Mangaluru: Reminding the public of the presence of Lokayuktas in every district and a Lokayukta Commission in Bengaluru, former Lokayukta Justice Santhosh Hegde said that the officials will take up cases voluntarily if letters narrating incidents are addressed to them.

He was speaking at a peace rally and convention on human rights organized by Bandhavya, a federation of 18 NGOs in the city on Saturday January 16. The rally was held from Milagres to St Agnes Special School grounds, where the convention was held. The event also marked the decennial celebrations of Bandhavya.

Hedge said that corruption is one of the main reasons for violation of human rights. He said that the society today worships only money and power. Hence, the general public must take the first step towards abolishing corruption and inculcating moral values in the younger generation.

Resource person for the event Shailaja Santhosh, who is an educator of Human Rights at Roshni Nilaya College here, said that the knowledge of human rights is the first step towards claiming them. “It is only when a person is aware of his rights can he stand for it”, she said adding that such participatory activism can take the country to greater heights.

She also said that all human rights are interconnected and a dent to one dents all other rights. Hence, keeping a track of all the amendments made to human rights and the understanding between countries is of a great importance.

Violation of human rights can never be stopped

Mangaluru South MLA JR Lobo said that violation of human rights is prevalent since ages and has only changed its forms. He said that it cannot be stopped at any cost and gave a call to various social organizations to train individuals to face any given situation instead.

He said that human rights are violated mainly due to religion and corruption. In both cases, the sufferers are only the poor, he said adding that people should know what religion means.