India is very diverse in its social makeup with multitude of communities, language speakers, ethnicities, and religious minorities. In a democracy where a majority community naturally gets predominance over minority communities, recognition of the rights of minorities ensures peaceful co-existence and support of minorities in national goals of justice, peace and development. Minority rights are not privileges awarded to the communities but rather play a crucial role in different communities enjoying equal respect. These rights support vulnerable groups and bring all members of a society to a minimum level to exercise their human and fundamental rights.
Every country, big or small, in the world have minority communities. Global history has witnessed many migrations and population movements and new faiths rising and constant churning of religious affiliations. India is much more complicated in its social makeup then most countries. We have religious minorities, ethnic minorities, Adivasis, Indigenous People, language minorities etc. Peaceful co-existence requires accommodating the aspirations of minorities into the national goals and giving them equal space with majority communities for a level playing field to thrive.
Rise of fundamentalist ideologies and centralising tendencies of governance in India has posed serious consequences for the autonomy of religious, ethnic and language minorities. Minorities are at risk of losing their faiths, languages and cultures and autonomy.
DAJI works with minorities to document the human rights and democratic rights violations they face and provides them with education on human and legal rights and supports them in securing these rights. We work with lawyers, paralegal volunteers, media persons, academics and others concerned to protect the rights of vulnerable individuals and their families. We work in collaboration with other human rights organisations to foster a climate of tolerance and peaceful co-existence.