Human rights

 HUMAN RIGHTS

Almost everyday there are chilling instances of violence, ethnic cleansing, heinous torture, child abuse,

man slaughter and several other human rights violations. Despite the adoption of the Universal

Declaration Human Rights (1948) and special covenants provided for the rights of children, women and

disabled, crimes continue unhindered and unabated. The soul-searching question is... 'Has humanity

been relinquished?'

In India, various mechanisms such as the National Human Rights Commission, State Human Rights

Commissions, and Women's Commissions have been constituted at the Centre and in the states, for

upholding human rights causes. Legislative safeguards i.e. The Constitution of India, which is supreme a

lex (the law of the land) and multifarious laws such as The Human Rights Act, 1997 are in existence but

in vain. Human rights violations are the order of the day and the above 'law- enforcement' arsenals fall

short of implementation. Rights are merely enumerated on paper and hence remain a dead letter.

Poverty as a causative:

Poverty is a ruthless task master; it exacts an exorbitant price in terms of denial of basic human rights

i.e. food, shelter, clothing, education, healthcare etc which in turn constitute basic necessities of life. An

analysis of constitutional and other safeguards becomes pertinent to gauge the efficacy of the law in

relation to the millions who have no other recourse but the arsenal of justice. Article 21 is the Magna

Carta of the Constitution of India. It reads as follows- No person shall be deprived of his life or personal

liberty except according to procedure established by law.

It is noteworthy to mention that the fundamental right to life and personal liberty is inherent and is not

conferred upon us by the Constitution. These are primary personal rights without which civil and

political rights are rendered meaningless.

The Court has held that 'the right to life includes the right to live with human dignity and all that goes

with it, namely the bare necessities of life such as adequate nutrition clothing and shelter1 inter alia.

In Bandhua Mukti Morcha, where the question of bondage and rehabilitation of some laborers was

involved, Bhagwati, J held that the fundamental right to live with human dignity is congruous with the

right to life and derives its life breath from the Directive Principles of State Policy, and particularly

clauses (e) and (f) of Articles 39,41,42.

Again, in the Olga Tellis case the court held that the ' Right to livelihood is included in the right to life' as

" no person can live without the means of living".

However these rights has no meaning to those who are living below the poverty line (31% of the Indian

population lives below the poverty line). The noble ideals of Social, Economic and Political justice as

embodied in the Preamble and other parts of the Constitution remain an unrealized dream for millions

of our fellow citizens.

The fact remains that India has the largest population in the world that goes to bed without any food,

the largest population who has no clothes to wear and the largest number of beggars.

India is not shining on 750 million of its people who have no basic toilet facilities; on 510 million humans

with no access to essential drugs; on 300 million illiterate adults with no schooling; on its 60 million

destitute and widows without a roof; on nearly seven million suffering from AIDS and on the largest

number of children suffering from malnutrition. Ironically 50 million tones of food grains lie idle in the

FCI go downs, only to be nibbled at by rodents. The States have not successfully accomplished the

implementation of mid-day meal schemes directive given by the Supreme Court in this matter. Death is

hence comes as a salvation for these poor and helpless people who have absolutely no recourse. This is

just a minuscule impact of poverty.