Human Rights : Reflections of the East & Perceptions of the West

The quest for the inalienable rights of human beings has gained a universal appeal. Nevertheless, a debate rages whether human rights are universal or relative to time and place? Is there a high, common ground of shared ideals in the universal quest for justice and equality? Or, on the issue of human rights, is “East is East, and West is West and never the twain shall meet”? 

The debate is inconclusive because neither the East nor the West is a homogeneous zone. Diversity abounds and value pluralism is the mark of modern civilization everywhere. At the same time, in the age of globalisation, a two-way exchange of values is taking place. This is conducive to the search for commonalities and the discovery of a universal core surrounded by a penumbra in which relativity reigns and context determines content. 

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