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1 NUJS L. Rev. 387 (2008)
Human Rights and Basic Needs: Theory and Practice

handle is hein.journals/nujslr1 and id is 399 raw text is: HUMAN RIGHTS AND BASIC NEEDS: THEORY AND PRACTICE. Editors: Mahendra P Singh, Helmut Goerlich and Michael von Hauff Universal Law Publishing Co., Delhi, 2008. Hard Cover, Pages xxviii - 339. Rs. 425. The moral and conceptual underpinnings of human rights have been the subject of study starting from the time the idea of universal rights, natural or human, were put forward. The extents to which such underpinnings are present in countries with differing religious, cultural and social traditions have been a matter of debate. In recent years we have seen strong opposition concerning the universalism of human rights from those who defend the cultural relativism of rights and who deny the moral right to enforce such universal human rights. A related question has also been whether the ideological basis of human rights discourse is specific to the Judeo-Christian tradition and whether it could be adequately justified in other traditions.' The location of the individual in each tradition, the conceptualisation of the state, the nature of the legal system, and the religious, historical, social and economic development of a country are important constituents in constructing this tradition. The Westphalian state as it emerged in Europe was deemed all- powerful in the temporal sphere. The rise of individual rights against such a powerful state is the narrative of the development of modem human rights. The discourse around human rights has had to examine whether this narrative of the emergence of the state and its relationship vis-A-vis individualism and their liberties is a meta- narrative for the course of development of all countries in the world. The book under review seeks to locate the roots of human rights thinking in indigenous, country-specific traditions. Using India, Britain and Germany as representative of diverse traditions, the book uses a comparative approach to understand whether the notion of rights has been central to the legal and moral traditions of these countries. The book is a result of a series of conversations that began at a meeting at the Institute of Advanced Studies, Berlin in 2003. In a thought-provoking, opening chapter that sets the tone for much of the book, Professor Mahendra P. Singh points to the divergences between the Judeo-Christian tradition and the Indian one. Whereas in the former, God and man are seen as distinct entities, the latter sees the human as a manifestation and even a part of God. The implications of this view as developed by him are that there is no 'other' in the Indian tradition and consequently no demonization of the 'other'. Rather, there is acceptance and accommodation of alternate traditions paving the way for mutual respect and hence for the acceptance of the universality of rights. Another idea taken up in the essay and that has been the site for much debate, is the notion of a single Indian tradition, as a secular idea, free of all religious overtones. Professor Singh is conscious of the implications of locating a tradition solely in terms of its religious pedigree and the distinct possibility of creating See ARVIND SHARMA, ARE HUMAN RIGHTS WESTERN? A CONTRIBUTION TO THE DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS (2006).

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