Human Rights Quotes

“When bigots get loud, we gotta make our existence even louder.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Neurosonnets: The Naskar Art of Neuroscience

“If she herself had had any picture of the future, it had been of a society of animals... all equal... the strong protecting the weak... Instead- She did not know why- they had come to a time when no one dared speak his mind, when fierce, growling dogs roamed everywhere, and when you had to watch your comrades torn to pieces after confessing to shocking crimes.”
― George Orwell, Animal Farm

“If you can't be a tsunami, be a flash flood - if you can't be a flash flood, be a garden hose, and wash away the inhumanities around you.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Neurosonnets: The Naskar Art of Neuroscience

“If Only (Sonnet 1983)

If I were a fascist,
I'd press that button,
and wipe the colonizers
off the planet for good.

If I were a fascist,
I'd press that button,
and let millions of innocents
burn for a greater global good.

If I were a fascist,
I'd press that button,
sanctified of filth
we would start anew.

If only I were a fascist
like you - if only!”
― Abhijit Naskar, Azad Earth Army: When The World Cries Blood

“Lasting change is best achieved when the voices of those who are exploited are able to speak for themselves and are heard when they do so.”
― Siddharth Kara, Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives

“Meaningful solutions cannot be devised if they are devoid of direct input from those the solutions are meant to assist.”
― Siddharth Kara, Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives

“Chefs add more ingredients as they cook, you know. We’re not all put together at once. Consider your soul one of the ingredients eventually added. And, just because the ingredients are there, doesn't mean we must go through with putting that celestial mix into the oven. God allows us the free will to bake our cake of destiny another time. Perhaps that timeless ingredient, the soul, is placed into another chef's recipe somewhere in fate and time—who will look into your little eyes with delight. There are times when the cake isn't baking properly, so the oven is paused—the baking stopped. Other times, the chef has a lot going on and decides not to bake the cake today, and that's ok. For, there is more to life than just baking a cake, as the chef is more than just a chef. She is a person too.”
― Jasmine McMorran

“When we look at the archives, we find no statement other than Ercan Kanar's condemnation concerning Şimel Aydın. We encounter a Human Rights Association (İHD) that becomes silent when it comes to the execution by left-wing organizations. This silence is not limited to İHD alone. Primarily the press and media of the time, as well as institutions and individuals advocating human rights, have remained silent when it comes to organizational executions.”
― Aytekin Yılmaz, Yoldaşını Öldürmek

“I cannot comprehend how many rational people, capable of political and philosophical thought, after putting their own friends through torturous interrogations in a 'trial', can unanimously decide to execute them all together; some even strangling their friends or others keeping watch to prevent any sounds or noise, and then celebrate it with dancing the next morning. This must be a disorder both mentally and intellectually.”
― Aytekin Yılmaz

“The morning after the next night, a dance of revolution took place in the barracks. At the head of the line was likely the comrade Şimel referred to as "sister". Years later, I learned that while those who executed Şimel were dancing, two female guards on the other side of the door were crying. Torture marks were found in the autopsy report. Şimel was a 17-year-old girl when she was killed. It seems they didn't even wait for her to grow up. Both the state and 11 leftist organizations knew Şimel would be killed. Neither the state nor the organizations prevented it. Those who annually commemorate Erdal Eren, whose age was increased for his execution, did not see, hear, or acknowledge Şimel. Yet, Şimel's age was not altered. She remained forever 17.”
― Aytekin Yılmaz, Yoldaşını Öldürmek

“Our sit-in action unmasked many things. We realized that human rights organizations are not truly advocates of rights. We saw that writers and artists are hypocritical. We observed that they mention victims of the state, but they do not even speak the names of victims of organizations”
― Aytekin Yılmaz, Dağbozumu

“Anomaly today, norm tomorrow.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Neurosonnets: The Naskar Art of Neuroscience

“When terrorists become gods, citizens gotta be Godzilla.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Neurosonnets: The Naskar Art of Neuroscience

“When criminals become king,
citizens must become kaiju.
When terrorists become gods,
citizens gotta be Godzilla.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Neurosonnets: The Naskar Art of Neuroscience

“Bella ciao, we're not going back
to the jungle, not ever, not now.
Hate not permitted while I stand,
this, is the original divine vow.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Neurosonnets: The Naskar Art of Neuroscience

“Original Vow (Anti Fascist Sonnet)

By race we are all african,
by birth we are all feminist,
by nature we are all lovers,
by suffering we are all poets.

You know, which nation has the nicest people?
You cannot guess in a million years.
The nation with the nicest people is, Earth, for
no nation has exclusive franchise over niceness -

goodness is a human quality, not a national one.
Nationalism is an animal trait, not a human one.
Sacredness is a secular practice, not sectarian.
Culture is an act of expansion, not exclusion.

Bella ciao, we're not going back
to the jungle, not ever, not now.
Hate not permitted while I stand,
this, is the original divine vow.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Neurosonnets: The Naskar Art of Neuroscience

“When the rights of the few are trampled, the law must rise, not in defense of the powerful but in the service of those who have no voice.”
― Sree Krishna Seelam, PIL : Power, Purpose, and People's Rights: A Common Man’s Guide to filing a Public Interest Litigation in India

“If you take up arms you'll end it, but if you sit around and wait for the one who is in power to make up his mind that he should end it, you'll be waiting a long time...you're living at a time of extremism, a time of revolution, a time when there's got to be a change, people in power have misused it, and now there has to be a change. And a better world has to be built and the only way it's going to be built is with extreme methods”
― Malcolm X "By Any Means Necessary"

“Now it is a common Kashmiri saying:
Kashmir has moved so far away from India after August 5th August that even Afghanistan was not that far away.”
― Sheikh Gulzar after 5th August......Plebiscite for Kashmir

“All Awake to Humanity (Sonnet 2050)

Science ought to be at the forefront
of calling and curing mindlessness,
not an olympian god aloof on pedestal
distantly passing judgment, like
hallucinations through bushes.

Faith ought to be at the forefront
of calling out persecution and malice,
rather than seeking justification in
dead books, like brainless primates.

Selma to Montgomery, from river to the sea,
We stand guard, with no weapon but our dignity.
Reason is our ark, love is our compass -
Colored, White, Muslim and otherwise, together
we shall overcome - All Awake to Humanity!”
― Abhijit Naskar, Neurosonnets: The Naskar Art of Neuroscience

“Selma to Montgomery, from river to the sea,
We stand guard, with no weapon but our dignity.
Reason is our ark, love is our compass -
Colored, White, Muslim and otherwise, together
we shall overcome - All Awake to Humanity!”
― Abhijit Naskar, Neurosonnets: The Naskar Art of Neuroscience

“That Day I'll Call You Human (Sonnet)

I shall call you all human,
the day you bring down all borders,
like you brought down the Berlin wall.

I shall call you all human,
the day you abolish all military,
like you abolished the SS.

I shall call you all human,
the day you eradicate fundamentalism,
like you eradicated polio.

I shall call you all human,
the day you ban the oligarchs,
like you tackled corona.

If you can't be a tsunami, be a flash flood -
if you can't be a flash flood, be a garden hose,
and wash away the inhumanities around you.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Neurosonnets: The Naskar Art of Neuroscience

“Equal rights allowed Eve to become Adam.”
― Tamerlan Kuzgov

“The loss of rights had been slow at first, almost imperceptible as it crept into our daily lives. Then, without warning, that slow decay transformed into a rapid and unrelenting torrent. Perhaps that was how losing rights went in every decaying society.”
― Nikki Elizabeth, Part Two: Execution

“It is not that difficult to understand and differentiate between our said rights and our assumption that we solely own them. (...)

Your right of self-defense, for instance, firmly stops at your borders. Crossing that line becomes an offense.

Your right to freedom of expression loses its validity at the uttering of hate, discrimination, racism, or lies.

Your basic human rights cease to be an entitlement when you intentionally and forcefully deprive others of theirs.

Even your right to express anger ceases to exist when it turns to violence, whether verbal or physical. (...)

No one is entitled to that which they refuse to others.”
― Claudys Kantara, Rebel Thoughts of Wisdom: Inspiring Conscious Change for Personal & Collective Growth

“Love who you like,
stay single if you choose.
Have kids when you like,
or abort if you choose.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The God Sonnets: Naskar Art of Theology

“My mission is not mindless radicalism, my mission is mindful humanizing of the world.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The God Sonnets: Naskar Art of Theology

“It ends with me, toxic masculinity ends with me, religious intolerance ends with me - superstition 'n conspiracy ends with me, prejudice and puritanism ends with me - jungle nationalism ends with me, animal fundamentalism ends with me - segregated spaces, both outside and inside, end with me.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The God Sonnets: Naskar Art of Theology

“Not everyone is in the position to be outspoken against all inhumanities, but if you have the guts to call out even some, you have a life-long friend in me.”
― Abhijit Naskar, The God Sonnets: Naskar Art of Theology

“It's not about insisting one's right; it's about maintaining everyone's peace.”
― Joey Lawsin, The One Theory Hypothesis