“The Indian Constitution guarantees my fundamental rights to life, liberty, dignity, and equality. Some participants told me that he/she is now able to understand why there is inequality, religious/caste discrimination, and communal violence in society and all are committed to creating awareness in building an equal and just society. About 30 vibrant participants from various NGOs and educational institutions in Karnataka took part in a five-day ‘Social Analysis’ workshop. I want to help people to live a dignified life,” said, Vinodhini, as she was leaving the workshop.
The sessions focussed on critical thinking, perspective building and creating greater awareness of social realities. Mr. Ravi Kattimani, from Vijayapura, said, “Now, I have learnt my rights as enshrined in the Indian Constitution, and the need to work on a rights-based approach. He expressed that he is ready to teach others about constitutional rights.” “We are all equal with dignity and equal rights. We should not allow ourselves to be divided in the name of religion, caste, language, or any other category. Rather, we must commit ourselves to transform society”, said Mr. Nagesh T.
Adv. Vasanth Adithya generated passion among the participants to learn and educate themselves on the Indian Constitution and build a rights-based perspective. He said the Constitution plays an important role when the basic human rights of an individual are violated. The recent Oxfam report, 2021 reports that 40% of wealth is owned by 1% of citizens. This huge inequality is increasing the gap between the rich and the poor in our society. Ms. Sunitha T from Thamate NGO said, “We need to fight against such an unjust type of development.” Fr. Joseph Xavier SJ, Director ISIB motivated the participants to be change agents in society by first experiencing the change in themselves.
The participants gained knowledge of democracy and secularism from the perspectives of Gandhi and Ambedkar. Prof. Hulkunte Murthi enlightened the participants on the values of Democracy which existed since the time of Buddha. Ambedkar was much inspired by the Buddha’s teachings on values. During the workshop, the youth learnt about the different mechanisms of Human Rights Commissions. Mr. Manohar, Human Rights activist shared his experiences of collaborating with various commissions in fighting against human rights violations. “It wasn’t easy”, he said. But his knowledge of Human Rights helped him to make the authorities accountable. The participants reflected on the development leading to the marginalisation of the poor. They understood how the labourers are deprived of their basic rights today. Mr P R S Mani said, “It is frustrating to see how corporates are given a free hand for ‘ease of doing business’ which is leading to the violation of labour rights.”
The participants were also made aware of Gender rights. Ms. Madhu Bhushan and her team from Gamana Mahila Sangha created awareness of gender inequality by singing social awareness songs and explaining the system in place to address various domestic violence issues. Well-known social activist and crusader of transgender rights, Dr. Akkai Padmashali from Ondede with her team shared the struggles and challenges of transgenders and sexual minorities. Akkai told the participants that unless society accepts them and gives them their rights, LGBTQIA+ will remain under oppression. This face-to-face encounter transformed the participants in terms of their perspectives and they started expressing messages of solidarity.
Today Media impacts society on a larger scale. Mr. D Umapathi, a senior Journalist spoke on Contemporary Media, telling the participants to be careful about digital media where false/fake news is rampantly spreading. He said, “Digital media will enslave us if we are not careful. About 60 crore people are on WhatsApp and most of them cannot differentiate ‘fake news’.”
Indian Social Institute organised a five-day workshop on Social Analysis in Kannada from 23-27 November 2023.
Francis Balaraj SJ