Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Tuesday reiterated his earlier demand to include ‘non-violence’ in the Preamble of the Constitution of India while addressing a gathering at Soochana Bhawan here on the occasion of World Human Rights Day.
The state-level programme was jointly organised by the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) and Information and Public Relations (I&PR) department of Odisha. Many dignitaries including the former Chief Justice of India, GB Patnaik and Chairman of OHRC Justice BP Das were present.
During his speech, Patnaik said, “My proposal for the inclusion of ‘non-violence’ in the Preamble of our Constitution will be a step forward in the direction for the protection of human rights.”
He also lauded the efforts made by women vigilantes that led to the promulgation of a gender neutral Universal Declaration of Human Rights 10 December, 1948. CM Patnaik asserted, “By fielding women in one-third of parliamentary seats of Odisha and creating numerous opportunities for women empowerment, Odisha has created a revolutionary trend which is being acknowledged across the nation.”
Patnaik urged the gathering “to rededicate them to uphold and protect human rights of all the downtrodden and hapless citizens around us”. He reaffirmed his government’s commitment to ‘protect the rights and upholding the dignity of people’.
Ex-CJI GB Patnaik asserted, “Human rights is nothing but the natural right of every human being based on the natural law that for every individual has these rights against the state and public authority by virtue of being a member of the human family.”
He mentioned that it is matter of great proud that the first chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission, Justice Ranganath Mishra, was an Odia. He also claimed that Odisha was among those states where the state human rights commission established by the enactment of respective laws in this regard. Chairman of OHRC informed the gathering that as many as 6,144 cases were disposed of in the OHRC while around 3,002 fresh complaints lodged till December 1, 2019.
