Panel 3
Association of Academic for Social Justice
Conference on
Intergroup Inequality in Indian Society: Magnitude, Nature, Sources, Policies, and the Movement
Organized by
Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bengaluru
Indian Institute of Dalit Studies (IIDS), Delhi
Association of Academic for Social Justice (AASJ), Delhi
Dates of conference:
August 23-25, 2023Venue:
ISEC, BengaluruPanel 3: Issues Related to Political Rights and Representation of Scheduled castes, Scheduled Tribes, Women and Religious Minorities: Under-representation, nominal representation, consequences and assessment of present policies
Political rights are the rights exercised in the formation and administration of a government. These include the right to contest and vote in elections, to participate in governance as an elected representative, the right to join a political party; run for office; and participate freely in political rallies, events, or protests. Political rights are closely tied to citizenship rights.
The contemporary political issues of the scheduled caste, scheduled tribes, women and religious minorities and other marginalized communities relate to unequal access to political rights, and political representation in legislature and in executive, and these will form the focus of discussions under this theme.
The papers will discuss the dimension of unequal presence and participation of the SC/ST/Women /religious minorities in the political sphere, beside restrictions in one form or another on the right to vote, or the right to get elected, and represent in legislature and executive in effective ways.
The electoral politics is increasingly getting influenced by caste and religious considerations. This invariably results in majoritarian rule with communal-majority party or parties coming to power, thus posing danger to the equal political rights of caste, ethnic, and religious minorities. The papers will also discuss the caste and communal base of political democracy and examine how it undermines the interest of the SC/ST/ and religious minorities.
There is talk about replacing the parliamentary system by presidential system in our country. In fact in some states at the panchayat and municipality level the elections of the sarpanch and mayor are direct. A direct election shall invariably help to elect a sarpanch and mayor from the majority caste or religion. The panelists will examine the implication of such a development on the representation of scheduled caste, scheduled tribes, religious minorities and other marginalised communities.
The papers will also discuss the issue of under-representation of women and Muslims in central and state assemblies. Under this theme the papers will also discuss the effectiveness of political reservation through Joint Electorate, in electing ‘genuinely active’ representatives of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in various constituencies.
This session will run for three days through parallel session. During these three days we expect to have about 12 parallel sessions, (three sessions each for SC, ST women and religious minorities) and about three Keynote and special lectures on this theme.