Relevance Of Human Rights Analysis

The Relevance of Human Rights in Contemporary India

Introduction

Human rights are about human dignity. They are the moral rights that every human being possesses and is entitled to enjoy simply by virtue of being human. They are the claims that all people have to social arrangements, which protect them against actions and omissions that interfere with their fundamental freedoms, entitlements and human dignity. They by virtue of being humans possess certain basic and inalienable rights which are known as Human Rights. Since these rights are available to them by virtue of being humans, as such they come into existence at the time of their birth. (http://www.hrw.org/about/faq/)

Human rights principles:

• Human rights are universal. They are inherent

Cultural rights maintain and promote sub‐national cultural affiliations and collective identities, and protect minority communities against the incursions of national assimilations and nation‐building projects. They include such rights as the right to the benefits of culture; the right to indigenous land, rituals, and shared cultural practices; and the right to speak one’s own language and to ‘mother tongue’s education. (Source: UNDP Guide to HR Indicators)

History and Evolution of human rights

In ages past, there were no human rights. Then the idea emerged that people should have certain freedoms. And that idea, in the wake of World War II, resulted finally in the document called the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the thirty rights to which all people are entitled. The most important advances since then have included which clear in the following table. (M. R. Ishay, (2004)

1. 1215 The Magna Carta Gave people new rights and made the king subject to the law.

2. 1628 The Petition of Right Set out the rights of the

1776 The United States Declaration of Independence proclaimed the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness

4. 1789 The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen A document of France, stating that all citizens are equal under the law.

5. 1948 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights The first document listing the 30 rights to which everyone is entitled.

Human Rights in India

The Constitution of India as adopted in 1950 provides certain rights to its citizens known as the Fundamental Rights (Part-3, article 14-35). These rights are similar to those rights which are provided in Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the rights provided in international covenant on civil and political rights and international rights on social, economic and cultural rights.

 Few important events regarding human rights in India (K.P. Saksena, (ed.),(2003) )

1829 The practice of sati was formally abolished by Governor General William Bentick after years of campaigning by Hindu reform movements such as the Brahmo Samaj ofRam Mohan Roy against this orthodox Hindu funeral custom of self-immolation of widows after the death of their husbands

1929 Child Marriage Restraint Act, prohibiting marriage of minors less than 14 years of age is