Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday said that one must take sides in matters of decimation of human rights as neutrality will only help the oppressor. “When it comes to decimation of human rights, we must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. In such scenario, there is no option but to be proactive and we must interfere,” he said at a function organised to celebrate the 29th Foundation Day of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) here. Pointing out that “human rights are quintessential for flourishing democracy”, the Vice-President said that “serious challenges to human rights arise primarily on account of the silent and voiceless existence of the majority of our citizens, which in fact is a topic that needs to be brought into sharper focus in the public limelight”, the NHRC said in an official release. Dhankhar praised the NHRC “for propagating philosophy that human rights nurture and blossom in a regime where there is a rule of law and not law of ruler”. Dhankhar, who was the Governor of West Bengal before he took charge as Vice-President, also credited the NHRC “for its report on West Bengal post-poll violence under a judicial fiat in shortest time underlining that the law of the ruler not the rule of law is the bane of human rights in the state”. In his address, NHRC Chairperson Justice Arun Mishra stressed the need for more affirmative action for the socio-economic and political uplift of the marginalised sections of society. “Time has come to clarify that unrepresented classes in services are provided reservation within the reserved category itself to ensure fruits of development percolate down,” he said. Delving on the need to achieve “gender equality and equal rights for all, in particular for women”', Justice Mishra said, “They cannot be discriminated against and deprived of civil liberties and rights under the guise of dharma or customary practices.” He stated that “it is desirable to move in the direction of a Uniform Civil Code as envisaged in Article 44 of the Constitution of India” and added that “without gender equality in all respect, realisation of human rights would remain a distant dream”, the official communication said. Justice Mishra said that cyberspace has invaded human rights, including individual privacy, resulting in civil and human rights infringement. “Ninety-six per cent of dark web of cyberspace has emerged as the most potent human and sex trafficking medium in the world,” he said, adding that “trafficking of women and children, tribals and vulnerable sections must stop”. He said people not getting clean air in many cities in the country is also a grave violation of human rights and added that “burning of stubble in neighboring states must stop at once as it chokes Delhi every winter”. The NHRC Chairperson also emphasised the need for urgent prison reforms to get rid of crimes in the jails and said that prisons, which are places to reform criminals, have unfortunately become places of crimes.
