HUMAN RIGHTS VERSUS HUMAN DUTIES
Seek Your Rights Through Duty
THE United Nations Organization (UNO) is the largest official body covering the greater part of all people on the face of this planet. Comprising of 192 member countries, it formally represents almost all of the nations on the globe. Its present headquarters are situated in Manhattan, New York, USA. Mr. Trygve Lie served as the first Secretary General of the UN and, at present, this position is held by Mr. Ban Ki-Moon.
On December 10, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly passed a historic resolution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This Declaration proved to be the trendsetter for generations to come. Since then, most movements with human rights as their target were launched on a similar pattern. There were protests all over of human rights being violated.
But there is a question: Why do these human rights activists fail to achieve their declared goal of establishing ideal justice in all societies? History shows that these activists have made very little headway in their struggles. Their activism is reduced to being protesters rather than achievers.
If society were characterized by uniformity and equality on a permanent basis, the atmosphere of challenge
would disappear. If there were no challenges, the process of intellectual development would cease.
What is the reason for this failure? The reason is that this Declaration is not in consonance with the law of nature, according to which, everyone enjoys freedom. This very freedom stands as a permanent hurdle in the path of establishing ideal justice in society. Instead of making history, those standing up for human rights have done little other than compose litanies of complaints and protests. This is because they do not plan how to achieve their goal.
It is but natural that human rights can never exist in an ideal manner in any society. The concept of social equality is found only in the If society were characterized by uniformity and equality on a permanent basis, the atmosphere of challenge would disappear. If there were no challenges, the process of intellectual development would cease. 30 Spirit of Islam Issue 32 August 2015 Don’t seek concessions In this competitive world, those who want concessions will always find themselves in the back-seat. It is only those who make every effort to earn excellent qualifications who will ever come to the fore. dictionary and is not borne out in practical life. It is all very well to say that we want to establish human rights in every society, but this is an unachievable goal. A philosopher has rightly said that nature abhors uniformity. This state of affairs is not a social evil; on the contrary, it is a blessing in disguise. It opens up challenges and creates competition in society. If society were characterized by uniformity and equality on a permanent basis, the atmosphere of challenge would disappear. If there were no challenges, the process of intellectual development would cease.
Rights are the result of the fulfilment of duties; they are
not the product of protests and demands.
The right approach is to lay emphasis on human duties instead of human rights. It should be stressed that when people carry out their duties, they will automatically receive their rights. Whenever human rights activists see that they are not getting the desired results, they intensify their efforts. Rather than doing this, they should shift the focus of their efforts from the rightsbased approach to the duty-based approach. Rights are the result of the fulfilment of duties; they are not the product of protests and demands.
Don’t seek concessions
In this competitive world, those who want concessions will always find themselves in the back-seat. It is only those who make every effort to earn excellent qualifications who will ever come to the fore.