10th December is marked as Human Rights Day across the world in celebration of the signing of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The milestone document, drafted by representatives from different legal and cultural backgrounds and different countries, was signed by all the 192 members of the UN.
Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, irrespective of their caste, race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion or any other identity. It aims to ensure that every human is able to lead a dignified life and acts as a common standard of achievements for all people of all nations. Human rights include the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to work and education, and many more.
India who was an English colony once has seen a major chunk of its population getting exploited, taken into slavery and getting punished for speaking up against the authorities. Even before that, with the advent of the European powers entering the territory, Indians suffered from forceful religious conversions. When the constitution-makers of the country were framing a constitution for free India, they wanted to make sure that no citizen should face such treatment. This is why Fundamental Rights have been included in part III of the Constitution of India.
There are six Fundamental Rights mentioned in the constitution of India. These are Right to Equality, Right to Freedom, Right against Exploitation, Right to Freedom of Religion, Cultural and Educational Rights and Right to Constitutional Remedies.
The Fundamental Rights in the constitution of India accommodates all the Human Rights approved by the UN. In fact, they are more detailed and powerful in the sense that, they are justiciable. Right to Constitutional Remedies allows a person whose right has been violated or not respected by the state to appeal directly to the Supreme Court of India. Supreme Court of India is thus, the protector of the Fundamental Rights mentioned in the constitution of India.
Supreme Court of India is also responsible for the interpretation of the constitution of the country. For example, Right to Life has been interpreted as the right of a person to have clean air, safe drinking water, safe shelter, the dignity of labour, employment, etc.
After living in inequality for centuries, Constitution makers of India were very firm on building a country that is just and fair to all its citizens. This is why they have ensured that internationally acclaimed human rights are present in the heart of the constitution of the country. And that no authority can ever violate these rights.
