By TCN News,
Aligarh: Ms. Teesta Setalvad, an eminent human rights activist, delivered a lecture on “Human Rights Education” at a special session of ongoing Refresher Course on Human Rights for University/College teachers at the UGC Academic Staff College, Aligarh Muslim University.
Setelvad focused on children’s rights and said that human rights discourse and policies in India are adult-centric. She emphasized that children cannot be ignored by any society while formulating policies and programmes. The shrinking space for children is a matter of great concern for us.
She also highlighted the plight of minorities in India and observed that they are the victims of targeted violence in the country. There must be effective institutional and legal measures for safeguarding the interests of minority communities in a multicultural democracy, she observed.
Expressing concern on the opposition of the proposed Communal Violence Draft Bill 2011, Setelvad said that it creates an effective institutional and legal measure against communal and targeted violence towards linguistic, religious and other minorities. She stressed the need of the early ratification of the Bill by the Parliament. Teesta Setalvad has been associated with the drafting of the said Bill.
Besides eighty-one participants of the Course hailing from all parts of the country, Professor A. R. Vijapur and Professor Asmer Beg, Coordinators of the Refresher Course, Dr. Reshma Jamal and Dr. M. Mohibul Haque were present during the lecture.