UB Baldy Center

The 150+ million Dalits (‘broken people’, formerly known as ‘Untouchables’) of India constitute a largely unseen group whose members have suffered from innumerable human rights abuses for centuries. Dalit groups aiming for change have benefited significantly from networking with international human rights organizations. Professor Welch’s work examines the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights, launched in 1998 in honor of the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and its links to other domestic and global groups. In particular, he will explore what strategies have proven most effective in altering the constraints under which Dalits live. Attention will also be given to ICERD (The International Covenant on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination), which bars discrimination based on descent, and whose supervisory committee has declared caste a violation of human rights.