The Ministry of Home Affairs in Rajya Sabha recently disclosed data on human rights violations across states. Strikingly, Uttar Pradesh accounted for around 40% of the violation cases reported to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) annually across the past three financial years up to 31st October 2021.
Understanding Human Rights Violations
Human rights violations signify the denial of fundamental freedoms such as thought and movement, which are universally recognized legal rights. These violations often target marginalized populations, reinforcing their cycle of poverty and oppression. The responsibility often falls upon individuals, leaderships, or governments that fail to recognize the equal value of all human lives. Examples of human rights violations include forced evictions, contamination of water, failure to guarantee a sufficient minimum wage, and failing to tackle starvation.
Varieties of Human Rights Violations
Human rights violations can be categorized into two types: direct or intentional violations, and failures by the state to protect rights.
Direct or intentional violations occur when the state, through its agents like police, judges, prosecutors or government officials, commits actions that contravene human rights laws. These actions could range from physical violence, such as police brutality, to non-violent acts like compromising the right to a fair trial.
Failures by the state to protect rights transpire in societal conflicts involving vulnerable individuals or groups. When the state neglects intervening, its inaction essentially contributes to the violation.
Current Human Rights Situation in India
Despite a decrease in the total number of rights violation cases lodged by the NHRC, from 89,584 cases in 2018-19 to 74,968 cases in 2020-21, a significant number of 64,170 cases were registered until October 2021.
India’s human rights landscape features numerous instances of caste-based discrimination and violence. Crimes against Dalits, for instance, surged by 6% between 2009 and 2018, with over 3.91 lakh reported cases.
Other prevalent instances of human rights violations in India include communal and ethnic violence, impairment of freedom of association, curtailment of freedom of expression, and violence against women. The current scenario also features an escalating rate of crimes against children, with National Crime Records Bureau data revealing a daily average of 350 cases reported during the pandemic in 2020.
Addressing Human Rights Violations: The Way Forward
Achieving sustainable, practical, and effective methods of protecting human rights while preserving local values and cultures is essential. This process begins by recognizing individual differences and promoting understanding to precipitate change. Small steps, such as empathizing with victims of various forms of violence and discrimination instead of furthering victim-blaming tendencies, can significantly contribute towards transforming the current human rights violation examples into instances of human kindness.
