Human Rights

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”
—Article 1 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Many of the basic ideas that animated the movement developed in the aftermath of the Second World War, culminating in its adoption by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. While the phrase "human rights" is relatively modern the intellectual foundations of the modern concept can be traced through the history of philosophy and the concepts of natural law rights and liberties as far back as the city states of Classical Greece and the development of Roman Law. The true forerunner of human rights discourse was the enlightenment concept of natural rights developed by figures such as John Locke and Immanuel Kant and through the political realm in the United States Bill of Rights and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
The human rights movement emerged in the 1970s, especially from former socialists in eastern and western Europe, with major contributions also from the United States and Latin America. The movement quickly jelled as social activism and political rhetoric in many nations put it high on the world agenda. By the 21st century, Moyn has argued, the human rights movement expanded beyond its original anti-totalitarianism to include numerous causes involving humanitarianism and social and economic development in the Third World.
Medieval charters of liberty such as the English Magna Carta were not charters of human rights, let alone general charters of rights: they instead constituted a form of limited political and legal agreement to address specific political circumstances, in the case of Magna Carta later being mythologized in the course of early modern debates about rights.

The basis of most modern legal interpretations of human rights can be traced back to recent European history. The Twelve Articles (1525) are considered to be the first record of human rights in Europe.
Aristotelian view of humanity as divided into classes of different worth, while Las Casas argued in favor of equal rights to freedom of slavery for all humans regardless of race or religion. In Britain in 1683, the English Bill of Rights (or "An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown") and the Scottish Claim of Right each made illegal a range of oppressive governmental actions. Two major revolutions occurred during the 18th century, in the United States (1776) and in France (1789), leading to the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen respectively, both of which established certain legal rights. Additionally, the Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776 encoded into law a number of fundamental civil rights and civil freedoms.
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen approved by the National Assembly of France, August 26, 1789.
“ We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ”
—United States Declaration of Independence, 1776
These were followed by developments in philosophy of human rights by philosophers such as Thomas Paine, John Stuart Mill and G.W.F. Hegel during the 18th and 19th centuries. The term human rights probably came into use sometime between Paine's The Rights of Man and William Lloyd Garrison's 1831 writings in The Liberator, in which he stated that he was trying to enlist his readers in "the great cause of human rights"

One of the oldest Western philosophies on human rights is that they are a product of a natural law, stemming from different philosophical or religious grounds. Other theories hold that human rights codify moral behavior which is a human social product developed by a process of biological and social evolution (associated with Hume). Human rights are also described as a sociological pattern of rule setting (as in the sociological theory of law and the work of Weber). These approaches include the notion that individuals in a society accept rules from legitimate authority in exchange for security and economic advantage (as in Rawls) – a social contract
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, partly in response to the atrocities of World War II. Although the UDHR was a non-binding resolution, it is now considered by some to have acquired the force of international customary law which may be invoked in appropriate circumstances by national and other judiciaries. The UDHR urges member nations to promote a number of human, civil, economic and social rights, asserting these rights as part of the "foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world." The declaration was the first international legal effort to limit the behavior of states and press upon them duties to their citizens following the model of the rights-duty duality.
“ ...recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world ”
—Preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948

The situation of human rights in India is a complex one, as a result of the country's large size and tremendous diversity, its status as a developing country and a sovereign, secular, democratic republic, and its history as a former colonial territory. The Constitution of India provides for Fundamental rights, which include freedom of religion. Clauses also provide for Freedom of Speech, as well as separation of executive and judiciary and freedom of movement within the country and abroad.

According to the estimates of Reporters Without Borders, India ranks 105th worldwide in press freedom index (press freedom index for India is 29.33 for 2009). The Indian Constitution, while not mentioning the word "press", provides for "the right to freedom of speech and expression" (Article 19(1) a). However this right is subject to restrictions under subclause (2), whereby this freedom can be restricted for reasons of "sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, preserving decency, preserving morality, in relation to contempt of court, defamation, or incitement to an offence". Laws such as the Official Secrets Act and Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) have been used to limit press freedom. Under POTA, person could be detained for up to six months before the police were required to bring charges on allegations for terrorism-related offenses. POTA was repealed in 2004, but was replaced by amendments to UAPA. The Official Secrets Act 1923 remains in effect.
For the first half-century of independence, media control by the state was the major constraint on press freedom. Indira Gandhi famously stated in 1975 that All India Radio is "a Government organ, it is going to remain a Government organ..." With the liberalization starting in the 1990s, private control of media has burgeoned, leading to increasing independence and greater scrutiny of government. Organizations like Tehelka and NDTV have been particularly influential, e.g. in bringing about the resignation of powerful Haryana minister Venod Sharma. In addition, laws like Prasar Bharati act passed in recent years contribute significantly to reducing the control of the press by the government
Despite an overarching commitment to respecting citizens' freedom to express their views, peacefully protest, and form their own organizations, the Indian government lacks the will and capacity to implement many laws and policies designed to ensure the protection of rights. There is a pattern of denial of justice and impunity, whether it is in cases of human rights violations by security forces, or the failure to protect women, children, and marginalized groups such Dalits, tribal groups, and religious minorities. The failure to properly investigate and prosecute those responsible leads to continuing abuses.
Protests in Jammu and Kashmir
While the level of violence has decreased, failure to investigate human rights violations transparently and prosecute those responsible remains a strong reason for public anger. Kashmiris believe that many of the thousands "disappeared" over the last two decades were dumped into unmarked graves. The government has ignored calls for an independent investigation by human rights groups to determine the fate of the victims.
Widespread protests erupted in Jammu and Kashmir after a state government decision in May 2008 to transfer forest land to a Hindu trust to build temporary shelters during an annual Hindu pilgrimage called "Amarnath Yatra." Several people were killed and many injured in the protests, and the issue fueled religious tension. Security forces used tear gas and opened fire using live ammunition as well as rubber bullets to control protesters who set fires, damaged government property, hurled stones, and in some cases attacked policemen.
Separatist groups announced a boycott of state assembly elections in late 2008 and called for demonstrations.
Naxalite Conflict
Maoist armed groups, also called Naxalites, continue to carry out bombings, abductions, beatings, and killings in several Indian states including Chhattisgarh. Security forces have responded with arbitrary detention, torture, and extrajudicial killings of suspected Naxalites or their alleged supporters.
The Naxalites claim to be fighting for the rights of the marginalized tribal groups, Dalits, and the poor, but have been responsible for forced recruitment and severe punishment of those who refuse to submit to demands for cash, shelter, and protection.
In Chhattisgarh, government security forces and state-government-backed vigilantes called the Salwa Judum are responsible for attacking, killing, and forcibly displacing tens of thousands of people in armed operations against Maoist rebels. The Naxalite rebels retaliate in a brutal manner, abducting, assaulting, and killing civilians perceived to be Salwa Judum supporters. The government has chosen to view those who do not join the Salwa Judum as Naxalite supporters.
All parties to the Chhattisgarh conflict have used children in armed operations. The Naxalites admit that it is standard practice to recruit children age 16 and above in their forces; they have used children as young as 12 in some armed operations. The Salwa Judum have included children in their violent attacks against villages as part of their anti-Naxalite campaign. The Chhattisgarh state police admit that in the past they recruited children under age 18 as special police officers, but claim they did so due to the absence of age documentation and that all children have now been removed from the ranks. Human Rights Watch investigators in Chhattisgarh found that underage special police officers continue to serve with the police and are used in counter-Naxalite combing operations.
Impunity
While law enforcement is needed to end the violence perpetrated by militants, India continues to provide extraordinary powers to its troops and grants them immunity from prosecution when they abuse those powers and commit human rights violations.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was enacted on August 18, 1958, as a short-term measure to allow deployment of the army in the northeast. The law has remained in force in various parts of the country for five decades. It provides the armed forces with sweeping powers to shoot to kill, arrest, and search in violation of international human rights law. The law has led to widespread human rights abuses and protects troops from prosecution for such crimes.

Significance of Communication in human life

A human being starts communicating as soon as he starts producing his first noise in the act of drawing his parents’ attention. Every emotion that we portray on our faces, the movement of our hands, the way we look at someone and our speech instantly communicates our ideas to others. Communication is highly necessary for our society, as it is only through exchange of ideas and co-operation that a society can grow and develop. Effective communication is essential to learn, to teach, to make relationships and to maintain them. In the modern world, the importance of communication has surpassed all previously slated levels. Interestingly, the means of communication has outnumbered the means of food production in the world today. The communicative technologies in the world have been increasing not only in number, but also in speed, accuracy and clarity. Let us take a closer look and perform an in-depth analysis of importance of communication in the modern world.

For Transfer of Ideas
Every human being has some ideas that are unique to his own mind. Many of these ideas can be implemented in real life and can turn into major creations too. But to make the transition from just a thought to an implementation, it requires effectual communication.

For Interacting With Society
Whenever we talk to someone, we, unknowingly or unknowingly, react to his/her questions, actions or comments. This is communication. While corresponding to someone in any way, we are actually communicating. Healthy communication is essential for a healthy society.

For Education
Education involves a collection of all kinds of communication i.e., audio, video, books and lectures. However, herein the deal is not just to communicate, but to communicate effectively. Inefficient communication can lead to transfer of ambiguous knowledge.

To Update Oneself
In the modern world, nothing is more important than staying up-to-date. Only through proper channels of communication can people be updated with current affairs and important events across the globe. Communication is the actual transfer of information through various mediums in such a way that it caters to the needs of people from different strata of life.

For Entertainment
Entertainment, today, is mostly based on the channels of mass communication, like films and television.
Internet is another common platform for entertainment, which again is a mode of communication. In short, we can safely conclude that communication and entertainment are entwined in today’s world.

To Understand the World
People are just a fragment amongst these things. Did you know that other elements of the world also communicate to us, but in their own ways? We need to interact with the environment in order to understand life. People who do not communicate tend to get isolated, which thereby leads to many problems.

Role of Journalism as The Fourth Estate of Democracy

Of the people, by the people, for the people is what we understand by democracy which leads us to understand the three pillars of it, namely legislative, executive and judiciary which in a layman’s language is lawmaking, law abiding and supervision respectively. In addition to this we have the fourth estate of democracy which is media, the informative one. Journalism as we know is about collecting, selecting information, writing, editing, photographing, broadcasting/publishing and owning a news organization. And therefore a journalist is known as the watchdog of the society.
Peeping back into history we see that journalism started way back in Rome where the printed papers were posted on the amphitheatre to inform the public. But it was Thomas Carlyle a Scottish satirical writer in the 17th century who initiated the phrase “The Fourth Estate” to journalism and further the coinage of this phrase was done by an Irish statesman Edmund Burke from the House of Commons in Britain in 1787.
We see that media is a very powerful pillar of our country, as it was only because of the power that Indira Gandhi had to censor media during the emergency in 1975. This proved that “pen is mightier than the sword”, and this is all what is journalism about. The function of media is not only to entertain but also to inform and educate. Journalism as a watchdog of the society tries to set an agenda for the public which can shake the grounds of the policy makers and can bring a tsunami in calm water. It has to its shoulders three responsibilities which are social, legal and professional and so it caters to all. Thus we can say that media is all powerful and can shake the base of the other three pillars.

marriages

I am an Indian and when we look into the Indian culture and tradition, its mostly arranged marriage that happens, but now things are changing, old customs are just remaining customs. In arranged marriages, usually the parents or some elderly person comes up with a proposal for marriage and then they go through the horoscopes, educational qualifications, physical, chemistry, biology, family backgrounds / history and all kinds of stuffs and then finally the acceptance from the boy and the girl. Acceptance from girl side was not of high priority in most cases earlier, but now things have started changing. Some are really forced to get married according to the wish of their parents or elders. In fact they have to sacrifice their life for the sake of keeping their parents happy.

In love marriage, when a boy fall in love with a girl who matches his likes or a girl likes a boy and they becomes friend. The friendship may grow more closer and at one stage if they feel comfortable with each other, they may decide to become life partners. In most of the cases, all these happens without the knowledge of their parents. When the stage comes to get married or if a the girl or the boy is forced to get married to another person, these things come out. Some parents may take it positively and may agree to go ahead with the proposal have will end up with a ceremonial wedding. But in most of the cases, they lose the support from their parents and with the help of their friends, they are forced to go for a registered wedding and end up separating from their family.

Advantages of arranged marriage.

Its not always that arranged marriages are successful or love marriage are successful. We see that most of the arranged marriage are successful for some reasons. When its an arrange marriage, the parents do support the relationship and they try their best to keep the relationship live as it is their responsibility too. Arranged marriages are good, if you believe in astrology and horoscope. I have seen that some really grow good, life changes after getting married and some vise verse. In arranged marriage, the boy and girl will be from the same religion and caste, so they have the life style, food and culture. In arranged marriages, the girl is more protected as the parents care for a girl who married according to their wish.

Disadvantages of Arranged Marriages

All of a sudden you start your life with a person with you have hardly spend any time. You don’t know the person or you may even not like the person if you have go married because your parents and elders decided your marriage. Most of the cases the girl is forced to sacrifice their likes and adjust to the reality. Some may just live their life it goes believing its their fate and their parents are happy, but some break up. Some start their love life after the wedding and really enjoy and are happy.

Advantages of Love Marriage

Love marriage is a legal right for two individuals who care and love for each other to live together and go ahead with their life. In love marriage, you know each other well, you are not going to be with any stranger or you may not have much problems if you know about the person well before you decide to spend your life together. A love marriage can become un-successful, if you had a very short time time know each other and just decided to get married. If you are knowing each other well and you are sure that you can get along with each other without any problems then you can decide to get married. In short the advantage of going for a love marriage is that you are going to live your life with a person who you know well and you are sure that you can get along well.

Its not easy to go for a love marriage. You need to first fall in love with someone and that person should like you as well. It takes time to know each other and both of you should feel comfortable with each other. Decide to get married to a person who loves you more than you love that person. In many cases I have seen that one person is badly in love with the other person, but not vise versa. Never force somebody to love you and get married, you should give sufficient time to the other person whom you love to know you more and you should take sufficient time to learn your partner well before you both come to a decision to live together.

In my opinion, nobody can be sure that he or she will fall in love with a person and even if he or she falls in love with somebody, that person will fall in love in return. If you don’t fall in love or not get a right person, then you can think of arranged marriages. Even in arranged marriages you can know the person well before you decide to get married. You should make sure that your proposed partner likes you as well and is not agreeing for the wedding because of any pressure from her / his parents or any other reasons.

Book Review: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen..

Elizabeth Bennet and her sister Jane are the oldest of five daughters living in the countryside of England. Their flighty mother dreams of getting her daughters married off. When Mr. Bingley rents a home in their neighborhood, Mrs. Bennet immediately dreams of his falling in love with her eldest, Jane. The family does not count on Mr. Bingley's friend, Mr. Darcy. Darcy is more aloof and is rude to the Bennets at the ball where they meet. Elizabeth is immediately put off.

Jane falls in love with Mr. Bingley who seems to fall in love with her, as well. When he returns to London to take care of business, Darcy and his sisters prevent his return to the countryside of the Bennet's home. Jane is distressed, Elizabeth is infuriated.

Meanwhile, Mr. Collins has visited the Bennet's home and proposed to his cousin, Elizabeth. She refuses him and he marries her friend instead. She is able to visit her friend and cousin at their new home; she once again meets Mr. Darcy and is able to give him her opinion.

This is a classic romance, with all the misunderstandings that characterize a romance with its twists. Since the novel is 200 years old Elizabeth seems unreal today at times in the novel. During Austen's era women's choices were limited, especially to women in the Bennet's genteel class. Elizabeth is very opinionated and would have made well of herself no matter what station she finally had chosen.

At times the language seems wordy and hard to follow. Yet stick with it. It's not modern brief language. It reflects the language and pace of the era. Pride and Prejudice stands all tests of time. Enjoy!

at tymz i feel detached.....

Ever since I was young I have felt like I was on the outside looking in, most of the time.

I used to try and be a part of it all. Sometimes too hard. But never quite made it.

I have a habit of "putting things in a box". Especially my emotions...figured they were mine and I didn't have to share them with everyone. That kept me safe and at a distance.

So while I was trying to fit in...I was also distancing myself at the same time.

(Ain't the teen years just grand?)

But here I am years and years later. The skills I have developed have served me well in many ways. Especially in crisis... I can function, do what needs to be done, etc. People think I'm cold, or just don't care. (sometimes I really am not affected by what is happening but feel horrible for whoever is having to deal with things...so I step up and help).

Other times I watch a drama unfold and truly, truly don't feel a thing. (and that can be a gift).

But there are days I wish...I wish I was a part of the whole.

I was getting there... but now have gone back quite a ways into old habits. Survival techniques asserting themselves I guess. Insulation from the cold world.

Why do we celebrate Valentine's Day?
We celebrate Valentine's Day, because until 1969, it was one of the many Saint's Days observed by the Catholic Church. It was dedicated to the patron saint of romantic causes, St. Valentine.
Although it was removed from the Church's calendar in 1969, the religious meaning coupled with Valentine's Day's roots in Roman paganism have allowed it to continue as a holiday for everyone.
Early Christians saw Valentine's Day as a way to honor St. Valentine, of whom there were actually three. The Catholic Church recognizes three saints by that name, all who were martyred on February 14.
The St. Valentine the day is named for was, most likely, a priest in the 3rd century who performed secret marriages when the Roman Emperor Claudius II thought single soldiers were more likely to enlist in the army. That St. Valentine was imprisoned and executed on February 4, 270. It is believed he was responsible for giving the jailer's blind daughter back her eyesight, and before his execution, he sent herss a note saying, "From your Valentine." The phrase is still widely used on valentines today.
It wasn't until 1537 that St. Valentine's day was declared an official holiday. England's King Henry VIII, known for his ways of disposing of wives, declared February 14th a holiday. It was another century and a half before religious devotional cards became non-religious cards to reflect the change in the holiday.
In 496 A.D., February 14, was declared in the name of St. Valentine by Pope Gelasius. It remained a Church holiday until 1969, when Pope Paul VI took it from the calender.
On February 14, the ancient Romans celebrated the Feast of Lupercalia in honor of Juno, the queen of the Roman gods and goddesses. Juno was also the goddess of womesn and marriage so honoring her was thought to be a fertility rite.
At the feast held the next day, the women would write love letters and stick them in a large urn. The men would pick a letter from the urn and for the next year, pursue the woman who wrote the chosen letter. This custom lasted until the 1700s when people decided their beloveds should be chosen by sight, not luck.