ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Author: Rudra Tiwari, Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith

Abstract

This article throws light on the evolution of human rights with a special reference to India. Using secondary research techniques, based on the data from papers, journals, books, the work determines origins and the first appearances of the term “human rights” as well as key figures that contributed to its establishment. Further, the paper explores the perspective of human rights and the focus is made on the Indian context for the better understanding of the human rights situation. This discussion expands to the effects of those global changes on Indian constitutional framers that engaged human rights concepts in drafting the Indian Constitution.

In this article pertaining to India, the Human Rights Act is illustrated, main changes, human rights commission and significant cases are considered with reference to Indian and global human rights. However, the author is aware that this article may not encompass all the areas of discussion and so extends an invitation to the readers to add their own perspectives in subsequent articles.

Keywords

Human Rights, Origin, development, Evolution.

Introduction

Human rights therefore are those political, civil, social, economic, culture and environmental rights which are inherent in every human being. Therefore it could be summarized that human rights are inherent liberties the people have and protections they should get, wherever they are.

Human rights regulation can be as old and dated back to the Vedic Periods of Indian history where the Vedic literature had the provisions of these modern human rights such as Equal Rights, Liberty and Welfare etc. Another major general devise was achieved by Cyrus the Great in 539 B.C. When he captured Babylon; he released the slaves, granting them religious freedom and established racial equality. Years later, human rights adopted other names; in the middle ages they were called “natural rights"; Kouroukan Fouga which is a part of the Mali Empire’s constitution dating from the 13th century is among the oldest human rights documents.

The term “human rights” floated in the air between the publication of Thomas Paine’s The Rights of Man in 1791 and William Lloyd Garrison’s 1831 piece in The Liberator. World War I and II greatly influenced human rights – An international bill of human rights comprises the Human Rights Declaration adopted on 10th December 1948. As a result of the UDHR, India among other nations embraced a certain mould that was constitutional. The UDHR has 30 articles featuring important rights like; prohibition of slavery, recognition of equality, right to education and right to social security; to maintain human dignity and prevent discrimination all over the world.

The effects of World Wars to human rights or the advancement of human rights in India discussion will be provided in the succeeding sections.

Literature Review

There are plenty of articles, books, research papers are available on this topic and every piece of literature is unique and informative and they give a lot of info like they starts with the meaning of human rights and gives a brief about the origin of the term human rights it shares about how human rights have evolved through ancient period that the concept of human right existed from centuries but it was not same as today, it evolved throughout the time and came into common use in 1831 and universally declared after World War II, it gives a brief about various topics like philosophies of human rights, protection of human rights at international level and criticism about human rights.

If we are searching for research papers and articles related to this particular topic and if we try to search the research papers and articles in Indian context we can find the research papers and articles that are so well written that they gives a brief about the development of the concept of human right in India from Vedic period it also gives a brief about the concept of human right in medieval period of India in which it presents the position of human right in Mughal era. The reader will also get some knowledge about the human rights in modern India, it also shares about the human rights that are given in the constitution of India and also talks about the chronological events and Indian laws regarding human rights in India. Some articles that are directed towards this topic and focuses on the Indian context shares valuable information on the evolution of human rights in India and its implementation in India. It traces the origin of human rights in India from ancient age to British rule. It also shares the role of the judiciary in the protection of human rights.

Thus the literature that are available on the particular topic we are discussing about are very well written but one privilege that comes with this topic is that the readers can access the website of united nations and it gives a brief of the universal declaration, it shares some valuable information regarding the universal declaration like who made the final draft, when the commission first met, where the final draft was handed etc. it also shares a document of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to enhance the knowledge of the reader it also share about the 30 human rights that was declared on 10th December 1948.

Methodology

The research is based on secondary analysis of qualitative data. It uses the existing data like research papers, articles, blogs, books and other documents relevant for the research work like in for this paper the draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that is available on the United Nations website. The paper aims to trace the origin and development of human rights and it gives attention to the development of human rights in India. It will answer various questions.

Results

The results will give the insights of the research work that are:- The studies follow the origin of human rights from the Vedic period, because the Vedas unveiled concepts similar to human rights. Further in 539 BC, by Cyrius the Great’s conquering Babylon there is what can be termed as early enunciation of right where Babylon slaves are set free, people of all religions given right to worship and no discrimination based on colour. However, the roots of the human rights were not coined in the years but they have been used in the past in other derivatives which included the natural rights of the medieval Ages which was based on natural law. The Kouroukan Fouga in the Mali Empire dating the 13th century is one of the first documents on human rights charter. Luis De Molina and Domingo De Soto from the School of Salamanca in the 16th and 17th century considered Law as a moral power which is therefore creative for natural rights. John Locke developed these concepts further in the 17th century ;prior to this there were “natural rights” but the phrase “human rights” only appeared in the intervening period between Paine’s The Rights of Man and Garrison’s work, and modern human rights debate emerged in the second half of the twentieth century.

Role of World War I and II in the development of Human Rights

After the First World War the League of Nations was formed to support rights that are now outlined in the UDHR. There was the formation of the International Labour Organization (ILO), which called for free and fair employment, as well as, employment of people irrespective of their gender, race or colour. William Hodgson, a veteran of the First World War and who served on the drafting committee of the United Nations Charter at the San Francisco Conference supported the proposed international human rights convention and court which forms the subject matter of this paper.

As a result of the second World War, the United Nations was formed and the UDHR adopted as means of keeping genocides from occurring again. It got into writing at the UN General Assembly from 1946 by various commissioners such as Eleanor Roosevelt, René Cassin, Charles Habib Malik and William Hodgson. Cassin submitted the last copy and fifty nations discussed it before finally approving it on the 10th of December 1948 in Paris. India became a signatory to this declaration, and I argue that principles of this declaration were instrumental in shaping the Indian Constitution. Some of them are as follows:-

The preamble of the Indian Constitution mentions the dignity of an individual.
Part III of the Indian Constitution deals with the fundamental rights like Right privacy, Right to Equality (Article 14,15,16,17 and 18), Right to freedom (Article 19, 20, 21, 21A, 22) etc.
Part IV of the Indian Constitution deals with Directive Principles of State Policy (Article 37 to Article 51).
The Part IV-A of the Indian Constitution deals with fundamental duties.

Role of Judiciary in the Protection of Human Rights

Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala 1973

The Supreme Court went on to compare the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the Fundamental Rights in the Indian Constitution which if the court interpreted, could not be amended except for Article 13(2) which mirrors the Universal Declaration.
This interpretation gave rise to the concept of “Basic Structure” and it was declared that some parts of the constitution cannot be changed which preserved the Framework of the Indian constitution. It safeguard ordinary rights and freedoms provided under the Constitution from being dismissed by amendments.

ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla 1976
In this case the question was whether the court should examine the Universal Declaration of human rights in the Constitution or not. The court was rigid about the enforceability of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in this case and stated that anything that will conflict with the constitution of India is unenforceable as stated in Article 51 of the Constitution of India.

D.K Basu v. State of West Bengal 1997
This is the case regarding the violation of UDHR’s Article 5 which states that “no one shall be subjected to cruelty, torture or inhumane treatment”. This was the case of custodial death and the Supreme Court gave the guidelines for the proper arrest or detention.
People’s Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India (1997)
The Supreme Court took the consideration of Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and implemented the “Right to Privacy” in the affairs of freedom of speech and expression.
In the case of The chairman of Railway Board v. Chandrima Das (2000) the moral code of UDHR was followed.

Human Right Acts in India

The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993
This act established National and State Human Right Commissions and it also states the functions, powers and procedure of the commission.
The Protection of Human Rights (AMENDMENT) Act, 2019
By this amendment the number of commission members was increased now a former high court judge can be the chairperson of the State Commission.
The term of the commission was reduced from 5 years to 3 years.

Discussion

By interpreting the results we got to know about the origin and the development of human rights. The results also show the main findings of the research that answers various questions that were discussed above. As the research is based on secondary analysis of qualitative data it may have limitations because of data availability. But it answers various questions like when the term human rights commonly came into use, the role of World War I and II in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, who were the members of the commission of human rights etc.

Conclusion

The paper gives a brief about the origin and development of human rights and there are some topics for future research like comparative study of enforceability of human rights between two countries, what will be the future of Universal Declaration of Human Rights or about environment rights.

Reference

MD.RASIKH RAZA PAHALWI AND VISHAKHA SINGH, Unveiling The Prominence of Primordial Concept of Human Rights: In The Light of Human Rights In India, Manupatra (Oct 08, 2024, 5:00 PM), https://articles.manupatra.com/article-details/UNVELING-THE-PROMINENCE-OF-PRIMORDIAL-CONCEPT-OF-HUMAN-RIGHTS-IN-THE-LIGHT-OF-HUMAN-RIGHTS-IN-INDIA
History of the Declaration, United Nations(Oct 08, 2024, 2:38 PM), https://www.un.org/en/about-us/udhr/history-of-the-declaration.
MS. NIDHI MADAN History and Development of Human Rights in Indian, 22 IOSR-JHSS 01, 01-05(2017)
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R.M. Kamble, Evolution and Historical Development of Human Rights, KLE law journal, Jan 2018, at 137, 137-149
The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, No.10,Acts of Parliament,1993 (India)
Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala 1973 4 SCC 225
ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla 1976 SCR 172