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SUMMARY:South Asia's minorities - rough road to citizenship! - Dr Sajjad H
 assan\, Centre for Equity Studies - Misaal\, New Delhi
DTSTART:20160518T160000Z
DTEND:20160518T170000Z
UID:TALK65355@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Barbara Roe
DESCRIPTION:Minority groups in South Asia face severe challenges. Rights a
 nd safeguards for minorities – religious\, ethnic\, caste and linguistic
 \, among others – are limited across much of the region. These have been
  further degraded over the years\, thanks in part to an increasingly major
 itarian construction of national identities. And across the region\, inclu
 ding in countries with strong minority rights frameworks\, implementation 
 of the laws and protective mechanisms\, leaves much to be desired. Rule of
  law is poorly enforced\, and rights provisions are followed\, but selecti
 vely\, with minority communities often denied those. There is also the reg
 ional dimension of rights violation\, and the issue of ‘reciprocity’ 
 – how a majority in one country is often the minority in another\, and h
 ow fates of minorities across borders are intertwined\, in part\, reflecti
 ng the conflictual history of post-colonial South Asia. \n\nA collective o
 f research and advocacy groups from across the region\, is seeking to high
 light the issue of the weak safeguards for minorities\, and the weaker enf
 orcement of citizenship rights in their individual countries\, through doc
 umenting and reporting the status of minorities\, to engender debate and d
 iscussion. A South Asia State of Minorities Report is being put together\,
  planned to periodically  document and track the condition of minorities 
 – and fill a big gap in systematic evidence-gathering on the subject. A 
 regional approach and process\, it is hoped\, will perhaps work for minori
 ty rights\, including through pushing for regional instruments and mechani
 sms for minority rights protection and promotion. The challenge for this c
 ivil society collective is to be able to create enough momentum\, and the 
 incentives\, for state parties – the ultimate guarantor of rights – to
  take issues of human and minority rights seriously. \n\nI look forward to
  speaking on and about the South Asia State of Minorities Report\, 2016. \
 n
LOCATION:Seminar Room SG1\, Alison Richard Building\, 7 West Road\, Cambri
 dge CB3 9DT
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