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“Nothing wrong in going to global forums to render justice”

— Photo: G. Moorthy

Kalpana Kannabiran.

Kalpana Kannabiran is Professor of Sociology, NALSAR University of Law, Shameerpet, Andhra Pradesh. She has authored several books and her recent publications include ‘The Situated Politics of Belonging’ brought out by SAGE Studies in International Sociology edited along with Niral Yuva Davis and Ulrike Vieten. Challenging the Rules(s) of Law: Colonialism, Criminology and Human Rights in India from Sage India.

She was here recently to attend a public hearing on Victims of Torture. Ms Kalpana was part of the eminent jury, which had judges, social scientists, legal experts and social activists. She found time to interact with D.Karthikeyan.

Here are excerpts from an interview with her.

On the idea of public hearing as a means towards rendering justice?

The idea of bringing justice doesn’t mean that justice per se can be brought together at a stroke but concerted efforts are being put in to ensure that justice would be rendered. Public hearing is one such attempt and it has worked well. Take the case of Aruna Roy’s MKSS (Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan); it has made the institutions work for the public.

What is the requirement of giving global attention? (It was said that the final report of the public hearing would be send to international bodies)

Taking these issues to the international level is much required as the institutions here have failed to deliver justice and there’s nothing wrong in taking it globally and the authorities will have fear that exposing our own faults in front of people outside. We have done it in the past, during the time of emergency we went to the Vienna forum, ‘The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties,’ then we had UN sponsored World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) in Durban in September 2001, international conference on human rights of Dalit women held at The Hague in November 2006.

“When a government violates or refuses to recognize rights … there comes a necessity to take it to the international level to force the accountability of the state and … “ here you try, demand and struggle to bring about some semblance of justice, and there is no inside and outside as far as justice is considered”.

Can this be taken as a forceful strategy to enforce State accountability?

Yes, it’s a kind of mobilisation strategy with an impetus on enforcing accountability and strengthening our own constitutional values by bringing attention to render justice and Article 21 assures the right to live with human dignity, free from exploitation. It has also said that the state is under a constitutional obligation to see that there is no violation of the fundamental right of any person, particularly when he belongs to the weaker section of the community. If Melavalavu, Tsunduru, Karamchedu and Jhajjar can happen (where Dalits were massacred), why should not we speak about the truth in the global forum and make the State accountable.

What do you think? Does the political society provide space for negotiation?

In a political society, there is no space for negotiation and when you have a visible support in forums like this (People’s Tribunal) local society with identity of interest and location and the jury with identity of values, it opens up a solidarity thus giving an opportunity to negotiate and represent them and representation is the vital thing here. Representation and voice are critical elements of the right to information and must reflect democracy within.

On indictments about Indian feminism as “life style” oriented?

Feminism is not one grand theory; there is a need for stratified reservation among general political parties; there should be proportionate reservation within the women’s quota and the whole transformation is non-negotiable one. Putting that non-negotiable is feminism.

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