New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Chairperson, Justice Arun Mishra on Friday said that the Indian civilizational ethos is blessed with the power of assimilation and not the imposition of thoughts.
Mishra was addressing the closing ceremony of the NHRC-IGNCA National Conference in Delhi.
“Indian civilizational ethos is blessed with the power of assimilation of different streams of ideas and faiths, as we want to improve and not impose our culture upon others, which may amount to a violation of human rights,” said Mishra.
He said that the concept of respecting human rights can be sustained only by understanding that this is an integral part of sustainable development and the carbon emissions should be taken note of.
He said that today the world is facing destructive weapons, posing a serious threat to the environment and humanity.
“The use of destructive weapons benefits only their manufacturers and not the common people. India’s doctrine of nuclear policy is a manifestation of its past ideology that prohibits the use of weapons of mass destruction, which only harm humanity. It has reflected both in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata when the use of weapons of mass destruction was prohibited,” he added.
Earlier, the NHRC Member, Dr DM Mulay asked that in times of terrorism, a roadmap to sustain humanity is to be thought about.
“The Indian view of human rights is not for human beings alone but for the entire world, planet and the universe. This may be used as a fulcrum for building a roadmap for human rights all over the world. He said that democracy is nothing, but the practice of human rights, and India is the best ground for practising human rights given its long traditions of values reflected in art, culture and philosophy,” said Mulay.
He also highlighted that awareness is needed to be built for the sake of sustaining humanity as most of Indians don’t understand the rich Indian heritage of respecting human rights.
“There are disturbing trends everywhere which need to be dealt with democratically. The idea of India revolves around 1.3 billion stories, the collection which will set a narrative for human rights,” he added.
The IGNCA Member Secretary, Dr Sachchidanand Joshi, giving an overview of the various sessions of the two days National Conference, said that the Indian culture stands out as the identity of any Indian abroad.
“Our scriptures are the repository of human rights-centric ideas. Those values are seen even today when Indian society, despite facing multiple challenges, sailed through the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Joshi
NHRC Secretary-General, DK Singh gave the vote of thanks and said that this National Seminar marks the beginning of a discourse wherein twenty-star speakers ignited a thought process to understand, assimilate and take forward the rich traditions of Indian art, culture and philosophy for the sustainable concept of human rights, and the idea of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.
The two days National Conference on Human Rights in Indian Culture and Philosophy was jointly organized by the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, India and Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, IGNCA.
Prior to the valedictory session, the third thematic session was held on human rights in art and literature. This was chaired by NHRC, Member, Rajiv Jain and co-chaired by Jamia Millia Islamia Vice-Chancellor, Najma Akhtar.
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