http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Patna/SA_jurist_takes_up_Dalits_cause/articleshow/2065754.cms
SA jurist takes up Dalits' cause 22 May, 2007 l 0322 hrs ISTlGayatree Sharma/TIMES NEWS NETWORK PATNA: Championing the cause of Dalits in India as he did for the Blacks and the coloured in South Africa, renowned international jurist Justice Zak Yacoob said as India's Dalits cannot fight their own battles, the privileged upper castes will have to fight their battles. Addressing the Human Rights and Access to Justice session organised by the state Human Rights Law Network here on Monday, Justice Yacoob of the Constitution Court of Republic of South Africa, the country's apex court, said no government in the world listens to the people's voice unless it is pressured into doing so. "If you are weak and disunited, even the Constitution of the land will, most likely, not heed to your demands. Just and democratic governments also do not always yield to the people's just demands. That is why an eternally vigilant and strong civil society is the need of the hour," he said. Scoffing at the way the global capital market is looking for soft targets like Japan, China, India and South Africa, Yacoob asserted that for the establishment of a free labour practice regime, minimum wages for both the organised and the unorganised sectors, strong trade unions, dignity of workers, proper working hours are essential. Drawing a parallel between the freedom struggles of India and South Africa, he said the condition of South Africa's Blacks during the apartheid regime was worse than the condition of the have-nots in many parts of India. Blacks suffered at the hands of the White rulers for 350 years till South Africa became a free nation in 1991, he said. Passionately supporting people's movements across the world, Yacoob said, "I am an avowed champion of the deprived across the world. I argue their cause, walk shoulder-to-shoulder with them and strive towards making the society an egalitarian one." Using the precepts of Mahatma Gandhi — truth, non-violence and Satyagraha — and, most importantly, sans religious dogmatism as powerful weapons in the movement for freedom in South Africa, Nelson Mandela and others including Yacoob himself, fought the apartheid regime for which he was jailed for some years. -- Subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a BLANK email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
