Staff Reporter,
Guwahati, July 25: A two-day long National Seminar on “Minority Rights & Gender Justice in India: A Qualitative Discussion on Academic & Social Policy'' was held on Friday and Saturday at the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM). The seminar was organized by the Department of Sociology, USTM in collaboration with Indian Sociological Society and was sponsored by the Indian Council of Social Science Research. It was participated by sociologists from across the nation including Jamia Millia Islamia, University of Hyderabad, Banaras Hindu University, Maharishi Dayanand University, Haryana, Lovely Professional University, Indian Council of Medical Research and so on. Prof. Arvinder A. Ansari, renowned sociologist from Jamia Millia Islamia delivered the keynote address on intersectionality of problems among minority community specially women in India. Prof. Ajailiu Niumai from the University of Hyderabad was the guest of honour during the inaugural session and she spoke on trafficking in NE India and how it is a problem of minority community. Some of the resource persons of the seminar include: Prof. Shweta Prasad from Banaras Hindu University, Prof. Pranjal Sharma from Dibrugarh University, Prof. Bhup Singh Gaur from M.D. University, Haryana, Dr. Rajni Bala, BUC College Punjab, Dr. Imtiaz A. Ansari, Jamia Millia Islamia and Dr. K.M. Ziyauddin, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad. The resource persons of the seminar provided their valuable inputs on bridging the gap of knowledge on minority issues and gender rights between academic and administrative platforms. Through this seminar, an attempt was made to understand how women in India belonging to various minority groups such cultural, religious, ethnic as well as sexual minority groups are victims of marginalization and exclusion from the broader political, economic and social framework. Also, the seminar touched upon certain critical questions such as how women themselves as a minority group is dually minoritized and marginalized through the process of communalism, radicalization of religion and discrimination on the grounds of caste, race, ethnicity or sexuality grounds. The technical sessions were thematized on various contemporary issues concerning minority rights and issues from policy perspectives. The seminar was convened by Dr. Trishna M. Thakuria, Assistant Professor of Sociology from USTM. The Chancellor of USTM, Shri M. Hoque extended words of appreciation and gratitude towards the Indian Sociological Society for collaborating with the USTM. It is also to be mentioned that this seminar has worked as a milestone regarding the upcoming 47th All India Sociological Conference which will be organized by USTM in December this year.
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