OUR RIGHTS. OUR FREEDOMS. ALWAYS!
-Fr.
Cedric Prakash sj*
On December 16th
1966, the United Nations General Assembly adopted two significant International
Covenants on Human Rights: the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights. These two Covenants, together with the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), form the International Bill of Human Rights, setting out the civil,
political, cultural, economic and social rights that are the birth right of all
human beings.
As we observe
December 10th, the anniversary of the UDHR once again, the United
Nations has invited everyone to enter a year-long campaign on the golden
jubilee of the two international Covenants on Human Rights.
The theme this
year is ‘Our Rights. Our Freedoms.
Always!’ which aims to promote and raise awareness of the two Covenants. The
campaign revolves around key rights and freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of
worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear which underpin the International
Bill of Human Rights. From an Indian perspective the mainstreaming of these
rights are not merely relevant but also extremely urgent, in the context of the
growing intolerance all over.
Freedom of speech: never before has this right
been subject to such attack. On January 29th 2015, in its world
report for the year, the internationally acclaimed ‘Human Rights Watch’
highlighted the way freedom of speech is systematically being curtailed and
curbed in India. Rationalists like Kalburgi and Dabholkar, among others, are
killed because they had the courage to dare the right-wing elements of the
country. Those who take a stand for truth and justice are lampooned, trolled
and denigrated; the perpetrators of such heinous crimes apparently have the
tacit approval of the rulers of the country.
Freedom of worship: the minorities of the country are
at the receiving end from those who want to establish a ‘majoritarian’ culture
and who care two hoots for what is enshrined in the Constitution of India. The
attacks on Churches and Church personnel; the attempt to substitute Christmas
with ‘Good Governance Day’; the ‘ghar wapsi’ programmes; the consistent
denigration of the Muslims are all sure indicators that freedom of worship is
under severe threat. To top it all, when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister
of Gujarat, he piloted one of the most draconian laws in the history of the
country innocuously called ‘the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Law’ which prevents
anyone accepting another religion without the written permission of the
Collector.
Freedom from want: we only need to look around -
to see the growing gap between the rich and the poor; millions of our sisters
and brothers are condemned to an inhuman existence; they lack a square meal a
day and clean drinking water; they have no decent shelter; education and
employment for many are a far cry – need we say more?
Freedom from fear: there are several segments of
society in India which seem to be caught up in the web of fear; fringe groups
violently dictate to others what they should eat and drink, see and read; doing
otherwise, merits threats, violence and even death. Several of the media houses
seem to toe a scripted line for fear or favour; and those who take a stand on
critical issues are intimidated, harassed and subject to all kinds of
pressures.
India has a long
way to go if she is serious about truly celebrating these two important
Covenants. The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reminds us “On Human Rights Day, let us recommit to
guaranteeing the fundamental freedoms and protecting the human rights of all.”
(* Fr.
Cedric Prakash SJ is the Director of PRASHANT, the
Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace)
Address: PRASHANT, Hill
Nagar, Near Saffron Hotel, Drive-in
Road, Ahmedabad - 380052
Phone: (079) 27455913, 66522333 Fax: (079) 27489018
Email: sjprashant@gmail.com www.humanrightsindia.in
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