On Human Rights (December 17)

Monday, International Human Rights Day, the 53rd anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights was marked in a rather low-key manner in the state. Apart from a rally by trained nurses, and a couple of seminars and functions, there was little to mark the day. 

Everyday concerns and worries, of which the people of this state have more than had their share of these few months, may perhaps have proved too overwhelming for the layman to pay more than passing notice, though the fact remains that human rights, by definition, concerns everyone. Part of the trouble may lie in the common man's association of 'human rights' and 'human rights abuses' with the atrocities occasionally visited upon the civilian populace by the government's security agencies, and not everyone is an Irom Sharmila. In the struggle to make ends meet, it has often been our tendency to turn a blind eye to something that does not concern us directly.

The common man's perception of human rights is of course not wrong; it is simply not comprehensive enough. It is a fact that in the atmosphere of insurgency and conflict that we exist in, the life and physical well being of everyone in our society is constantly under threat, whether from government agencies or the underground. 

In the two or three decades of insurgency and counter insurgency, there have been innumerable cases of fake encounters and enforced disappearances while torture and harassment have become routine. Draconian laws such as the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which provide the security forces with virtual immunity in counter-insurgency actions, remain a blight on the legal books, to the body of which it is now being proposed to add the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance, POTO. 

Even the few safeguards provided in these laws and by the courts have been honored more in the breach than in the observance, and there is no reason to believe POTO will be any different. On the other side of the scale, arbitrary and unexplained killings by underground elements have been far too frequent, and large-scale extortion is a reality, by whatever name we may wish to disguise it. The recent spate of kidnappings of senior government officials is also a matter of concern.

These are the more visible instances of human rights violations, and the common perception is therefore understandable, as also the fact that most human rights groups, here and elsewhere, have concentrated on these aspects. Yet, the concept of human rights is of far larger scope than this. For an individual, human rights may be summed up as those inalienable rights that guarantee that individual to lead a dignified life, free from fear, and affords him or her the freedom of personal development to the extent of which he or she is capable. 

Human rights therefore encompass not only the right to personal safety and security, but also rights concerned with health, education, gender equality and child rights etc. Everyday concerns, such as the issues of safe drinking water, basic health care, air pollution, problems of transport and communication, apart from government inefficiency and the thousands of petty injustices that the public labors under every day, have therefore very much to do with human rights. The many problems that we are facing today on all fronts in this state underscore the need for the general public to expand their perception of what constitutes their rights and exert themselves more fully in obtaining these rights.

(Courtesy: The Imphal Free Press)

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