Human Rights and Values

Man can legitimately boast of his advanced civilization that by and large has come in the train of science. Man has set his foot on the Moon, on top of the Everest and at the bottom of the deepest oceans, has probed widely other planets of the solar system, and sent radio signals beyond in the unknown universe. Science has increased considerably the average expectation of life with the help of wonder drugs and incredible surgical operations; it has done away with time and space through the phenomenal improvement of communication and has made life immensely enjoyable in a variety of ways.

But all the glories of man’s achievements and exploits (deeds) pale (fade) into insignificance when we take into account a lot of common people. They are in the cold shade of neglect and misery as before. To make things worse, they are often denied basic human rights of life and property, of food and raiment (clothes), of freedom of movement and expression. All the passionate pleadings of poets, prophets, and protests of politicians have so far gone in vain (useless).

In fact, human society all over the world is today broadly divided into two sections—the’ haves’ and ‘have-nots’, the privileged class enjoying all the good things of life, and the hopeless underprivileged who remain as they were. This co-existence of plenty and poverty is the glaring bane (curse) of modern human society. But, to make things worse, dictators and oppressive Governments often deprive champions of democracy of legitimate human rights. This intolerance with the forces of the opposition leads to imprisonment, with or without trial in law courts. Inhuman torture by third-degree methods is committed on the political prisoners in an organized manner in some countries by imposing Emergency, unabashed (openly, without feeling any shame or scruple).

In some countries military leaders have captured power and directly or with the help of some puppets (easily controlled tools) or pliant leaders are ruling the destiny of common people. Not much is known about the ways of Saddam Hussain who is now a dreaded leader of Iraq. A number of Generals were killed there the other day by the Firing Squad. Mrs. Suu Kyi, the daughter of Aung Sung of Burnie. (Myanmar), who won the last General Electronics and later on won the Noble Peace Prize, was till the other day under house arrest. Solzhenitsyn, the Russian Nobel-laureate in literature, had to spend about twenty precious years of his life in exile,

as the then Govt. of the Soviet Union was not favorably disposed to him. And Miss Taslima Nasrin cannot return to her hometown, Dhaka even now, for fear of being killed by the fundamentalists I In the estimate of Amnesty Inter-national, jails of some countries including India and around are teeming with prisoners detained without trial. Thus human values are being derided and degraded gravely in our civilized days. It is a matter of disgrace that as yet there is no such international authority with mandatory powers to prevent those who indulge in the nefarious (devilish) game of violating basic human rights and values, putting innocents in prison.

The only silver lining in this clouded horizon is that international public opinion is snowballing (gathering together) to detect and denounce such evasions and invasions of human rights. However, the question has been pertinently raised whether hardcore militants and well-armed terrorists who seek to destabilize (upset) our mother country, openly and amply aided by foreign countries, should also be allowed to claim full rights or come under the purview of the sacred code of human rights. Terrorism, it has been found, flourishes on frustration, more economic than political. So the best course for all concerned is to sit around the negotiation table, talk and settle knotty issues in a cordial spirit. Nobody should be persecuted for airing his firm conviction.