India: human rights or Asian values?

India is one of the most Western-oriented countries in the eastern part of the world. Its economy is ‘booming business' and because of this India - together with countries like China and Brazil - demands a place next to the Western countries of the G8. India has many commercial relations with the West and many companies have moved their businesses to India, mostly due to the low costs of labour.

Human rights are still violated in India on different levels: people are tortured by the police, members of lower castes are subjected to miserable conditions and children have to work to raise the family income. India's relationship with ‘the West' has resulted in a subjection of its conception of human rights, the so-called Asian Values, to the meaning western countries attach to the concept of human rights. How does the relationship with ‘the West' affect the state of mind on human rights in India? Furthermore, how are these Asian Values replaced by Western liberal values and does this process lead to an international standardized conception of human rights?

Mr. Chakma is director of the Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) and will speak on the matter of human rights in India. He shall provide a lecture in which he will elaborate on the status of human rights, and how this is influenced by the economic crisis. More fundamentally, he will discuss the influence of the Western conception of human rights on the Indian - Asian - values and its changing status.

Speaker: Suhas Chakma

More information:

• Asian Centre for Human Rights
• Human Rights Watch - India
• National Human Rights Commission - New Delhi