EDITORIAL
Spare them
Some times it is good to
spare the political class. It is very easy to blame it
for all the ills of society, be it corruption or lack of
discipline in life. Charges levelled at its door may not
be entirely unfounded. Yet, there are occasions when
politicians especially those in power deserve compassion.
One finds it quite unreasonable, for instance, that they
should draw fire for visiting earthquake-affected Poonch
and Uri. It is said that their visits result in avoidable
disorder. They thus cause delay in providing relief to
sufferers. The unkindest cut is that they undertake such
trips to score a political hit. What is indeed ironical
is that they come in for worse criticism if they don't
leave their official residences to be with the masses in
distress. They are accused of ignoring the ordinary
citizens and enjoying themselves in the comfort of their
well-furnished houses. Either way they are in trouble.
Evidently this happens because political leaders figure
low in public esteem. This perception is based on their
inability to provide a dispensation free from fear and
frauds. Actually quite a few of them form the backbone of
one financial scam after the other. Who can deny that at
least some members of their ilk revel in bullying tactics
in their respective constituencies? Many of them have
become ministers as well particularly in the country's
most populous State of Uttar Pradesh. They dictate terms
on the strength of their gun and use the façade provided
by their positions to further their personal interests.
Perhaps they would have run away with the system itself
but for a vigilant judiciary and responsible sections of
media. Firepower, casteism, communalism, nepotism and
favouritism all have genesis in their activities. They
have made democracy a game of dynastic succession much in
the manner of monarchs of the past. Their affluence shows
as it is in sharp contrast to the penury in which they
have lived before kicking off their career in politics.
These brickbats, however, seem irrelevant when one
realises that they simple can't be wished away in a
democracy which despite its pitfalls is the best system
of governance. As a scheme of government by the people,
of the people and for the people it is open to all to try
their luck. It is just our misfortune that good men are
not coming forward sufficiently in large numbers or are
marginalised in the prevailing environment within a few
years of joining politics. They find it too much to
compromise their principles and conscience at almost
every step. Although slowly they learn that politics is
more than just a game of battle of wits or varied
philosophies. Seldom have they got a chance to control
the levers of power. More often they prefer to opt out.
Nevertheless it is for the
sake of this minority that we should resist the
temptation of painting every politician with the same
black brush. By all means it is their job to go to the
areas in the grip of the nature's fury or violence
inflicted by man against man. They are required to
provide balm to the people. If in the process they make a
political point they can't be grudged this opportunity.
Not very long Indira Gandhi had managed to ride back to
power via Belchi and Narainpur, among other routes. Only
recently political parties and leaders of all hues have
tried to fish in the troubled communal waters of Gujarat
for their own ends. It is part of the game at this
moment. Let them play it to their hearts' content. For
our part we must hope that more genuine players will take
the field for the sake of our collective better and
brighter future. Another alternative is that we aim to
get the rulers we deserve.
Will
Mafia don be hanged?
Tanveer
Jafri
This can be
considered first great success of
independent India, especially
Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) that it has succeeded in
extradition of an international
mafia don Abu Salem from
Portugal. Abu Salem, a well known
figure of criminal world was
wanted in India for about 60
serious crimes committed in
India. He was arrested by
Portugal police on September 18,
2002. Since then, government of
India has been trying hard to
bring Abu Salem & both of
them have been brought to India,
but they have been handed over
with two conditions by the
Supreme Court of Portugal. This
handover has opened the door for
a new debate. Portugal government
has taken a written assurance
from the government of India that
both the accused will neither be
hanged nor sentenced for more
than 25 years. It is assumed that
government of Portugal was not
was not agreeing for extradition
without these two conditions so
to be successful in extradition
& to go deep to know about
the crimes of Abu Salem, the
government of India has to agree
to these two conditions of
Supreme Court of Portugal.
In many of the
criminal cases of Abu Salem in
India, decisions are lying
pending, if Abu Salem's hand in
serious crimes are confirmed, it
is being taken for granted that
under such situations Indian
judiciary announces either death
sentence or life imprisonment. It
is the first time that any
hardcore criminal has been
extradited to India from any
other country with its own
conditions. It is a matter to be
debated if Indian judiciary is
compelled to abide by the
conditions of Portugal regarding
Abu Salem. Should Indian
government or CBI agree to the
conditions put by the Portugal
for extradition of Abu Salem?
Here arises a crucial question if
CBI can take any decision
regarding the forthcoming
judgment of Indian judiciary or
has right to make any commitment
in this regard. Home ministry is
very careful in dealing with this
sensitive matter. Home ministry
has said that it has well
informed the judiciary & now
court well understands the
circumstances. It is obvious that
this statement of the Home
minister's office clarifies that
it doesn't want to interfere with
the work of judiciary. On 11th
November when Abu Salem was
brought before TADA court in
Mumbai & C.B.I. lawyer
demanded remand for Abu Salem,
the court was informed about the
conditions of the government of
Portugal. At that time court
raised an objection that C.B.I.
cannot produce the accused with
conditions. Then directions of
the honorary court were readily
accepted but later on C.B.I.
deposited all the important
papers regarding extradition with
court.
Abu Salem is known
to have committed about 60
crimes. Most of these were
involvement in murders,
kidnapping to get ransom, attempt
to murder, illegal transfer of
money & match fixing but two
crimes are very serious &
that hurt the national security
& national solidarity. Abu
Salem is a main accused of
planning a serious &
dangerous plot in the company of
Dawood Ibrahim & made serial
bomb blasts in Mumbai which
resulted in the death of 257
innocent persons. This was said
to be shown a reaction &
revenge of right powers action of
demolition of Babri Masjid on 6th
December 1992. Is it right to
take revenge of a misdeed by a
misdeed? None of the 257 dead in
Mumbai bomb blasts was involved
in the demolition of Babri Masjid
incident. The incident of 6th
December was strongly condemned
by the Hindu society. It can be
said that condemnation by the
Hindus was ever stronger than
that of the Muslims. When it is
so, who authorized Abu Salem or
Dawood Ibrahim to kill hundreds
of innocent Indians just for
revenge of 6th December incident?
It was not only a massacre but a
conspiracy hatched in a planned
way just to invoke religious
rights also. Obviously if these
allegations are proved in the
court, the seriousness of the
crimes deserves not less than
death sentence.
Another serious
allegation against Abu Salem was
murder of cassette king &
owner of T-Series cassette
company Gulshan Kumar on 12th
August 1997. Gulshan Kumar had
been one of the highest income
taxpayer that time. He was one of
the vast respected citizens of
India. Being a successful
cassette manufacturer, he had
made a remarkable place in the
heart of lacks of religious
minded Hindus as his cassettes
bare the trademark "Jai Mata
Di" & these were full of
adoration & devotion of a
Hindu goddess Vaishno Mata. He
won great popularity among the
Hindus because of constant &
continuous free food ( akhand
bhandara) that was served at
Katra which is a gateway of
Vaishno Devi shrine. His
cassettes were mostly hymnal in
the praise of Mata Vaishno Devi
"a goddess". At the
time of death, Gulshan Kumar,
name of Abu Salem was in the list
of suspected killers & that
invoked a threat to communal
harmony in the country. Has it
been proved that Abu Salem was
involved in the murder, then
there had been no way out but to
pronounce death sentence for him.
It's true that
decisions taken by the Indian
judiciary are mostly based on
statements of evidences produced
by witnesses. Most of the crimes
committed by Abu Salem are crimes
that were committed about a
decade ago. It's obvious that
some of the eyewitnesses of
crimes must have died. Some
statements of witnesses will not
stand good on the present
measuring rods because of lapse
of the time.
Some witnesses will
try to deny their statements
because of the fear of high &
supreme degree criminal status of
Abu Salem. Probably same may
happen in the case of evidences.
In spite of the conditions put by
government of Portugal i.e. death
sentence, life imprisonment &
circumstances prevailing for lack
of evidences & witnesses,
will Indian judiciary pondering
over the gravity of the crime by
able to announce the hard
sentence as it will feel for him?
On the whole the
public of the country will
eagerly wait for the decision of
the court regarding Abu Salem's
case. Coming time will show his
savior, if it is lack of
evidence, denial of witnesses or
C.B.I.'s promise to government of
Portugal for extradition or none
of these. Whatever it may be, at
present it is good symbol that
Central Bureau of Investigation
has succeeded in extradition of a
hardcore criminal as Abu Salem to
India. Undoubtedly this
extradition will be helpful in
solving many unsolved cases of
criminals in future.
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An
Introduction to Archives
By
Kirpal Singh
If the
average man on the street were asked why
Governments establish archival
institutions, he would probably ask,
''What are archives and what are archival
institutions ? If then, the purpose of an
archival institution is explained to him,
he would probably dismiss the matter with
the comment that the whole thing is just
another example of Government
extravagance. As per the archives
themselves his final question would more
than likely be, ''Why not burn the stuff.
With this
popular attitude towards archival work
common in all countries it is remarkable
that any archival institution have been
established with public funds. There
must, therefore, have been other reasons
than popular demand for their
establishment.
Archival
institutions probably had their origin in
the ancient Greek civilization. In the
5th and 4th century BC the Athenians kept
their valuable documents in the temple of
the Mother of Gods, that is the Metroon
next to the court house, in the public
square in Athens. The temple contained
treaties, laws, minutes of the popular
assembly and other state documents. Among
the documents were the statements Socrate
wrote in his own defense, the manuscripts
of model plays be Aeschylus, Sophocles
and Euripides and the lists of the
victors in the Olympic games.
Now apart
from paper records, Archives institution
also has in its custody special types of
Archives viz Manuscripts on Paper.
Birch-Bark, Palm-leaf, Parchment, Copper
plates, Seals, Iconographic records,
Photographs, Pictures, Drawings etc.
Newspapers, Sound, Recordings, Films,
Video Tapes and to name the latest the
Oral Archives i.e recording for posterity
the voices of stalwarts. Laws have been
enacted world over including India for
consultation of Archives by the Research
Scholars.
The
National Archives of India (NAI) is the
largest and most well equipped records
repository not only in India but also in
whole of Asia. NAI was formally knows as
Imperial Records Department, came into
existence in 1891, as a result of the
Government of India's bid to find an
adequate and permanent solution to the
storage and preservation of their ever
increasing bulk of records. J&K State
has fairly well organized Archives which
was set up in Jammu in 1930 AD. When K M
Panikar who was interested in writing the
Biography of founder of J&K State
Maharaja Gulab Singh was asked by the his
Highness Government to organize a Record
Office during 1928. Later on Archives
Repositories were also set up at Kashmir
(1954) and Ladakh (1962).
The old,
pale looking building of State Archives
at Old Secretariat, Jammu is one of those
familiar land marks of ancient
architecture which make part of Mubarak
Mandi Complex which people take
for-granted and do not feel particularly
curious about. Yet the records of the
Government of Jammu and Kashmir and their
predecessor the Dogra Rulers stored in
this somewhat stolid-looking building are
of much greater importance to the casual
passer-by then he would perhaps imagine.
For these
records are essential to the smooth
working of the administration in the same
way as memory is essential to a man's
day-to-day life. State Archives in
J&K also own very fine Libraries on
modern Indian History and ancillary
subjects. Researches from all over
State/Country and often from foreign
countries come to our Archives to study
records.
I propose
to explain in this articles the two terms
records and archives, those tangible or
intangible qualities which give records
or archival quality to certain documents
and not to others though they may be very
similar in form and content, and the
extent to which archival material differs
from library or other reference material,
manuscript or otherwise.
First, the
word Record. This comes from a Latin word
recordari meaning to be mindful of. This
again originates from the Latin cor
(=heart), the only relationship between
''heart'' and 'being mindful of' being
that at one time the heart was believed
to be the seat of one's memory, hence the
expression 'to learn by heart; The Oxford
English Dictionary gives a number of
definition of records, all of which
emphasize that a record is something
committed to writing in order to preserve
the memory of a fact or event. Only such
documents, which satisfy the conditions
and are furthermore preserved or are
appropriate for preservation by the
creating agency (or its legitimate
successor) are deemed to be records
proper. Their claim to be preserved, of
course, depends on their utility, for no
one in his senses is going to clutter-up
valuable space with documents, which have
no value. This utility has been termed by
many as 'retention value', which seems to
be good descriptive term.
To sum up
records are the books, papers, maps,
photographs or other documentary
materials, regardless of physical form of
characteristics, made or received by a
Government agency, institution or
organization, family or individual, in
pursuance of law or in connection with
the transaction of its business and
preserved or appropriate for preservation
by that Government agency, institution,
organization, family or individual or its
legitimate successors.
Our second
term is Archives. This word is derived
from the Greek archeion meaning that
which belongs to an office. This again
has its origin in the word arche, which
has a number of meanings and,
consequently a number of derivatives with
different connotations. Arche means : (1)
beginning, origin, first cause, (2) first
place, power, sovereignty, empire, realm;
and (3) magistracy, office. From the
first of these sets is derived the Greek
archaios meaning old, ancient, etc and
from this we have such derivatives as
archaic, archaeology. From the second set
is derived architekton (chief builder)
from which we get architect, archbishop,
etc from the third set is derived the
word archeion which, in tune, gives birth
to archives. The word has had an
interesting evolution. From the Greek was
derived the Latin archivium from which
was coined the French word I' archive
(feminine, singular) and later the
collective les archives. From the French
came the English archives in the
collective sense. Now even in English
different uses are made of the word. For
instance, Sir Hilary Jenkinson, Deputy
Keeper of the Records of England, uses
the singular form to mean a single
document. Dr Roscoe Hill of the United
States has suggested a whole series of
terminology originating from archives,
e.g archive= a depository, archives= the
records in an archive, archivalize = to
consign a record to an archive,
archivology= this science of the
administration of archives, and so on.
Whichever of these terms one may find
acceptable in whatever form, generally
speaking in the English language the term
archives signifies at least three
distinct things the records themselves,
the building which houses the records,
and the administrative set up responsible
for the maintenance of the records and
servicing them. For instance, in Jammu by
''archives'' would be understood any of
the three things: (1) The pale looking
building in the old Secretariat Mubarak
Mandi which houses the records of the
Government of J&K. (2) The records
inside this building; and (3) the office
of the Head of Archives of the Government
of J&K.
Why
Preserve Archives
Whenever
we keep something, we do so because we
attach some value to it. This value can
be assessed in terms of future use, some
advantage to be derived at a future date.
The thing preserved may be intrinsically
worth a good deal of money later on; it
may afford protection to one's life,
property or reputation; it may facilitate
the later execution of some plan; the
owner may derive just an emotional
pleasure in the mere thought of
possessing it. With these future uses in
mind we spend time and money over the
continued preservation of those objects,
and the greater the value attached to the
object, the greater should normally be
the thought and care bestowed on the
problem of its preservation.
What is
obvious is that Archives are source
materials of history. Government's
records are as much sources of history as
any other records, but they are not the
only sources nor do they contain a
complete account of the course of the
nation's history. They are limited to the
extent to which Government's activities
form part of the totality of the nation's
activities as a whole. Only if one could
get together all records, of Government,
semi-governmental institutions, private
bodies and individuals, of a particular
country for a particular period, one
would have practically the complete
source materials for the history of that
country for that period. Thus, although
Government records are not created
specifically to provide material for
historical research, by their very nature
they become one of the most valuable
tools for that purpose, a fact that is
usually borne in mind by an intelligent
and progressive administration.
To sum up
in the words of Philip C Brooks, another
contemporary administrator and specialist
in records management ''Records are the
means by which public officials in a
democracy are accountable to the peoples.
They are tools of administration, the
memory of an organization, the embodiment
of experience, protectors of legal rights
and source of many kinds of
information.''
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20
years of SAARC's failures
BY SAMUEL BAID
Compared to the
12th summit meeting of the Heads of State and
Government of the South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (SAARC) in Islamabad last
year, the 13th one held in Dhaka (November 12 and
13) was not much of an event except its decision
to expand the Association by admitting
Afghanistan into it and consider the requests of
China and Japan to become observers. This
decision will be known as a milestone in the
20-year history of the SAARC. It will involve
amending the SAARC charter and changing its logo.
The January 2004
SAARC summit in Islamabad had taken place after a
two-and-a-half year gap thanks to the
India-Pakistan stand off. The summit became
possible only when India’s then Prime
Minister Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee agreed to
travel to Islamabad. That electrified the
preparations for the summit. Pakistan wanted the
Islamabad summit to be a great success. In
preparation for the summit, Pakistan’s then
Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali
unilaterally announced ceasefire in Kashmir. It
came into effect on November 25, 2003. General
Pervez Musharraf’s unexpected statement on
December 18 that Pakistan was willing to drop its
insistence on the implementation of the Security
Council’s resolution on Kashmir if India,
too, showed flexibility in its stand on Kashmir,
was certainly aimed at creating a congenial
environment before the summit. While Mr.Jamali
was not given to harping on Kashmir, General
Musharraf displayed great restraint. His promise
to Mr.Vajpayee on the sidelines of the summit
that the soil of Pakistan and territories under
its control would not be allowed to be used for
terrorist activities against India left no Indian
in doubt that a new happy chapter had started in
India-Pakistan relations.
The success of the
Islamabad summit was not so much in its
declaration and commitments as in its ability to
bring India and Pakistan closer. Mr.Vajpayee and
General Musharraf agreed to start a composite
dialogue between their countries. In this
atmosphere of bonhomie between India and
Pakistan, the SAARC summit could easily include
Free Trade Agreement in the Islamabad Declaration
though Pakistan had shown its reservations about
it in 2001. Also, although there was no consensus
on the definition of terrorism, the Declaration
re-committed all members to fighting this menace.
And that was all.
When it came to giving a practical shape to the
Islamabad commitments of the SAARC countries, the
results were disappointing. In the 22 months
following the Islamabad summit, there was not
evident forward movement towards the goal of free
trade although the seven countries are committed
to implementing the Free Trade Agreement by
January 1, 2006. In 2001, Pakistan had rejected
the idea of free trade but it changed its
opposition in 2004 while hosting the 12th summit.
The hitch is Pakistan’s hesitation to come
close to India to the extent of free trade for
ideological or whatever reasons. The Shimla
Agreement had envisaged private trade between the
two countries but General Zia-ul-Haq stopped it
under the pressure of fundamentalists who claimed
it militated against Pakistan’s ideology.
General Musharraf’s Government does not take
the support of this ideology openly to reject
free trade with India, it uses Kashmir as a
spanner instead.
It must be noted
that in the run-up to the Islamabad summit
General Musharraf and his Ministers chose not to
harp on Kashmir so as to keep the summit
atmosphere cordial. But in the run-up to the
Dhaka summit his Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz
repeatedly harked on Kashmir until the very eve
of the summit. Before emplaning for Dhaka he said
he would discuss Kashmir with SAARC leaders on
the sidelines of the summit. He says India will
not be allowed transit facilities to Afghanistan
through Pakistan unless Kashmir is resolved.
This means to make
SAARC meaningful India and other member countries
will have to first persuade Pakistan not to use
Kashmir for sabotaging the objectives of SAARC.
Pakistan has advocated the case of China to
become an observer, but it must note that India
and China do not allow their border problem to
come in their bilateral economic cooperation. The
SAARC countries cannot realise their vision of
South Asian Economic Union in the coming decade
if they falter in the preliminary steps towards
free trade.
The SAARC members
at the Dhaka summit called for an early and
effective implementation of the Additional
Protocol to the SAARC Convention on Suppression
of Terrorism. Terrorism in SAARC countries needs
most urgent tackling. It looks the incidence in
these countries has grown more vigorously than
before. Pakistan Government says its country is a
victim of terrorism but does not dismantle
terrorist camps. About two weeks before the Dhaka
summit terrorists linked to Pakistan blasted
bombs in New Delhi killing more than 60 persons.
Killing of innocent people in Kashmir continues
by those who got training in camps in Pakistan.
On the eastern flank of India, Bangladesh has
emerged as a new centre of terrorism contributing
to the law and order problem in India’s
North-East. There are reports that Maoists of
Nepal have befriended Naxalites in Bihar. It
thus, appears the whole of South Asia is coming
under the grip of terrorism because either they
get quiet State patronage or the State is not
firm enough. In any case, there is no evidence of
SAARC coordination against the menace.
Afghanistan, which
is going to be the 8th member of the Association,
too is a victim of terrorism. Taliban and
Al-Qaeda used the soil of Pakistan to conduct
terrorist activities in Afghanistan. A very frank
assessment of 20-years of SAARC will be that it
has not taken off because some of its members
wallow in negativism. Before leaving for Dhaka,
Dr.Manmohan Singh had warned of emerging failed
States in India’s neighbourhood. Can failed
States form associations like ASEAN or the
European Union?
Stop
the bleeding
By Fazal Mehmood
While India and
Pakistan are trying to mend fences, and more and
more confidence building measures are being
evolved, insurgents in Kashmir have upped the
ante, with a number of high-profile terror
attacks for the last few days. A former minister
was targeted in Tangmarg, car bombs are being
detonated in Srinagar resulting in loss of
innocent civilian lives. Paramilitary forces are
the primary targets of such terrorist strikes.
As the years pass,
more and more of Kashmir’s are learning to
live with terror, the prospect of sudden intense
pain, the smell of blood and dreadful injury, and
even death for doing nothing more than walking
along a road or going into a shop or office. More
and more of us are coming to terms with the world
we inhabit, where stepping out of our homes means
a heightened tension which doesn’t go till
one is back again.
How many ordinary
folk in Srinagar and, indeed, elsewhere, have
been engaged in their usual day’s work when
their lives have been ended, or they have been
terribly hurt? How many more are going to die or
be maimed? No place and no city is immune. No one
would be surprised if bombs were to explode or
snipers open fire in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata,
Chennai, Hyderabad or Bangalore. The irony is
that we have always accepted terrorism as a part
of the struggle for freedom from British rule.
For example, the Kakori conspiracy case, the
Lahore conspiracy cases and so on. Except that
there was one very major difference between those
terrorists and the ones who are active today.
The terrorists
fighting colonial rule were very clear who their
targets were: British officers and their
subordinates. They never ever killed innocent
civilians, except one or two, mistakenly, and
they openly admitted that they had made a
mistake. They used violence as a means to further
their ultimate objective, the freedom of the
people of India. If they were called terrorists
it was because they spread terror among the
colonial rulers, not because they terrorised the
people. This is not to say that the use of
violence was therefore justified; one is merely
stating facts, not making a moral judgment.
Those using terror
today have a totally different objective. They
seek to envelop people in a miasma of terror, so
that, over time, they will not go about their
daily work in anything like a regular manner,
leading then to a disruption in day-to-day
commerce, trade, business and other activities
which go to make up a functioning society. Today
the targets are not only people who are of
consequence in the state’s power structure;
the targets are ordinary people. Not
accidentally, not as "collateral
damage" but as targets. They assume that
such acts will create edginess and fear; people
will be jumpy, nervous, frightened, abandoning
their daily work at the first rumour of some
terrorist act.
There is one trait
they share with the terrorists operating in
colonial times - the very low value they place on
their own lives. The terrorists in the freedom
struggle considered that their lives were forfeit
when they went out to assassinate a British
official or commit some other act of violence;
today the terrorists are willing to kill
themselves as a part of the act itself, become
suicide bombers. The difference is one of degree,
really. It reinforces a major factor in the
terrorist’s mind-set: his complete devotion
to the cause he has espoused.
In the Thirties
ordinary folk did not fear death and injury;
today they do. They also know that they have to
live in cities inhabited by these killers, who
move among them like cloaked predators. The man
next to you on the street, or in the cinema hall,
may well have determined that you will die with
many others. This is the test that all of us have
to face at some time or the other.
What happened in
London or in New York is truly horrifying; but it
is what many have faced in India repeatedly.
Think of the bombings in Mumbai; the continuous
killings in Jammu and Kashmir; in the villages of
Andhra Pradesh, and in the Northeast. It is no
longer possible to live a life that is
uncomplicated and contented. We will have to
decide how to cope, and it will need some kind of
positive, assertive action from all of us. At the
very least, a determination that we will not let
these killers succeed n their objective, even
though a number of us die in the future, or are
wounded. They have made some assumptions are
radically wrong. The state authorities have to
reorganise and regroup, true; one hopes they
will. But state action by itself is not enough.
We need to ask ourselves, in Srinagar, Kohima and
elsewhere, whether we as a people want to live in
terror, or pay the price needed to expose the
terrorists as the isolated, fanatical and
mentally crippled people they are. INAV
What
basically Child Rights mean ?
By Vivek Raina
All over world
20th November is celebrated as Child Rights Day.
What basically Child Rights mean? The basic
rights like Right To Survival, Right to
Development, Right to Participation and Right to
Protection are very important briefing about the
Child Rights. Will if we speak about partners who
involve in providing basic Rights to children are
basically all individuals who work in different
areas or simply society, family, parents are a
main important source of partners who can help in
providing /facilitating basic rights to children.
One section of
person who are ordinarily not aware of their
rights and do not possess the resources to seek
their enforcement are children. Of course, among
children there are some who because of their
having relatively better placement enjoy the
rights in greater measure as compared to their
less formulate brothers and sisters. The children
of parents who are at the lower income levels and
social status are doubtly disadvantaged. They are
at the receiving end of social injustice, despite
all the guarantees and declarations in law and
policy. What are these law and policies: The
convention on the rights of the child is
guidelines of such law and policy. India is a
signatory to the world summit declaration on
survival, protection and development of children.
The convention on the Rights of the child,
recognizes the exceptional vulnerability of
children and proclaims that childhood is entitled
to special care and assistance (Govt of India
ratified this convention in Nov. 1992). It
obligates the state to respect and ensure that
children get a fair and equitable deal in
society. The convention draws attention to four
sets of civil, political, social, economic and
cultural rights of every child. These include :
The Right of
Survival : It includes the right to highest
attainable standard of health, nutrition and
adequate standard of living. Infant and Child
survival programs would be greatly strengthened
by such rights. But the very success of such
programme create a demand for rights which
provide for more than mere physical survival.
The right to be
Human : Included here are right (related to
basic human material and non material needs)
which ensures not merely survival but survival
with dignity that benefits the human person.
The right to
Human Development and Human Development : The
development of the human person is the essence of
development. If right of the child are to be
taken seriously, they must include rights to
resources allocation for effective programs of
education and cultural development of the child.
It is also imperative that such resource
allocation be accompanied by the creation of
participatory delivery mechanisms and structures
for the effective utilization of such resources
through development processes which are humane
and foster self- reliance, dignity and
participation. The Childs Right to development is
crucial, both to safeguard the right to a future
as well as the rights of future survival. The
right to development includes the right to
education, support for early childhood
development and care, the right to leisure and
recreation and cultural activities.
Right of
Protection :
- It is against
the frustrations, wrath, greed and lust of
adults.
- Of children in
especially difficult circumstances, e.g. street
children or children accompanying mothers to
prison.
-in times of
natural calamities or man made disasters.
- In situations of
war, hostilities, displacement and of refugee
children and
- Of specially
vulnerable children suffering physical mental
disabilities.
The right not
to be protected :
Includes here
would be the right to a living and not be
persecuted for doing so, and rights against
well-meaning but overly paternalistic programs in
which the helping hand stikes-again and again.
Right of
Participation :
It includes
respect for the views of the child, access to
appropriate information. Important here is the
development of political and civil rights
appropriate to the status of a child, a juvenile,
a young adult. All too often, children are denied
the right to participate in decisions which
affect their own future even when they have the
capacity to do so. Law often places too much
reliance on the judgment of parents or other
adults as to what is ''in the best interests of
the Child''. The children because of their
vulnerability, need special care and protection,
and it places special emphasis on the primary
caring and protective responsibility of the
family. It also reaffirms the need for legal and
other protection of the child before and after
birth, the importance of respect for cultural
values of the childs community, and the vital
role of international cooperation in securing
children rights.
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