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Human Rights and Peace Education Programme

As a part of the preparatory process for holding a Human Rights and Peace Studies Orientation programme in Kashmir, SAFHR held several rounds of discussions with the authorities of the two universities in Kashmir. SAFHR team met with the Vice Chancellor of Kashmir University in the Valley on March 27 and the Vice Chancellor of Jammu on April 25 in this connection. Considering the surcharged political atmosphere of Kashmir, it was felt that holding this course inside the campus of a university would be a safer proposition.

On April 27-29 SAFHR held a three-day workshop with women teachers form Jammu and Srinagar to sensitise the teachers about human rights and peace work. This workshop was attended by 23 teachers. The workshop was also helpful in developing our idea about the course content.

At the suggestion of some of the teachers of Kashmir University, SAFHR team visited Srinagar from June 11-18. On June 17 and 18, a two-day workshop on human rights instruments and methods of remedy was held in the Political Science Department of Kashmir University. It was attended by 25 students and five teachers. SAFHR had also invited two resource persons from Delhi.

A weeklong course on Peace and Human Rights was planned for September. This was to be held in Jammu University campus. However as the elections were announced this programme had to be postponed. It has now been rescheduled for November.

The Peace Education workshop was held in Srinagar from November 18 to 24, 2002. It was held at the Resource Centre. This time the arrangements were done by the members of the Resource Centre. About 20 young men and women, from Srinagar participated in the weeklong workshop. Mr Ashok Agrwaal, co-ordinator of the human rights documentation programme of SAFHR and Mr. Sahwar Gowhar were the main designers of the course. Resource persons were drawn from the valley as well as from Delhi and Hyderabad. The seven-day course dealt with the following themes.

Themes of the course
1. A brief history of human rights - the challenge to empires, struggles against autocratic regimes and growth of democracy.
2. Emergences of concepts like "people", "nation", "nation-state", "citizen" and the "stateless"
3. Development of the notion of rights as 'rights of man' - 'rights of citizens' and as 'universal human rights'.
4. Imperialism, colonialism - struggle for national self determination
5. The League of Nations, the United Nations and growth of International human rights law and mechanisms
6. Constitutional forms of government and protection of Human rights - case of India - the Fundamental Rights
7. The role of judiciary in the protection of rights of citizens
8. Human Rights Protection Law, National Human Rights Commission, State Human rights Commissions
9. Protection of minorities - religious, linguistic and ethnic - the concept of cultural rights
10. Rights of non-citizens - refugees and migrants
11. New generation of rights - Gender, environment and child rights
12. The concept of collective rights - indigenous peoples, nationalities and other identity groups

The course was designed as a participatory process. While there were lectures, the resource persons were careful in drawing the participants into discussions on the themes. The method used was to examine the concepts in the light of the experience of the participants. The July elections and the results provided concrete example in the examination of various theories of democracy and rights. As some of the participants were also involved in the monitoring of the polls, they were able to reflect on their experience to understand limitations of armed struggle and the limits of state.

Workshop on ‘Visualising Peace and Justice’, Jammu University Campus, 7-12 September, 2003. SAFHR in collaboration with The Other Media (TOM, Delhi) and Centre for Regional and Strategic Studies (Jammu University) organised a five day workshop for 23 graduate students, mid career professionals and activists. About 17 participants were from Jammu and Kashmir and six from outside. There were 10 women in the group.

The workshop was designed to provide the participants with an understanding of the basic concepts and issues in peace studies and to familiarise them with some experiences of conflict resolution and peace building. It provided a rare opportunity for interaction and frank communication between young people from across J & K state.

The five major workshop themes, each taken up on one day each of the workshop, were:

• Evolution of Rights

• Empire, Peoples and Nations

• Constitution, Institutions of Rights and Conflicts

• Justice, Reconciliation and Peace Strategies

• Gender, Patriarchy and Ecology

• Plural perspectives on Peace Building

Resource persons included eminent academics, human rights and peace activists and lawyers drawn from New Delhi, Kathmandu, Jammu and Srinagar. The emphasis was on interaction and discussion. Two public lectures were organised of Prof Mushir ul Hasan and Mr Ved Bhasin founder editor Kashmir Times.

The feedback received from the participants was very positive. Some important suggestion made include the addition of field visits to give the participants valuable hands-on experience, and practical skills on how to involve themselves in peace building activities.

J&K Peace Studies and Human Rights Workshops – 2004
SAFHR will continue to expand its Peace Studies and Human Rights work in Jammu and Kashmir  and explore institutionalising the Peace Studies workshop initiatives.