Human rights, secularism in our DNA: Naidu

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 10

Maintaining that power flew from ballot and not bullet, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday called upon those taking up arms against the State to shun violence and join politics to build the kind of system they wanted.

Speaking at a function organized by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Human Rights Day, Naidu said it was wrong to say that power came from bullet. The Vice-President stressed there couldn’t be any progress without peace. “Peace is essential for progress,” he said.

“India has had a tradition of human rights and its culture always talked about the welfare of the entire humanity as it treated the globe as one family,” he said.

“Even small countries came, attacked us, looted us, cheated us…. This great civilization… thousands of years has no history of attacking anybody. We try to assimilate all people who come here… we believe that irrespective of caste, creed, sex, region and religion, India is one. We are one nation, one people,” Naidu said.

Drawing a distinction between religion and culture, he said the former was a way of worship while the latter was a way of life. Naidu, however, sought to emphasise that those indulging in violence need to be isolated and dealt with by the law enforcement agencies.

Describing terrorism as a major threat to human rights across the globe, Naidu said certain countries were supporting terrorists and all countries should unite against this scourge.

“Terrorism is posing a big threat to human civilization. The UN Security Council should action against this threat as there can’t be any progress without peace,” he said in the presence of many foreign diplomats, NHRC Chairman Justice HL Dattu, judges and activists. He questioned the credentials of those who come out in support of terrorists killing innocent people.

The Vice-President said the Indian Constitution provided for a robust human rights protection framework. “An independent judiciary, a free media and an active civil society and a number of independent human rights bodies such as NHRC provide a rigorous and effective system of human rights protection and an effective system of checks and balances,” he said.