News
Engaging the Faithful - debating the demolition of a mosque in Delhi
Faith based activism should not be seen as the antithesis of secularism, but as complimentary to it. The Patna Collective’s raison d’être is to initiate a dialogue between secular, democratic politics and ‘libratory’ religion both at the level of discourse but also at the level of practice. February 11-12 a debate took place that brought together the different stakeholders around the demolition of a mosque in Nizamuddin/Delhi and the Right to Education Act. Some information on the background...
Uganda: playing the ethnicity card
Ethnic diversity in itself is not a recipe for conflict. In the run up to next week's elections politicians should be celebrating Uganda's diversity, not playing the ethnicity card for political gain, says Jimmy Spire Ssentongo
Shirin Ebadi: who defines Islam?
"Egyptian women are lucky in one way. They have witnessed the predicament of Iranian women and seen how the Islamic state has hijacked the Iranian revolution, changed the laws and reversed women’s gains. My advice to Egyptian women is “do not give way to a government that would force you to choose between your rights and Islam”. I believe that Iran was a lesson for the women in the entire region". Shirin Ebadi in conversation with Deniz Kandiyoti.
Pluralism: what relevance for Uganda?
As Uganda moves into an intense election period under a multi-party system, Western notions of pluralism appear irrelevant in a context where cultural diversity often results in exclusion, to the detriment of the public good
Indonesian government must take action against religious violence
Indonesia has experienced 39 cases of interreligious tensions around places of worship in the past year. 17 cases concerned attacks on houses of worship or violence against members of religious groups, reports CRCS in its Annual Report on Religious Life in Indonesia.
Legal pluralism in Uganda: traditional and modern conflict resolution mechanisms
The paper ‘Culture in Governance. Does in work?’ comprises four case studies of communities in different parts of Uganda. All four examine how local communities deal with issues of human rights and justice, accountability, access to resources and conflict resolution. They illustrate how ‘community governance’, ‘culture’ and the State interplay when it comes to access to land, as in one of the examples.
Fundamentalist strategy: the secular and the religious
Juan Marco Vaggione, associate of Hivos-partner Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir, writes about how a close network of religious leaders has formed in Latin America to protect the traditional sexual order. His contribution is part of the joint forum ´Religion, Gender and Politics´ on openDemocracy, initiated by the Pluralism Knowledge Programme.
Rethink Indian human rights activism
Human rights organisations in India have consistently felt unable to respond to religious polarization and communal violence. While their efforts in combating the Hindu revivalist extremism did result in occasional ‘success stories’, more often they were too little to the enormity of the challenge. Sitharamam Kakarala, associated with the Pluralism Knowledge Programme, analyses the challenges to human rights activism in India and offers some ideas for new strategies.
Online forum on ' Religion, Gender and Politics'
Religion is playing an increasing role in public life across the globe. Polarization and struggles over values seem to have come along. Pluralism Programme associates share their findings on the resurgence of religion in the public sphere and its effect on human rights with researchers and practitioners from AWID, UNRISD and the Heinrich Böll Foundation. Join the debate on openDemocracy.net!
Indonesia: annul religious defamation law
Pluralism Knowledge Programma partner CRCS recommends the Indonesian Constitutional Court to abolish the 1965 law on defamation of religion. The law is still effectively used today to discriminate certain religious groups. Furthermore it is found to be in contradiction with the Constitution. However, most mainstream religious organisations defend the law. CRCS presents its arguments on exploring alternative instruments to deal with religious diversity and potential conflicts.