What's Right, What's Wrong

What's Right, What's Wrong

All of us are born with certain rights that allow us to live with freedom, equality, justice, peace and dignity. Keeping this in mind, December 10 is celebrated as Human Rights Day by the United Nations worldwide. This year, the declaration will be completing 70 years since it was first accepted.

In the last few years, we have seen many positive changes when it comes to upholding human rights and that has definitely added meaning to human lives and helped safeguard their dignity. Unfortunately, at the same time, the increasing number of human rights violation in society, country and the whole wide world is a cause of worry. It looks like there is a very long way to go before every individual in the world feels safe, and cared for. Most agree that it is our joint responsibility to defend human rights, be it at the individual level, society level or government level.
 
However, before we go into safeguarding our rights, it is necessary to understand why we started believing in these rights in the first place. Ahead of Human Rights Day, we talk to experts from various sectors to know this and also why it is important to stand up for our rights and voice our opinions everytime we feel that the rights are in danger.

Stronger Together 
According to advocate Shabbir Nilgar, who works with Pune BAR, what we term as human rights are our birthrights. “We all are a part of this society, each and every individual out there builds society. If at all human rights are violated at the individual level, then collectively, in the long run, the entire society is violated,” he feels.

For Nilgar, there are two problems with human rights in our country. One, there is lack of awareness about the rights. People do not realise why human rights are so important and why they should matter to every one. “We live in a country with people belonging to different groups (religious, ethnic and economic) but somewhere, we are all dependent on each other. If we want to lead a peaceful life in the community in which we live, we will have to be able to safeguard our rights, and stand up for them,” says Nilgar. 

Sadly, says he, only a limited number of people in urban pockets are aware of their rights. “As we shift towards the countryside, we see the basic human rights being violated every now and then,” he says.

The other problem is the reluctance to report when one witnesses violation of rights. “That’s because in India, people want to stay away from legal hassles as much as possible. It’s not that people cannot differentiate between the right and the wrong, they surely can, but most of them are of the opinion that if they take a stand against the wrongdoings around them and follow the legal framework, they will be involved with the police force and will be in and out of the courts, a ‘trouble’ they are not willing to take. So, they keep mum and let things continue the way they are going,” Nilgar says.
 
Not taking a stand is not just wrong but unfair too, believes Nilgar. It is extremely important that each and every individual feels responsible and sensible enough to raise voice against the wrong acts suffered or experienced by them. Moreover, it is necessary that people take stand for others too. “Because that is what human beings do, they take care of each other,” Nilgar says.
A safe environment where human rights will be respected is possible only when people come together and be one, be the voice of the problem and demand solutions, Nilgar concludes. 

Bring Out the Best for the Best
While Arman Ali is talking about children being aware of human rights, the question is ‘Are children themselves safe? Do they have the opportunities that they need to grow and develop?’ 

Neelam Makhijani, CEO and country director, ChildFund India, says that in our country alone, a large number of children are deprived of opportunities, excluded and are vulnerable. “Children in particular have the capacity to improve their lives and become leaders of tomorrow, so it is our responsibility to value and protect their rights. People in general need to become the responsible voice of the deprived children in the country so that they are provided with the basic rights of nutrition, education, health and safety. We all know how badly these are lacking in our country and impacting their growth,” Makhijani says.
 
She points out that if children are deprived of their rights, in the long run, the development of the country that we are envisaging, will never be achieved.

Also if we stand up for their rights, a voice can be generated in society and the country which will ensure a safe environment for children to grow to their full potential. Most importantly, the same children will learn to let others grow in the process. Makhijani says that the future of human rights lies with the youth and so, “It is important to empower the youth because they are the ones who have a vision, a vision to safeguard the human rights and bring about a change in the world, and in the way people in general are treated.” 

She adds that instead of giving children what we want, we should give them what they need. “We should use our voice in raising issues and ensure that human rights are not violated anywhere in society,” she concludes. 

The special ones
At a time when normal individuals’ rights are being openly and frequently violated, what happens to those with special needs? Arman Ali, a disability rights activist and executive director of National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People, says that even after 70 years of independence, India’s disabled people remain marginalised. “They have to fight for fundamental rights like education. So it is up to other people to come forward and raise voice on their behalf. There is an urgent and desperate need to create a larger awareness about various forms of disability and the overall wellbeing of the differently abled people. There is a pressing need to recognise disability as a human rights issue so that people work for the disadvantaged groups and give them their due,” he feels. 

He, however, emphasises that the fight has to be just. The rights need to be demanded and acquired by honest means. “This is possible only if there is a pan India approach to it, if people come collectively for one cause.”
 
The thing about human rights, says Ali, is that one step at a time will benefit generations to come. After all, that’s exactly how rights came into existence. “Understand the problem and draw ways to tackle them,” he advises.

An interesting fact, points out Ali, is that children as young as 14 and 15 years of age are well aware of human rights and are asking questions on the inclusion of the marginalised people in the mainstream society. “They are aware because they have seen things around them and the way people are treated in general. They know that this behaviour is just not acceptable. They know that other than love and care at all times, what keeps a generation going is equal opportunities,” he adds.

He feels that if children can be fearless about voicing their concerns, so should be the adults.

The Change Within Us
The need to uphold the rights of the transgender community has never been felt more than today, a right that every person should fight for because everyone needs to be respected, no matter what their gender is. Sadly, this is one of the most violated human rights and there is rampant discrimination on the basis of gender. “We know it has been happening for decades together now in several parts of the world,” says Disha Pinky Sheikh, a transwoman activist. 

She considers herself lucky because this year, Section 377 was scrapped from the Indian Penal Code, which gave the entire transgender community a new ray of hope. “What is sad is that a few people in the community belonging to the rural areas were not even aware that there was a Section 377 in the first place. This is the level of awareness in the country,” Sheikh says. 

The problem, says Sheikh, is that the law does not reach people because they lack education. “When it comes to transgenders specifically, people don’t know about our anatomical aspects. Whatever little they know about us is from the previous generations who were equally naive. But in the 21st century, there is a need to have gender fluidity even in education, so that people know that being a transgender, a lesbian or even gay is not against the law of the nature. It is not a ‘problem’ but something that is natural,” she says.

At the end of the day transgenders, gays and lesbians too are humans, so why are they deprived of their rights? 

“Change is the need of the hour, we need to stand up for our rights and the rights of the others. If there are no questions, there won’t be answers. We need to ask more questions to ourselves, to society and have a dialogue about the things that are wrong and need to be addressed. And this change starts with us, we are the today and the tomorrow of the country,” she adds. 

Unless people take it to support a cause, there won’t be any social development. “The awareness to support people who are marginalised in society will only come when people are aware and decide to come together to solve the problem,” she says. 

The bottomline then is that we as responsible citizens should be first aware of our rights as humans, and fight for them but at the same time, we must fight for the rights of those who are marginalised in society. Let’s start it this Human Rights Day.

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