Southern States - Kerala   

`Rights violation high among politicians, legal fraternity'

By Our Staff Reporter

THRISSUR DEC.11. The former judge, K. T. Thomas, has said that it is the mistake of the rulers of the country to remind people of their duties. Inaugurating the State-wide observance of Human Rights Day here today, Mr. Thomas said that everybody was aware of one's rights, including human rights. But it should be remembered that fundamental rights were subservient to fundamental duties. Human rights was the most sold out commodity now. But there was a time when fundamental rights were suspended, he said.

One judge had observed in a judgment that one could not suspend the right of a person to live other than through the institutionalised law. He had then observed that nobody, even the rulers of the land, had the right to put a person behind bars without having proper reason. This right was a right earned by human beings through birth and provided by the Constitution of the land.

``He recalled the words of the noted Sarvodaya activist the late, N. P. Manmadhan, at a meeting that the rulers could have at least told him, if not the courts, what was the `grave mistake' that he had done knowingly or unknowingly for which he was put behind bars. He said that he would select Article 21 as the most important article of the Constitution. He said that politicians and persons with legal knowledge were those who deny people their right to travel in streets. ``The procession of lucky devotees were putting the unlucky commuters to hardships. When I asked one of the political leaders why they were conducting bandhs even when majority of public does not like it, he said that without organising bandhs their workers would go lazy. If a bandh is organised sometimes law and order collapses and the party workers will be subjected to lathicharge which could help the party to organise programmes based on this issue and keep the workers on alert,'' Mr. Thomas said.

Those in power were having a `power insolence' which was fast becoming a `cultural syndrome'. ``This reminds us of the saying, `it is nice to be important, but it is very important to be nice'. Those in positions behave rudely to people. This phenomena reflects in the police and in the judiciary by which the latter delay in making judgments. The sense of behaving nicely had not been conveyed to the younger generation,'' Mr. Thomas said.

He said that the right to breath fresh air, right to travel, the right to livelihood and right not to be harassed by anybody were not only fundamental rights but also human rights. Minority rights, rights for religious institutions and the right of students to hold strikes were not human rights. The act of polluting the atmosphere was also a violation of the human rights, he said.

Presiding over the function, the chairman of the State Human Rights Commission, M. M. Pareedpilla, said that it was high time that the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) be amended. He said that the delay in dispensing justice was also a violation of human rights. The Commission's recommendation of fitting vehicles with speed control instruments was also mentioned by the Kerala High Court in one of its judgment.

He appealed to the MLAs to request the State Government to table the annual reports of the Commission in Assembly. The Government was also legally bound to table the reports, he said. He observed that most of the Government hospitals had infra-structure facilities but did not appoint enough doctors. Hence surgeries could not be conducted. The Commission member, S. Balaraman, the Mayor of Thrissur Corporation, Jose Kattookaran, and the district panchayat president, M. V. Vishalakshy, were among those who spoke on the occasion. The Commission member, T. K. Wilson, and the principal of Thrissur Law College, Radha G. Nair, were among those who presented papers at the seminar that followed.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Kerala Cabinet sets up 3-member panel
• Budget session from Jan. 24
• Anti-filaria drive from today
• Drawing up a novel scheme
• Gujarati college opened
• DRIP workshop inaugurated
• Expose children to books, exhorts Azhikode
• Isaac puts the blame on exporters, Govt.
• `LDF responsible for crisis in coir sector'
• `Rights violation high among politicians, legal fraternity'

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu