Human Rights in India (20th January, 2011)

Ambuj Sharma of Critique Ferozepur Chapter and Philosophical Society participated and presented a paper on 'Dilemmas of Human Rights and Honour Killings In India: Unmasking the concept of Honour' in the UGC-sponsored one day National Seminar on the topic ‘Human Rights in India” organized by Department of Political Science, D. A. V. College, Abohar, Punjab on 20th January, 2011 at D. A. V. College Abohar. In a short presentation Ambuj critiqued the notion of ‘honour’ giving an account of the evolution of morality. He strongly urged the participants to take a course on reflective Morality while drawing moral judgments. He said that largely people follow the notions of customary and instinctive morality and closes all doors to reflective and critical thinking. He further said that to take a life of an individual who decides to marry an individual of his or her own choice is the greatest violation of any values in ethics or religion. He asked the participants to draw another sketch of morality with reason and respect to human life and dignity.
Ambuj was highly benefited from the suggestions and comments from his friends Mr. Paras Aggarwal from Department of Physics and Mr. Kashmiri Lal from Department of Hindi D. A.V. College, Abohar.
Among other prominent speaker who addressed the seminar were Prof. Ronki Ram, Chairman, Dept. of Political Science, Panjab University, Prof. Rajiv Lochan, Chairman, Dept of History, Prof. I. D. Gaur, Dept of History, Lallan Singh Baghel, Dept of Philosophy, Dr. Vijay Nagpal, Dept of Laws, Panjab University, Joginder Singh, Former Director, C.B.I.
Dr. Vandana Munjal, Head, Department of Political Science, D. A.V. College, Abohar who was the convener of the seminar, along with her other colleagues, students and staff left no stone unturned to provide great hospitality and comfort to the participants during their entire stay at the college.

Life Imprisonment to Binayak Sen: Violation of Human Dignity and Human Rights"

Critique Ferozepur Chapter and Philosophical Society: A Students Discussion Forum and other students of the Dev Samaj College for Women, Ferozepur City, Punjab expressed their dissatisfaction over the recent verdict of life imprisonment by the sessions court of Raipur to Dr. Binayak Sen. They said that the judgment is as a big jolt to democracy and human rights in India. In the discussion on “Life Imprisonment to Binayak Sen: Violation of Human Dignity and Human Rights” presided by the college principal Dr. Mrs. Madhu Prashar, Sukhdeep Kaur , President of Philosophical Society, Karamjeet Kaur , Amandeep Kaur, Amrit Kaur, and Komalpreet shared their views with the students and faculty of the campus.
In the first round of discussion Amandeep said that Binayak Sen worked on Mahatma Gandhi’s principles and extensively worked for the underprivileged section of our society. Raipur Sessions Court passed a judgement against a man who left the privileged life in which he was born and raised and devoted his life for social service. The cases should again be scrutinized considering his previous records and service to society.
Karamjeet said that Dr Sen has been contributing theoretical papers to books and journals on public health. He was honored with the Paul Harrison award in 2004 for lifetime work of medical care in the service of humanity. She was of an opinion that there are very few doctors in the country, who practiced among the poor and the disadvantaged of the country, Dr. Binayak was one such man. She further said that the current verdict is against the principles of law and democracy. Komalpreet said that putting Binayak Sen behind bars is the death of democracy and human rights in India.
On the occasion college Principal Dr. Madhu Prashar, faculty members and students of the college appealed the central government, the Supreme Court and High Court of Chattisgarh to re-look on the matter and pursue a fresh enquiry as they are sure that Dr. Binayak Sen is innocent.

Modernity, Development and Violence: Gandhi’s Perspective (12- 13 November, 2010)

Ambuj Sharma of Philosophical Society participated and presented a paper on Modernity, Development and Violence: Gandhian Perspective in the UGC National Seminar On ‘Science, Society and Liberty’ organized by Government Meera Girls College and Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur at Udaipur on 12-13 November, 2010
In his paper he tried to bring the debates of Gandhian critique of technology and its various forms. He argued the concept of development associated with the advancement of technology and globalization. He brought the Philosophical critique of western modernity offered by Gandhi and said that “technology is acting as a new slavery of commodities and market which Gandhi opposed. He argued that in the era of science and technology it is important to understand the politics behind technology as to who are benefited largely by the technology and who is deciding the course of technology. The paper tried to reflect on the Gandhian approach to understand society and its development.

Civil Disobedience, Rights and Distributive-Justice: Raising a few questions in Afro Asian Political Philosophy (20-23 October, 2010)

Colonialism has been a longstanding concern for political and moral philosophers in the Afro Asian tradition. At least since the Crusades and the conquest of the Africa and India, political theorists have struggled with the difficulty of reconciling ideas about justice and natural law with the practice of European sovereignty over Afro Asian peoples. In the nineteenth century, the tension between liberal thought and colonial practice became particularly acute, as the oppressed people raised resistance in different ways.
Myths like, “civilizing mission,” by colonialists, which suggested that a temporary period of political dependence or tutelage was necessary in order for “uncivilized” societies to advance to the point where they were capable of sustaining liberal institutions and self-government was out rightly criticized by both Afro and Asian countries. Civil liberty movements and civil disobedience by the oppressed opened a new technique and discourse to question the rights and Justice for the oppressed
Civil disobedience is the vigorous denial to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is usually, but not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance.
Ambuj Sharma of Philosophical society presented a paper on “Civil Disobedience, Rights and Distributive-Justice: Raising a few questions in Afro Asian Political Philosophy”, in the Afro-Asian Philosophy Association Conference organized by Department of Philosophy, University of Mumbai at Mumbai on 20-23 October, 2010
In his presentation he attempted to understand the concept of civil disobedience in relation to rights and justice. He focused on the Afro Asian Philosopher's understanding of civil disobedience. He brought the debates of Gandhi’s political philosophy on civil disobedience and made a comparative study of Frantz Fanon and Mahmood Mamdani views on pathology of violence and citizen's rights in a struggle against colonial empire and its consequences for contemporary understanding of distributive justice in the domains of contemporary Afro-Asian Political philosophy.