Underdevelopment, a challenge against Human Dignity, a Human
Rights question…
‘…God created man in
his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created
them.’ Gen 1:27. ‘The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath…’ Mk
2:27. Man is the measure of everything.
Hear the words of Sri
Aurobindo:
‘A deathbound littleness is not all we are: Immortal our
forgotten vastnesses
Await discovery in our summit selves; Unmeasured
breadths and depths of being are ours.’
It might have
been the great Upanishadic truths like ‘Tatwamasi! Soham!’, meaning ‘Thou art that! I am
Brahman!’ enabled him and others to consider man as a spark of the divine, if
not divinity itself. That is why Jesus also asked his listeners to be perfect
as his heavenly father is perfect. Mt 5:48. Man’s call is not anything less
than becoming divine. ‘…God does crown him with glory and honour.’ Ps 8:5. The
dignity for which man is heir is no one’s concession, not even any sovereign.
It is so inherent of humanity, of being human and none can take it away. This
greatness endows certain freedom, freedom of the children of God! Rom 8:21.
Man along with
myriads of living and non-living organisms, inhabiting this earth, if not the
other planets as well, has to be its custodian and not its selfishly dominant
and exploitative master. He has to keep it a cosmos and not chaos to his own
destruction in the not far long future and nurture for the times to come. ‘Development’
in tune with the rhythm of nature will sustain man along with all other
organisms. The backlash due to greedy over exploitation we feel so powerless to
resist could be avoided, if only we care for the nature and its resources.
This dignity
entails equality besides the liberty of we referred earlier. No one is above
anyone else. All claims contrary to this are claims of interest and so be
ignored as such. What is latent in every one of us will reach its fullness
unless some of them are not denied of possible opportunities. History, in spite
of it being recorded by the dominant ones, betrays such atrocities throughout.
The domination onslaught was many a times presided over by the ‘religious’ and
as such was justified, though there won’t be many takers for that in our times.
A latest revelation on this count was reported in the ‘Hindu’ on 21st
February 2013!
Such
atrocities go on in almost all the religious institutions with less pay, more
working hours, no safety provisions and so on. Mind you, they carry on with
such exploitation with offerings made to gods! They conveniently, rather
consciously forget the high handed intervention of god at such times. Ex 3:7.
They possibly can’t escape that situation which is so imminent like ‘Damocles’
sword.’
The human
dignity we are speaking of expects certain minimum requirements such as food,
clothing and shelter. All this, I think, Jesus referred to as ‘bread’ when on
request he taught them to pray for the daily bread. This can’t be denied to
anyone, not even to the birds of the air and lilies of the field. Mt 6:26ff.
That is why he seemingly complained of having nowhere to lay his head. Mt 8:20.
Food certainly includes water, that too worthy of drinking; and shelter will
include toilets facilities for health and hygiene.
These basic
facilities are denied to a great number of people in India! Why speak of India,
when one can look down on one’s own backyard for these deficiencies. The recent
reports on the water scarcity in the coastal villages, besides the reporting
some time back of public defecation along the coast in certain part of our
diocese should shame us all in a state which publicizes itself as ‘god’s own
country’! May be that it is the duty of the governments; however can’t we do
something from our part when we squander money on skyscraper like churches and
comparatively palatial rectories, let alone the innumerable shrines on all nook
and corners obstructing traffic and so on.
It is a well
known fact that the literacy among our people in this capital district of the
state which claims universal literacy! Where does the public fund go, when most
of our schools even are miserably maintained and children neglected. Don’t we
have a right to know what are we doing with all that money comes from within
and without? When the church clamor for many other otherwise ‘insignificant’
‘rights’ like the ‘minority right’ and lobby or negotiate with the government,
presenting impoverished state of being as underdeveloped, why don’t they insist
for such basic necessities which will certainly instill some self-esteem which
in turn would make them slowly independent?
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