THE STORY THAT EVERY INDIVIDUAL CAN CLAIM TO BE OWN

Human Rights – The Least Voiced

‘Food, shelter and clothing’; I still remember my elementary teacher repeating the statement that food shelter and clothing are the basic needs of every human being without which a person cannot live. On 10^th December, when the entire world is celebrating the World Human Rights Day, the statistics show that about fifty percent of the world population live without their basic needs met. After 65 years of the declaration of the first convention on the human rights, we still have half of our population deprived of their basic needs let alone protecting their human rights.

On December 10, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). It recognised “the inherent dignity” and “equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family”. Many other conventions like Convention on the Elimination of all kinds of Discrimination against women (CEDAW) and United Nations Children Rights Convention (UNCRC) followed aiming at protecting and preserving the basic rights of the human beings.

In spite of the emergence of innumerable conventions to protect the human rights, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is mostly ignored. Even in a country like India where democracy plays a key role, the Human Rights Commissions are vaguely taken into consideration. The after effect of this negligence of the human rights is clearly visible through the statistics collected by various surveys all over the world.

According to the World Bank, in 2008, there were about 1.29 billion people living in absolute poverty out of which 400 million are Indians and 173 million are Chinese. A 2012 Human Development Report by the Global Issues states that about 50% of the total population of the world lives in poverty. 1 in 3 children live without proper shelter and 1 in 5 is deprived of safe drinking water. 22,000 children die every year all over the world due to poverty. The fact, that one third of the world poorest people live in India, clearly manifests the pathetic condition of the country.

Poverty is a giant monster that has been eating our country for many years leading to child labour, slavery, trafficking, begging, prostitution etc. The directive principles of the Indian constitution state that it is the moral responsibility of the state to provide adequate means of livelihood to all its citizens. But it is unrealistic to demand our politicians to work on moral guidelines when they are not fulfilling the mandatory principles of the constitution.

Our revolutions have brought down the government in various cases of sexual assault. Our vigilance has won in putting a number of corrupt politicians behind bars. Our sense of responsibility is paving way towards a new hope. It’s time we give a little thought to human rights and more importantly human needs so that in coming future no child is born as a burden to its family, but as a supporting stone to the growth of the country.