Human Rights Education Project >>
Human Rights Education Project in India and Bangladesh
From 2005 a Human Rights Education Project is undertaken in two countries of the region – India and Bangladesh. 19 trained facilitators in India and 7 in Bangladesh impart Human Right Education particularly with reference to Freedom of Religion and Belief in different parts of these two Countries. So far 47 programmes, each with two days duration and with an average participation of 30 are over in India and in Bangladesh. Thus, over 1400 enlightened citizens in these two Countries, mostly Young Adults are committed for promotion of Peace, inter Religious and inter Community Harmony.
HRE Administrator for South Asia : Mr. Jyothiraj T.K.
- Mr. Asit Kumar Basu, Kolkata
- Mr. Prashanta Das Gupta, Kolkata
- Mr. David L. Biate, Meghalaya
- Rev. Helpme Mohrmen, Meghalaya
- Adv. Md. Shabeer Ahmed, Mysore
- Adv. M.A. Hemalatha, Mysore
- Prof. N. Prakasa Rao, Vishakhapatnam
- Prof. E.P.S. Bhagyalakshmi, Vishakhapatnam
- Adv. Amal Rohilla, Nagpur
- Mrs. Ameeta Mulla Wattal, Delhi
- Mr. Vinod Sreedhar, Mumbai
- Ms. Chandni Parekh, Mumbai
- Mrs. Mohseen Kauser, Bangalore
- Mr. K. Ramamchandran, Chennai
- Dr. Rajaram, Tirunelveli
- Bro. Albert Xaviour, Tirunelveli
- Dr. Ashok Alex Philip, Kerala
- Mr. T. K. Jyothiraj, Kerala
- Inter religious and inter caste marriages.
- Loss of identity of tribal communities.
- Discrimination based on religion and belief in educational institutions, jobs and government policies such as reservations based on caste and religion.
- Inter-religious conflicts between religious communities such as Muslims, Christians and Hindus.
- Discrimination within families, especially gender discrimination.
- Issues related to religious dress code, marriage, divorce, etc.
- The practice of untouchability, child marriage, excommunication, practices that are harmful to health.
- Government inaction at the time of communal conflicts and support for religious majority community.
- Religious intolerance and hatred.
- Conversions and re-conversions, stereotyping etc.
List of trained HRE-Facilitators for India
International Association for Religious Freedom South Asia Coordinating Council
A brief report on the second phase of Human Rights Education Programme held in South Asia from August 2008 to August 2009.
Rejuvenated by the successful completion of the first phase of HRE programme in South Asia, the IARF SACC launched its second HRE programme on August 2008 at Mysore with the ‘Training of Trainers' workshop for two days. The launch of second phase proves the effectiveness and enthusiasm of the IARF-SACC team and the successful way they enacted the HRE programmes at the grass root level in South Asia . Moreover the programmes were wholeheartedly welcomed by the people of different areas, political parties, religious groups and other social leaders. They also realized the importance of HRE programmes and requested for the continuation of this programme in different parts of the country.
Execution Of The HRE Programme
The first phase of the HRE was executed under the effective leadership of the then Vice President of IARF, Mr. Thomas Mathew. With the help of Dutch Government SACC was very successful in completing the first phase of HRE in India and Bangladesh . 55 HRE workshops were conducted in India and eight in Bangladesh .
The successful completion of first phase showed the need and urgency of continuing the project in South Asia . A synergized IARF team decided to continue the project even without the help of Dutch Government. The second phase was solely funded by IARF itself and we were able to stretch our human rights education programmes to religiously troubled state like Madhya Pradesh and attracted participants from North East India, Kashmir and Gujarat State . This can be considered as a success of SACC office and the IARF leadership in South Asia .
The HRE facilitators especially in India were well experienced in their operations and their commitment to human rights education helped IARF identify the effective target groups in implementing the programme at the grass root level. The participants were drawn from diverse professional fields but were interested and involved in the promotion of interfaith understanding and religious freedom at the community level.
HRE Programmes in India
During the second phase HRE progam since August 2008 to August 2009, IARF SACC conducted 25 Human Rights workshops in India . A new approach of pedagogy of transformation was adopted by facilitators. They made all the participants pledge to fight for human rights and religious freedom and to work for peace making in this world. In all the workshops, goals and objectives of the project and expected learning outcomes from the workshops were spelt out.
They generally included: ‘Clear' understanding of UDHR and human rights.. Identification of issues related to these and attempts to find solutions. Creating an environment of mutual trust and respect among the participants and towards, their beliefs and practices.
Encouraging the participants to play an active role in establishing a society in which there is recognition of religious freedom and human dignity.
Realization of the rights of religious freedom through understanding and respect for humanity and religious belief and practices.
Mutual respect among the participants of different faith and understanding of different points of view.
Understanding of different religions and the belief and practices associated with them.
Understanding of concerns of religious discrimination and intolerance in the framework of human rights.
Exploring the ways of promoting religious harmony and tolerance in society.
Establishing religious harmony, peace and understanding in the society.
Nurturing a culture of human rights in general and rights pertaining to religious freedom and dignity in particular.
Through the HRE programs facilitators were able to discuss local religious issues with the participants, local institutions and religious, political leaders. This kind of interactions during the preparation of the workshop as well as inaugural function, gave them an opportunity to think about how to prevent religious clashes and inequality in their society.
Facilitators focused on the importance of local needs and discussed with local institutions and religious leaders before planning the program to get local moral support.
Design Of The HRE Programme
The human rights education workshops were carried on through well designed and structured learning process with the following sessions.
Session 1 :
Statement of purpose, introduction of participants, initial asse ssment and statement of their expectations, participant pairs identify their concerns, sharing concerns, categorizing concerns, proposing goals, sharing goals and thinking about action.Session 2 :
Opening the session, showing the video, arousing awareness, immediate responses after the first viewing of the films, discussions and interaction on the films and the issues, deepening awareness, an inquiry into injustice, analyzing the injustice within a human rights framework following a second viewing of the films, relating the issues of religious freedom and violation of human rights on the basis personal experiences and what is known through observation and media in the context of UDHR DEIDRB.Session 3 :
Considering actions, assessment of learning as action.Session 4 :
Reviewing our diagnosis and drafting a statement of concerns, sharpening our goals, planning our strategy.Session 5 :
Enlisting collaborators, forming a task force, final reflections on human rights learning for tolerance and religious freedom.Evaluation of the workshop.
A methodology of participatory approach through group discussions and exercises, role plays, presentations, screening of films, display of charts, etc was adopted at the workshops.
Points of discussion
The participants had intense discussions and interactions with regard to denial of religious freedom, dignity and human rights. Some of the issues they identified are:
Some of the suggested solutions to the issues are:
Interfaith dialogue for understanding and harmony.
Understanding and knowledge of scriptures of one's own religion and other religions. Promotion of understanding and harmony through interfaith get-togethers, participation in the rituals, practices and festivals of different religions for better communal relations and understanding.
Abolition of caste system and elimination of caste-based discrimination and intolerance through government policies, programmes and legislation.
Most of the facilitators chose college youth as their target community; because of their enthusiasm, receptive nature and availability. Along with the youth, adults such as the staff and members of the management also participated. In some workshop adults both men and women from the laymen group took part. Some of the workshops had exclusive groups of social workers, field activist, teachers, law student and animators who work closely; with the grass root communities and have immense potential to take the human rights education deep into the communities.
At all the places the impact of the three films :
(1) Rita's Choice
(2) Sacred Grove
(3) Where is Home
- has been reported to be good. The films and some of the UN literature on human rights have been made into vernaculars such as Hindi, Bengali and Tamil and there are requests from organizers from other states to have the material in a few more vernaculars.
In their evaluation of the learning series the participants have reported that they have gained knowledge and understanding of different religions, practices, issues of intolerance and discrimination, right to religious freedom etc. They have come to realize that the right to religious freedom and belief is inherent and inalienable to them.
A lot of youngsters were attracted to the HRE programme of IARF South Asia. A reflection of this was seen in the young adult meet held at Chennai , India . There was an overwhelming response form the youth of South Asia to take part in the activities of IARF. Many youngsters are planning to organize workshops in different areas to impart the ideas of IARF. Many of them have volunteered to conduct the IARF programmes in different states of India . We were able to train 8 new youngsters to organize HRE programs in various parts of India .
Moreover the response of the communities and educational institutions when approached by IARF team with the project was very encouraging. They realized the importance of the project and co-operated with the facilitators in organizing them. The participants showed a lot of interest and enthusiasm in the learning workshops. They were able to internalize the learning material and relate to the issues and discussions very well in the process gaining a clear understanding of the right to religious freedom and its importance. The learning material and the methodology employed in the workshops worked well in helping the participant get involved in the learning process actively.
Need for HRE programme in South Asia
Through the HRE programs, facilitators got lot of opportunities to interact with religious, political, social leaders and conveyed the message of IARF to the high officials in India . Human Rights Day was celebrated in many parts of India and SACC took initiative to support two main events on that day with many hundreds of participants in Chennai and Mysore . A national level Human rights workshop with the participation of around 100 participants organized at Parmakudi, Madurai , Tamilnadu was another fruit borne by HRE program.
Recently held International Young Adult Conference in India revealed that the HRE programs have deeply influenced the youth and boosted their commitment to associate with IARF. HRE programs became an opportunity for IARF to reach many areas and that attracted people from all walks of life.
It is a need that IARF project should be continued in India .A pluralistic, highly populated country like India facing severe problems due to misunderstanding about different religion. Politics and caste divide the society and that ultimately leads to social unrest and religious fanaticism. The South Asian countries are facing civil unrest on the basis of ethnic and religious issues. Most of the cause that lead to violence and war can be prevented by the intervention of IARF with its educational programmes. The HRE projects with its limited size have been able to reach only a few thousand people. There is a felt need to reach out to more and more people for creation of awareness of human rights. A long term project with HRE learning and follow-up activities are essential to make a difference and create a culture of respect for human rights. Most of the participants have strongly suggested a further expansion of the project to reach out to more and more students and communities. They want to help IARF in organizing these workshops. The community leaders, NGOs and management of educational institutions have requested the facilitators, the administrator, the SACC Chairman to organize the HRE workshops in their areas in greater number so that more and more people become aware of the precious right of religious freedom.
Like first phase of HRE, this time also we were able to train more members than we actually planned. Local support was another key matter of the successful implementation of the HRE workshops. Second phase of HRE programs completed on time as we originally planned, thanks to the facilitators and SACC office.
The President of IARF, SACC memebr groups, India Chapter, the SACC staff, the facilitators of the HRE project have all been very keen and enthusiastic about taking the project forward.
Respectfully submitted
by T.K .Jyothiraj, SACC HRE Coordinator
10 th October 2009
Download - Report on Human Rights Workshop conducted at Mysore
HRE Programme at TamilNadu
HRE progressing in Kerala
HRE Video Presentation
HRE at Vizag
60th HR Day on 10-11th December 2008, Anna Adarsh, Chennai
Another HRE at Vizag for Human Rights Activists
Chart preparation about UDHR HRE Sreenivasa Engineering College, Chennai
Group Discussion - HRE, Vizag
Group presentation HRE Sreenivasa Eng.College,Chennai
HRE at Srikanteswara, P.U.college,Mysore
HRE -Chart presentation- M.O.P Vaishnava College, Chennai
HRE -Indigenous and Dalit community in Kerala discussion about UDHR
HRE Indore - 2
HRE progressing at Teresian College, Mysore - 1
HRE progressing in Indore, North India
Group Photo, Indore
Mother Teresa Nursing College Group Discussion
National Human Rights Seminar-Madurai. Addressing by an Islamic leader on 15th April 2009
HRE at Palani, TamilNadu
HRE Programme Progressing
Human Rights Education Project - Bangladesh
HRE Programme Inaugurated by Magsasay Award Winner
Rev. Dr. Tim Francis at Dhaka.
HRE Administrator for Bangladesh - Mr. Md. Shahid Hossain, Dhaka.
List of trained HRE-Facilitators for Bangladesh
- Mr. Md. Abu Taher, Bangladesh.
- Dr. Dalem C.H. Barman, Dhaka.
- Dr. Md. Shabiqual Islam, Dhaka.
- Mr. Rahim Sarwar, Dhaka.
- Ms. Roshana Ara, Dhaka.
- Sr. Ruth Halder, Dhaka.
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