Human Rights: ‘All are equal but some are more equal than others.’

As far as the U.N.O's Charter of Human Rights is concerned, by and large its value remains academic, in that it is a testimony to a very important historical fact; namely, that over the centuries man's conception of human rights has gradually evolved to reach a stage where it could be documented in such detail...

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: Ahmadiyya Jama'at Mauritius | AlIslam.Org
By Dr. Iftikhar Ayaz, OBE | October 10, 2010

The following is an excerpt from a speech made at the 49th Annual Convention in Mauritius.

Since times immemorial, man has, at the hand of man, been suffering all kinds of miseries and cruelties; his rights have been violated; he has become alienated from his own species.

Today, most of the evils humanity is confronted with are rooted in the violation and deprivation of human rights. No doubt in the dark corridors of history, we hear echoes reverberating protest against human sufferings and exploitation. No doubt in these very corridors sometimes we also see a chink of light of hope for man in the form of Charters, such as Magna Carta, English Petition of Rights, The Virginian Declaration of Rights, American Bill of Rights and so on and so forth. However, when we critically look at these various documents, we are a bit disappointed. We soon realise that they are not after all what humanity expected them to be. They disappoint not so much in what they say, but in what they leave out to say. They give no redeeming hope to man, or offer any source of perennial light for humanity. They, if not in their letter, at least in their spirit and the way in which they were composed, and have been understood, interpreted and applied, epitomise the Orwellian formula:

‘All are equal but some are more equal than others.’

(Adapted from Animal Form – Penguin Classic, by G. Orwell).

As far as the U.N.O's Charter of Human Rights is concerned, by and large its value remains academic, in that it is a testimony to a very important historical fact; namely, that over the centuries man's conception of human rights has gradually evolved to reach a stage where it could be documented in such detail as we find in the U.N. Charter and subsequent Declarations.

Dr. Iftikhar Ayaz, OBE

However, I personally have been associated with the U.N. Human Rights organisations for the past seventeen years and can vouchsafe that in spite of the Charter, the world situation with regard to Human Rights has not changed much since its inception. If anything, it has worsened in many respects as we witness today. The means of subjecting man to all kinds of exploitation and suffering have become more sophisticated and its ways more subtle. Might has become mightier, and the right has become correspondingly weaker. The hypocrisy, the apathy, the selfishness, the arrogance of those who presume to be the spokesmen of human rights and who regard themselves as their custodians, have bred international terrorism, militancy, religious fundamentalism and all kinds of psychopathic violence. We all live under the constant shadow of terror. Man has turned against man, as he never did in the past. [Read more... Human Rights and Islam]




Read the complete article here: Human Rights and Islam