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  • Defending human rights

Defending human rights

15 May 2018 / Published in Article, News

Defending human rights

Human rights are cultural concepts, evolving continually in response to socio-cultural and political changes. Since 1948, when the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), there have been further resolutions, declarations, covenants and laws. All these expressions of human rights have been advanced due to the continuous, collective struggles of marginalized people all over the world, who continue to experience human rights violations and abuses (including by police and governments), together with the support of social scientists and non-governmental organizations.

During the last half century in India, the country I will focus on here, innumerable people’s movements with a rights-based approach (RBA)—especially among minority groups, fishers and farmers—have emerged. They have been demanding their “right to have rights” and a rectification of the injustices done to them for centuries by the so-called elites and upper classes. Their demands are based on rights granted in the Indian constitution, and in national laws and international covenants. Some recent laws, including the Right to Information (RTI), the Right to Education (RTE), the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and the Right to Food (RTF), were enacted mainly due to public pressure exerted by people’s movements all over India.

Jesuits since the establishment of the Society of Jesus have been committed to serving God, by serving people who are poor and excluded. In India, Jesuit social activists and lay colleagues have been active participants in the difficult struggle for the rights and living conditions of Dalits (former “Untouchables”) and tribals (indigenous peoples) particularly since the 1970s. In these four decades Jesuits have established, against great odds, more than 100 social centres among these vulnerable communities “to educate, agitate and organize,” as the famous Indian reformer Dr. Bhimrao “Babsaheb” Ambedkar once said.

Participants arriving for a Lok Manch meeting.
(Photo: Lok Manch)

Although each centre’s approach and level of participation in social movements may vary, all of them remain committed to empower, protect, promote and affirm the rights of Dalits, tribals and other suffering and marginalized communities. The aim has been to affirm inherent community rights, rather than individual’s rights, over the natural resources of jal, jungle and jameen (water, forest and land) and over their socio-cultural identity and dignity.

In 1989, the Jesuit Conference of South Asia (JCSA) chose defending the rights of “dalits, tribals, women, unorganized labour and illiterates” as a priority for work (Kathmandu statement). It was to permeate all ministries of the Society of Jesus. Reaffirming this commitment in 2000 with the publication of “Walking with the Poor,” JCSA specifically urged its social apostolates to go beyond charity and development “to promote structural changes for justice” through a rights-based approach.

Collective action by Jesuits in Social Action (JESA) came about particularly after the World Social Forum (WSF) meeting in Mumbai in 2004. WSF provided the impetus to JESA to establish a common platform, called South Asian Peace Initiatives (SAPI), with other like-minded organizations. This helped to foster confidence in one another and to move from isolated struggles to building alliances. People began to feel that “we are not alone.” The unity gave new hope and energy to carry on the struggle and to build a just and equitable society.

In the decade that followed, SAPI empowered its members through issue-based meetings, deliberations and joint preparation of peoples’ manifestos before national and state-level elections, as well as through rights-based training, campaigns, lobbying and publications. These efforts led to the formation of an advocacy platform called Lok Manch (People’s Forum) in 2016 on the issue of Right to Food, which touches the lives of millions of the most poverty-stricken people in India.

Studies have shown that more than 2.5 million people die of hunger in India every year, most of whom are women and children. In 2014 more than 100 people died of starvation in the tea gardens of Darjeeling alone. The Human Life Development and Research Centre (HLDRC), which is the Jesuit social centre in Darjeeling Jesuit Province, works among tea garden employees, to empower and equip them to claim their basic rights, including the right to food.

The struggle to affirm the rights of excluded peoples to food, shelter and due entitlements through organizations like Lok Manch and HLDRC is only a starting point for advocacy for Jesuits in South Asia, not an end!!

This article first appeared in the Spring & Summer 2018 issue of CJI’s Mission News. Xavier Jeyaraj is director of the Jesuit Social Justice and Ecology Secretariat (SJES) in Rome and a member of the Jesuit Province of Calcutta in India.

(Banner photo by Eugine Muthu SJ: Participants in the Indian chapter of the World Social Forum at a meeting on human rights in New Delhi)

Author

  • Xavier Jeyaraj SJ

    Xavier Jeyaraj SJ is director of the Jesuit Social Justice and Ecology Secretariat.

    View all posts

Tagged under: Darjeeling, HLDRC, human rights, India, indigenous people, Lok Manch, rights-based approach

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#Repost @aorjesuits ・・・ Happy Feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola today.As we reflected together on various Ignatian topics and themes, let us strive to live out and share with others what we learned from each other. Let us stand in solidarity with poor and marginalized people all over the world. Let us remain connected as we seek to make the Ignatian Spirituality known to all.Once again, HAPPY FEAST
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#Repost @jennycafiso ・・・ Very intense days in Buga del valle, Colombia participating in the 60th anniversary of Instituto Mayor Campesino Imca. There is much to celebrate. We have visited communities which they have accompanied for years in developing economies activities owned and operated by the community, Respect the environment and build alternatives models of society. Congratulations.
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On the occasion of Fr Stan Swamy's 1-year death anniversary today July 5, 2022, @digitaljesuits share a song in his memory: https://bit.ly/3P55syv #StandWithStan #Jesuits #HumanRights
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Canadian Jesuits International (CJI) stands in solidarity with the Jesuits of Mexico as we condemn the murder and mourn the loss of Javier Campos Morales SJ and Joaquín César Mora Salazar SJ. The two Jesuits were killed by armed assailants in Cerocahui, Chihuahua, Mexico on June 20, along with Pedro Palma, a man seeking refuge in the community church.These deaths are not isolated acts of violence. In several regions of Mexico, many men and women, religious and lay people, experience violence and are killed with impunity. The Jesuits of Mexico work to promote justice, fight for the defence of human rights and speak for peace in conflict-ridden areas. For these very reasons, they and the people they accompany are often victims of violence.We join the Jesuits of Mexico in mourning the loss of their two Jesuit brothers. We also demand that all measures be taken for the protection of the remaining Jesuits, lay people and the community members who are now at risk of further violence. We stand with them as they give voice to those who are silenced and accompany poor and marginalized people suffering from endemic violence, especially those whose deaths do not get any public attention. Their voices will not be silenced by this violence and we stand in solidarity with them.#Jesuits @jesuitsofcanada @sjes_rome
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Canadian Jesuits International (CJI) stands in solidarity with the Jesuits of Mexico as we condemn the murder and mourn the loss of Javier Campos Morales SJ and Joaquín César Mora Salazar SJ. The two Jesuits were killed in Cerocahui, Chihuahua, Mexico. Religious and lay people continue to be tortured and killed as they fight for the recognition of human rights of marginalized people and stand up for peace in conflict-ridden areas. CJI supports our Jesuit and lay partners in Mexico and other parts of the Global South where they accompany poor and marginalized people in recognition of their right to live in dignity and peace.Canadian Jesuits International (CJI) se solidariza con los jesuitas de México al condenar el asesinato y lamentar la pérdida de Javier Campos Morales SJ y Joaquín César Mora Salazar SJ. Los dos jesuitas fueron asesinados en Cerocahui, Chihuahua, México. Religiosos y laicos siguen siendo torturados y asesinados cuando luchan por el reconocimiento de los derechos humanos de las personas marginadas y defienden la paz en las zonas de conflicto. CJI apoya a nuestros compañeros jesuitas y laicos en México y otras partes del Sur Global donde acompañan a las personas pobres y marginadas en el reconocimiento de su derecho a vivir en dignidad y paz.https://bit.ly/3bhmGu2#HumanRights #derechoshumanos @jesuitas_mexico @jesuitsofcanada #justiceandpeace
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Canadian Jesuits International (CJI) stands in solidarity with the Jesuits of Mexico as we condemn the murder and mourn the loss of Javier Campos Morales SJ and Joaquín César Mora Salazar SJ. The two Jesuits were killed in Cerocahui, Chihuahua, Mexico. Religious and lay people continue to be tortured and killed as they fight for the recognition of human rights of marginalized people and stand up for peace in conflict-ridden areas. CJI supports our Jesuit and lay partners in Mexico and other parts of the Global South where they accompany poor and marginalized people in recognition of their right to live in dignity and peace.Canadian Jesuits International (CJI) se solidariza con los jesuitas de México al condenar el asesinato y lamentar la pérdida de Javier Campos Morales SJ y Joaquín César Mora Salazar SJ. Los dos jesuitas fueron asesinados en Cerocahui, Chihuahua, México. Religiosos y laicos siguen siendo torturados y asesinados cuando luchan por el reconocimiento de los derechos humanos de las personas marginadas y defienden la paz en las zonas de conflicto. CJI apoya a nuestros compañeros jesuitas y laicos en México y otras partes del Sur Global donde acompañan a las personas pobres y marginadas en el reconocimiento de su derecho a vivir en dignidad y paz.https://bit.ly/3bhmGu2#HumanRights #derechoshumanos @jesuitas_mexico @jesuitsofcanada #justiceandpeace
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