Hindi and Regional Languages can help in spreading Human Rights Awareness
New Delhi, 16 March 2004
Promotion and Protection of Human Rights can be best achieved by the use of regional languages to reach out to the masses. Speaking at the first national workshop on the importance of Official Language Hindi and other Indian Languages in the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights conducted by the National Human Rights Commission in New Delhi today, Chairperson of the Commission, Dr. Justice A.S. Anand said that most often people are not aware of their rights and need to be informed about it. He said that in educating them the importance of mother tongue should not be undermined.
Quoting statistics, Dr. Anand said that three out of every ten illiterate persons across the world are Indians, and out of every ten illiterate persons in India seven are women. He also added that it is a fact that women are more likely to face human rights violations and to understand their problems one has to talk to them in their own language. While, Dr. Anand called for use of the national language and other regional languages in creating awareness on Human Rights, he cautioned that the language should not be too technical or 'sanskritized' such that only the highly educated understand the message being conveyed. This, he said, would alienate the uneducated or less educated masses defeating the very purpose of using vernacular languages.
He termed as unfortunate that most of us think in English and then translate our thoughts into Hindi and other languages. He also rejected the claim that the concept of Human Rights has come from the West saying India was well aware of human rights even before the drafting of the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights. Human rights were highlighted by Lokmanya Tilak almost 110 years ago in his call for " Swaraj' and also figures in the Constitution of India. Human rights, he said, are not a gift of any Constitution or country but a gift of God given to man by virtue of him being a human. He ended on the note that human rights belong to every individual and every individual's rights should be protected.
*********
Promotion and Protection of Human Rights can be best achieved by the use of regional languages to reach out to the masses. Speaking at the first national workshop on the importance of Official Language Hindi and other Indian Languages in the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights conducted by the National Human Rights Commission in New Delhi today, Chairperson of the Commission, Dr. Justice A.S. Anand said that most often people are not aware of their rights and need to be informed about it. He said that in educating them the importance of mother tongue should not be undermined.
Quoting statistics, Dr. Anand said that three out of every ten illiterate persons across the world are Indians, and out of every ten illiterate persons in India seven are women. He also added that it is a fact that women are more likely to face human rights violations and to understand their problems one has to talk to them in their own language. While, Dr. Anand called for use of the national language and other regional languages in creating awareness on Human Rights, he cautioned that the language should not be too technical or 'sanskritized' such that only the highly educated understand the message being conveyed. This, he said, would alienate the uneducated or less educated masses defeating the very purpose of using vernacular languages.
He termed as unfortunate that most of us think in English and then translate our thoughts into Hindi and other languages. He also rejected the claim that the concept of Human Rights has come from the West saying India was well aware of human rights even before the drafting of the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights. Human rights were highlighted by Lokmanya Tilak almost 110 years ago in his call for " Swaraj' and also figures in the Constitution of India. Human rights, he said, are not a gift of any Constitution or country but a gift of God given to man by virtue of him being a human. He ended on the note that human rights belong to every individual and every individual's rights should be protected.
*********