Human Rights Under Democracy
- Part 3 -

Dr. Koijam Manihar Singh *

It is an irrefutable fact that man by nature is a freedom-loving being. Nothing can change the very spirit of man. Pasternaik lived behind the iron curtain; but he was able to denounce the Stalinist regime through symbolic criticism in his book Dr. Zhivago.

As a matter of fact, the whole human history bears out the truth that the free spirit of man can never be destroyed. Galileo recanted but he is reputed to have said, a moment after the recantation, "Still it (earth) moves".

Socrates preferred to take hemlock instead of admitting that he was in the wrong. All this might pertain to the higher planes of human spirit, but the free spirit of man is obvious even in his eccentricities.

The eccentricities, quirks and obsessions of any man speak for his love of freedom. Democracy guarantees freedom to each individual; and because each individual esteems his freedom the most (however ridiculous it may be), we can safely predict that democracy would continue to allure men.

Democracy, in the past, was more of an idea or a myth; but today it is more of reality, because each democracy not only guarantees political rights but also is striving to secure economic lights. The guarantee of both these rights is known as the welfare concept of democracy or the Welfare State.

Indeed democracy promises a government wherein each individual has a say in the management of the state, parliament is a representative of the people, and the independence of judiciary is indisputable; but all these features are being compromised. So far we have taken for granted that democracy would continue to exist in the future; however, here we have to; examine whether such immortality would be the lot of democracy or not.

Things, as they are today, indicate that democracy is bound to survive. The cardinal principle of democracy is respect for the rights of each individual. Each human being is an entity, a presence, a universe unto himself. There is no reason why this fundamental principle should be discarded in the future.

It will not be exaggerating to say that Human Rights Charter is the fulfillment and fruition of men's ceaseless endeavours and efforts to achieve in the corridors of human affairs a befitting place worthy of human survival. Ever since the dawn of human civilisation, man has been fighting constantly to achieve a niche as befitting a civilised human existence.

The craze to curve out such a place in the domain of human living deepened and intensified all the more because of the savage and barbarous treatment meted out to him at the hands of his masters and superiors who treated him always more as a slave, a flotsam, a jetsam than as a human being.

A peep into the history of the past primitive ages bears ample testimony to our belief. And at last this oppressed and suppressed soul, this stifled and throttled conscience of man found its right eloquence in the famous document called the "Declaration of Independence" which states like this:
"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men arc created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuits of happiness."

The soul-stirring and thought-provoking line of Jean Jacques Rousseau, the French philosopher, that "man is born free but is always found in chains" tersely expresses the need of human rights and strict adherence to them by the civilised world.

French Revolution ignited the incense and fragrance of human beings awakening to the concept of human rights and fundamental values. Since then the breeze of human rights kissed the shores of many lands till it reached India in 1947, when on the achievement of independence, our country proclaimed a democratic form of Government enshrining in our constitution the basic human rights and fundamental freedoms which bear the name of Fundamental Rights.

The need and necessity to create human rights resulted out of the tyrannical and farcical political systems of the past when the general rule of humanity often used to be subjected to all the privations, plunder and pillage, troubles, trials, tribulations and tragedies at the hands of their cruel and callous rulers, who used to lead a life of profligacy and extravagance to the utter neglect of their subjects.

In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.

In democracy, everybody has the same right without differentiation of caste or creed, sex or complexion. And the same applies to to-day's world of women who have emancipated themselves from the old and obsolete coils of conventionalism and traditionalism when women used to be considered as a creature to be confined in the four walls of the house and was looked down upon as an inferior entity.

All kudos to Mary Wollstonecraft, one of leading pioneers of the emancipation of women who really did a lot and fought to uplift and elevate women from the quagmire of a custom-ridden and tradition bound society. Today the light of human rights is not merely the privilege of a few, but everyone living under the Sun can enjoy the basic human rights.

Regarding-human rights, democracy is committed to the principle that all men are entitled to equal rights politically, socially and economically. That is the only state worthy of the dignity of man: the only one in which every man can work with equality irrespective of race, colour, religion, language, cultural background, or geographical location.

We want a country, a world in which no people any longer have the right to be superior to any other people. Then every man must be entitled to walk down the avenues of the world with complete equality with every other man. This is the United Nations ideal.

The Declaration of Human rights is a step in that direction. Democracy says that all people must be free; freedom must leave all states free to move in whatever way of life they may choose, free of fear free of force, free of threat of aggressive attack, free of imperialism and free of control.

Shri Venkatachaliah, former Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission stated that the culture of human rights depended upon the perceived equity of the global economic order, no less than the policies of justice and equity at home. Poverty is the biggest threat to a democratic country like India.

He also stated that internal good governance was basic to the realisation of the great blessings of human rights. Great issues on the national agenda such as universal primary education, eradication of child labour and child abuse, protection of the vulnerable sections of the society from exploitation etc. were inextricably interwined with the sustaining sources of human rights culture.

The struggle for human rights had always en a struggle against tyranny. While communism can be called a democracy as it provides for more equality among citizens, its drawback lies in the fact that the individual freedom of the citizen is deliberately limited and made subservient to the interest of the society and the community as a whole.

The individual plays a second fiddle to the state which controls and regulates the functions of all individuals. The poor man may have the right to vote and the constitution may promise to him all the fundamental rights and directive principles of the state policy, but he continues to subsist under inhuman conditions.

Despite the vast resources of men and material that the country has, the poor man has not been provided with the essentials of life- two good meals, a reasonable shelter to live, a few amenities of modern science and the like.

Most of the villages in the country are still without drinking water and electricity. The working classes are generally too poor to afford good meals. They continue to be exploited by the capitalist class which has amassed wealth and continues to enjoy their unearned profits as landlords.

Thus the poor sections of the society are denied their rights in the true sense of the term. Mahatma Gandhi has envisaged the setting up of a strong village Panchayati Raj System and other forms of local self-government which would allow the people to continuously participate in the democratic process.

However, despite the constitutional amendments to further the objective of achieving a stable Panchayati Raj System, effective measures have yet to be initiated towards this end. Hence it is very difficult yet to say that Indian democracy has become fully democratic.

To be continued ....