Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi   

‘Execution of human rights law vital'

TIRUCHI: Creating various legal institutions and passing new laws will not ensure protection of human rights, if lack of implementation of existing laws continue, said V.Vijayakumar, Vice Chancellor, Tamil Nadu Dr.Ambedkar Law University, Chennai, at the inauguration of the UGC-sponsored national seminar on “Human Rights in Independent India: Contemporary Challenges and Issues”, organised by the Department of History, Bharathidasan University here on Saturday.

Hailing the Indian constitution as one of the best written, he said the objectives of institutions for protection of rights of women, children, minorities, and Scheduled Castes and tribes would remain unrealised if laws were not translated into action.

Mr.Vijayakumar cited three landmark developments as watersheds in the legal conception of human rights in India, starting with the Maneka Gandhi versus Union India case, where the Supreme Court extended the scope of personal liberty and the Nilabati Behera versus State of Orissa judgment where the Court held that compensation could be awarded to violation of fundamental rights. The third milestone was the establishment of a National Human Rights Commission under the Protection of Human Rights Act that came to force in 1993.

Tracing the evolution of the concept of human rights through various charters and conventions, right from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the Millennium Development Goals, he pointed out the shift in onus from duties to rights.

Traditional institutes of the East stressed on duties of man, as opposed to the western philosophy of rights. But with jumping on the bandwagon of demanding for rights, duties have been neglected. While exercising rights, the discharging of duties must be discussed, he stressed.

Calling for increased awareness on rights and duties through media, literacy programmes and academic conferences, he underlined the need for capacity building and training of officials working in areas related to human rights.

K.Meena , Vice Chancellor awarding the certificates for the Certificate course in Human Rights, said human rights education was important for sensitising youth to make them part of the solution rather than the problem. N.Rajendran, Head of the Department and Y.Srinivasa Rao, assistant professor, spoke.

A total of 90 papers on an ambit of issues primarily discussing discrimination of women, child rights, environmental rights with focus on water, role of NGOs and legal perspectives would be discussed in the two-day seminar.

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