Today everyone wants to talk about rights and entitlement, 10th December is that pious day on which we commemorate Human Rights Day. This day symbolizes freedom. We are entitled to being a member of homosapien species. Rights which we have simply because we are humans! There are thousands and thousands of rights but are restricted to a certain section of the population but human rights are absolutely for everyone, everywhere and everytime. But what are human rights, this is a quite cumbersome question which needs to be dealt with.
The story of evolution of human rights goes long back. There was a ruthless time in history
when there was no human rights. Humans weren’t treated the way they deserved to be treated because they were humans. Then arrived Cyrus, the great. After conquering the city of Babylon, he did something which made generations obliged to him. He manumitted all slaves and proclaimed that everyone was entitled to practice religion of his own choice. His decrees were recorded on a clay cylinder in Akkadin language, which is today called Cyrus Cylinder. This Cyrus Cylinder is considered to be the first charter of human rights. It has been translated into six official languages of the United Nations. This humongous idea of human rights
which was worth recognizing and proliferating was quickly spread across the globe. It was a revolution, a true revolution. But unfortunately this didn’t last long. There was so much which was destined to happen. World saw a series of invasions, revolutions, mutinies and blood baths. Then arrived Napolean, who crowned himself the king of the world and overthrew the concept of human rights with utmost immodesty. Europeans successfully defeated him in the great battle of Waterloo but unfortunately carried his legacy of infringement across the globe. The countries were invaded, looted, exploited and consumed by huge European empires. Human Rights violations galore!
Nevertheless there was much yet to come. Two World Wars broke out which led to unfortunate genocides by affluent empires. Jews were exterminated by the ruthless Nazi empire. Hard hearted Hitler mercilessly killed 90 million Jews, the gravest violation of human rights that one cannot even imagine in wildest dreams. The world was desperate for reforms. Human rights were on the edge of the abyss. Eventually, after all these disastrous and unfortunate incidents countries came together and the United Nations was engendered. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines human rights. For centuries, humans were bereft of basic rights which they were entitled to get. Today, finally that agony has fructified and
we relish the most beautiful right on Earth which we deserve to get just because we are humans. Universal declaration of human rights was drafted by legal and cultural erudites from every corner of the world. This pious document was promulgated on 10th December 1948 in Paris. It has been translated into 500 languages. Human rights as defined, are universal, inalienable, indivisible, interdependent, equal and non-discriminatory. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrines 30 articles which overhaul the prevailing and future human rights conventions, truce and legal instruments. For instance, it formed the basis of European Convention of Human Rights. There are a total 30 human rights that are safeguarded by the United Nations.
These rights that privileged classes take for granted are pipe dreams for many. Adoption of Universal declaration of Human Rights is not at all the happy ending of the story. Every human on Earth is entitled to get food but paradoxically 16000 children succumb to hunger every day. We are bestowed with the right to education but over a staggering 1 billion people are unable to read and write. Although slavery has been abolished yet 27 million indigents are enslaved and ruthlessly abused. We have an absolute guaranteed liberty of speaking what we wish to say but state high handedly abuse that right to freedom of speech. Frequent cases of coerced religious conversions are heard, violating the right to profess the religion of our volition. In a nutshell, it can be said that constant abuse makes human rights a hot topic. Therefore, we are coerced to ponder over the usefulness of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It needs to be mooted that these are mere words? The answer lies in the fact that the United Nations cannot hold the nations accountable for violations. The laws need to be made stringent to hold the transgressors accountable and convict them in all possible ways.
Such violations often take place out of narcissism. Certain sections of population believe themselves to be superior to others and arrogate to themselves the right to infringe the right of others, which is certainly unscrupulous. One of the gravest examples is terrorism. Terrorists stamp out the very concept of human rights by heinous and gruesome carnages. This is a terrifying issue which is in dire need of being addressed. It is a nightmare for victims which has no end. Afghanistan, a war-torn country, is a place where horrendous violations take place. Women are subjected to inhuman persecution. Innocuous citizens live in purgatory like conditions. Offenders want to establish their supremacy while victims suffer eternal damnation. Developed countries too are ensnared in this violation quagmire. In America, George Floyd was made victim to a ghastly murder in broad day light because some were victim of white supremacy, a disease which engenders human right violation. A country which ups the banner every time there is a human right violation is lacking to look in its backyard. Asian superpower China is making millions of citizens languish in concentration camps. Agony and miseries of many war torn countries such as Yemen, Syria and Somalia cannot be described. The best writer of the World, replete with excellent vocabulary cannot expound their grief. Such macabre incidents are myriad, thousand books cannot record.
Aren’t our humanity impugned when we turn blind eye to news reports about such soul-crushing incidents happening around us? Aren’t we guilty when we tone deaf to their weeping? Shouldn’t we feel cringed as humans? As it is very rightly said by Martin Luther King “Injustice anywhere is threat to justice everywhere”. We as humans should shed tears for them and make their wail transform to roar.
Every life is important and has to be entrenched. Entire humanity has to unite to vanquish such egregious violations. The very first step would be to teach human rights in schools and make children apostles of peace and tranquility. It is high time we have to keep human first, humanity first. History has seen umpteen personalities who by hell or high water wanted humanity to blossom at its fullest. Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela are among the human rights harbingers, who believe that the ambit of human rights should not be interned.
On a very sanguine note, it is ostensibly visible that human rights are burgeoning in various parts of the world. Perpetrators are chastened and made to realize what grave offence they have committed.
Each year Human Rights Day has a theme, 2021 theme is “Recover better-Stand up for Human Rights”. This theme is entangled with COVID crises. As it is apparent, COVID – 19 has widened the chasm between rich and poor. In such a scenario, human rights are very much at stake. The United Nations wants all of us to make concerted and collective efforts to bridge the rift and assist each other.
The onus is on us. We have to make the world a finer place to live. We have to devote ourselves to greater and noble causes. We have to celebrate 10th December as the greatest festival of mankind, replete with happiness and revelry. Let’s join hands and make humanity thrive to its perigee.
By Shruti Shrivastava, Madhya Pradesh
