USTM holds natl seminar on minority rights, gender justice

GUWAHATI, July 25: Resource persons at a national seminar on ‘minority rights and gender justice provided valuable inputs on bridging the gap of knowledge on minority issues and gender rights between academic and administrative platforms.
The two-day seminar on the theme: “Minority rights and gender justice in India: A qualitative discussion on academic and social policy” was held at the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM), Khanapara in Ri Bhoi district.
It was organised by the department of sociology, USTM, in collaboration with the Indian Sociological Society and sponsored by the Indian Council of Social Science Research.
“An attempt was made through the seminar to understand how women in India, belonging to various minority groups such cultural, religious, ethnic as well as sexual minority groups, become victims of marginalisation and exclusion from the broader political, economic and social framework,” a statement issued here on Monday said.
The seminar touched upon certain critical questions such as how women themselves as a minority group are minoritised and marginalised through the process of communalism, radicalisation of religion and discrimination on the grounds of caste, race, ethnicity or sexuality.
Sociologists from Jamia Millia Islamia, University of Hyderabad, Banaras Hindu University, Maharishi Dayanand University, Haryana, Lovely ProfessionalUniversity and Indian Council of Medical Research, among others took part in the seminar.
Arvinder A. Ansari, a sociologist from Jamia Millia Islamia, delivered the keynote address on intersectionality of problems among minority communities, especially women in India.
Ajailiu Niumai from the University of Hyderabad was the guest of honour during the inaugural session. She spoke on trafficking in Northeast India and how it is a problem of the minority community.
The technical sessions were thematised on various contemporary issues concerning minority rights and issues from policy perspectives.
Notably, USTM is also organising the 47th All India Sociological Conference in December this year.