The 1st International Conference on Human Rights and Gender Justice in the 21st century was organized by Narayan School of Law, Gopal Narayan Singh University and sponsored by the Indian Council of Philosophical Research, Ministry of Education, Government of India.
The registration form for the conference was opened in the third week of October 2021 since then we have received more than 180 registrations and about 150 abstracts and around 70 full papers from different parts of the world, covering a wide range of subjects concerning the theme of the Conference. All the abstracts and papers were duly reviewed by the Editorial Committee and checked for Plagiarism through Urkund (Ouriginal) Software. Any discrepancies detected were duly notified to the Participants.
The Inaugural Session was held on 8th April 2022 and was graced by the presence of eminent personalities, who joined us both in physical as well as virtual mode. The Chief Guest of the inaugural session was Justice Arijit Pasayat, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India, Prof. R C Sinha, Former Chairman, ICPR was our guest of honor, Justice Mridula Mishra, Former Judge, Patna High Court and Vice-Chancellor, Chanakya National Law University, Patna was our special guest of honor, Prof. Prof K C Sinha, Vice-Chancellor Nalanda Open University joined us as Guest of Honor , Prof Dr D P Verma Former Head and Dean, Faculty of Law, BHU and Former Additional Director (research and training) National Judicial Academy was the Keynote Speaker.
We also had two distinguished international speakers also amidst us Ms Rajshree Beneymadoo from School of Indological Studies, Department of Philosophy, Mauritius and Ms Mariangella Barletta, University of Rome, Italy.
We also had amongst us the Chancellor of Gopal Narayan Singh University , Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, Sri Gopal Narayan Singh , Dr M L Verma, Vice-Chancellor, Gopal Narayan Singh University, Sri Trivikram Narayan Singh, Managing Director Narayan Medical College and Hospital and Sri R S Jaiswal, Registrar, Gopal Narayan Singh University.
The Inaugural session was started with the lighting of the lamp and Saraswati vandana performed by the Students. It was followed by the intellectually stimulating addresses by the various eminent scholars.
The welcome address was delivered by the Hon'ble Vice-chancellor of the University, Dr ML Verma, he welcomed all the dignitaries and presented an overview of the University.
The topic of the conference was introduced by Prof ( Dr ) Rakesh Verma, Director, Narayan School of law, he stressed the importance of the Conference by pointing out that ignoring rights of the women would be devastating for the World.
Then the Registrar of the university Dr RS Jaiswal addressed the audience, he highlighted the various provisions of the Constitution and the other Acts meant to protect women.
Hon'ble Chancellor and Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha Sri Gopal Narayan Singh addressed the audience, he started his address by contrasting the criminal oriented human rights and Victim oriented human rights, he underlined the role of Advocates in protecting the human rights, further, he reminded the audience of the great Indian tradition of worshipping women like a goddess.
The Managing Director of the Narayan Medical College and Hospital , Sri Trivikram Narayan Singh, in his brief address, conceptualized the changing dynamics of human rights in different times and highlighting its evolving nature.
The Chief Guest, Justice Arjit Pasayat who addressed the audience virtually. He made a pertinent point by connecting women's rights with dignity jurisprudence and said that the mandate of Article 21 is not an empty formality.
The enlightening address was delivered by the Keynote speaker Prof DP Verma, he stated that men's Psychology is a root cause of the Patriarchal mindset. He bifurcated his speech into three parts- Human rights, Gender Justice and the 21st Century. In his first part of the address, he defined that Human rights entail a full realization of potential. He went on to rationalize why women's rights need to be taken separately as the atrocities committed against women are very particular to them. Women's rights are an inseparable part of the universe of Human Rights, he added.
He made a strong point about the participation of women in all spheres of decision making as they are undervalued and underutilized hampering the potential development which could have been achieved with their participation. He also elaborated upon the access to resources, common sharing of responsibilities and countering situational imbalances as a measure of women empowerment.
Then he came to the requirements of the 21st Century by delving into the condition of women in ancient times and the 20th Century. He said new challenges of this century such as climate change cannot be effectively dealt with by ignoring the women.
After him, an International speaker Mariangela Barletta addressed the audience virtually, she joined the conference from Rome, Italy. She elaborated upon the protection of women in conflict zones.
Another International speaker, Rajyashree Beneymadoo, joined us from Mauritius. She addresses the audience virtually. She has analyzed the topic from an Indological perspective and quoted a non-discriminatory system that prevailed in Ancient India.
Our Guest of Honor, Sri KC Sinha, underlined the issue of human rights violations at the hand of those supposed to protect them.
Another guest Sri Amit Raj, Additional District and Sessions Judge, Rohtas addressed the audience and pointed out how Human rights law as a soft law is a bedrock of all hard laws.
Our Special Guest of Honor, Justice Mridula Mishra stood to speak and addressed the audience, she shared her own experience to unravel a connection between caste and gender discrimination.
Prof. A Lakshminath, Distinguished Professor emeritus, Maharashtra National Law University, who was invited as the guest of Honor, Could not attend the conference due to some personal reasons. Nonetheless, He sends his paper for the Conference and the paper of him was read over by Ms Deepali Sinha, Assistant Professor, Narayan School of Law at the Inaugural Session. He highlighted the evolution of Human rights from First Generation to fourth Generation. He critically analyzed the existing principles of Human rights which according to him are based on the shaky grounds, therefore the previous century had been devastating for the Human Rights, he lamented. He also underlined the fact that growing religious fanaticism poses threat Human Right. He asserted that it is necessary to reinvent and rearticulate the foundational principles of Human Rights to save the World. The Hindu Philosophy may be reinvented as a tool to shape the foundational principles of Human Rights, he concluded.
Our last speaker was Prof R C Sinha, Former Chairman, of ICPR, he lauded the Narayan School of law for conducting the International Conference in a remote location like Jamuhar, Sasaram. He underlined the role of the Ministry of Education and particularly ICPR in reaching the interiors of the Country. He added a philosophical angle to the theme of the conference. He pointed out how this discussion is important in the 21st century. The established structures are now deconstructed as subaltern movements are taking place in a new era, marginalized including women coming to the Centre of the discourse, he added.
After the intellectually alive discussion, the release of Souvenir and two books followed.
With a vote of thanks delivered by the Convener of the Conference Dr Sangeeta Kumari and National Anthem Sang, the inaugural session was concluded.
The conference was divided into six technical Sessions and spanned over two days. Technical Sessions one, two and three were conducted on day 1 on 8/04/2022 and Technical Session Four, Five and six were conducted on day 2 on 09/04/20222. The Brief Summary of all the Technical Sessions is as follows
Day 1 - 08/04/20222
Technical Session 1
The theme of the first technical Session was Human Rights, it was Chaired by Ms Mariangala Barletta who joined the Session virtually from Rome, Italy and Co-chaired by Dr Salim Javed, Former Head, PG Department of Law, Patna University who joined the session virtually from Patna and Mr Sayed Aamir Ali, Assistant Professor, Narayan School of Law, Gopal Narayan Singh University.
In this Session, A total of 14 Research Papers were presented focusing on the different aspects of Human Rights. Sister Nelsa AC, Research Scholar, Department of English, Patna University, Patna adjudged as the best presenter for this technical Session. The topic of her paper was Dalit Literature- Human Rights Perspective. All the papers were discussed and debated and at the end , the chair and co-chairs of the session gave concluding remarks that marked the end of technical session 1.
Technical Session 2
The theme of the technical session 2 was Gender Justice, it was chaired by Dr Pawan Kumar Mishra, Former Head and Dean, Faculty of Law, Central University of South Bihar, Gaya and co-chaired by Dr Abhishek Srivastava and Mr Abhishek Singh, Assistant Professors, Narayan School of law. In this session, 9 papers were presented touching upon various aspects of Gender justice covering reservations for women, transgender Rights, the positive role of State mitigating the gender discrimination, Rural women empowerment, Acts vis a vis Action etc.
The session also saw the counter view regarding men's rights as to how they are implicated in false cases under the laws meant to protect the women.
Mr Jayant Saha Roy, Research Scholar, Mansarovar Global University, declared as the best presenter in this session for his presentation on the topic of Rejuvenating Role of Educational Institutions to Promote Gender Equality and Advocacy: In Reference of Child and Adolescent Students in West Bengal. The Chair and co-chairs of the session discussed all the papers extensively.
Technical Session 3
The theme of this technical Session was Legal and ethical issues. This session was chaired by Ms Rajshree Beneymadoo, lecturer, Department of Philosophy Mauritius. She joined the session virtually. The session was co-chaired by Dr Sanjai Singh and Ms Deeplali Sinha, Assistant Professors, Narayan School of Law. In this session, 12 papers were presented covering various legal and ethical issues concerning human rights and gender justice. It covered issues ranging from the Right to Food, euthanasia, the Right to die, Surrogacy, disabled’s rights, rights during pandemics, Live-in relationships etc.
Dr Ishita Chatarjee, Associate Professor, School of Law and Justice, Admas University, Kolkata, declared as best Presenter of this session for her presentation on the topic of Social, Ethical, Medical aspects of Surrogacy: A legal Analysis in Indian Constitutio
Day 2- 09/04/2022
Technical Session - 4
The theme of the season was Atrocities and Offence, This Session was chaired by Dr Birendra Kumar Gupta, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Patna University and Law Officer, Patna University and Co-Chaired by Dr Narmada Singh and Mr Saurabh Kumar, Assistant Professors, Narayan School of Law, Jamuhar, Sasaram.
In this technical session, a total of 14 participants presented their research papers on the theme "atrocities and offence". Under the aforementioned theme, the participants have elaborated on a lot of issues such as marital rape, conjugal right, harassment of women, human trafficking, gender discrimination, right to privacy and so on. They have very critically examined the reason for the discrimination and crime against women.
Various international and national laws for the protection of women and child has been discussed.
Mr Rahul Kapoor, Research Scholar, Jamia Millia Islamia, was adjudged as the best presenter of the session. He presented a paper on the topic of Menace of Online Harassment and Media Trial: Highlighting Experience of Prominent Women activists in Delhi.
Technical Session 5
The theme of the technical session was Reproductive rights of women and other issues, it was chaired by Dr Vani Bhushan, The Dean, Faculty of Law, Patna University and co-chaired by Ms Preeti Anand, Assistant Professor, Chankya National Law University, Patna and Mr Gyan Chand Yadav, Assistant Professor, Narayan School of law. In this session, 12 papers were presented touching upon various aspects of Reproductive Rights of Women covering Commercial Surrogacy, Regulations of Surrogacy, Reproductive choice of women and International Conventions on Protection of Women's rights.
Mr Prashant Chauhan and Gagandeep Kaur, Research Scholars, UPES, Dehradun, were declared the best presenters of this session. They presented a paper on the topic of Artificial Intelligence and Gender biases: A New age challenge for Gender equality.
Technical session 6
The theme of the session was Administration of Justice. The session was chaired by Prof Ajay Kumar, Chanakya National Law University, Patna and co-chaired by Dr Yogendra Kumar Verma, Head, PG Department of law, Patna University Patna and Subodh Kumar Singh, Assistant Professor, Narayan School of law.
A total of 12 papers were presented in this session touching upon various aspects of the administration of justice in implementing Human Rights. The papers covered various topics which include legal protection of stateless persons, Procedural justice, issues of Human Rights in the informal sector of the economy, enforcement of the Rights of LGBTQ, prevention of Human Trafficking, Rehabilitation of beggars, and child sex tourism etc.
Jaswinder kaur and Nyamat sekhon, Assistant Professor and Student respectively, Rajiv Gandhi National Law University, Punjab declared the best presenters of this session. They presented a paper on the topic of Human rights: Approach to protect elder persons in India.
All the papers were discussed extensively, there were questions and answers exchanged. The chair of the session had given an opinion on each paper presented and concluded by giving insights on various aspects of the Administration of Justice.
The overall Best Paper Award was bagged by Mr Prashant Chauhan and Gagandeep Kaur, Research Scholars, UPES, Dehradun for their paper titled Artificial Intelligence and Gender biases: A New age challenge for Gender equality.
With the brainstorming technical sessions concluded, the valedictory session of the Conference commenced at 3:00 PM on 09/04/2022. Like the Inaugural session ,this session was also studded with a galaxy of scholars and eminent personalities. The welcome address was delivered by Dr M L Verma, Vice-Chancellor, Gopal Narayan Singh University. The chief guest on the occasion was Justice Samrendra Pratap Singh, chairman, State consumer forum, Bihar, Patna and Former Judge, Patna High Court. He addressed the audience and underlined the importance of the topic of the Conference in the present time.
We had Prof Manoj Sinha, Director, Indian Law Institute, New Delhi as the Guest of Honor .He addressed the audience through virtual mode. In his address, he underlined the role of Indian Women specially Shrimati Hansa Mehta in drafting the Universal Declaration and Human Rights 1948.
We had an eminent International Speaker, Prof Bertrand Ramcharan, Former Acting High Commissioner, United Nations Human Rights Commission, Geneva, Switzerland. He also addressed the audience virtually. He has given an intellectually stimulating speech on the theme of the conference. He quoted various Indian Scholars and leaders specially Justice PN Bhagwati to drive a point about the leading role of Indians in shaping Human rights discourse globally. He emphasize the importance of asking questions especially to those in authority to protect Human Rights.
We had Prof S K Bhatnagar , Vice-Chancellor , Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow as the Guest of Honor. He illuminated the audience with his scholarly insight. Human rights are the constitutional product, he added. He touched upon various gender issues such as sexual harassment at workplace, the Abortion debate in the US. He emphasizes that Morality is a fluid concept, it changes with time and it is the Constitution that gives direction to the changing morality.
The Chancellor of the University and Member of Parliament Rajya Sabha, Sri Gopal Narayan Singh also addressed the audience at the valedictory and appraised with ground reality of the issue. He specially emphasized on the need of organizing such conferences in the rural areas.
Sri R S Jaiswal, Registrar, Gopal Narayan Singh University was also present on the dais at the Valedictory Session.
After that, the Conference Report was Presented by Dr Sangeeta Kumari, Convener of the Conference and Assistant Professor, Narayan School of Law, Jamuhar, Sasaram
The distribution of certificates followed thereafter.
Lastly, a vote of thanks was presented by Prof (Dr) Rakesh Verma, Director, Narayan School of law, Gopal Narayan Singh University.
With the National Anthem sang, the two days 1st International Conference on Human Rights and Gender Justice in the 21st Century comes to an end.
