The Concept of human rights is as old as the ancient concept of natural rights based on natural law. The expression “human rights” is of recent origin emanating from international charters and conventions especially in the Post Second World War.
But these rights had been recognized and respected by all religions in the ancient India.
It could be found that the Rig Veda cites three rights as basic human rights, namely, Body, Dwelling place and Life. The Maha Bharata speaks about the importance of freedoms of individuals in a state.
It also sanctions revolt against the king who is oppressive and fails to perform his functions of protection.
In Manu Samhita, Manu developed three notions of Civil, Legal and Economic rights. Buddhism and Jainism emphasized the principles of equality and non-violence.
Muslim rulers even formulated rules for the protection of women and children during war. Emperor Akbar took certain measures for the protection of the rights of the citizens.
However, the first serious move was initiated by the U N General Assembly in December 1948 to protect human rights by adopting “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”
—Article 1 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Human rights are "basic rights and freedoms that all people are entitled to regardless of nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, race, religion, language, or other status." Human rights are conceived as universal and egalitarian, with all people having equal rights by virtue of being human however these rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights.
Charles R. Beitzin his book,The Idea of Human Rights, says that: “if the public discourse of peacetime global society can be said to have a common moral language, it is that of human rights.”
However, Human rights were defined first by the Scottish philosopher, John Locke (1632-1704) as “absolute moralclaims or entitlements to life, liberty, and property”.
We find the best-known expression of human rights is in the ‘Virginia Declaration of Rights’ in 1776 which proclaims that “All men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divesttheir posterity.”
The principles of Human rights are not to be construed as a bunch of high-strung ideals of international law for the establishment of a utopian society, rather it is to be found and engraved in our daily lives to ensure a better and brighter future for mankind by creating an environment which would be conducive for the free and proper development of the human mind and soul.
Origin of the idea Human Rights:
Though the Rig Veda contemplates the bedrock of Human Rights in its earliest meaning, with the coming of the Later Vedic Age and the society being divided on the basis of ‘Varna’ was evidence of the mere mockery of the earlier concept of human rights.
The ancient world did not possess the concept of human rights in the modern sense of the term. Ancient societies had "elaborate systems of duties... conceptions of justice, political legitimacy, and human flourishing that sought to realize human dignity, flourishing, or well-being entirely independent of human rights" and so much so that in Ancient India, China and Greece, some of the most cultured and civilized races in the ancient world were open to the practice of slavery. Even in the pre and post independent United States of America, slavery, one of the vilest forms of Human rights violation was rampant.
However gradually with the passage of time human rights violations of various forms were being recognized and such practices were no more being tolerated under the blanket of “tradition” and “custom”.
The modern concept of human rights was developed during the early Modern period and the true forerunner of human rights discourse was the concept of natural rights which appeared as part of the medieval Natural law tradition, became prominent with such philosophers as John Locke, Francis Hutcheson, and Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui, and featured prominently in the political discourse of the American Revolution (1776) and the French Revolution (1789). These Two major revolutions during the 18th century brought forth the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen respectively, both of which established certain legal rights. Additionally, the Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776 encoded into law a number of fundamental civil rights and civil freedoms.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
—United States Declaration of Independence, 1776
In the 19th century, human rights became a central concern over the issue of slavery. A number of reformers, such as William Wilberforce in Britain, worked towards the abolition of slavery. In the United States, President Abraham Lincoln rallied against the southern plantation owners’ practice of employing slaves which culminated in the outbreak of the Civil War. After the war the 13th amendment, banned slavery, the 14th amendment, assured full citizenship and civil rights to all people born in the United States, and the 15th amendment, guaranteed African Americans the right to vote. A very bold and handsome step towards securing human rights indeed.
In Western Europe and North America, labour unions brought about laws granting workers the right to strike, establishing minimum work conditions and forbidding or regulating child labour. The women's rights movement succeeded in gaining for many women the right to vote. National liberation movements in many countries succeeded in driving out colonial powers- one of the most influential being Mahatma Gandhi's movement upholding the principle of Ahimsa, i.e. kindness and non-violence towards all living things, as the guiding force.
The idea of Human rights was unknown to all was building in such a background but it still did not enjoy an international recognition.
The outbreak of the two World Wars, and the huge losses of life and gross abuses of human rights that took place during them, were a driving force behind the development of modern human rights instruments. The “League of Nations” was established in 1919, following the end of the 1st World War and enshrined in its charter a mandate to promote many of the rights which were later included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
At the 1945 Yalta Conference, the Allied Powers agreed to create a new body to supplant the League's role; this was to be the United Nations. The United Nations has played an important role in international human-rights law since its creation.
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