ALIGARH, Dr Shahab Shabbir, Assistant Professor, Department of Law, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), delivered a guest lecture on “Socio-Legal Rights of the Vulnerable Population in the Post-Soviet Era: What Central Asia can Learn from India” at a Two-Day National Seminar on “The Political Dimensions of India’s Foreign Policy: State, Society and Cultural Economic Relations with Central Asia”, organised by the Centre of Central Asian Studies, University of Kashmir, Hazratbal, Srinagar.
Dr Shabbir discussed the challenges faced by Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in protecting the rights of vulnerable groups, including ethnic and religious minorities, women and children, rural and nomadic communities, and persons with disabilities, following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. He suggested that India’s socio-legal framework, strengthened by judicial activism, could offer a workable model for these nations.
He noted that despite India’s own inequalities and implementation challenges, its legal and institutional mechanisms, including judicial activism, decentralisation, affirmative action and minority safeguards, offer instructive lessons on operationalising pluralism, adaptable to the Central Asian context.
Dr Shabbir also chaired two scientific sessions during the conference, earning appreciation from organisers and participants.
Source : Aligarh Muslim University News