South Asian region is a zone of conflict, in India there are situation of ethic conflict in North Eastern region, then social and political conflicts led by of Maoists in the eastern India, inter-religious conflicts in various parts of India, conflicts for autonomy in Kashmir, and then conflict with neighbours. Similarly there are regions of conflict in Nepal due to Maoists violence; in Bangla Desh due to religious fundamentalism, and ethnicity; in Pakistan due to ethnicity, and religious fundamentalism; and in Sri Lanka largely due to ethnic conflicts. Apart from these there has been a great upsurge in the resource conflict largely due to neo-liberal economic policies. These polices have increased the demand for the control of natural resources by the multinational corporations to a great extent. The state has also responded in the name of the faster economic growth by designing multipurpose infrastructure projects Special Economic Zones (SEZs) etc. All of this have cumulatively resulted in far greater social and economic costs and displaced millions of people across South Asia.
In the last one-decade the numbers of internally displaced persons (IDP) are on the increase in South Asia just as in many other parts of the world. Discrimination against minorities, violence, war, ethnic hatred, state repression, demands for self-determination, natural and man made disasters such as famines and floods, ill-conceived development projects such as highways and dams – all have contributed massively to internal displacement. In the absence of legal or constitutional mechanisms in any country of South Asia for the IDPs they have organized rehabilitation and care on an ad hoc basis for the IDPs in the same manner as they have dealt with refugees. During conflict situations the rights of an individual come under tremendous pressure and create exigencies for the agencies involved in the work of humanitarian relief. The basic needs of women, children and elderly people become acute in such situations. Even though the relief is necessary the important aspect is restoration of rights and special measures has to be devised for this purpose. However, when we talk of providing rights, justice and relief and rehabilitation to IDPs we have to talk of conflict resolution and establishing peace.
Since the causes of conflicts are many the ways to achieve peace and justice have to be seen in their plurality. From this perspective, peace may not only mean the absence of violence or war but also the presence of justice, as articulated by Martin Luther King, Jr. In this conception, a society in, which one group oppresses another lacks peace even in the absence of violence, because the oppression itself constitutes evil. The peace and justice also have to be seen in terms of a harmonious balance between human beings, the rest of the natural world, and the cosmos, which extends its limits from a mere "absence of war" or even a "presence of justice" standard. Mahatma Gandhi’s model of development as articulated in ‘Hind Swaraj’ is also in the backdrop of larger goals of establishing peace, mitigating socio-economic and political conflict and securing justice for all. So, the multi pronged strategies have to be devised by the state and civil society in order to mitigate conflict, establish peace, and administer justice.
This module, in particular, would discuss :
- The concepts of conflict, peace and justice beyond the obvious and seek the interrelationship
- Typography and nature of the displacement due to various factors.
- Examine the programmes and policies as enshrined in the national and international provisions for relief, and rehabilitation of IDPs.
- Concerns and specific needs of the women, elderly, children and other marginalised sections I the time of the displacement.
- The role of national or international agencies in mitigating conflict.
- Ways of transforming the conflict and contributing towards the overall development of individuals, community and the nation.