I am taking part in Blog action Day and theme for this year is Human Rights
I thought at length
about what exactly I can write on this topic. I have been advocate of human
rights at workplace in my career and I choose to work in the same field. Each
day we train and educate workers about their basic rights as human being. We
actively campaign against any form of slavery, bondage, harassment, torture,
child labor, etc.
I wanted to write
something about workers, so I started with the same, but could never finish it.
There has been so much said and done about what should be done to protect human
rights, I had nothing more to add.
As per UN Declaration of
human rights there are thirty human rights. These thirty rights are translated
into seven fundamental rights of India. You can read more about each right at blogs
of my blogger friends - Shilpa and Kajal.
Just in the time when I
was giving up, I got into a discussion about why human rights? Do we need them?
If no, why we have them? Someone argued that they are so basic that it doesn’t make
sense to have them; any free willing society will anyway support such rights of
human being, therefore no need to have them declared and built into the
constitutions. I argued back that since we have always had these rights, we
probably don’t know why each of them needs to be legalized moreover even now
many rights are denied to many citizens either by ignorance or by will, which
in both cases is an offence.
There started a
conversation on denial of human rights. In what form it may exist and where?
When a girl child is
treated badly because her brother is more important, it is denying the right of
equality.
At workplace, when a
boss picks up a colleague and promotes him not on merit but because he belongs
to same religion, it is discrimination.
When a female fetus is
aborted, it is refusal of life.
When a worker is made to
work under worst conditions, against no pay, its slavery.
When women are abused or
raped, it is torture.
Murder in name of honor killing
is denial of right to recognition.
When an offender can be
saved on the basis of bribe, it is inequality and lack of protection by law.
When in name of
protocol, when members of a particular faith are detained without proof, it is
unfair detainment.
When the same man is
charged penalty without a trial, it is denial of his right to fair trial.
When an MMS on a person’s
private life is circulated without his knowledge it is denial to his privacy.
When an employer keeps
the passport of an employee under custody, it is denial of his right to move.
When citizens of a
country cannot seek refuge in another, it is denial to his right to choose a
safe place.
When an author is denied
citizenship on the basis of his views offensive to a particular community, it
is denial of his right to nationality.
When a woman is forced
into marriage she is not willing for, it denial of her right to marriage and
family.
Theft or robbery is
denial of right to own things.
When a journalist is
abducted for making an offensive cartoon it is denial of his right to think and
express.
When silent protesters
are charged with tear gas and baton, it is denial of their right to assemble.
When a ballot is counted
unfairly, it is denial of democracy.
When a person is denied
is his pension, it is denial of his social security.
When a worker is continuously
denied his weekly rest days, it is denial of his right to leisure.
When a man dies of
hunger, it is denial of his right to food and shelter.
When a child is made to
labor, it is denial of his right to education.
Plagiarism is a denial
of right to copyright.
When a person is denied
any of his basic rights, it is denial of his right to fair world.
I don’t think these
issues are extinct or never heard of. In our world, where most people are aware
of our rights, every now and then someone is denied of his/her human rights and
when we talk of human right we talk as if we are above them and we no longer
need these as laws.
What do you think of human rights?
