Black Lives Matter

The brutal death of George Floyd, an African-American at the hands of White American cop has shaken the world. This act of chocking the Black man to death by the White US Police officer invited worldwide protests and condemnation from all creating a wave of protests and outrage across countries. #BlackLivesMatter has not remained a mere hashtag, but also generated a debate about racism and all forms of social discrimination. This incident found its echoes in India also. The Indians have shown empathy and solidarity with the movement, silently and in a non-violent manner to the surprise of some individuals and groups. Efforts are also underway to find parallels with some people raising questions about Indian democracy and governance systems. It is against this background that the Social Studies Foundation (SSF) organized a three-day webinar reflecting on the Indian perspectives on this social movement. Leading web portal www.newsbharati.com, known for its impartial news and nationalist views besides a commitment to human issues, supported this webinar as its media partner.

The three-day event kickstarted on with the talk by renowned researcher and columnist on international relations Dr. Shailendra Develankar. Dr. Devlankar has acquired a Ph.D. in International Studies from the famous Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU); has an M. Phil degree; he has been a Gold Medalist of Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) in M A (Political Science) and has authored 20 books on international relations and foreign affairs.

On second day, Dr. Nanda Kishor MS, will be delivered a talk on “#BlackLivesMatter: 360-degree view". He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Hyderabad and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geopolitical and International Relations, Manipal Academy of Higher Education. He is also the Coordinator of the Centre for Polish and Central European Studies. He has a core interest in Geopolitics, Globalization, Comparative Politics, and Gandhian Thoughts. Former Editor of ‘Vivek’ Weekly, famous speaker, prolific writer, and social activist Ramesh Patange delivered the third lecture in the series. A renowned thinker; he is the President of Hindustan Prakashan Sanstha, Founder of ‘Samajik Samarasata Manch’, and ‘Bhatake Vimukta Vikas Parishad’. He has written over 60 books in Marathi mostly related to Dr. Ambedkar and social issues. Maharashtra government has awarded him the ‘Lokmanya Tilak Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism’ .

The Webinar was conducted in a comfortable mix of English and Hindi languages via Zoom and was live-streamed on FaceBook. Dr. Sanjay Vishnu Tambat was the convener of the webinar, while Smt. Yashika Singh, Dr. Sachin Nanda and Dr. Kundan Singh convened the actual discussions with Shailendra Ji, Kishore Ji and Ramesh Ji respectively. The program in all received a viewership of more than 3000+ and had multiple shares on the social media.