The Mirage of Dignity on the Highways of Human ‘Progress’: - the Bystanders’ Perspective -

By Lukman Harees

The Modern Man is hypocritically boasting of unprecedented material progress in a world , where ,inter-alia millions daily go to bed hungry, die or get killed through unwanted wars and preventable causes, live in inhumane conditions , vulnerable being exploited , with ever widening inequality , and might still ruling over right in international relations, even in the post UDHR era! an indictment on the collective conscience of mankind. Besides, the flame of materialism has been devouring time tested moral values, causing chaos within the basic unit in society- the family and relegating Man and his dignity to the level of animals and even manipulating his identity.

Therefore questions arise: Is Moral law fading ; are political/economic systems and institutions like UN failing in realizing the lofty goal of affording due dignity , basic rights and social justice humanity deserves? Can the bystanders be mere onlookers anymore? This book seeks to dispassionately survey the yawning gap between the rhetoric and the ground reality in bringing about dignity and social justice for humanity from bystanders perspective in the light of these questions and underlines the imperative need for moral progress to go hand in hand to make Man assume his due role as the trustee on earth. It also exhorts bystanders to close ranks as human- dignity champions, rights defenders, identity protectors- against onslaughts from power hungry politicians, mighty powers and vested interests. This is the need of the times and what our future progeny demands.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Jan 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9781467007733

Lukman Harees

Lukman Harees obtained his LLB degree in 1996 and MBA in 1998. He was the Head of HRD in a leading bank in Sri Lanka, and reading for a doctoral degree in HRM, when he moved to the UK with his family in 2004. His HRD initiatives including EI , employment of disabled persons, and signing up MOUs with leading training institutions in Asia pacific region significantly helped the Bank to be awarded the ‘Best HRM Practices’ Trophy in 2002 . He is presently an Administrator in a leading hospital in Berkshire , UK and also undertakes part time HRM Consultancy assignments. During the last three decades , he has been actively involved in a multitude of roles –social activist, trade unionist ,charity fund raiser, HRM professional and a lecturer . Presently ,he is in the Executive Committee of SAKOMA, a network of Black and Minority Ethnic organizations in Berkshire area. He presently lives in Reading , UK with his wife and three sons.

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© 2012 by Lukman Harees. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 01/10/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4670-0772-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4670-0773-3 (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

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Contents

DEDICATION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

PREFACE

SECTION 1-INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I

CHAPTER II

SECTION 2-ROARING RHETORIC ON

DEFENDING HUMAN DIGNITY

CHAPTER III

CHAPTER IV

CHAPTER V

SECTION 3: GROUND REALITIES

CHAPTER VI

CHAPTER VII

CHAPTER VIII

CHAPTER IX

CHAPTER X

SECTION 4: CONCLUSION

CHAPTER XI

Notes

Annexure 1

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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APPETISER THOUGHTS

‘The standard of critique is the human being, her dignity and possibilities. The struggle for human dignity is a revolutionary right. Human Dignity entails ‘humanity in action’ (cuff Bloch, 1976) against all forms of oppression and exploitation. Dignity is the upright walk of humanity.

-Werner Bonehead and Kosmas Psychopedis, Human Dignity: Social Autonomy and Critique of Capitalism, Ashgate Publishing House, UK (2005)

The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that is the essence of inhumanity.

—George Bernard Shaw 1856-1950: The Devil’s Disciple (1901)

What does the bloodthirsty passage of time not leech away?

Our parents’ generation, worse than their parents’,

Has given birth to us, worse yet-and soon

We will have children still more depraved

Horace, Odes, 3.6, 45-8.

Poverty and a sense of injustice have caused murderous resentment and if we permit the devastating power of modern weaponry to spread through this combustible human landscape, we can invite a conflagration that will engulf both rich and poor.’ (Bolding is mine)

-Statement from 110 Nobel Prize Winners

‘The ultimate end of all revolutionary social change is to establish the sanctity of human life, the dignity of man, the right of every human being to liberty and well-being’.

-Emma Goldman (1869-1940)

When an individual is protesting society’s refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him.

-Bayard Rustin

‘One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but cannot be taken away unless it is surrendered’

-Michael J. Fox.

We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world-or to make it the last.

-John Fitzgerald Kennedy

DEDICATION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Let me in all earnestness dedicate this book to all those courageous human rights defenders—bystanders, individuals and groups all over the world who have been standing up to the immense threats of the mighty and the self centred, in espousing the cause of human dignity and defending the rights of the weak and the oppressed.

I thank, my Gracious Lord for providing me the inspiration and guidance to work on this all important theme, my late parents for leading me by example by stressing on the importance of showing empathy towards my fellow men, my dear wife Rukni and my three loving sons Mishkath, Aman, and Mehdi, for their support and patience in allowing me quality time to complete this work, when it seemed as though the book would never be completed. Further, I am also thankful to my nieces Safra and Nausheen for their assistance in proofreading and outlining work. It was basically through my family that I realized that respect and dignity for humanity begins at home. My heart also goes out in sincere gratitude to my greatest role model—Prophet Muhammed(OWBP) whose care and concern for humanity and their dignity was unparalleled and whose exemplary life gave me insights to elevate my moral platform, and who stressed on the innateness of dignity in man, which no other man can take it away and that quality in human relationships matter much more than amassing and enjoying material wealth. I also acknowledge the impetus given by the singular contributions made by multitude of outstanding characters-scholars, thinkers, statesmen, religious personalities, philosophers and champions for human dignity and basic rights-in history and present times whose life stories still continue to inspire me to make dignity the centre point in my thinking, discourses, studies and action programs. Their names are too numerous to list. Last, but not least, I also thank my publishers Author-House,US for their patience and competence in completing the printing and marketing beyond my expectations.

In this book, Man, with a capital ‘M’, is used here throughout, in the sense of both ‘Mensch’., which means a person of integrity and honour and also its opposite which is an ‘Unmensch’, meaning: an utterly cruel or evil person and should only be understood depending on the context. Further, any reference to ‘Man, ‘he’ or similar masculine gender imports are only used for purposes of convenience and therefore they also denote the feminine gender as well, unless stated expressly otherwise.

PREFACE

What is the most difficult of all? That which seems to you the easiest,

to see with one’s eyes what is lying before them.

—Goethe, Xenien Aus Dem Nachlass #45

It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honored

by the humiliation of their fellow beings.

—Mahatma Gandhi

The ‘Human’ in ‘me’ in a State of Dilemma!

Writing a book on a serious subject is not a ‘flash in a pan’ exercise. Rather, it is the culmination of a laborious process of collecting and organizing thoughts, ideas and observations occurring over a long period of time. Seldom, all thoughts burst out in one go; they occur in various moments, mostly unexpected, over a period of time. What however ultimately prompted me to pen my thoughts and marshal others’ thoughts in a book form on a deep subject such as human dignity with an ever widening gap between rhetoric and reality, was the intense feel of disgust which ran through me as a result of the hypocrisy going around all over-globally among international players, locally among the politicians and administrators and closer home among bystanders and family circles, in bridging this yawning gap. It has not been easy to make time to sit down at a computer, in a rat race world where fire fighting has become the norm, to put down all my thoughts in an organized form, and following the procedures of  outlining, structuring, formatting, proofreading and editing of the book, which did require a spark of motivation and inspiration.

That spark ignited on a cool Saturday afternoon almost two years ago when I settled down to read a book borrowed from my local library. The reason for choosing this book was unknown, but I presume it was the eye catching title which would have prompted my pick. The title read: THE HUMAN CARGO: A Journey among refugees by Caroline Moorehead. This book under various eye catching chapters such as The Homeless and the Restless and Little Better Than Cockroaches, dealt with the bleak and horrendous personal stories and sickeningly detailed accounts about the tortures and brutalities suffered by very young men, and a few women, fleeing from horrors that are all too common in their worlds, much of it to small children and women. It was no doubt an emotionally disturbing book, which created within my own self, a sense of nausea, disgust and profound sadness and in-fact pricked my conscience as a member of a race which prides itself as an advanced and a civilized one.

This is but one emotive story which stopped me in my tracks and prompted me to reflect on what was going on. There were however innumerable numbers of such similar horror stories about unfortunate victims of human cruelty, poverty, inequality and exploitation being reported in the published media day in and day out, but we also need to realize that there are many more still unreported and confined within sealed narrow spaces in remote places far away from the prying eyes of the Media. They symbolically depict the sad narrative of the decline of the soul, dignity and the morals of humankind, despite being vested with the extraordinary qualities not present amongst other primates, the rational mind, and the unique potential and brainpower. For me, like the most of us, this is as if we are clutching defeat from the jaws of victory. However, these stories should encourage us to peel back the biased layers in our minds and the sense of apathy from our conscience, to emerge much wiser and determined to do what we must. They should encourage us to start remembering the simple lessons in life that are so easily forgotten: be honest, respectful, caring and appreciative of our self and others, understand priorities, communicate, and to feel empathetic, and to love others and the environment. We are too busy building our prosperity to care about how others feel and how others live. All of us in our society struggle between hate and tolerance every day. High flown rhetoric about dignity of self and others, but when it comes down to action, the reality is centred around materialist, egoistic, individualistic and self centred thinking. A yawning gap indeed between rhetoric and reality!

Further, the essential fuel to keep burning, the fires of my enthusiasm of reducing my thoughts to paper, came from the disgusting headlines on human suffering and affronts to dignity which splashed across newspapers, TV new bulletins, documentaries and internet sites at frequent intervals. They made me to reflect on the hypocrisy running across humanity and to question the seriousness of the lofty rhetoric on the concept of human dignity and basic human rights, on the imperative need to safeguard our innate dignity, which our leaders shout from rooftops and global conference rooms. The outlines and the structure of this book gradually thus began to take shape when the ‘human’ in me started to reel in a state of dilemma, rebel against the status quo in my conscience, and question my appalling silence about what’s happening around me.

In-fact, the sense of pride which we celebrate within our hearts about the enormous feats of our own race on the ground, in the air and even beyond, appeared to be totally (almost) negated by the utter disgust, disbelief and unimaginable feel of collective shame and guilt in the light of the evil, immoral and irrational record of performance of villains, self centred and the oppressors amongst us. In short, our conquest of space, our greatest discoveries and inventions as well as the vast reservoir of knowledge we have mastered have all been dwarfed by the global socio-economic problems we have wrought with our own hands, such as avoidable poverty, unemployment, economic disparity, economic insecurity, economic slavery, the ever threatening nuclear holocaust, ever pervading terrorism and breakdown of the institution of family as well as our sense of morality which we have been cherishing over the ages. These problems ( most of which can be solved within our own capabilities and resources within our ambit) have virtually plucked away from the majority of mankind the essence of dignity and self-esteem, which they all deserve by virtue of their humanity.

The undying myth about the material progress and development, that it will remove all our human suffering and poverty forever from all corners of the world and ensure happiness and prosperity, now lies shattered. Humanity surprisingly believed this as a fact, for so many years with such admirable innocence. Even nations that have witnessed unprecedented prosperity during the last five or more decades, such as US and other affluent Western nations, have not been able to exile either poverty or destitution from within their borders. US for example, is incidentally the richest country in the world, which has reportedly already spent, according to available estimates, between 5,000 billion and four trillion dollars on only nuclear armament, but they have not been able to see the back of the evils of poverty, inequality and human suffering within their own borders. The human dignity thus appears like a mirage amidst the much talked about landscape and highways of human progress. When these trends of injustice, oppression and tyranny are sweeping across the world, it is no doubt that the level of approval of the international institutions specially the United Nations among the ordinary people in the street has been gradually dipping towards the lowest end comparable to the level of approval of the United States among other countries due to its’ self assumed international policing role.

‘The human landscape’, Adam Jones says at the conclusion of his book,’Crimes Against Humanity’, ‘sometimes seems so bleak as to hardly justify efforts to brighten it. We confront crises, looming or pervasive, on a dizzying number of fronts… As individuals, we may feel like the Dutch boy with his finger in the dike,-except that new leaks are always springing up beyond our reach; others’ ability or willingness to help is uncertain; and even where we stand, the hole appears too big for our trivial efforts to plug it.’.

In this context, the inevitable question in everyone’s lips has been ‘have we reached a point of no return’? will this be an irreversible trend? I hope not! I do not think either. For we also have within us, the wherewithal and the superb ability to pause, reflect, rationalize and then bounce back and act, in the greater interests of all of us, which includes the future generations as well. For, like an eraser pencil, we also have an eraser within our own-selves to wipe off our evil trends and the ability to sharpen our thoughts and actions to re-write our destiny, the way our Creator, the Providence wanted us to, and to make this world better for all of us.

Therefore, let us not give up hope. For ‘Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible’. History has borne testimony to indomitable feats achieved out of sheer human determination, if only Man cares to achieve. ‘Some succeed because they are destined to, but most succeed because they are determined to’. Let’s stop forthwith our role as spectators and start acting, for as Quran says, ‘Verily never will God change the condition of a people until they change it themselves’.

Not A Lost Cause! A Nettle and Dock Story

In this context, if we are eager to bounce back, we need to have a paradigm shift in our thinking, in seeking our solutions to restore dignity for humanity, away from just the narrow confines of material progress. The solution lies elsewhere. Juxtaposition of moral progress on the plateaus of material progress will be required, whereby Man should wake up to his moral responsibilities as a trustee for global resources, without being unduly self centred. Restoring the moral values and due dignity in a world so addicted to materialistic values, is however not an easy task, but it is also not a lost cause at all. I can relate a personal experience to explain this further.

I help out my wife, a keen gardener, in her allotment, quite often in the summer. I noticed a strange phenomenon, when I engaged myself in cleaning up the messy weeds which spread like wild fire. I specially hate to work among the dense growth of nettle plants, as their leaves cause a severe numb feeling when they come in contact with the human skin. This discomforting feeling persists for sometime, perhaps even as long as a day. However, thankfully alongside these vicious plants, there grows another plant: The dock plant. The dock plant does not grow as dense as nettle. Nature has however blessed this plant with healing properties which gradually neutralizes the sting caused by its troublesome neighbour and causes a cooling effect and gradually the stinging sensation disappears. How amazing! However, all is not bad about nettle. There are good aspects as well. For example, gardeners tell us that nettle plants are complementary to tomatoes (they grow well when nettle plants are around; they say). Further Nettle tea’s health benefits have been quite well-known for centuries. Abundant health-giving properties are found in the roots, leaves and seeds of the nettle. The nettle plant thus only needed to be properly channelled and processed, to turn itself into something good and useful to others.

Back in the human world, we can draw two morals from this ‘nettle and dock story’. Firstly, we also have lots of human ‘docks ‘growing among human ‘nettles’, capable of neutralizing the ill effects of the latter, only if we care to find them, nurture them or enthuse them to action, to fight the injustices, and brutality caused by vested interests. Secondly, the process of reforming these ‘human nettles’ should not be given up either ; rather if properly used or guided, there is a very good possibility that they can be put to good use as well.

Let’s not therefore lose hope as long as there are human docks growing amongst us. It is precisely the reason why amidst this sad narrative of our humankind’s evil inclinations, there are also glimmers of hope and optimism, finding amongst us living movements and personalities which and who have gone beyond their social, political, and religious roles to speak up and lobby for the dignity and stand up for rights of human beings and the underdogs. Among the many movements, we have for example, Amnesty International, International Red Cross and Crescent and Make Poverty History Campaign. There are also several grass root level organizations and committed individuals—the human rights defenders who have been in the frontline of any struggle to safeguard our inalienable right to our basic dignity and rights. Amongst many leading personalities (may not be as prominent as Mandela, Gandhi and Madam Theresa), there are several other committed personalities, who stand out tall as well, who have been giving leadership to this struggle across the world. There are three characters among them who have caught my attention the most, whose mission and passion for human rights have been admirable in their own right.

We see an exemplary character in the person of Mary Robinson, the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,( 1997-2002) and the former President of Ireland, who was ideally positioned for passionately and eloquently arguing the case for human rights around the world. A Voice for Human Rights offered an interesting read for me; it offered a collection of her public addresses in her coveted position. In 2004, she received Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award for her pioneering work in promoting human rights. She has been a beacon of light and an inspiration for those human rights defenders across the world. Her speeches in various forums still throw new insights and enthuse audiences to uphold upright human values and dignity in a world obsessed with power hunger, duplicity and hypocrisy.

Then, we have Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel peace laureate, often referred to as South Africa’s moral conscience. He was a formidable force to be reckoned with, in the global struggle against social injustices, onslaughts on human dignity and also a champion of the rights of the oppressed and marginalized people. He goes to areas where ‘angels fear to tread’ in defending their rights against mighty powers.

I do also appreciate the bold stance taken by Dr Mahathir Mohammed, ex PM of Malaysia, against the hypocrisy of the superpowers in respect of the subject of human rights and wars waged in Afghanistan and Iraq in their supposed ‘war on terrorism’. Concerned about the influence of Western individualism, and the future of Asian values and traditions, Mahathir accepted the idea of cultural relativism and launched the Look East policy in 1982 as a broader campaign against Western values. Mahathir further argued that the West has a long history of human rights violations and has hardly been a paragon of democracy and justice and the groundless sense of superiority prevents the West from seeing the rationality in Eastern values. True, he was a very controversial figure among the Western political personages and there may be some aspects of his policies which everyone may not agree with, but as a defender of the dignity and rights of developing nations, against the imposition of the ‘hegomonistic’ powers of the Western powers, he stood his ground; this I admire.

Fighting for a Common Cause :

Whether we are living in the developing South or affluent North, the name of the game is the same. Those few enjoying the fruits of world labour are continuing their exploits of world resources to their benefit unabated while rest of the millions are being treated as techno-robots, wage slaves, human fodder and as means (rather than an end). Statistics rolling out from global research agencies are speaking out loud about this inescapable truth. Most of the time therefore, it has been a one-way street in favour of the privileged, rich and the powerful. Governments may play around with words, philosophies, even policies and strategies; the end result has most often been that there is scant regard to human dignity and social justice. While this process of exploitation and degradation has been taking place in full swing with the covert and overt approval of our own leaders on the one hand, on the other hand, as if the damage inflicted is not grave enough, there is another challenge which we have to face from another quarter. Some of our own intellectuals and scientists are pooling their social and mental resources together to deny Man his due place in nature and brand him as an extension of the animal kingdom or a bag of chemical elements while manipulating our own human nature and identity, seeking to take mankind to what they call ‘a phase of post humanity’, a fantasy-land, supported by technology; a ‘brave new world’ along the lines illustrated by Huxley. This unhealthy trend is destined to cause irreparable damage on the dignity and identity of mankind, both in the short as well as in the long term.

The consequence of the evil actions of the ‘Modern Civilized Man’ which is trampling our dignity and the forces of Modernization and Technology, which is devouring our individuality and identity, therefore have to be stopped forthwith, with all the power at our disposal. Message should go to those who call the shots at the highest echelons that ultimately power lies at the bottom rungs. Those at the top holding the strings and who subdue their subjects or pay lip service in restoring dignity to the latter, do not realize the level and degree of hate which lies at the bottom.

He who ascends to mountaintops, shall find

The loftiest peaks most wrapt in clouds and snow,

He who surpasses or subdues mankind

Must look down on the hate of those below.

-Lord Byron, ‘Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage’

Whether we are living in the affluent countries or in the poorest countries, whether we are religious or secular, whether we are American, British, French, Russian Iraqi, Afghani, Indian, Chinese, or Singaporean, it may not matter. What matters is our common cause-to restore into ourselves our human dignity and to fight off vile attempts by vested interests to undermine our innate dignity, devour our human identity and to change our human nature. It is imperative to build our solidarity effectively so that those at the top whichever country we belong to, will no longer be able to divide our ranks along the lines of race and geographical contours, ignore our voices and treat us as instrumentalities. Let us not give up our struggle in our search for a foothold in the world of possibilities for dignity to blossom-possibilities of justice, peace, human rights and due recognition for our individuality/personality.

Summing up, this world where we live in, is indeed a planet of contrasts. Although fiery columns of ‘fire’ of evil, injustice and self centeredness, have been spurting out constantly, there is also comparatively smaller but formidable and resurgent spurts of ‘water’ of sacrifice, altruism and determination to establish social justice and dignity which have also been gushing out forcefully with the laudable expectation of extinguishing the fire-a tall order indeed! This book is but a part of and a reflection of that laudable expectation, arising in the hearts of ordinary people and bystanders.

The Focus Of This Book…

In this greater sense, this book does not seek to radically expand the frontiers and landscape of thought in this vital area of human dignity in the world around us. Rather, suffice to say, it is but a humble and miniscule attempt on my part, to appeal to my own conscience and that of my fellowmen to revisit our own convictions, drawing inspiration from the gigantic contributions made in this area by giants, while adding my voice as part of the numerically significant community of bystanders-those voiceless and faceless millions, who feel oppressed, persecuted and deprived of their due rights as human beings in their daily lives. It is a fervent attempt to plead, petition and enthuse all those amongst us engrossed in this mad materialistic race, to reorient our current ways of thinking to constructively bring up human dignity to the top of the agenda in the world we live in, in whatever ways we can, and to be more sensitive and stand up to the unjust, unfair and inequitable happenings we experience around us day in and day out.

This book does not adopt a top down approach. Rather, it is an endeavour to look at things and issues from a bystanders’ perspective and analysis, in order to see, hear, feel and attempt to do what we can, with respect to happenings around us on a daily basis with a sense of realism and introspection. I have tried my utmost to take the subject off its ‘heavy academic jargon’ casing and regulate the flow and sequences of the narrative in measured tones, so that the book opens up to a much wider social academic and political scrutiny-specially the novice in the field, students and the average reader.

Initially we will have a quick peep into the world we live in, and then look at the role played by the bystander and the consequences of his indifference. Thereafter, we will attempt to understand the concept of human dignity itself, after surveying the rhetoric dished out in boardrooms, conferences and academic circles, in making human dignity, human rights and social justice tick at the top of the global agenda, along with the multitude of UN Declarations, Resolutions, and the mission of organizations working towards this laudable goal. Then we will visit the ground realities: to what extent these laudable expressions of good intent have been translated to positive and concrete action? This journey will expose the hypocrisies and double standards of those so called bastions of democracy, liberty and freedom and the inhumane conditions our fellow brethren are living in, when a minority amongst us are in the lap of luxury. This book goes on to enthuse all of us as bystanders to go beyond lip service by revisiting the rhetoric and realities relating to the vital issues of human dignity and rights we enjoy as humans.

It will also examine and explore to what extent the institutions and systems created by mankind both at micro and macro levels, have impacted both positively and negatively on the institution of human dignity and sanctity of the human being. It is surprising to note that how quickly even micro entities such as families and workplaces being creations of the society itself, and being considered as microcosms of the latter, reflect the mood of the outer world, and tend to imbibe its values through a process of osmosis. On the one hand, macro entities such as the super powers, regional powers, national governments, MNCs, international bodies like UN, and even movements such as Amnesty International, Red Cross etc. cannot claim that they are unaware of the repercussions which will flow by ignoring the patterns of thinking of the bystanders and bypassing them. They should know that otherwise those at the bottom rungs, through their collective synergy, will one day make their will prevail and their voice heard, initially by means of non violent endeavours, failing which even via violent escape routes of expression. On the other hand, this is also another wake up call to all of us as bystanders that we should be on the driving seat to move things to our expectations, as human dignity is too much of an important issue for the discourse to be merely left in the hands of politicians, governments, super powers or even international bodies. We, at the bottom of the ladder should seek to define events and our future destiny by driving those at the top towards making them ‘walk their talk’ on human dignity and social justice.

Perhaps our busy lifestyles have eluded us to dedicate that moment to think, reflect and act in any way possible. We are engaged in futile, petty issues like racial/colour differences and make hills out of such molehills and are led to avoid looking at bigger issues of dignity and identity of humanity, by our own cultures and leaders. Perhaps, the disinformation, the blatant cover-ups and double standards of the super powers have caused a sense of fatigue in our thinking and made us indifferent. However, it is a fact of history that whenever we pause in our alertness and do not do what we should, at a time when various forces are at work to undermine our own nature, our dignity, our rights due to us by virtue of our humanity, then our own silence, indifference or apathy may be taken by our governments, our political leadership, and the powers that be, as our approval of their action. Most of us tend to read numerous distressing, oppressive headlines in our newspapers, and go through statistics regarding scores of people dying, suffering and their human dignity being desecrated, debased and violated with utter contempt and impunity, without any constructive responses emanating from the bottom of our hearts and marshalling them for effective action. Don’t we? We have allowed, for quite a long time, our leaders to take us—the bystanders for granted, to ride roughshod their way over us and to achieve their narrow and devious aims; all in the hallowed names of democracy, civilization and progress.

I cannot claim that all ideas, opinions and views expressed in this work are mine and mine alone, for, as Rene Descartes once said, ‘One cannot conceive anything so strange and so implausible that it has not already been said by one philosopher or another’, or as was stated, ‘Nothing has yet been said that’s not been said before’. (Terence c.190-159 BC: Eunuchus). Rather, I have only attempted to do what was aptly captured in Montaigne 1533-92: Essais (1580).

‘It could be said of me that in this book I have only made up a bunch of other men’s flowers, providing of my own only the string that ties them together’.

This endeavour will be to assemble in a single volume a large body of facts, statistics, findings, views, opinions, materials which tend to expose a yawning gap between the rhetoric-what are being preached and upheld as sacrosanct-and the realities which are relevant to this sacred concept of human dignity, expressed through those courageous men and women of many cultures who individually and collectively enhanced the value of human life and extended the frontiers of human dignity. For example, we have witnessed the proclamation of a landmark declaration in recent times-Universal Declaration of Human Rights where the mankind put aside their differences and declared that ‘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." But more than 60 years after its birth, how better are we as a race in terms of the upholding of our dignity and protection of human rights? D.R. Chaudhry in an article on ‘Human Rights-Rhetoric and Reality’ published in the Mainstream, Vol. XLVIII, No 25, June 12, 2010 aptly captures the widening gap between what we say and what we do. He opines,

‘In practice, all the assertions are pious platitudes. There is a yawning gap, a painful hiatus between rhetoric and reality. Some powers, especially the powerful and mighty, treat this Declaration with contempt. The latest illustration is the American War in Iraq and Afghanistan, ostensibly to fight terrorism, but in reality to capture the oil resources in Iraq and establish its hegemony in the Middle East after the demise of the USSR. The brutal Army rule in Myanmar is an illustration of the gross violation of human rights and the UNO has utterly failed to enforce this declaration there.

The yawning gap between rhetoric and reality in the matter of human rights is best illustrated metaphorically in George Orwell’s novel Animal Farm where he states: All animals are equal but some are more equal than others.

When our actions do not match our verbiage, then needless to warn ourselves again and again that we are already sitting on top of a massive, imminent explosion of a social volcano within which the sparks of humiliation, social injustice and exploitation are appearing. Better late than never. Taking action even now, we must, to neutralize the ill effects of this possible explosion, to some extent and prevent it from spilling over to the next generation.

I have expressed a strong opinion, or expressed a preference for a particular point of view or dissented from some others or repeated what we all know as sometimes necessary. I have done so, because in my own perception, there are certain things in life which are not subjected to compromise. There are no way houses, no way side halting places. Human Dignity, to me is one of them. They are inherent and should, in my view be respected at all costs. We will see how this concept has been defined in various forms and ways from the ancient times right up to the modern times. But, it still remains an elusive concept, not been defined clearly even in the much acclaimed Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Some may view it as a concept in the ‘eyes of the beholder’ like beauty. For some, it is not an ancient concept either, if it is understood in the same way as done in current times. Yet others, it is an earned trait and one bestowed on you rather than inherent, like honour. But, mankind has over the ages by and large consistently accepted the idea and nuances linked with the concept of dignity, its members deserve by virtue of the mere fact that they are human.

Our Future Mission

Human Dignity is therefore beyond any compromise in this context, but questions may thus be asked by any sane reader: why on earth have we condoned or tolerated this unjust, uneven, unfair and inhumane system for such a long period of time, when we had within us the ability to put them right? To what extent fruits of human progress have filtered down to the bystanders and the Man on the Street? How can we possibly snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and what should be done to make human progress a healthy admixture of material and moral? Do we need a paradigm shift or a total process of reengineering in our thoughts and deeds? Quite logical.

In these challenging circumstances, therefore, active, and constructive intervention of the bystanders to fashion, mould and control the thinking and decision making process of those who call the shots in their societies and in the world at large, is not merely desirable but mandatory in the present context, and times beyond. What ever suggested here to protect, defend and promote the cause of human dignity may be rudimentary to some and already on their agenda in respect of some others. The idea is to pool our resources, our energies and our ideas for common benefit. Let this minor effort be a spark in the greater illumination to come! Like how the mighty ocean, despite its high volume of water, accepts without arrogance, even little drops of rain water falling upon it, let the drops of my contribution be accepted in the wide ocean of knowledge and scholarship in this vital area of importance to humanity.

The bystander that I am and you are, should be mature enough to realize that rhetoric and good sermons on human dignity will forever remain rhetoric and good sermons, if we show apathy and indifference to the plight of our fellowmen, irrespective of colour, gender, creed, race or religion and do not do what we must under the circumstances at least within the circles we have control over-our ourselves, our families, our neighbour-hoods and if possible even beyond. A story which has always been my inner voice to do what I could or should at my level, is the following one, which I am sure most of you would have read or heard.

A young man jogging on a lonely beach, sees hundreds perhaps thousands of little yellow, orange, pink, and brown star fish been washed ashore due to an overnight storm. They’re undulating, writhing, trying desperately to find water before they suffocate in the air. Among these creatures, he also sees an old man, white-bearded, hobbling a bit, leaning slightly on a stick with a basket on the bottom like a cross-country ski pole. Every few steps he pauses, leans slowly down, picks up a starfish, and flips it like a little Frisbee, out into the water. As he nears the old man, he slows… finally he stops, clearly amazed at what he’s seeing and asks the old man, "Pops, what are you doing, man? There’s millions of these things!"

The old man replies, Son, they’re suffocating—they got to be in water so they can breathe.

The young man says, But, man, there’s way too many of them… there’s no way you can possibly think you’re going to make any difference!

And the old man stares at him for a moment, then looks down, leans slowly down, picks up another starfish, Frisbees it out over the water.

They both watch it splash, and the old man winks at him and says, "Made a difference to that one, didn’t it?"

The effort what we put in, thus need not be necessarily gigantic; it can even be a spoken or written word, an atom of an action, or a purposeful thought, which will later crystallize into a potent force to stand up in defence for human dignity. This chain of initiatives will definitely have a snowballing effect and catalyze the process of making human dignity and human rights tick both in the local and global agenda. The facts, rhetoric, realities, stories and news which are unfolded and unravelled in the forthcoming pages do not come from or relate to an alien planet; rather, they are part and parcel of the pages in our own lives, our narratives and our experiences. Thus, reading them reflectively, sharing the concerns with others and acting upon on them, both individually and collectively, will always be in the best interests of our own selves, our families and our future progenies.

So, dear readers, we should not let people discourage us, or let them question our call, because they will. We should not let our failures put us off because temporarily we may falter. When we step out of the box, and chose to be different and defiant, we will see that being different and defiant and standing up for what is right and just, does not go well in ‘polite societies’. Take heart from those great souls down the ages who swam against the tide and defied the odds to achieve great things. The critics will always be there. They will always be around. Rather than letting their words and actions drown us in despair, let them fuel us with energy to complete our laudable mission of upholding our birthright-our inherent dignity and rights. Let the foregoing pages ignite the torch of wisdom and initiative in our hearts and souls and in our fervent belief that human dignity is one of those few things in life which is not available for compromise, let us not quit the struggle to defend it against the vested interests. As Leonardo Da Vinci, scientist, inventor and artist said, ‘Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star, does not change his mind.’

Let us start NOW, this mission to restore our lost dignity and transform the mirage of dignity hovering over us into reality. Let us act NOW before another human being dies meaninglessly out of war and violence, before an innocent child goes to bed hungry for yet another day or dies out of a preventable disease for no fault of his, before another human being is tortured in inhuman conditions under the guise of fighting terrorism, and before more and more extremists are created both in the East and the West. Let the non-violent and rational part within us take charge of our struggle to eliminate at best or reduce at worst the shameful social inequities and poverty levels and show the world that the power of non-violence of the bystanders can be a very powerful and effective tool in directing the global and national political decisions towards real change. While the world is waking up to the reality of the power of the weak and the weakness of the powerful, let us-the bystanders realize that it is much better to light a candle and do something realistic than be armchair critics and continue to curse the darkness.

What we have done for ourselves alone, dies with us; What we have done for others and the world, remains and is immortal

Lukman Harees

Reading, Berkshire, UK

2011

SECTION 1-INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I

Mind The Gap

Dignity - Progress

‘None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free. The truth has been kept from the depth of their minds by masters who rule them with lies. They feed them on falsehoods till wrong looks like right in their eyes.’

—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

A Peep Into the Real World!

The humanity stood proud when on July 20, 1969, American Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the Moon. True, it was the finale of President John F. Kennedy’s dream, as the success of his project to put a man on the moon within a nine-year time frame no doubt restored national confidence in the American Dream at a time when the US was fearful about the future of its way of life. But the very project had ramifications beyond the American territory. In fact, this undying spirit of Man to reach for the stars, was reflected in one of Kennedy’s most famous speeches Why we choose the Moon at Rice University in 1962: ‘We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win’. It was indeed a unique achievement for Mankind at large. As he put his foot down on the surface of the Moon, Armstrong did not refer to America in his first lines. Rather, he proudly declared: That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind. Truly it was a giant leap for mankind indeed! Armstrong even referred this feat as a beginning of new era at the post-flight interview ‘I just see it as beginning, not just this flight, but in this program which has really been a very short piece of human history—an instant in history—the entire program. It’s a beginning of a new age’.

Besides, no one in other parts of the world, who were watching or listening to the news about this extra ordinary feat, spoke of it as one undertaken by an American. Millions world over followed Apollo 11, beginning with liftoff on the morning of July 16 when the mighty Saturn V rocket, the most powerful machine yet constructed by human beings, propelled the three astronauts on their way into history. To all of them, Apollo 11 was the biggest thing that had ever happened in their lives. Every human, whichever country he may belong to, felt equally elated about this singular achievement in the process of conquering the marvels of space.

Ever since then, Man has been exploring further realms in far away space and depths of oceans. For the children of Apollo and the generations that followed, this little blue planet is but our cradle, and our destiny lies in the stars. Perhaps, Mars appears to be the target for the next mission. Great! Hurrah to human ingenuity, intelligence and their extraordinary prowess, in the exploration of the realms of the unknown!

Arnold Toynbee, the well-known historian, has spoken of ‘technology’s relentless progress’, and we see technology by this date has progressed even up to wield its power over Nature within us, not to say Nature outside us. As we are entering an age in which the genetic revolution is upon us so that ‘a brave new world’ is opened, the next 100 years will see changes more dramatic than the 20th century, which saw the creation of molecular genetics, the rise and fall of eugenics, and the creation of a U.S. and international human genome mapping effort (Glenn McGee, 1997)¹.

It is said that transportation and telecommunications technologies have enabled humankind to conquer the ‘tyranny’ of time and space. These technologies have made it possible for human kind to ‘overcome the friction of space and time’ without which ‘today’s complex global economic system simply could not exist.’²

Goklany, ³ puts the progress made by mankind during the previous century in some perspective:

Worldwide, life expectancy has more than doubled, from 31 years in 1900 to 67 years today. Equally important, the world is more literate and better educated than ever. People are freer politically, economically, and socially to pursue their well-being as they see fit. More people choose their own rulers, and have freedom of expression. They are more likely to live under rule of law, and less likely to be arbitrarily deprived of life, limb, and property.

Yet, as J. B. Bury⁴ opines To the minds of most people the desirable outcome of human development would be a condition of society in which all the inhabitants of the planet would enjoy a perfectly happy existence. . . . it cannot be proved that the unknown destination towards which man is advancing is desirable. The movement may be Progress, or it may be in an undesirable direction and therefore not Progress..

Has therefore humanity progressed in real terms-materialistically and also morally? Has the outcome been desirable for the greater part of humanity? A million dollar question! Well! From what has transpired in the world, it has however not given any credibility to the statement that Mankind has progressed in real terms. There are very many critics who maintain that Man’s morals are no better than his very early ancestors,—worse, if anything, for the modern Man do not have his excuse of ignorance. They claim that there is no act of inhumanity which he perpetrated and which the modern man do not perpetrate, except that he did not possess the latter’s exquisite means of perpetrating it and he could never equal the present scale of modern times. Events and happenings which occurred not just in the 20th century, but even in the post WWII or Post Cold War era have not been giving a credible image for mankind, in terms of his dignity, identity and progress.

Details will follow in the rest of the chapters, in analysing this proposition regarding progress of mankind further, but here it is proposed to take the readers through a sample cross section of what humanity has been going through at least in the Post Cold War era for purpose of emphasis. It is a very distasteful start to this book to recite the gloomy side of our human nature, yet the morsel of reality will have to be ‘tasted’ and digested gradually to enable us to assess where we have gone wrong and how to make amends to gain our rightful place in history and in the universe.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

The 10th day of December in the year 1948 was certainly a red letter day for the humanity especially with regard to the upholding of dignity and human worth of Man. It was on that day when the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed ‘the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ (UDHR) consisting of 30 articles, by a vote of 48 in favour, 0 against and with 8 abstentions, whereby the nations of the world agreed to a series of profound rights due to all human beings by virtue of their humanity. It contained at the outset the simple yet powerful truth: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. This was a day when Mankind cut across all barriers of race, religion and cultures to rise up to show that ‘it accepted human rights as minimum common standards of achievement’. Never before in the history of international law have human rights and fundamental freedoms been written down in such a detailed and comprehensive way as in the period of time after 1945.

In that sense, this declaration significantly reflected the coming of age of Man, and the maturity of the human race, for accepting through their governments, that

• every man is unique and is entitled to a life of dignity and choice; Rather than the nation, or ideology, the simple virtue of being human became the basis for one’s rights.

• we have a responsibility to respect the dignity of others; but that is an individual responsibility, a duty to respect others, not a decision that the state makes and can limit as it sees fit.

But Those Much Cherished Rights Are Being Observed More In The Breach

The UDHR proclaimed in tones loud and clear the sanctity of life and that no one can take the life of another without following the due process of law. Besides, majority of the world’s inhabitants are followers of religious faiths which emphasize on the sanctity of life and care and concern for human beings. Even otherwise, we have come a long way in the passage of civilization to ensure that past mistakes in history should not repeat themselves. Further, we have been boasting ourselves as an advanced race, having the power to explore both space and land. However, despite these laudable rhetoric and abilities, value of human lives have become cheaper by the day, poverty among several of other social issues has become a given to billions of inhabitants of this earth in this unfair world where the resources are being spent wastefully to boost the ego of some of the super rich nations and the elite class. Even, the process of globalization has not brought the much needed economic prosperity for the majority of mankind. Instead, it has by and large made the rich richer and the poor much poorer. Besides, capitalism has also created artificial lifestyles among ordinary people leading them to personal debt levels unparalleled in history.

Looking back on our past century, War killed an average of over a hundred people an hour through the 20th century, writes Jonathan Glover, director of the Centre of Medical Law and Ethics at King’s College in London, in his book, Humanity: A Moral History of the Twentieth Century. According to Glover, it is the history of the failure of our humanity and the concurrent rise of barbarism. Glover does not spare us the details of a century of untold blood and savagery, yet his main focus is on a reality that he believes lies beneath the horror-the fading of the moral law. The idea of a moral law external to us may never have had secure foundations, but, partly because of the decline of religion in the Western world, awareness of this is now widespread. Those of us who do not believe in a religious moral law should still be troubled by its fading.

When the insane Nazi led Holocaust was brought to an end by a furious world, and the main perpetrators punished in Nuremburg, the humanity expected saner council to prevail thereafter. ‘Never again’ was the chorus of the people all over the world who chanted in unison. But, it was never to be and there came genocides one after the other. It became clear that man will never ever learn. In came the infamous Rwanda Genocide. Between April and June 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the space of 100 days. Most of the dead were Tutsis-and most of those who perpetrated the violence were Hutus. Even for a country with such a turbulent history as Rwanda, the scale and speed of the slaughter left its people reeling. For me, the failure of Rwanda is ten times greater than the failure of Yugoslavia, then UN. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali told FRONTLINE. Because in Yugoslavia the international community was interested, was involved. In Rwanda nobody was interested. So we have to fight two problems. The tragedy as such and the indifference of the international community.

Then there were spate of several other genocides: Cambodia, Yugoslavia and Darfur… Meaningless loss of innocent lives, and untold suffering, amidst the glaring indifference or belated action on the part of the international community. Professor Yehuda Bauer, in another discussion paper on ‘The Holocaust and its Implications’ draws parallels between the Holocaust and other genocides,

The main parallel between the Holocaust and other genocides is that the suffering of the victims is the same. Murder is murder, torture is torture, rape is rape; starvation, disease, and humiliation are the same in all mass murders. There are no gradations, and no genocide is better or worse than another one, no one is more victim than anyone else.

The other parallel is that every genocide is perpetrated with the best technical and bureaucratic means at the disposal of the perpetrators. Thus, today’s genocide in Darfur is perpetrated with the help of air bombardments, use of cell-phones, and the government bureaucracy that supports the murderers and prevents effective outside intervention. The Holocaust was perpetrated with the best technical and bureaucratic means at the disposal of Germany. But the difference was that it happened at the very centre of European and world civilization, and that was unprecedented.

Thus, despite the pledge so often expressed, of never again, warnings were in vain, despite the proclamation of the landmark Declaration made in 1948 ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights’ recognizing the right to life, among scores of other human rights, the killing saga continues unabated even to date. We are witnessing a brutal world where sanctity of life is becoming cheaper and cheaper, through unwanted wars, terrorism, genocides and spates of violence. Adding insult to injury, as if these onslaughts on human dignity in the post Cold War era were not adequate, as if the humanity needs more lessons than the bitter experiences arising out of the American use of Atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the developed world as well as several others among the developing countries, thought it fit to show their grandeur and might by going nuclear!

Members of these so called elite Nuclear Club are flexing their muscles, putting millions of people around the world at risk, who already feel apprehensive of the maturity of the leaders calling the shots at the top. Their fears are justifiable, as they say that in the span of a lunch hour, one multi-warhead nuclear missile can destroy more cities than all the incendiary raids in history, and the only thing the combatant needs to do to carry off such a horror is to sit in air-conditioned comfort, hundreds or even thousands of miles away, and push a button. He would barely have to interrupt his lunch. With automation, he wouldn’t even have to do that! The perpetrator of this crime against humanity may never have seen his adversary. He only needs to be good at following the simplest of orders. A robot could do it. One would think that ONLY a robot WOULD do it. Nuclear war is never anything less than genocide.

Incidentally, the cost of a single nuclear submarine reportedly far exceeds the combined annual education budget or more than a dozen less developed countries or the cost of construction of thousands of schools in the Third World. Many countries spend more money for military than for education. Russia, US, China, UK and Saudi Arabia are the biggest spenders on military defence. If only such huge expenditures were used in building much needed houses, schools, hospitals, factories, dams, irrigation systems and grain storage facilities, it will be a prosperous and peaceful world. There would have been more food, jobs, incomes and essential services. More than 800 million of the earth’s adults who cannot read or write would have been able to go to schools.

Emerging Weakness of the Strong and the Power of the Weak

What next? The world has to bear the brunt and the risk of the Cold War, on the heels of the WWII. John Lewis Gaddis concludes in his book ‘The Cold War’, ‘it began with a return of fear and ended in a triumph of hope’, an unusual trajectory for great historical upheavals’. Regretfully this expectation of hope remains unfulfilled to this day. In the post Cold War era, the world has to deal with an arrogant sole super power the US, whose sense of ‘American Exceptionalism’ has made the world a much worse place to live in, of course with the threat of consequential terrorism and their intervention in affairs of other countries in their assumed role as the ‘global policeman’. Mike Pence of Indiana, US whom many see foresee as a Republican candidate for President in 2012 said, ‘we will work to re-establish American exceptionalism rather than denying or apologizing for it’. America seldom realizes that the age of exceptionalism is over, although Americans still refer to their president as the leader of the free world, elected by well under 4% of the world’s population (thus even less of its free citizens). The non-American majority in the world now understands the emerging power of the weak and the bystanders. This is what Meratornet.com has to say in this regard in an article on ‘Time for a New Destiny’ by Godfrey Hodgson. (15/11/2010)

‘ . . . a bitterly polarized American electorate still believes that American strength can and should be used to reinforce missionary projects that disseminate an American ideology.The resulting chasm is both one of perception between (many) Americans and (most) non-Americans, but also one between many Americans’ view of their country’s position in the world and the realities of the matter. In a world of car-bombs and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), of globalization and wage competition, of asymmetrical campaigns and multi-polar relationships, of transforming identities and rising ambitions, Americans have as yet understood even less than their fellow westerners the emerging strength of