The full programme for IHEU’s World Conference on Untouchability has been published. The conference will be held at the Conway Hall Humanist Center, London, on 9 & 10 June 2009. To register for the conference, visit http://www.humanism.org.uk/june2009.
9 June 09
Session 1
Inaugural Session 09.00 am – 10.30 am
– Welcome, Sonja Eggerickx, IHEU President
– Introduction to the Conference, Babu Gogineni
– 13 minute film Untouchability (CNN)
– Keynote Address, Lord Meghanad Desai, UK
– Key Note Address, Lord Avebury, UK
– Binod Pahadi, Member Constituent Assembly, Nepal
Coffee Break
Session 2
Untouchability Worldwide 11.00 am – 1.00 pm
– Why Untouchability? Amarjit Singh, UK
– Untouchability and the Caste System in Nigeria, Leo Igwe, Nigeria
– Untouchability in Japan, Sam Ayache, Japan
– Untouchability in Sweden in the 1300s, P.K. Mahanandia, Sweden
– The Untouchables of Bangladesh, Jamil Iqbal
– Question and Answer Session
– Chair’s Concluding Remarks
Lunch Break
Session 3 2.00 pm – 2.30 pm
Fighting for Dalit Rights in the US
– Tina Ramirez, US Congressional Fellow on International Religious Freedom
Session 4 2.30 pm – 4.00 pm
Untouchability in the Indian Sub-continent and the Diaspora
Chair: Prof. B.D. Desai
– Caste and Politics in Contemporary India, V.B. Rawat, India
– Caste and Class Violence in India: Dr. Sudhir Hindwan, India
– The Caste System and the Asian Community in the UK, Bhagwant Singh, UK
– Reservations: the Asian Rationalist Society’s views, Navdeep Singh, UK
Coffee Break
Session 5
Lessons from Social and Constitutional Intervention 4.15 pm – 6.00 pm
Chair: S. Anand
– Dalit Women, Democracy and Empowerment, Swati Kamle, Netherlands
– Reservations and the Youth, Vikas Gora, India
– Jeremy Corbyn, MP
EVENING 6.30 – 8.30 pm Jabbar Patel’s famous film on AMBEDKAR or India Untouched, a film produced by Drishti Media, Arts & Human Rights
10 June 09
Session 5: 9.00 am – 9.30 am
The Legacy of Dr. Ambedkar
S. Anand, British Council Award Winning Publisher
Session 6:
Our Response to Untouchability 9.30 am – 11.15 am
– SUPERSTITION KILLS, premier of a 30 minute film by Henrik Thome, Sweden
– Work of the Social Development Foundation: V.B. Rawat
– Kathmandu village KAMIGAON PROJECT, Mr. Binod Pahadi, SOCH Nepal
– IHEU’s Adopt a Dalit Village Project, Veeraswamy
Session 7:
International Response: A Panel Discussion 11.30 am – 01.00pm
Chair: Roy Brown
– Lobbying Internationally for Dalit Rights: A Historical Overview, Yogesh Varhade
– The Work of the International Dalit Solidarity Network, Meena Verma, UK
– IHEU’s Representatives at the UN: Matt Cherry, Keith Porteous Wood and Leo Igwe
– Towards a Global Initiative, Babu Gogineni and Prof. Desai