The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Concern at rising human rights violations

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 12, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Concern at rising human rights violations

Staff Reporter

Call for inclusion of rights in school syllabus

RIGHT INITIATIVE: Participants of a conference on human rights take a pledge to uphold human rights, at Madras Christian College, Tambaram, on Wednesday. — PHOTO: K. Manikandan

TAMBARAM : Serving and retired judges on Wednesday expressed concern over the increasing violation of human rights in the country and also called for including human rights as a compulsory subject in schools.

Addressing the valedictory session of a three-day meeting on human rights and education at Madras Christian College in Tambaram, Narayana Kurup, former Chief Justice (acting) of the Madras High Court, said judges, lawyers, administrators, non-governmental organisations and others in governance should play a more meaningful role in protecting human rights. Noting that human rights had turned worse in the country than 50 years ago, Justice Kurup said rights violations meant not only abuse of power, arbitrary actions by police and custodial torture but also denial of basic amenities to ``millions of Indians even today''.

Justice Kurup said that as literacy was on the rise, so was illiteracy. To create greater awareness among the people of human rights, the concept should be included as a compulsory subject in the school syllabus.

Speaking at the conference, organised by the Department of Social Work, A. S. Venkatachala Moorthy, chairperson of State Human Rights Commission, said the Commission proposed to conduct an inspection in all schools, including those meant for special children, on the cleanliness of noon meal centres.

The Commission would submit a report to the Government for taking suitable measures, he said.

Frederick J. Kaplan, Consul for Public Affairs, United States Consulate in Chennai, narrated the experiences of the education system in his country.

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