{"id":1837,"date":"2026-06-28T21:21:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T21:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/global-pen-friends\/?p=1837"},"modified":"2026-06-29T05:02:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T05:02:55","slug":"justice-opportunity-and-equality-a-dialogue-across-continents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uantwerpen.be\/global-pen-friends\/justice-opportunity-and-equality-a-dialogue-across-continents\/","title":{"rendered":"Justice, Opportunity, and Equality: A Dialogue Across Continents"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This letter exchange between Manas and Lucien explores inequality through the lens of law students from India and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Blending personal histories with legal reflection, it highlights disparities in access to justice, governance, and education, while emphasizing the role of institutions, lived experience, and resilience in shaping pathways toward more equitable societies.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LETTER 1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MANAS MAHAJAN<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Lucien,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My name is Manas, and I’m really glad to be connected with you! I study law at the National Law University in Delhi, and I’ve been looking forward to this exchange since I found out about it. I hope you’re doing well and that things are as settled as they can be where you are. I wanted to start simply by saying hello, and to let you know that I’m genuinely excited to get to know you and hear about your life in Bukavu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m writing this after a good day out in central Delhi. It was one of those rare spring afternoons where the weather actually cooperates, so I took a ride around the city, made a few street food stops, and ended up near the Supreme Court and the High Court almost by accident. That stretch of central Delhi, with the courts and the Parliament and the ministries all sitting together, has a particular energy to it. For those who have been around this area, can attest that it evokes a feeling, making you imagine the extent of where life could take you someday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The thing about Delhi is that its inequality is physically built in. There is a part of the city called Lutyens Delhi, designed by the British, where Parliament sits, where ministers and judges live, wide roads, trees, bungalows with enormous lawns. Then there are the JJ clusters, what the city calls its informal settlements, and the unauthorised colonies that house the majority of Delhi’s working population. On my ride I moved between these two Delhis within minutes. The distance in living conditions is something else entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delhi also runs on migrant labour. People come from adjacent states looking for work. They build the city’s buildings, clean its streets, run its kitchens. Most of them live in conditions the city officially does not fully account for. During COVID, when the lockdown was announced, hundreds of thousands of them started walking home, some for days, because there was nothing keeping them here and no system to catch them. That image of people walking on highways with everything they owned told you more about Delhi’s inequality than any data point could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inequality shows up in the legal system too. Delhi being the legislative capital means you see the full range of the system up close. Different courts, different kinds of matters, completely different kinds of people walking through the same gates hoping for something. What strikes me every time is the inequality in access, not just to lawyers or to outcomes, but to the system itself. Some people walk in knowing exactly how it works. Others show up because they genuinely have nowhere else to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through my social legal development work I came across a case that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about. A man was eligible for early release from jail. The legal basis was there. But he had no resources and no representation, so the matter just sat. Eventually the State Legal Aid Services took it up and assigned a competent lawyer on a pro bono basis. The mechanism worked. He got his release. But the part that stays with me is this: the only reason he had spent extra years in jail was because of the inequality in access. The law had always been on his side. What failed him was everything around it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That case is what SDG 10 looks like at street level in Delhi, I think. And it connects to something broader that I keep noticing in this work. The people with the most at stake often place their faith in the legal system not out of confidence in it, but because they have no other option. What is just one choice among several for me is often someone else’s last resort. I think that’s the most honest framing of inequality I’ve encountered, not as a statistic, but as a difference in how many options you have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I looked up Bukavu when I found out we’d been matched, and I’ve been following the situation in eastern DRC since then. I know universities there were suspended earlier this year and that things have been far from stable. I don’t want to skip past that or pretend I don’t know. What I find myself thinking about, from everything I’ve read, is the paradox at the heart of inequality in the DRC. The country has extraordinary mineral wealth, cobalt, coltan, gold, resources the whole world is scrambling for right now. And yet that wealth doesn’t seem to reach communities. The extraction happens, the GDP numbers move, but the benefits don’t percolate down. The coltan in the phone I used to write this letter probably came from somewhere near you. That’s not just inequality within the DRC. That implicates all of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which is something I’d genuinely like to think through with you across these letters. As two law students, what do we think we can actually do about any of this? Law can create frameworks for redistribution, protect rights, hold institutions accountable. But it can only do those things when the institutions themselves are functioning. I’m curious what that looks like from your side, both what you think the law can realistically achieve in the DRC right now, and what drew you to studying it in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’d also just like to hear about your life. What does a normal day look like for you in Bukavu? What do you do when you’re not studying? I’ve told you about riding around Delhi on a good weather day and ending up near the courts with chaat in hand. I’m curious what the equivalent looks like for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking forward to your letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warm regards,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manas Your Pen Friend from India<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LETTER 2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LUCIEN BIKUBANYA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Manas<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am delighted to be corresponding with you, and I consider it a great opportunity to exchange with a fellow law student. My name is BIKUBANYA BANTU Lucien, a Master\u2019s student in Public and African International Law at the Catholic University of Bukavu. I am doing well, and the situation here is gradually improving. It is true that there are still some disruptions, but overall things are moving in a better direction. I was also very pleased to learn that I would be sharing knowledge with a law student based in India. I have not researched much about the Indian capital, as I am counting on our exchanges to learn more about New Delhi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bukavu is not just a city; it is a meeting place for men, women, and children who come together to share a common story. Here, the majority of young people are either engaged in trade (legal or illegal), pursuing studies at a relatively low rate, or involved in what we call \u201ccascades,\u201d a term used to describe doing various odd or informal activities. Employment opportunities are scarce, and a large part of the population lives day by day, surviving on minimal resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personally, in my free time, I read. Like Victor Hugo, I believe that \u201cto read is to eat and drink; the mind that does not read grows thin like the body that does not eat.\u201d I mainly focus on international law books because I aspire to specialize in humanitarian law and pursue doctoral studies in the same field, in order to contribute to helping my country and my city, which are truly in distress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fact that Bukavu is currently under occupation greatly affects a large part of the population. Many civil servants have lost their jobs, numerous companies have shut down, and even banks have ceased operations. It is very disruptive. However, one positive aspect is that the education system continues to function normally, at the primary, secondary, and university levels. I will not dwell on the security situation in Bukavu, as it is a long-standing issue that fluctuates between improvement and deterioration, and I prefer not to stray from our main theme: \u201cReducing inequalities in different contexts: comparative perspectives between New Delhi and Bukavu.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bukavu is a large and diverse city, with inhabitants from various tribes and cultures. Recently, we have seen an increase in people coming from Rwanda, likely for work or other reasons, creating a strong cultural mix. This diversity can also contribute to inequalities, despite the fact that Article 11 of my country\u2019s Constitution states that all Congolese are equal. In reality, this equality is rarely observed, revealing a significant gap between the law and everyday life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inequalities in Bukavu are very visible, whether in education, academia, employment, or access to resources. Unfortunately, I have experienced this myself. When I applied for a scholarship, it was extremely difficult to obtain because some candidates were already favored they had connections and secured the opportunity. In the professional sphere, many public institutions in Bukavu announce job openings, but these calls are often merely formalities, as candidates have already been pre-selected. Favoritism is widespread: many people obtain positions not because they are qualified, but because of connections an \u201cinvisible hand\u201d while more competent individuals are overlooked. This clearly illustrates inequality in access to employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding the judicial system, what happens in your country is quite similar to what we experience here. It is truly disheartening. Many people in Bukavu no longer trust the justice system, as they believe that many magistrates are corrupt and fail to uphold the law. The common perception is that \u201cthe rich always win.\u201d While justice is supposed to protect the weak, the opposite seems to prevail. Society has normalized inequality to the point where everyone tries to \u201cget by\u201d at the expense of others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sustainable Development Goal 10, which aims to reduce inequalities, addresses these issues. We must therefore reflect together on how to implement this goal effectively. In my view, reducing inequalities should not be approached solely from a legal perspective. One must be both a jurist and a sociologist, understanding the root causes of inequalities, which are linked to unemployment, unequal access to services, and local governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In proposing solutions many of which are relevant both in Bukavu and New Delhi we should focus on strengthening the local economy, improving access to basic services, investing in education, promoting good governance, and reinforcing social cohesion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would like our future letters to focus on practical solutions to reduce these inequalities in our respective cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yours sincerely,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BIKUBANYA BANTU Lucien Your Congolese pen friend (from Bukavu)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LETTER 3<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MANAS MAHAJAN<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Lucien,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you for your letter. I read it carefully, more than once actually. The way you described Bukavu as a meeting place for men, women, and children who come together to share a common story stayed with me. It is a generous way to describe a city that is clearly going through a very difficult time, and I appreciated both the honesty and the positive warmth in how you wrote about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What you shared about the scholarship application is unfortunately relatable in one way or another. The idea that a process or right exists on paper but the outcome is decided through connections before it even begins is something I recognise. The gap between formal procedure and actual practice is one of the most stubborn forms of inequality because it is invisible to anyone who benefits from it and completely visible to anyone who doesn’t. Your invisible hand is one of the clearest illustrations of what SDG 10 is really asking us to address, not just income gaps, but the unequal ability to access what systems formally offer everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your observation about the justice system, that many people in Bukavu no longer trust it because the rich always win, is something Delhi would recognise. The courts here are doing their best, but the outcome often rhymes. If you can afford good representation, you navigate the system. If you cannot, you wait, sometimes for years. India has tried to address this in one specific way that I find genuinely interesting: the Right to Information Act, which gives any citizen the legal right to demand documents, files, and records from any public body. Why was this scholarship awarded to this candidate? What were the selection criteria? Under the RTI, a public institution has to answer. It does not always work, and it requires knowing the law exists in the first place, but as a mechanism for making the invisible hand visible, it is one of the more honest attempts I have seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You said reducing inequalities requires being both a jurist and a sociologist. I agree completely, and I would add one thing: it also requires being a historian. The legal framework is rarely the problem on its own. The problem is the gap between what the law offers and who can actually access it. You have to understand the history of how people ended up where they are before you can design systems that genuinely reach them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to share something personal here, because I think it is more honest than citing statistics. My paternal grandparents were born in Sindh, in what is now Pakistan, before the Partition of India in 1947. They were engaged in local community trade, they had a home and their roots. When Partition happened, they left all of it. Not by choice, but because staying was not an option. They came to Punjab as refugees with nothing, just the clothes on their backs, some belongings and an aspiration to live. My father was born in Punjab. He grew up in a family that had rebuilt from zero, and he made a deliberate choice as a young man to move to Delhi. Not because Delhi was comfortable or familiar, but because it offered something which his home town, at that time could not give him in the same way: access. Access to better opportunities, to a legal career, to a different kind of life. He became a lawyer in Delhi. That decision, to move toward the city where the courts and the institutions and the possibilities were concentrated, was itself an act of navigating inequality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was born in Delhi, where I am now studying at the National Law University. That is three generations from displacement and total loss to a law student at one of India’s premier legal institutions. I do not say this to suggest that the journey was easy or that it is complete. My grandparents’ generation had almost nothing. My father’s generation built something. My generation inherited the access that building created. What made that trajectory possible was not just personal determination, though that was part of it. It was a refugee resettlement framework that gave displaced families somewhere to land after Partition. It was a public education system that did not ask where your grandfather came from. It was a Constitution that allowed my father to choose where and how he earned a living, anywhere in the country regardless of his origins. I entered the university, via a national entrance examination, to make education accessible based on merit and competence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This took 75 years. And it is still incomplete. India is still a deeply unequal country. The same Constitution that enabled my family’s trajectory has failed millions of others. The public education system that gave my father access still excludes children in rural areas and urban slums. I am not offering this as a model or a prescription. I am sharing it because I think the most honest thing I can say about development is that it is possible, that it is slow, that it requires systems to support individual effort rather than obstruct it, and that law has a role in building those systems even when it cannot build them alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which brings me to something I genuinely want to think through with you. You said you want our letters to focus on practical solutions, and I think that is the right instinct. So let me ask you directly: if you could change one thing about how Bukavu’s institutions function, one specific mechanism whether legal, economic, or social, what would it be?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also want to ask you something more personal. You said you want to specialise in humanitarian law in order to contribute to helping your country and your city. Given everything Bukavu has been through, what drew you specifically to humanitarian law rather than, say, constitutional law or economic law? I ask because I think the answer will tell me a great deal about how you see the relationship between law and the kind of inequality we have been writing about. I will share with you, a quote from B.R. Ambedkar, the man who is a champion of equality and also wrote India’s Constitution: “Equality may be a fiction but nonetheless one must accept it as a governing principle.”<\/em><\/strong> I think that line sits at the heart of everything we have been discussing. Neither of our cities has achieved equality, but the decision to treat it as a governing principle, to build laws, institutions, and systems around it anyway, is where the work actually begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LETTER 4<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LUCIEN BIKUBANYA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear Manas,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have just read your message, and what you wrote is truly moving and very insightful. You raised several points that deeply highlight inequality, showing how laws are sometimes designed to benefit certain groups at the expense of others. New Delhi and Bukavu, although located in different time zones, strangely face many of the same challenges, and this is something that must change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking about inequalities in access to information and other opportunities, you have fortunately addressed this issue through the Right to Information Act, which is truly a remarkable initiative. Here in Congo, we also have many laws and very well-written legal texts. In fact, I believe that among African countries, we may be one of those with the most beautifully written laws. However, the biggest problem is their implementation and even people\u2019s awareness of these laws. For example, in my country, there are four national languages (Swahili, Lingala, Tshiluba, and Kikongo), but laws are published only in French, a language not understood by everyone, which limits access to information. The implementation of these laws is also hindered by corruption and other social problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your personal experience is also very touching. Starting over from nothing is not something everyone can do. Many people choose to give up and feel sorry for themselves, but you chose a different path, and that truly inspires me. I would describe your father as a visionary and a courageous person who knows how to seize opportunities. That is something that should also define us as young people. As long as we remain in our comfort zones hoping opportunities will come to us, it remains an illusion. We must go toward opportunities ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personally, your story strengthens the compassion and consideration I already had for displaced people. I am also very interested in refugee law. What led me to choose humanitarian law, and more specifically refugee law, is the environment in which I grew up. I have lived in Bukavu for a very long time, and this region of the country has experienced war for years. In 2004, when I was still a baby, only a few months after my birth, I experienced my first displacement due to the Mutebusi war. My family had to leave our city for another territory because of the conflict, although fortunately we returned a few days later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nowadays, I do not interact with displaced people very often, but many of them still come to my home asking for help or looking for work. These are people fleeing clashes between the M23 rebels and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Kabare and Kalehe, territories close to Bukavu. I also went to Goma, specifically to Mugunga, one of the largest refugee camps, for apostolic and humanitarian activities. It was there that my desire to do my best for this community was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Refugees do not fully enjoy their rights, especially here in Africa. Being a refugee is often traumatic, and many people are looked down upon because of it. Currently, for my final research project, I am reflecting on the place of climate refugees  people displaced because of natural disasters within international humanitarian law. I am trying to explore how the law could grant them greater protection and recognition because they are also victims of inequality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, regarding SDG 10 on reducing inequalities, I would like to directly answer the question you asked me: if I could change only one aspect of how institutions function in Bukavu, what would it be? Honestly, I would focus on improving access to education. In my opinion, education builds skills, develops critical thinking, and prepares people to contribute effectively in all other sectors such as the economy, governance, healthcare, innovation, and social cohesion. Without well-educated people, reforms in other sectors become slower and less effective. However, true development can only happen if all sectors progress together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SDG 10, which focuses on reducing inequalities, is essential in many development sectors. Whether through strengthening the local economy, improving access to basic services, investing in education, promoting good governance, or reinforcing social cohesion, the main objective is to ensure that everyone has equal opportunities. Through this goal, the world aims to build a fairer society where opportunities are accessible to everyone and not only to a privileged minority, regardless of one\u2019s origin, social condition, or place of residence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe that if our leaders genuinely draw inspiration from this Sustainable Development Goal, our cities will change positively, which will greatly boost development both in Bukavu and in New Delhi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This letter exchange between Manas and Lucien explores inequality through the lens of law students from India … <\/p>\n

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