Statement of Lok Raj Sangathan, December 2021

On December 10 of this year, the international community observed Human Rights Day as mandated by the United Nations Organization.  At the end of World War II, one of the two most devastating wars that history has witnessed, nations came together first to form the United Nations Organisation and also adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Human rights are inalienable to human beings by the mere virtue of they being human and members of a civilised society.

The Declaration has many noble clauses, including ensuring human beings their right to dignity, freedom from want and hunger, of protection from the forces of nature, or clothing and shelter and of a secure future and of education for children and well-being of all.  All the signatories are expected to make sure that the persons living within the borders of nation states, who are rightfully citizens by birth or by naturalisation, are entitled to such protection as that accorded by the Declaration, as well as by the domestic constitutions.  Freedom of conscience and of belief are also said to be enshrined in the principles of the Declaration, to name some additional examples.

However, the Declaration does not provide for any enabling mechanisms, meaning that people in countries that are signatories to it may not have any way of ensuring that they actually get these rights in practice. Moreover, the Declaration does not make it binding on its signatories to guarantee the inviolability of these rights. This is because some of the signatories had the notion that rights can be given to some and not to others, given at one time and taken away at another time at the discretion of the coterie in power. Another major shortcoming of the Declaration is that it ignored the demand of the Soviet Union to recognise the Right to Work as a fundamental human right, due to the resistance of countries like the United States. Thus, though the Declaration had lofty ideals, the lack of enabling mechanisms and the non-inclusion of inalienable rights as fundamental human rights are shortcomings whose effects are felt to this day.

The end of World War II signaled the beginning of the end of the colonial era, with the greatest colonial powers of, e.g., Britain, France, Portugal and Spain and others leaving their colonies. The liberated nations enthusiastically joined international efforts and also signed into these noble principles. Not the least among these being India, which at that time proclaimed itself to be a sovereign democracy and went on to adopt a constitution that had long chapters on Fundamental Rights as well as Directive Principles.

But seven decades after the declaration of formal independence from Britain, India ranks amongst the worst in terms of the Human Development Index, as well as other indices.  Much of the population suffers from endemic malnutrition, low levels of literacy, poor life expectancy, high infant mortality, high rates of preventable disabilities due to lack of vital minerals in the diet during infancy and early childhood. They are subject to all kinds of oppression, characterized by violence, discrimination, and debasement of the human persona.

Instances of human rights abuse are widespread. Arbitrary incarceration of persons fighting for democratic rights, of persons opposed to economic policies of the government such as seizure of tribal lands and agricultural lands under the pretext of the principle of `Eminent Domain’, or deprivation of employment, of people fighting for dignity of national or religious minorities are extremely common. Many areas of our country, such as Kashmir and vast areas of the Northeast, are virtually under military rule.  Army and paramilitary forces deployed here enjoy virtual impunity against all human rights violations or under the notorious AFSPA in other areas. Recent killings of dozens of innocent people in Nagaland by the army have highlighted the abuse of these laws once again, with some state cabinets echoing the demands made by millions of people of these regions for the repeal of the Act.

Many draconian laws have been passed over the decades which have deprived people of their fundamental rights. These include the UAPA, NSA, etc. Colonial era laws against the ‘crime’ of sedition are routinely used against journalists uncovering the truth and activists fighting for the rights of various deprived sections of the people. The enactment of laws like the Citizenship Amendment Act in 2019, giving preferential treatment to applicants of religions other than Islam, is an instance of blatant discrimination against the spirit of the Declaration too.

Elsewhere in the world, human rights violations are also only too pervasive overseas. Members of the “Big Five” of the UNO themselves are guilty of the worst war crime of all, namely the `war against terrorism’.  Driven by their insatiable thirst for cheap raw materials and markets, they think nothing of laying entire countries to waste, while instituting the worst kinds of laws domestically, imprisoning their own national minorities to harsh sentences under the smallest of pretexts, creating prison-industrial complexes where millions are forced to work in unpleasant jobs and practically no wage. In recent years, the US and its allies have been guilty of serious war crimes in countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and elsewhere.

The near total lack of mechanisms to enforce the ideas enshrined in the Declaration shows the utter powerlessness of the Indian people in particular and masses of people around the world in general. The fact is that political power in India is not wielded or controlled by the people, but by the superrich who ensure that governments formed by political parties carry out their dictate. Sovereignty does not vest in the people of India, but in the Union Cabinet. This is why violations of human rights are all so common. This is why laws are enacted and enforced to incarcerate and punish people fighting for their rights instead of being enacted to enforce those human rights! Indeed, if human rights are to become universal, it is essential that sovereignty is vested in the people, and that people wield real political power. This is one conclusion that can be drawn from the experience of over seven decades since the Declaration of Human Rights.

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