& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Lawyering for right to food

Mohammad Golam Sarwar
RIGHT to food is one of the fundamental human rights which is not only enshrined in the national constitution but also recognised in the international instruments dealing with human rights. Right to food has been asserted in the constitution of the people's republic of Bangladesh under the head of fundamental principles of state policy which is not judicially enforceable. The absence of progressive realisation of the right to food not only curtails our basic necessities but also shows utmost indifference to fulfill constitutional commitment.
Though state is under an obligation to secure an enabling environment for the realisation of right to food, it still remains a far cry in case of Bangladesh. Right to food is also closely interlinked with the fundamental right to freedom from hunger and malnutrition which also remains unrealised. It is evident that without realising right to food, it is not possible to enjoy other rights in fuller sense. Further, the non-realisation of right to food hampers the poverty reduction process which is indispensible for the growth of human rights culture in Bangladesh.
In this backdrop, National Human Rights Commission Bangladesh and Oxfam organised a Lawyers' Training on Right to Food which was held at NGO Forum for Public Health from 23-25 March 2014. This training aimed to create awareness and sensitisation on the need for judicial safeguards of right to food, and on the need for legal recognition of right to food and at the same time to strengthen the capacity of the legal professionals to facilitate legal actions to advance the right to food. The participants of the programme were mostly legal professionals including advocates and human rights activists. Prof. Dr. Mizanur Rahman, NHRC, Chairman, Sara Hossain, Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Dr. Zakir Hossain, Ex-Dean, Faculty of Law, Chittagong University and Dr. Abdullah Al Faruque, Dean, Faculty of Law, Chittagong University among others took sessions on various aspects of right to food.
Adulteration of food is a major threat to quality aspect of food security which needs to be addressed by strengthening Regulatory framework, said Dr. Abdullah Al Faruque. Although rice productions are largely sufficient in Bangladesh, self-sufficiency in other food items is still to be achieved and accordingly about half of the populations of Bangladesh still live below the food-based poverty, he informed.
Sara Hossain emphasised on the development of contents of policies and the monitoring of policy implementation to ensure protection of right to food, while discussing on Legal and Institutional Framework on Right to Food in Bangladesh. She stressed to maintain consistency between policy goals and targets relating to right to food and state's duties to enforce right to food.
To ensure right to food through legal mechanism it is necessary to make people as right holder by making them aware of their rights so that they can hold the state accountable, said Advocate Sultana Kamal, Executive Director of Ain o Shalish Kendro at the closing ceremony of the training programme.
Professor Dr. Mizanur Rahman emphasised on the empowerment of peasants and farmers to secure right to food who are contributing greatly for availability of various food products. In the presence of poverty people cannot be empowered and at the same time human rights cannot be ensured, he added.
More attention must be given on the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights, otherwise civil and political rights enshrined in our constitution would not flourish, Dr. Rahman urged.