By Express News Service Published: 16th November 2014 06:21 AM
Last Updated: 16th November 2014 08:40 AM
Former Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Zakeria Yacoob sharing a lighter moment with CSD-SRC, Hyderabad regional director, Kalpana Kannabiran (left) and CSD managing committee chairman PM Bhargava at the CD Deshmukh memorial lecture in Hyderabad on Saturday | A SURESH KUMAR
HYDERABAD: Achieving equality in society is the only solution to eliminate poverty in this world, said Justice Zakeria ‘Zac’ Yacoob, Retired Justice of Constitutional Court of South Africa at the 13th CD Deshmukh memorial lecture here on Saturday. His lecture was on the topic ‘Equality, Non-discrimination, Religion and Disability: South Africa and India’.
“Once everybody in the society treats everyone equally, poverty will automatically be eliminated,” he said. He reminded that more than 90 percent of the poor in South Africa and India are from the minority classes.
Yacoob, who has been working in the field of Socio-economic Rights for a long time, said he strongly believes that discrimination is based on various factors such as race and religion. It has become one of the biggest hurdles in the path towards development across the world. He said both India and South Africa stand on the same position when it comes to inequality and discrimination against the vulnerable groups.
However, Yacoob felt that ‘race’ has been the most common factor for discrimination in both the countries. “Perhaps that is the reason, constitutions of both the countries chose to give reservations based on race,” he said. From his research on the social development of both the countries for past few decades, he said minorities have always been oppressed, while the majority section continues to dominate.
In the context of formation of Telangana state, Yacoob felt the new state is the result of discrimination that Telangana people faced for years. And now the state has manyopportunities to achieve social and economic development. “Every time a new state is formed, there is a great desire for development,” he said.
He said he finds hope in the fact that oppressed communities such as the Dalits in India and Black Africans in South Africa are now doing well in various fields like education and business. “The change is happening, but it is at a slow pace,” he added.
Organised by the Council for Social Development, the memorial lecture was attended by the research scholars and students from Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU), University of Hyderabad (UoH) and Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).
Last Updated: 16th November 2014 08:40 AM
HYDERABAD: Achieving equality in society is the only solution to eliminate poverty in this world, said Justice Zakeria ‘Zac’ Yacoob, Retired Justice of Constitutional Court of South Africa at the 13th CD Deshmukh memorial lecture here on Saturday. His lecture was on the topic ‘Equality, Non-discrimination, Religion and Disability: South Africa and India’.
“Once everybody in the society treats everyone equally, poverty will automatically be eliminated,” he said. He reminded that more than 90 percent of the poor in South Africa and India are from the minority classes.
Yacoob, who has been working in the field of Socio-economic Rights for a long time, said he strongly believes that discrimination is based on various factors such as race and religion. It has become one of the biggest hurdles in the path towards development across the world. He said both India and South Africa stand on the same position when it comes to inequality and discrimination against the vulnerable groups.
However, Yacoob felt that ‘race’ has been the most common factor for discrimination in both the countries. “Perhaps that is the reason, constitutions of both the countries chose to give reservations based on race,” he said. From his research on the social development of both the countries for past few decades, he said minorities have always been oppressed, while the majority section continues to dominate.
In the context of formation of Telangana state, Yacoob felt the new state is the result of discrimination that Telangana people faced for years. And now the state has manyopportunities to achieve social and economic development. “Every time a new state is formed, there is a great desire for development,” he said.
He said he finds hope in the fact that oppressed communities such as the Dalits in India and Black Africans in South Africa are now doing well in various fields like education and business. “The change is happening, but it is at a slow pace,” he added.
Organised by the Council for Social Development, the memorial lecture was attended by the research scholars and students from Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU), University of Hyderabad (UoH) and Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).
Source: The New Indian Express
