Rights Become “Anti-National”?
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s I thought of 10 December which is observed as International Human Rights’ Day, I imagined different groups of activists across the world trying to use this day to raise awareness or advocate for their cause for justice and humanity. I also thought that we as a campaign against AFSPA should also plan something for 10 December. We must try to advocate for repeal of the black law. We must plan maybe a candle-light vigil or some other form of public demonstration. But then I asked myself, “for whom?” Who will listen to us? Who will come for the public demonstration? Who will bother to understand rather than just read and react to “Repeal AFSPA”? Is there any hope in this country where now peace and human rights are considered to be above the national interest? In the World’s largest democracy, it has become a crime to even think freely. Our thinking needs to be within the boundaries of our respective caste, social identity and nation. We are not allowed to think beyond. We are not allowed to question. We are supposed to accept anything that the state does. We are supposed to not only accept but justify it. After all, it is “our” state and “our” country. But isn’t the constitution “our” own? What about the ideals that is granted to us in the constitution? How can we who are only demanding that the basic fundamental of the constitution be implemented be called traitors? Are we saying the basic core of the constitution is anti-national? How can equality, justice, truth and secularism be considered as anti-national? How can the demand to give justice to all, to give basic human rights to all be considered as above national interest? How can the right to life be considered as anti-national? These are the questions that we must ask from the state, from the army, from the media and from a section of people who conveniently use the shelter of national interest, national integrity to challenge these very fundamental ideals of the constitution. Who is being a traitor? Can we ask them? The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has been proved to be an inhuman law. This has been acknowledged by national and international human rights’ organisations, government appointed committees, our own politicians, our judiciary and even by retired army officers. To those who say that calling AFSPA as inhuman is an exaggeration or a lie or a conspiracy. Who are all traitors? Are the abovementioned people also traitors? The violence done in the garb of AFSPA is not an aberration. Ask a person who has lived in the conflict zones of NorthEast and Kashmir what everyday life is. Read any committee report, read reports of human rights’ organisation. How much violence can be regarded as collateral damage? Can sexual violence be regarded as collateral damage? It is so easy to call people funded or agents. But question is, who are all funded? Are the above-mentioned groups – NHRC, politicians, judiciary, retired army people, funded? Are they agents too? Denying the reality will not curb it. I wish, it could though. The reality is out there and it is disgusting. There are people in the uniform who are taking advantage of their position. There are criminals hiding in the uniform and they need to be weeded out. Asking for transparency is not above national interest, is it? Asking for punishment for criminals has not become anti-national yet, or has it? AFSPA is a failed law. AFSPA could not weed out insurgency. Instead, it has increased it. This is again not us “traitors” saying. We cannot bind people using force. Infact, we must not try to bind people. We need to bond with them. AFSPA has to go. Think as some of us, the privileged ones, can at least think. There are others who don’t need to think as they live it. They struggle with it. Devika Mittal is pursuing her M.Phil in Sociology from Delhi School of Economics. She is core member of Mission Bhartiyam and member of national core committee of Save Sharmila Solidarity Campaign.
THE EDIT PAGE
C O M M E N T A R Y
Shulamith Koenig Countercurrents.org
Human Rights: A way of life
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n 2008, Alongside the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the ‘Elders’, led by Nelson Mandela, sent out a clarinet call proclaiming: “every HUMAN has RIGHTS.” Recalling Voltaire, who was asked “what should we do about human rights?” to which he answered: “Let the people know them”.. --and having facilitated for the last 25 years the learning and integration of human rights as a way of life in more then 60 countries, I sent the Elders a note saying : “but do the ‘humans ’know them? Most do not!...-- It is therefore an imperative to add to the Elders call, loud and clear: “and every human must learn, know them and own them as a way of life!” It is not enough to “have” human rights, it is essential that everyone owns them and be guided in their day to day life by the holistic human rights framework, enabling women and men to participate as equals in the decision making process towards meaningful, sustainable economic and social transformation. We have no other option! Having met face to face with people living in hundreds of communities around the world, facilitating dialogue about human rights as a way of life, I choose not to engage in the discourse about diversity and/ or intercultural dialogue and not even peace. I believe that such discussions distract us from holding the necessary and essential conversations that can lead to the planning of meaningful ways and means to facilitate the learning of human rights as a way of life throughout the world. Such efforts, when implemented, will evoke a sense of ownership of human rights, put in the hands of the learner a powerful tool for positive action, enriching people’s ability to live with and within diverse cultures in trust and respect of the humanity of the other. This is not mere Utopia. As people pursue equal participation in the political decision making process, women and men alike, they join in weaving a new foundation of equality for all and the elimination all forms of discrimination… --basically what human rights is all about. The awareness that all human rights concerns and effective move towards the realization of human rights, --be it political, civil, economic, social and cultural -are indivisible, interconnected and interrelated, with a gender perspective, endows communities with a holistic insight of how we are all different form one another yet yearn to belong in community in dignity with others. Whoever and wherever we are-- we each have different and diverse cultural affiliations and several personal identities, yet, we all belong to the same humanity bound by the vision and mission of human rights as a way of life. . We may all have different interpretation of belonging and how we relate to subjective historic memories that frame our pride and uniqueness within our families, villages, towns and cities, not to mention religious and national identities, yet, all must be bound and guided by the fully comprehensive human rights framework. We can all overcome these diversities and break through the vicious cycle of humiliation by learning to recognize the humanity of the other and stop exchanging our equality for survival. To move from theory to practice it was quite evident to us when school children in Thies, Senegal, (being developed as a “human rights city”) who have learned that “education is a human rights”, realized that some of their friends who were not registered at birth have been lost to education. They teamed up spontaneously, in a community of 250,000 inhabitants, and in three years registered 4312 children, so that they can go to school…-- simultaneously they lobbied with the authorities to expand the capacity of their schools. Similarly, in the village of Malikunda, in Senegal, as a result of ongoing conversations about the meaning of human rights, man and women declared an end to female gentile cutting, naming the first girl who was not cut: “Sen Sen “– i.e. “human rights”. Learning Human right as relevant to the lives of children in Thies; or to the future of the women and men of Malikunda; and now throughout Africa, handed them a powerful tool to overcome oppressions of all kinds, enriching their lives to never again – as already reiterated - exchange their equality for survival wherever and whoever they are. Whatever their genes are they are overcoming what some may call “inevitability of nature”, creating a new future for their community and a new journey for their chil-
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nable to find a course of his choice at Delhi University, Ankit Khullar, 27, decided to pursue his graduation from the US. Armed with a degree in finance, he returned to India for his masters. But after "two wasteful years", he returned to the US for further studies. "The primary reason (to go back to the US) was the low perceived quality of education offered in India and my interactions with graduates from various universities. The idea was not just to attain a degree, but to learn," Khullar told IANS. He added that the courses being offered in the MBA programmes lay emphasis on subjects he had either already covered as a part of his bachelor's degree or were "outdated" as compared to those offered in the US. Like him, many Indian students are opting to study at international varsities owing to better living environment, highquality teaching and the opportunity to receive world class education. While the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Australia and Singapore are the most favoured destinations, Indian students are now also exploring other countries such as Sweden, Italy and Ireland. Apart from that, smaller countries too are trying to woo Indian students. Among them is Taiwan which at any given time has 500-600 students studying. Despite a high rate of Indian students seeking education abroad, the government does not maintain a record of those studying abroad.
Protesters show pictures of victims of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship during a march by victims, family of the victims and human rights groups during the International Human Rights Day, in Santiago, Chile on Wednesday, December 10, 2014. (AP/Photo Luis Hidalgo)
dren…--knowing that there is no other option but human rights as a way of life. . In 1991 in Nairobi, Kenya, an important event, gave more succinct direction to our work. A policeman was sent to ‘observe’ a learning session of 25 diverse development organizations who were being introduced to Economic Social and Cultural Human Rights as related to their issues and concerns. In the mid-morning, as discussion and interrogation were going on, the police man called out emphatically at the bewildered participants: “Stop it! Stop it! If this is human rights, come and teach it in my village.”. We, at PDHRE, People’s Movement for Human Rights Learning, have been answering this policeman’s request in many villages around the world. We continue to facilitate learnings with local community leaders to have them become mentors of human rights as a way of life. .We carry with us the vision of Eleanor Roosevelt who said: “…Where does human rights begin…--in small villages.. “) Indeed. In the introduction of the learning process I recently launched a discussion about human rights as a HOME. When you are a child ‘home’ is the place where you feel safe ‘out of the rain’,protected from the burning sun and often loved. As you grow older home can be, the memory of a lullaby, the stories you were told or overheard, the cloths you wear, the earth you toil, a book you read, the yearning for dignity, including the good or painful memories that instruct our daily lives --in short, the world we live in and wish to be able to claim as our own. Learning about equal, horizontal choices of decency and acceptance, provided in the human rights framework, we learn how to walk towards a new horizon, to restore or build a new home as we internalize the human rights language as a path of freedom. The word “home” holds a whole universe of meanings. Basically it is a space, where people can be free from fear and free from want, and often a refuge from persecution. It is a “place”,a mind set, an insight to wisdom, paving the road for walking securely with the human rights language for our hopes to become a reality, sometimes even transcendence. Many of us hold on to painful historic, often current memories of being “evicted” and violated and/ or evicting our enemies from their homes to secure ours, this as a path to mistaken freedom. Human rights are a home where the dignity of all people is being celebrated, the ultimate habitat of and for humanity. This may be seen as utopia in a world – a homethat in 60 years, from 1950 to 2010, grew from 2 billion people to 7 billion, where 50% of the population are under 25, all needing a home of their own.. In addition this is a world where ‘social networking” undermines value systems, spread contradictory definition and leads many aimlessly in many directions. These, often conflicting observations, leave me embracing a truth, for which we have no other: all people must learn, know and own human rights as a way of life and join in building a political movement that will curve a new future for humanity. In a Dalit village sharing with women that: food , education , health, housing and work at livable wages are inalienable human rights they clapped their hands, dancing and repeating these
five human rights imperatives as a mantra. . Many speak of a “Human Rights Culture”. I choose to quote Nelson Mandela who spoke of “Developing a political culture based on human rights!” -- It encompasses it all. Such a ‘political culture’ is an ever evolving phenomenon of being in community with others. of belonging, of defining the other as being fully human; of choosing or having born into a specific culture and/or religion; and most important of creating human rights political movements. It is important to note: A “human rights political culture” holds a critic of the patriarchal-system that we must do away with to be able to fulfill the holistic mission of human rights. Women as well as men must fully recognize that patriarchy is a system where injustice is justice and where women –to repeat- exchange their equality for survival…--a system that allows Female Gentile Cutting; imposed marriage and trafficking, just to expose the tip of the iceberg. Will it be overreaching or too ambitious if we call on every single civil society organization, local authorities and the private sector to integrate ongoing, never ending process of learning about human rights as a way of life, to have women, men, youth and children empower themselves; move from slavery to freedom; from self-righteousness to justice; and from charity to dignity. Churchill said that democracy is not the best solution but we have no other. Democracy became a structure rather than a living organism that allows the participation of all, in equality and without discrimination. As a result of touching the lives of so many people -and with all humility- I came to see the simple truth: a real democracy is a comprehensive delivery system of human rights that can be realized through a never ending , ongoing process of learning and integration, at all levels of society, human rights as a way of life. There is no other option. A final note: Human Rights learning should not be understood as another description of “human rights education”. These are two very different categories and approaches. Even though I was the person that almost single handedly created the UN Decade of Human Rights Education, PDHRE, moved forcefully to bring human rights learning to grassroots communities. HRE is time bound, mostly in academic institutions and schools does not reach 95% of the world community that must know human rights as a way of life. In 5 to 10 years we hope to evolve a movement that will have all people in the world learn, know and own human rights as relevant to their daily lives. They will be able to use human rights as a powerful tool for change, as a strategy to economic, societal and human development. Our mantra describes human rights as the banks of the river where life flows freely. And when the floods come people who know and own human rights strengthen the bank to revert the floods and maintain freedom. Knowledge is power! Learning about human rights as a way of life moves power to human rights.
Better environment and quality teaching lures Indian students to foreign varsities shweta sharma IANS Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Ram Shankar Katheria informed parliament that since studies abroad was a matter of individual will and choice, "information regarding the number of Indian students going abroad or the expenditure incurred thereon are not maintained by the ministry." According to the European Union, India has the second highest number of internationally mobile students, after China, travelling abroad for tertiary level education. Between 2000 and 2009, the count of Indian students in Europe increased from 3,348 to 51,556. The total number of Indian students in the US shot up 28 percent to over 1.3 million, comprising the second largest foreign student body in America after China, according to a new report published last month by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement of the Department of Homeland Security. As per the recent Assocham study "New overseas destination for Indians students", more than 85,000 Indians went abroad in 2005 and the count shot up to 290,000 in 2013. This, ac-
cording to Assocham estimates, costs India a foreign exchange outflow of 15 to 20 billion dollars per annum. According to Richard Everitt, director-education, British Council, Indian students applying for undergraduate courses in the UK continue to grow owing to a "conducive environment" they get to study and live in. "Over 90 percent of postgraduate students in the UK rate the quality of teaching positively and the satisfaction rate for students has hit a 10-year high - with 86 percent saying they are satisfied overall with their course, as per National Student Survey (NSS)," Everitt told IANS. Madhulika Sen, principal, Tagore International School, Vasant Vihar, told IANS that students demand education which is "intellectually stimulating". "Also, look at the percentage needed to get into a good college here. So, is it not better to give Scholastic Assessment Test and other tests and get into top level universities abroad which give preference to a child's cocurricular as well?" she asked. Another popular destination
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among students is Australia, which offers "high-quality teaching and support systems". As of June 2014 there were almost 42,000 Indian student enrollments across Australia's education and training providers. "The most popular courses for Indian students are in the field of management and commerce; food, hospitality and personal services; engineering and related technologies; and information technology. "It is also a significant international education destination for emerging careers in technology, digital, robotics, media and entertainment, scientific research and health," an Australian High Commission spokesperson told IANS. Highlighting the benefits of studying in Australia, the spokesperson said Australian education focussed on meeting the needs of industry, providing quality training and connecting skills with job outcomes. Students keen on pursuing biotechnology, business/finance, ICT, and medtech related courses also opt for Ireland, which Damien English, Ireland's minister of state at the departments of education and skills and jobs, enterprise, innovation, describes as "dynamic, lively and modern with a young population and a successful, technologically orientated economy". He told IANS that most programmes cost in the range of Rs.8 to 12 lakh with the cost of living per annum being a similar amount, adding that from a base of 850 Indian students choosing to study in Ireland in 2012, it has doubled to over 3,000 in the next three years.
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