Human Rights Day may not mean a lot to someone privileged like me --- because my human rights aren't under attack right now. This is precisely why someone like me must take the time to understand what those rights are, and understand those whose human rights are under attack. Human Rights are inherent; not something that governments or authorities choose to bestow upon us. Those rights are ours by virtue of being human and no one has the right to take away those rights without due process. There are so many in the world who, by virtue of their economic status, caste, class, religion, place or birth are robbed of those rights.
10 December 2021 was human rights day and the focus was equality. The basic human rights are the right to life & liberty, freedom from slavery & torture, freedom of opinion & expression, right to work & education, equal treatment before the law. Everyone is entitled to these rights, without discrimination, however, stark inequalities exist in our society
This tweet points out ways in which human rights are infringed – either directly or under the pretext of protecting national integrity or safeguarding law & order etc.
The right to dignity is a human right. However, the social evil of caste in India continues to rob many communities of this right by perpetuating inhuman living and working conditions. Manual scavenging may be abolished on paper but it is still a reality in many parts of our country.
In the conflict areas of the world, people can be abducted, killed and disappeared without trace. They have no access to systems of justice and an unsure future because of war, political strife and instability. Their human rights are constantly imperilled.
The right to protest when one's human rights are infringed has to be protected in a democracy. Voting is not the only ingredient of a functioning democracy. If there is no participation in the democratic process by all; no demand for protection of rights, then we are not citizens; merely subjects.
Many handles – including this platform that speaks up for generational neglect of India’s indigenous people – spoke for the release of Hidme Markram. She is a social activist working for the release of Adivasis who have been falsely incarcerated. She herself has been in jail for many months now.
A society cannot progress when half of its population suffers from inequality of opportunity, education, remuneration. When women are denied economic autonomy, freedom of movement for ‘their own safety’ this holds back society and prevents it from achieving its potential as a whole.
If there is one thing that COVID has taught us, it is that unless we are all safe, none of us is safe. It is important to have a good public health care system if we are to effectively manage a pandemic. It is not enough that some of us can afford healthcare, everyone should have access to affordable health care. Similarly, when the marginalised are victimised, this undermines the rights of us all.
Some shared this viral video of human rights violation in action – where several policemen are seen to be using sticks to beat a man with a wailing child in his arms.
If we think that being beaten up by the police like the man in the video cannot happen to us because we are law-abiding citizens, we are wrong. When the state is predatory, none of us can be sure that we are protected. Anyone in a position of authority may decide to misuse their authority to attack or implicate us, impinge upon our rights. Today the rights of that man being beaten by the cops are snatched away with brazen impunity – tomorrow it could be you or me.
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