The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : "Nations should guarantee citizens' capabilities"

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 19, 2006
ePaper

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Others

"Nations should guarantee citizens' capabilities"

Staff Reporter

PUDUCHERRY: "Any nation, which says that it has been able to give a life that's worthy of human dignity, has to guarantee to give life, bodily integrity, health, the development of senses, emotional health, political relationships, the ability to enjoy nature, the ability to play and control over one's material and social environment," Martha Nussbaum, Academician, Academy of Finland said.

Delivering an address on "Towards a unity in diversity" in Auroville near here on Monday, Ms. Martha Nussbaum, who is the Founder and coordinator of the new Centre for Comparative Constitutions, said that any nation that wants to protect those through constitution or any other process must really guarantee these ten capabilities.

Having been teaching law, she said that she considered the Indian and South African Constitutions were models since they had been able to guarantee the capabilities for their citizens.

These 10 points are just a model for public persuasion and it is not going to be implemented without people who will as democratic citizens. The second thing is to make people capable to do something and not lagoon them into functioning according to that. Thirdly the local nation and region has a lot of flexibility in deciding exactly to specify what free speech and the freedoms of religion are because the nations have different histories and cultures.

Members of the Governing Board of Auroville, Aster Patel, Malini Parthasarathy of The Hindu , Srinivasmurthy of the Auroville Foundation and dancer Sonal Mansigh participated.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu