The Constitution is the founding document of modern nation-states. The document, which is supposed to be religiously neutral, is quickly inheriting every character of religion. In India, its adherents are getting radical for its acceptability. Insult to injury is that the noble concept of human rights is being used to justify the post modernisation of our legal system.
Magna Carta and its legitimacy in the western world
The concept of human rights in India is Sanatan, which means timeless. Yet, somehow, the noble idea suffered several setbacks during the medieval ages. It was the time when a savage section of Abrahamic religions invaded India. On one hand, they were busy causing mayhem in India, while on the other, inside their own territory, an introduction of civilizational ethos was getting documented.
That is how “Magna Carta” made its foray into British politics in 1215. It was the last attempt by King John to protect his throne from the onslaught of people’s anger. The right to own property, the right to protect oneself from irrational taxation, women’s rights, and equality before the law in Brits’ territory can be directly traced back to Magna Carta. The codification gained prominence when the American Constitution makers chose it as the basis of civil rights in 1786.
Later, western philosophers during the Renaissance solidified the concept by adding ideas like natural rights and the social contract, among others. Natural rights paved the way for the introduction of fundamental rights. While Europeans were slowly getting civilised, their karmic imbalance was being maintained by atrocities they were committing in India and other countries.
Introduction of Fundamental Rights in India
Talking specifically about India, our freedom fighters wanted inhuman state-sponsored killings to end. Initially, they contested individual British acts to give some dignity to Indians living under the British Raj. It did not yield the desired results.
So, a wholesome effort was put into the Nehru Report of 1928 to give fundamental rights to Indian subjects. A total of 19 rights were demanded from the British. These rights were inspired by the American Bill of Rights, which, needless to say, were inspired by Magna Carta.
Obviously, Britishers were not ready to free Indians from their clutches, so the fights continued. The concept got some coverage during Round Table conferences as well, but it remained mainly a sideshow. Later, India signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Also read: The farce that is the UN Human Rights Council
India has done well in protecting the rights of its citizens
In line with the UDHR, the Indian Constitution makers introduced the concept of “fundamental rights.” These rights are fundamental to human existence, and post-independence India, being a welfare state, had to adhere to them.
Interestingly, almost every provision of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights was incorporated into the Indian Constitution. 10 of these fundamental rights find mention in the Nehru Report of 1928 as well. A lot of other noble causes are listed in the Directive Principles of State Policy.
PC: ipleaders
After the Constitution was ratified, the onus of protecting fundamental rights was taken on by the Court of Records. Various Supreme Court judgments provided a bulwark to common citizens against the excesses of state intervention in their daily lives.
Also read: Oh, how the tables turned! The US stops playing the ‘Human Rights’ flute
In other words, the very fact that a lot of us can stroll late at night on empty roads is directly attributable to the concept of human rights. On their part, governments also did the job by signing the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Fundamental rights and their interpretation have brought laurels to the Indian legal system all across the world. In the next article, we will take a look at some of those landmark cases.
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