December 18 -Minorities Rights Day
Minorities Rights Day is observed on 18th December. The day reminds us of true rights of Minorities. Every nation has different ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities group. It is the duty of the state to provide all the rights to the minorities irrespective of their population and religion. Providing an equal right to minorities is true hallmark of a democracy. There are hundreds of instances in the world when a particular minority group had to suffer because of policy discrimination.
To handle such situations and to stop the occurrence of discrimination against the minorities, United Nations had adopted and promulgated the Declaration on the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic, Linguistic and Religious minorities. The UN had declared that:-
“States shall protect the existence of the national or ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic identity of minorities within their respective territories and encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity”.
This declaration was a huge step in protecting minorities group all over the world. It is a very important day in India because of frequent discussion and disagreements on majority-minority issues. Though the republic of India has always provided equal rights to all the religions, pertinent issues regarding minority rights keep creeping in. However, to the credit of the nation and its secular fabric, India remains a peaceful nation with no minority conflict.
The National Commission for Minorities celebrates the Minority Rights Day every year on December 18. The commission has played a major role in protecting the rights of the minority communities and in bringing about better understanding among the various religious minority communities in India.