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Jainism: The Cosmic Vision
proclaim, 'That which exists is only One; the sages speak of it variously.' The Koran affirms, 'All creatures are members of the one family of God.'
106 years ago, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was thrown out of a railway carriage at the Pieter Maritzburg railway station in South Africa by a white officer. The apparent provocation for the whiteman was that the colour of Gandhi's skin was black. At that time Gandhi said, "I will no longer tolerate this." And this one utterance from a man with a frail body, but with an indomitable will, became a turning point in the history of mankind. It was the beginning of a struggle against injustice and discrimination which later spread through out the world. Great national leader like Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela took up on the task of making the world more just and more humane.
Mahatma Gandhi's spiritual mentor was Shrimad Rajchandra from whom he sought spiritual guidance. He fought against the white regime in South Africa so as to free the Indians from the scourge of slavery. At the roots of this struggle lies the fundamental principles of Jainism. The biggest violation of human rights is reflected in racism which indulges in blatant discrimination on the basis of race or colour. The Jain religion strongly protested against such discrimination and tried to banish slavery and thus did a great service to the cause of human dignity and justice.
Taking a cue from Mohandas Gandhi, who later came to be known as a Mahatma, Nelson Mandela fought to banish apartheid from South Africa and fought for human rights. For that he had to spend 28 years in jail. And yet he was determined to end racial discrimination in his motherland.
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Human Rights And Jainism
Thomas Paine, in his book The Rights of Man (1791-92) has written about human rights. He was declared an outlaw for his Wicked seditious writing, and was prosecuted. Thereafter, he never went back to his country and had to take asylum elsewhere. This was the fate that befell on one who championed for the cause of human rights. The situation has not changed much even today, 200 years after Thomas Paine and those who fight for human rights are subjected even today to unbearable indignities.
The term 'human rights' is very much in vogue today and has become a part of the lexicon of national politics and international diplomacy. Countries all over the world talk of protecting human rights and leaders of all shades and colour never forget to mention them every now and then.
It has been a hot topic of discussion in many a convention. Today human rights are equated with a decent life style. All the same, the term "Human Rights" continues to arouse confusion and controversy. More often than not it is only talked about, but not practised. Despite strong international effort, the movement for human rights has not been a great success in many parts of the world. And yet, it has now become a movement for human dignity and fight for justice. Religions do talk of human rights, but very often ironically though, they are violated and trampled upon again in the name of religion. Hence the onus for protecting and promoting them actually rests on religions. They can pave the way for unity, harmony and social justice in the world. There is today a wide gap between precepts and practices, between promise and performance. Many countries accept the importance of human rights in principle but are shy while actually promoting or protecting them. There is,
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