NHRC holds National Seminar and Public Consultation on Racism

With an objective to ascertain the views of all sections of society including academics, judges, lawyers, human rights activists, NGOs and others on the issue of Racism and Racial Intolerance as well as issues relating to cast and race in India, the National Human Rights Commission today held a Seminar followed by a Public Consultation on these issues.

Inaugurating the function, Justice Shri J.S. Verma, Chairperson, NHRC, said that the National Human Rights Commission is committed to combating all forms of discrimination irrespective of the label or nomenclature under which it goes. The Commission’s effort is to eradicate discrimination wherever it is found, thus it does not really matter to it whether the discrimination falls under the label of caste, race or any other category.

The Chairperson, however, reiterated that the Commission has not yet formed its opinion on this issue. It will do so after the Public Consultation had taken place and the Commission had learnt the view of all concerned persons in this subject. He assured the gathering that the Commission “had not mortgaged its mind to any preconceived notion or thought on this issue of racism”, which is a “hotly debated issue” these days. Justice Verma clarified that he had to politely decline the invitation to participate in a Committee constituted by the Prime Minister in preparation to the World Conference for the obvious reason that this was inconsistent with the autonomous character of the Commission. Apart from that he emphasized that whenever NHRC formed its opinion, it took into account the opinion of everyone else, howsoever diverse it might be.

He invited opinions particularly in the two main concerns of the Commission – whether ‘race` includes ‘caste`; and views and suggestions for combating casteism, which is a serious form of discrimination expressly prohibited by the Constitution t of India apart from any other International Instruments.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri F.S. Nariman, Member of Parliament, said that it did not matter what the Government of India said in this matter. “In my opinion, what the Government of India says at the World Forum is not only counter productive but also totally irrelevant”. He expressed unhappiness that the Government had taken its stands without considering the view of the people of India.

Swami Agnivesh, of Bandhua Mukti Morcha said that `Caste’ and `Race’ could be technically different but both were forms of discrimination. Not to admit this and not to fight against it would be anti-national. He said that the discrimination existed not only amongst Hindus but also amongst Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists too. Temples, wells, and many other public places in States like Haryana and Rajasthan were even today demarcated on the basis of caste. 86% of bonded labor in the country come from lower castes, more than 90% of the rape victims are victims of castes discrimination, more than 90% of the prostitutes are also from the lower classes. He expressed strong views that this issue should be discussed in the World Forum and the Commission should take it up strongly on behalf of all the people of this country.

Senior Advocate, Shri Shanti Bhushan, emphasized that caste falls squarely within the ambit of the Durban Conference. There was no harm in getting the support of international agencies to eradicate this evil if the Government is against bringing up this subject in the Conference. It meant that they had a vested interest in perpetuating this caste based discrimination purely for political gains.

Mr. Kuldip Nayyar, Member of Parliament and Senior Journalist, said that Government is not really keen on eradicating this stigma of caste. Just by blocking the discussion in Durban, the situation of discrimination existing in the country cannot be improved. He called for highlighting the events happening in the country at the Conference and appealed to the Government of India not to evade the issue by pretending that it was not there.

Senior Advocate, Dr. Rajeev Dhawan too was critical of the Government of India’s stand urged the Commission to take a strong view on the subject. He appreciated its earlier stands of opposing the view of the Government when it felt that the latter’s view was not correct.

Justice Rajendra Sachaar, Shri Ravi Nair, Director, SAHRDC, Shri John Dayal, Secretary All India Christians’ Council, Dr. K.G. Kannabiran, Chairman, PUCL, Dr.R.M. Pal, PUCL, Ms. Maja Daruwala, Director, CHRI, Dr. N.L. Mitra, Director, National Law University, Jodhpur and many other important social activists also spoke on the occasion and fervently argued for caste to be included within the ambit of World Conference on Racism.

The NHRC, being a national institution on human rights, has been invited as observers to the forthcoming World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance at Durban, South Africa to be held from 31 August to 7 September 2001. The Chairperson, Members and officials of the Commission will represent it in Durban.