‘Human Rights- their Significance’ by Hansa Mehta [Excerpts]
On the 15th August 1951 we
enter the 5th year of our freedom. The question arises are we really
free? Freedom without human rights has no meaning and yet very few people
understand or try to understand the significance of human rights. I consider it
a duty, therefore, to explain their significance in relation to the concept of
freedom.
Why do we condemn natzism or Fascism or
for that matter any totalitarian State? It is because in a Natzi State, the
individual had all the duties and no rights. The individual was loaded with
duties while he had no personal freedom i.e. no civil rights....It was against
this Natzi background that the charter of the United Nations is written. The
charter reaffirms faith in fundamental human rights and thereby lays stress on
human rights as their denial would only bring about sorrow to mankind.
In chapter one of the Charter, which
deals with purposes and principles of the United Nations Organisation, it is
laid down that one of the purposes is, to promote and encourage respect for
human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all. And in chapter ten the
Economic and Social Council is asked to set up commission in economic and
social fields for among other things, the promotion of human rights. It was under
this that the Human Rights Commission was set up. The Universal Declaration of
Human Rights a document prepared by the Commission has been acclaimed as the
Magna Charta of human freedom all over the world....
We ought to understand the significance
of the human rights better since the entire movement of satyagraha led by
Mahatma Gandhi was against the denial of human rights. Injustice and tyranny
prevail where these rights are denied. In South Africa Gandhiji fought against
racial discrimination i.e. against the concept that the white races inherit the
earth and the coloured have no place on it. Gandhiji wished to establish the
human right that “all are equal before the law and are entitled without any
discrimination to equal protection of the law”…
The basic principles underlying these
rights are those of liberty, equality and fraternity. As the very first article
of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says “All human beings are both
free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and
conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of
brotherhood”....The Declaration also in the article 29(2) says “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.” If individuals have to live in harmony with each other they must
learn to respect the rights of others. No one can enjoy his right at the
expense of another. The sufferings in this country today are more often than
not due to the fact that people have no respect for the rights of their fellow
beings.
As with the individual so with the
state. The State must have respect for human rights; and must not restrict them
except under conditions as laid down in article 29 (2) of the Declaration
quoted above. A state that recognises the rights will be respected and will not
find it difficult to get the spontaneous loyalty of its subjects. Recognition
of these rights by the individuals as well as the State will lead to that
harmonious living which is so essential for the peace and well being in this
world.
Source: Hansa
Mehta Papers, MSS, NMML
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