A Study Of Human Rights An Indian Philosophical Approach

THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS FROM THE WESTERN AND INDUN PHILOSOPHICAL POINT OF VIEW The question of hk rights figured in one form or Mocha in all civilized societies fram the earliest times. Whether these rights transamdental and Fundamental to our nature or whether they am those consided nceessar) to protect and promote civilized life and the dignity of human beings are among matters that were primarily discwsed by political thinkers. The concept of human rights as it is understood today is, howcvct, basically a western concept evolved out of western political thought and the one that revolved around political events in the West. Its thewetical bast may be found in the distinction that is made bctwecn individual and society, between the citizen and the state. lts emergence in political practice is related to the attempts to curb the unbridled power of the statc over its citizens. In the early Greek thought the state was considered sup- and the citizen subordinate to it. For example, we find in Plato's Kcpublic how the city state was organized to ensure a common life to its citizens. In the classical Roman thought. however, the individual and not the state war at the center of discussion and the state existed for safeguarding the interests and rights of its citizens. Thus. when the state and its subjects auc conceived as two distinct and dichotomous entities the question of citizen's rights arises. In the medieval period the legitimate power of the state tended to rest with the ruler, the king or the mpcrm. Tht nrkr, however, was under obligation to his subjtcts to maintain justice and thcir well being. The hh@a,