Contents
National Human Rights Commission
List of International Instruments
List of Statutes
List of Cited Cases
Introducton/Chiranjivi J. Nirmal
1. Awakening or Human Rights/M. Sundara Raj
2. Victims of Human Rights Violations/Rajagopal Ryali
3. Fundamental Rights : The Constitutional Context of Human Rights/Leela Simon and Chiranjivi J. Nirmal
4. Human Rights Initiatives/S.N. Nageswara Rao
5. Human Rights Awareness in Education/A. Chandrasekaran
6. Practising Human Rights : A Feminist Perspective/Indhrani Sridharan
7. Situating Human Rights in the Media/N.V. Anandraman
8. Religious Freedom and Human Rights/C Joseph Barnabas
9. Human Rights of Prisoners/Chiranjivi J. Nirmal
10. Rerugees and Human Rights : International and National Experiences/V. Vijayakumar
11. Organizational Basis of Human Rights/K.S. Krishnaswamy
12. The Working of the National Human Rights Commission : A Perspective/V. Vijayakumar
13. Setting an Agenda/Chiranjivi J. Nirmal
Towards a Bibliography : Some Notes for Students, Teachers and Activists
List of Contributors
1. N.V. Anandaraman, M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D., was professor and head of the Department of History at Abdul Hakeem College, Melvisharam, North Arcot Ambedkar district, Tamil Nadu. He was educated at the Madras Christian College. He specialized in urban-life studies with special reference to twentieth-century Madras. His publications include articles in the traditional segments of the history syllabus and related fields. He died in October 1997.
2. A. Chandrasekaran, M.A., B.G.L., Ph.D., was educated at the Presidency College and at the Madras Christian College. He is professor and head of the Department of History in the Institute of Correspondence Education at the University of Madras. He has specialized in political history studies at a sub-regional level and has guided six candidates for the Ph.D. degree. He has written extensively about politics and education. He is vice-president of the Institute of Indian and International Studies (IIIS) and a member of its executive council.
3. Chiranjivi J. Nirmal, M.A., M.Litt., A.M.(Penn.), Ph.D., is director of the IIIS and also professor of history at the Centre for Research on New International Economic Order at Chennai. He was educated at the Loyola College, Madras, Presidency College, Madras Christian College, and the University of Pennsylvania. After serving at the Madras Christian College for more than thirty years, he was invited as visiting professor to the Manonmaniam Sundaranar University at Tirunelveli. In the frontiers of modern south Indian studies, he guided twenty one Ph.Ds and sixty M. Phils. His publications range over nineteenth-and twentieth-century Indian and American studies, in relation to urban studies, gender discontent and human rights. His books include Nineteenth Century Press and Indian Nationalism, Madras Perspectives and Juland Danvers-Maps of India.
4. Indhrani Sridharan, M.A., Ph.D., is the Principal of Ethiraj College for Women, Chennai, and the head of its Department of History. She was educated at Stella Maris College, Madras Christian College, and Sri Vasavi College, Erode. Apart from specializing in forestry studies, she has cultivated a genuine interest in developing women's studies programmes. On an International Visitor Programme of the United States government, she participated in the Berkshire Conference meeting on women's history at Vassar College, and later in a workshop at Wellesley on a similar theme. She has guided three Ph.Ds and many M.Phils. As a committed secretary of the HIS, she has virtually supervised the working of all HIS projects.
5. C. Joseph Barnabas, M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D., is a senior lecturer in history at the Madras Christian College. His post-graduate education and research was done at the Madras Christian College. From research in transportation he moved into migration studies with special reference to Indian emigration to Mauritius. As a participant in many all-India conferences he has contributed articles on different aspects of historical studies. Recently he was in the United States as a visiting professor. He has guided more than ten M. Phils. As treasurer of the HIS, Chennai, he holds a significant portfolio and is responsible for its growth.
6. K.S. Krishnasamy, M.A., M.Phil., is a senior history lecturer at Pachaiyappa's College, Chennai, where he was educated. He has specialized in the development of Tamil studies and the role of institutions in their growth. He has written widely on Tamil poetry and prose. As a political consultant he has first-hand knowledge of many regional organizations and is also on the executive board of the HIS.
7. Leela Simon, M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D., was educated at the Women's College, Thiruvananthapuram, Maharajah's College, Emakaulam, and at Madras Christian College. She began her teaching career at Sarah Tucker College, Palayamkottai, and is currently at Presidency College, Chennai. She has researched intensively on the trade union movement in the development of the Madras port in the twentieth century. She has contributed richly to our understanding of the politics of labour in this region. She is joint secretary of the IIIS.
8. N. Nageswara Rao, M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D., is senior lecturer in the Department of History at Sir Theagaraya College, Chennai. He was educated at Pachaiyappa's College, Chennai and at the Madras Christian College. He has cultivated research interests in Indo-US relations, studying Indian migration flows into the United States in the twentieth century. The US government arranged for his participation in a workshop in international relations, which further stimulated explorations in his field of interest. He is a member of the executive board of the IIIS.
9. Rajagopal Ryali, M.A., Ph.D., is professor of anthropology, sociology, and international studies and Distinguished research Professor at Auburn University, Montgomery. He was educated at the Presidency College, Chennai, and at the Duke University. The Jinks between linguistics, anthropology and politics gave him breadth of vision to explore openings in indigenous and migrant studies. His publications reflect these interests.
10. M. Sundara Raj, M.A., M.Phil., B. Lib. Science, B.G.L., Ph.D., is Assistant Librarian at the Tamil Nadu Archives at Chennai. At the Madras Christian College, he developed an interest in archival and gender studies. He not only opened archival collections to many researchers but shared generously his own experience in collecting materials. Based on his Ph.D. thesis, he wrote Prostitution in Madras. As a member of the executive board of the HIS he helped to devise the catalogue of the IIIS collections.
11. V. Vijaya Kumar, M.A., M.L, M.Phil., Ph.D., is professor of law at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore. He was educated at Madras and Bangalore. He has specialized in minorities and education, humanitarian law, human rights and refugee law. He recently directed a UGC refresher course in the same areas at the National Law School. As a researcher and teacher he has participated in workshops in those fields, in the United States and Canada, which have borne rich dividends in articles written by him, and in research guidance.