The Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that India has been unequivocal in its commitment to the preservation and protection of human rights globally as well as within the country. He was addressing the gathering after inaugurating the National Human Rights Conclave being organized as a part of the Silver Jubilee Celebrations of the National Human Rights Commission.
The Vice President reaffirmed that human rights were the most natural rights, inherent to all human beings without discrimination. He also tasked the state with the primary responsibility of upholding, respecting, protecting and fulfilling these inalienable rights and he applauded India’s robust human rights protection framework comprising of a fiercely independent and fair judiciary, media, civil society and a number of proactive and independent human right bodies, such as the National Human Rights Commission. India is also a signatory to several of the core UN Human Rights and International Labour Organization’s conventions, he added.
The Vice President appreciated the good work done by NHRC as a diligent watchdog of human rights protection and said that the massive rise in the number of complaints received by the NHRC from 496 in 1993 to 79,612 cases in 2018 were a testament to the faith that the people of India placed on the NHRC. He lauded the efforts of NHRC towards eradication of the abhorrent practices of bonded labor child labor and manual scavenging.
The Vice President insisted that special focus should be placed on protecting the rights of the vulnerable sections of the society, especially women and children. He reserved a few proud words to speak of India’s strong track record of affirmative action, especially women’s reservation in Local Self governing bodies. He said that the contribution of women, who are ‘Shaktiswarupinis’, was indispensable to nation building and added that the principle of gender equality was enshrined in the constitution. He placed the onus on parents and teachers to inculcate the principles of gender equality in children. He declared that no civilized society would tolerate or accept any form of violence or discrimination against women and children.
The Vice President highlighted several challenges that lay in the path towards securing human rights. He observed that Indian democracy allows space for everyone to express their opinions. He welcomed ‘dissent’ but warned that ‘disintegration’ would not be tolerated.
The Vice President argued that human rights did not confer unfettered liberty to anyone to speak against the state or nation and added that human rights are best upheld if they are in harmony with the interests of the nation and fellow citizens. He lamented that the misuse of provisions of the human rights emerged as recent phenomenon. He observed that Human Rights are for everyone, in equal measure and therefore the rights of one person could not transgress the rights of another. In this context, he condemned acts of terrorism and said that India had lost several of its luminary leaders including Shri Rajiv Gandhi, Smt. Indira Gandhi and a number of MLAs and MPs to mindless acts of terror.
