Meghalaya Human Rights Commission (MHRC) chairman Justice Aftab Hussain Saikia expressed fear that human right in India is in a critical state as ‘a judgement is always judge oriented’. Saikia was speaking during the ‘Awareness Programme on Human Rights’ organized by MHRC at University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya (USTM) in association with the University School of Law and Research recently.
“Even learned people in our country have been seen violating human rights. Therefore, I feel that people should read the Constitution to know our rights and duties. One should make it a point to gift the Constitution to as many people possible, rather than gifting religious books during social occasions”, Saikia, former chief justice of Jammu and Kashmir and Sikkim high courts, said.
According to him, in view of the innumerable cases of human rights violation in India, there is an urgent need for the establishment of Human Rights Courts in every district of every state of the country.
MHRC member PJP Hanaman who was also present during the occasion said that Meghalaya Human Rights Commission was constituted only recently on July 15, 2016 under the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993 which made Meghalaya the third state after Assam and Tripura to have a Human Rights Commission.
Hanaman pointed out five categories of human rights – Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and explained them to the students and all present at the programme. He said that the two main functions of MHRC are, one, to inquire suo moto or on a petition presented to it by a victim or any person against violation of human rights by a public servant or abetment thereof, and two, address the problem of negligence in the prevention of violence. Moreover, MHRC would not inquire into any matter which has taken place more than one year earlier.
