Browsing by Subject "Human Rights"

Now showing 1 - 10 of 10

Open Access
Accepted, But Not Accepted: The Stigmatisation of LGBT People in India Post Navtej Singh Johar
(University of North Bengal, 2020-03) Tamang, Rupendra
It has been more than a year since the historic judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court for the LGBTQ community. It was the duty of every state to ensure that the judgment should travel to the remotest areas of the country. Has this been really done? Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights clearly states that the world is made up of different countries, cultures and peoples yet despite of these differences we have one thing in common. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. The Constitution of India also has provisions regarding the equality of the people. But how far is this applicable to the LGBTQ community.
Open Access
Climate Change, Poverty and Human Rights: An Emergence without Precedent
(University of North Bengal, 2020-03) Chatterjee, Chandrani
Laws and institutions for the defense of human rights must rapidly evolve to the new reality of climate change. When vulnerable communities have tried to use human rights law to defend their rights and seek climate justice, important weaknesses in human rights law have been revealed. It is almost impossible for populations in poor countries to identify and pursue channels of justice, to have their cases heard, or to prove responsibility.
Open Access
Decision Making in Family Planning: A Human Rights Issue
(University of North Bengal, 2015) Biswas, Homprabha; Ray, Subha
A woman has the right to control over her own body and take decision regarding reproductive health free from any form of coercion, discrimination and violence. She further has the right to be informed and have access to safe, effective, affordable and acceptable methods of family planning. The present study was conducted on a group of married Muslim women of West Bengal with the objective to understand the role of these women in taking decision in adopting family planning practice and choosing contraceptive types. Data on socio-economic details, family planning practices and decision making ability were collected on 100 women, who were in wedlock and with at least one child. Results of the study reveal that 69 per cent of the study population was adopters of family planning, and in all the cases the husbands of these women took decision in choosing contraceptive types.
Open Access
Human Rights Perspective and Development Discourse: An Exploratory Note on Intellectual Possibilities towards Relation Building
(University of North Bengal, 2014-03) Chakraborty, Tirthankar
This paper seeks to unravel some of the tangled threads of contemporary rights talks. For some, the grounding of rights-based approaches in human rights perspective makes them distinctively different to the areas of development discourses. Is there any real difference between these two in practice or not? Thus, the paper tries to explore some of the intellectual possibilities which reflect on the relationship of the human rights perspective and development discourse. Through this paper some areas like Evolution of the Idea of Rights within the Humanizing Parameters, The Generations of Rights within Humanising Parameters and the Relational Experience of Human Rights Perspective and Development Discourse are generally highlighted. .
Open Access
LGBT Movement in India: The Journey towards an Inclusive Society
(University of North Bengal, 2021-09) Das, Sagnika
Equality in the society between the individuals irrespective of race, sex, religion, caste, place of birth or colour is a sign of a progressive society as it lays the path towards stability and harmony. Every human being has the right to be treated equally. However, Social hegemony2has tendency to exclude persons with “differences” which violates their inalienable Basic Human Rights. Till the year 2018, the LGBT community in India was suffering from exclusion. These people were considered to be either sex workers or criminals. They demanded a positive radical social change. The LGBT movement took the urge for tolerance and inclusion to a whole new level. The judiciary responded to their plea for equality first in Suresh Kumar Koushalv. Naz Foundation3 which culminated in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India4 where the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional rights of the LGBTQ+ people. In this backdrop, the present paper intends to point out the factors which led to inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community and led to social transformation.
Open Access
Realising the Rights of the Senior Citizens: An International Human Rights Law Perspective
(University of North Bengal, 2021-09) Bhowmik, Sarbani; Bhattacharjee, Ripon
The senior citizens throughout the world face the maximum challenges, abuse and discrimination restricting the realization of their human rights and thus, categorizing them into the vulnerable groups. Ageing is a natural phenomenon yet the aged population are traditionally concerned as burden and problems because they are nonfunctional, non-productive and non-active. Amongst the vulnerable groups, the United Nations has time to time recognized and revised the human rights pertaining to women, children, migrant workers and persons with disabilities but negligible focus has been given on the rights of the senior citizens as a distinct category concerning their deserving rights, extraordinary care and protection under the ambit of human rights law. Even though the rights of the senior citizens have been neglected but over few years they have become a popular agenda of professional media, NGOs and certain States which have pushed United Nations to identify the special rights, care and protection of the senior citizens in the international scenario. However, they are not adequate; reforms and revisions are yet to follow. Due to decline in mortality rate and longer life expectancy there has been an unprecedented growth in the world’s senior citizen’s population thereby making their group a more prominent one wherein realization of their human rights becomes inevitable. This paper intends to focus on the plight of the senior citizens from their jeopardized rights so that they get the spotlight and priority both from the national and international scenario in their generic framework. This paper would mainly focus on the contributions of the senior citizens and their rights by the virtue of being a human. It will examine the key features of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Older Persons and other instruments that compromises the care and protection and the rights of the senior citizens both in the international as well as national scenario. And finally, it will evaluate the gaps and discuss the optimistic contemporary attitude to describe old age as a productive category, rather than being a burden, with a new social meaning and positive attitude.
Open Access
Right to Fair Trial for the Victim – Changing Paradigm in 21st Century
(University of North Bengal, 2022-03) Zahan, Momina; Singh, Manju
The concept of fair trial is the foundation stone of any justice delivery mechanism for the prevention of miscarriage of justice. While the general concept of ‘fair trial’ should mean a ‘trial’ in which there is no biasness or prejudice against any party to trial or the cause, yet it is considered, to be the trial wherein there is no biasness against the defendant/accused only. But a trial can be fair only when the whole of the prosecution procedures has been fair-minded and reasonable, and it is extended to all the participants of the criminal justice system along with the accused. Thus, this paper attempts to investigate the scope of the concept of fair trial and observe whether it can be extended to the other players of the criminal justice system, especially the victims of crime.
Open Access
Rights of Minorities in India and Pakistan: A Comparative Study
(University of North Bengal, 2022-03) Mandal, Rakesh
At the verge of the independence, two separate dominions were established by the British Government on the basis of religion. Although two major communities are divided on religion, a large numbers of minorities are living at either nation. Pakistan constitutionally declared as Islamic Nation whereas India declared herself as secular nation. However, Muhammad Jinnah had guaranteed that minorities are free to profess and practice their religions and develop their cultures. Consequently, the Constitution of Pakistan guaranteed some basic rights and fundamental freedoms under the Constitution. Unfortunately, these constitutional guarantees were not implemented in reality inspite of Jinnah’s assurance. Presently, Pakistan is one of the most hostile states for the minorities in the world. The reasons behind that after 1977 Pakistan became more orthodox and tried to Islamized the entire nation and political campaigned was focused on religious hatred. This paper endeavors to comparatively analyze the status of minorities in India and Pakistan and their respective constitutional safeguards. It further focused on Constitutionalism which is original and real sprite of the nation towards execution of noble ideas on ground reality. Therefore, written constitution has a very little impact, it is the constitutionalism or the sprite and willingness of the political parties and people who govern the state and execute the rights in reality.
Open Access
Study of Child Rights in Armed Conflicts under the International Legislative Framework
(University of North Bengal, 2021-09) Biswas, Dolly
Protecting children in conflict is a key concern for international children's legislation and its implementation today, with over 250 million children living in conditions of armed conflict. The international legal measures that safeguard children during armed conflict are examined in this article. It examines the general legal rights afforded to children during times of conflict, particularly their access to critical resources for their physical and mental well-being (such as medical treatment, food, and clothes) and to developmental activities, including education. It also looks at how international law prevents children from becoming involved in armed conflicts, including the restriction on their recruitment and use in hostilities, as well as how children who are captured or detained should be treated. The article concludes with a brief description of how, over the last few decades, the protection of children in armed conflict has grown to be a major worldwide problem, particularly within the UN system.
Open Access
Trial of “Offences Arising Out of Violation of Human Rights”- A Study on the Human Rights Courts of Gujarat (India)
(University of North Bengal, 2023-09) Kaundal, Ruchita; Shanthakumar, S.
Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993(the ‘PHRA’) came into force on 28th September 1993 and is the primary legislation for protecting Human Rights in India. The PHRA aims to provide better human rights protection to the people by setting up Human Rights Court(s) (HRC) for providing speedy trial of “offences arising out of violation of human rights”. The PHRA, however, does not define or lay down the “offences” that can be construed as arising out of violation of human rights. The paper aims to understand the phrase “offences arising out of violation of human rights” through the interpretation adopted by the Higher Courts of India. Seeking guidance therefrom the authors enlist some of the “offences” within the Indian Penal Code, 1860 which the HRC(s) can try as “offences arising out of violation of human rights”. Furthermore, to determine whether the failure to list the offences impedes the practical operation of the HRC(s), the paper conducts an in-depth study of the cases filed before the HRC(s) in the State of Gujarat. Besides that, the authors conduct a survey among the advocates who practice in these courts, to determine their understanding of the phrase "offences arising from violations of human rights," since they're a layperson's first point of contact within the judicial system. The authors conclude that the failure to codify the nature of offences triable before the HRC(s) causes confusion among advocates, undermining the institution's potential. The PHRA should therefore be amended to include the offences that can be tried before the HRC(s).