Why Human Rights Day is Special This Year
As soon as we hear the word “ HUMAN RIGHTS “ we all reminisce about our eighth-grade history class when our history teacher taught about “The MAGNA CARTA “The Magna Carta was the first official legal document to be issued detailing human rights to the common masses. It was issued in June 1215 and also was the first document to put into writing the principle that the king and his government were not above the law. It sought to prevent the king from exploiting his power and placed limits on royal authority by establishing law as a power in itself.
In today’s 21st-century world, we have advanced a lot in terms of human rights. At the turn of this millennium, we have seen dictators being persecuted, democracies being re-established, civic rights being issued, free and fair elections being held, etc. But on a darker note, human rights is still a fight for some and winning the fight is a lot harder for them.
Take the example of India, the world’s largest and most culturally vibrant democracy is constantly slipping down in the world human rights ranking. Based on the data from 2019, India was ranked 119 out of 165 countries. It was ranked 90 out of 157 countries in 2013.
According to the data published in 2020, India ranks 111 globally in terms of the Human Rights Index. On a similar note, India dropped to a new low globally, in terms of World Press Freedom rankings. According to the World Press Freedom Index, released in May 2022, India’s ranking dropped to 150th position from last year’s 142nd rank among 180 nations. So at this crucial hour, the question arises, how to protect human rights in India?
SPEAK UP FOR WHAT YOU CARE ABOUT
Everyone has a story to tell. Make sure you tell your story in the right way and right manner to everyone you care about. Advocacy is also dubbed as the invisible pillar of democracy. Join hands with a local human rights group or start your own human rights advocacy group. Be the changemaker, don’t just sit and hope for it, be the person who initiates the changes in society.
VOLUNTEER OR DONATE TO A GLOBAL ORGANISATION
Oxfam International and UNICEF are two amazing nonprofits that support human rights around the world. With outreach programs in more than 90 countries, Oxfam helps empower communities to escape poverty and find resilience from natural disasters. On a similar note, UNICEF works to protect human rights, but with a focus on children. Their mission is to ensure kids have safe access to clean water, education, healthcare, and play (the right to creative expression!) in almost 200 countries. You can also join some local human rights NGOs or create your own human rights group.
STAND UP AGAINST DISCRIMINATION
Around the world, including in the United States, one can witness the basic rights of people being stripped away. Some of these rights are as severe as we’ve seen in history, like freedom from slavery and torture, and the right to free speech. Others are ones we find ourselves fighting for every day in our communities, like freedom from discrimination and the right to a fair trial. You can and should stand up against such discrimination at any cost.
Human Rights are a crucial part of a person’s life. India is constantly falling in terms of the global human rights index at the cost of economic progress. It is high time we ask ourselves what is more important: economic, materialistic progress or progress in human rights.
