The Nagaland State Human Rights Commission (NSHRC) conducted an awareness program on Human Rights and the Role of the SHRC in its better protection in collaboration with Nagaland State Legal Service Authority (NSLSA) at Kohima Science College, Jotsoma, on Friday, August 2.
R Nzambemo Lotha, Member, NSHRC explained that the primary goal of the programme is to introduce the NSHRC to all young people of the state and encourage them to approach the commission by educating them about human rights. He said the programme would ignite the minds of the students on human rights and provoke the thought of young intellectuals of the society to make a better tomorrow. He also briefly explained the work and functions of NSHRC, which has been in existence since the March 11, 2023.
Advocate Apila Sangtam, Retainer Lawyer NSLSA, dwelled on “Protection of Human Rights Act (1993). She spoke about the vast history surrounding the Act and the various other commissions stemming from it, including the National Commission for Women Act and the National Commission for Backward classes, amongst many others.
Further elaborating on the important powers of the Human Rights Commission (HRC), she highlighted that the commission has the authority to visit under imitation to the State Government jail or any other institution under the control of the State Government and intervene in any proceeding involving any allegations of violation of human rights.
She added that SHRCs also function in the area of studying treaties and other international instruments on human rights and make recommendations for their effective implementation.
She urged the student body to take a stand as responsible citizens, to put up any issue or violation in relation to human rights with the commission, establishing the Protection of Human Rights Act as an important topic to be revisited time and time again.
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Advocate Sunjib Rana, Retainer Lawyer, KDLSA, spoke on the topic of “Drug Trafficking and Human Rights”. He talked about the evolution of drugs from a useful resource saving thousands of lives to a great threat in modern day society.
With the concern of increasingly widespread substance abuse in India as a pressing problem, he also highlighted poverty and lack of proper employment in the country as two main reasons for more and more Indian citizens getting involved in drug trafficking.
Explaining the correlation between drug trafficking and human rights, he stated that the statistical correlation between crime and drug abuse is a matter of great concern, with a whopping 70 percent of rape cases being a result of assaulters being on drugs.
The panelist also talked about the adverse effects of drugs on not only the direct victims but also on people in the lives of those affected by drug trafficking and abuse, especially the rights of children who are deprived of the basic human rights which they are lawfully entitled to for no fault of their own. Facing of discrimination at the hands of medical professionals, educational institutions and rejection by society in general are just some of the violations of human rights inflicted on a person, directly or indirectly, by drug trafficking.
He ended his talk by encouraging all in attendance to spread awareness of human rights, saying, “Make a pledge today, here, that when you go home you will share the knowledge you have acquired, and perhaps that will save a life.”
Limanenla, Secretary of NSHRC, proposed the vote of thanks.
