HUMAN
rights have their roots in antiquity. The ancient
Jews had laws protecting the rights even of
foreign slaves.Similarly, the Hindu scriptures
ordain looking after the weak and the vulnerable,
giving evidence that sensitivity for their rights
has its roots in the ancient times. There is an
episode in the Mahabharata
wherein Narada asks Yudhishtra: "Do you
treat as father, your subjects who are blind,
dumb, lame, deformed, friendless and also those
who have renounced the world?" Kings were
morally bound to provide for the war-disabled and
their dependants. This becomes clear
fromNarada’s next query:"Do you
maintain the women of those who died for you on
the battlefield? And do you also maintain those
who are wounded on the battlefield while fighting
for you?"
HUMAN
rights have their roots in antiquity. The ancient
Jews had laws protecting the rights even of
foreign slaves.Similarly, the Hindu scriptures
ordain looking after the weak and the vulnerable,
giving evidence that sensitivity for their rights
has its roots in the ancient times. There is an
episode in the Mahabharata
wherein Narada asks Yudhishtra: "Do you
treat as father, your subjects who are blind,
dumb, lame, deformed, friendless and also those
who have renounced the world?" Kings were
morally bound to provide for the war-disabled and
their dependants. This becomes clear
fromNarada’s next query:"Do you
maintain the women of those who died for you on
the battlefield? And do you also maintain those
who are wounded on the battlefield while fighting
for you?"
