International Human Rights Day observed

International Human Rights Day was observed by Nagaland Voluntary Consumers’ Organisation (NVCO) at Kohima on December 10.
A press note by NVCO media cell stated that president of NVCO, Kezhokhoto Savi said that human rights was natural right and cannot be denied on the basis of race, creed, ethnicity or gender. However, he said that in many cases public authorities and government official institutes policies that violated basic human rights. Such abuses of power by political leaders and state authorities have devastating effects, he added.
Savi further pointed out that government of Nagaland was yet to constitute State Human Rights Commission which itself was amounting to serious human rights violation. He also said that as indigenous people of the land, Article 371A of the Constitution of India provided a special provision giving the Naga people rights to protect their own way of life, its land and resources.
Savi said that a major theme of the human rights discourse was the Armed Forces (Special Power) Act widely seen in the state as draconian, wherein he questioned if the citizens of Nagaland were literate enough on human rights.
In this regard, he said that churches, educational institutions and colleges had to play an active role in promoting peace, justice and social transformation.