IN FOCUS
Imparting lessons in human rights
Manish Kumar Singal

IN view of the increasing number of cases of human rights violations---be it in police stations, jails, hospitals, under army rule, etc---various universities are offering courses to increase awareness about human rights. These courses aim to educate students about the rights of the common man.

Says Prof Mohammed Mujtaba Khan, Head of Department, Political Science, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, "This is one of the best courses in the university and I feel that every student should join it to create an informed society wherein the citizens are aware about their rights."

He feels that the awareness about human rights can prevent their violation to a large extent. Education can arm the common man against their violation.

The UGC gave Jamia Millia Islamia the permission to start this course about six years back. Earlier, the university was offering only a diploma course in human rights. Now, it has also got permission to run a degree course — MA in Human Rights.

The diploma is a one-year course while the PG course is of two years. The course has become popular in a short time. "After completing this course many students are taking up journalism as a career. The British Council is also hiring our students for its projects," adds Khan.

Mode of selection: The department offers 20 seats for the Diploma in Human Rights. Earlier, the number of seats in this course was 15. For the MA in Human Rights, there are 20 seats. To get admission in these two courses, the university conducts an entrance test followed by an interview. Students get admission to these courses on the basis of the scores achieved in the entrance test.

Minimum qualifications: For both the courses, graduation with a minimum of 50 per cent marks is a must. The diploma course has four papers on human rights that have to be cleared in one year, while the postgraduate course comprises 10 papers on human rights and one viva in the final year.

Library: The university campus houses a big Central Library which has a collection of thousands of books, journals, magazines and other study material. This library also includes texts related to human rights. "We have purchased more than 500 books related to human rights. These books are other than those that were already stored in the library, informs Khan.

Other activities: "We take the students to police stations, hospitals, NGOs and also to the slums to study their problems. Most of the people suffering from human rights violations are found in these areas," Khan adds.