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South-east Asian girls are frequently categorised as 'Asian' without taking into consideration their gender or religious up bringing. South-east Asian girls are not a homogeneous cluster as perceived by ethnocentric British establishments and institutions. They are discernible, for example, by religion, sect, linguistic association, caste and country of origin. The Asian culture has the prevalent image of being peculiarly oppressive and restrictive for women and the pronouncements of the 'community leaders' are often relied upon, and not the views of women themselves. Hence it is important to permit women to verbalise about their own situation and views. Researchers have, in the past, used their personal experience in formulating hypotheses. Being a British born Asian, one appreciates that the attitudes and aspirations of young Asian women are changing and more research is obligatory if educational establishments and other institutions are to understand and help their Asian female colleagues and students better, by aiding the policy making process and practice. This research has explored the relationship between religious upbringing and attitudes of Asian girls and women in higher education towards school education, further education, employment and settlement. The case study was intended to be illuminative. It was found that the girls answered in different ways and it was clear that some of the responses were clearly categorised by their religion. The findings suggest that if institutions in Britain fail to understand the contrasting effects of religion on ethnic minority students then South-east Asian students will experience 'creedism' and lack of support due to the non-religious orientated assumptions made.

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Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is a legally binding and justiciable minority protection provision. It stipulates, “In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, or to use their own lan-guage.” Perhaps due to its negative, weak and qualified terminology, too many legal scholars display a dismissive attitude toward this article suggesting that they deem it to be an inadequate measure of minority protection. This thesis seeks to address the question of whether article 27 is simply another inadequate measure or an underappreciated resource through analyses of four key questions: (i) the scope question, (ii) the definitional ques¬tion, (iii) the right-bearer question, and, (iv) the obligation question. Article 27’s cautious terminology has produced much confusion and controversy, but the United Nations Human Rights Com¬mittee’s practice has helped clarify many significant points of contention. Despite contesta¬tions to the contrary by many States parties, article 27 has a universal scope and applicability with only two minor, but significant, exceptions. The right-holder is a person belonging to a non-majority ethnic, national, indigenous, racial, religious or linguistic community, and she bears and exercises the rights protected by article 27 as an individual, even though she has a right to exercise them in concert with other members of her community. States parties are obligated to ensure that persons belonging to minority communities have these rights. Hence, I suggest that article 27 should be interpreted according to the following formulation: States parties have negative, and possibly also positive, obligations to ensure that persons belonging to non-majority ethnic, national, indigenous, racial, religious or linguistic communities have individual rights to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practise their own religion, and to use their own language, including also the right to exercise these rights in concert with other members of their community. / Thesis (Master, Law) -- Queen's University, 2013-10-01 18:37:15.416

This thesis presents a study of the Bonpo in Dolanji, a Tibetan refugee settlement in North India. The Bonpo are a distinctive religious minority within the Tibetan refugee population. In the 1950s, Chinese Communist forces occupied Tibet and, in 1959, the fourteenth Dalai Lama fled Tibet into exile in India. In 1960, the Tibetan Government-in-Exile was established in Dharamsala, and emphasised a ‘shared’ Buddhist heritage as being central to the Tibetan national identity. This discourse, which represents the Tibetans as being homogeneously Buddhist, effectively marginalised followers of non-Buddhist religions, including the Bonpo. As a result, the Bonpo have been compelled to adapt, whilst resisting the marginalisation of their religious identity and the constraints embedded in their refugee status. Based on twelve months of fieldwork carried out in 2007-2008 in Dolanji, this thesis explores the ways in which the Bonpo engage with their marginality and manipulate the constraints applied to their situation in order to empower themselves. It argues that on the margins, where the boundaries between inclusion and exclusion are contested and negotiable, the Bonpo are permitted some flexibility to create their identity with different ‘others,’ and to develop new affiliations in order to modify their situation. This thesis unpicks the ‘dialogues’ the Bonpo have established with the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, including their discourse on ‘the Bon traditions’, the participation of the Bonpo in the Tibetan national community, their relationship with foreign patrons and the Chinese Government, and the representation of the Bon religion in school textbooks. It is contended that the margins provide a consistent energy which feeds the dynamics of social relationships, informing cultural and social change. Today’s Bonpo remain situated on the margins of the Tibetan refugee population. However, this thesis demonstrates that in the past decades of exile, the Bonpo have utilised the marginalisation that was forced upon them by multiple ‘others’ to develop what they claim to be ‘Bon traditions’, in order to illustrate their distinctive, but equally important, status in contrast to Buddhism within the Tibetan ‘national’ identity.