Sheena Chohan highlights the importance of spreading awareness of basic rights and equality in schools

Sheena Chohan, a versatile actor known for her work in “The Trail,” “The Fame Game” and “The City of Dreams,” is currently gaining attention for her advocacy on human rights. Chohan was awarded the Hero Award at the United Nations for her awareness campaign that reached 170 million people with a message of human rights. The actress emphasizes the importance of spreading awareness of basic rights and equality and is calling for mandatory human rights education in all Indian schools.

Sharing on why it’s important to promote that in schools, colleges and institutions or amongst the youth, Sheena stated, “Human rights bring decency, equality and peace to society - they help stop discrimination, so we must spread awareness of our basic rights and make human rights education mandatory in schools. The Indian constitution is one of the best in the world and it contains rights like Don’t Discriminate, the Right to Education, Social Security, No Torture (domestic violence), No Slavery (child labour), and many more vital rights that we all must be aware of. If we want a decent society then these rights, including what they are and how they relate to day to day life need to be taught in schools in a way that can really be understood and used - in a simple way that relates to the issues we face today. Human rights, as laid out in the Indian constitution are the basis of all of our laws and also teach us our responsibilities, so it must become mandatory in schools.”

Speaking about how her being a human rights activists influences the kind of roles she choose, she shared, “I won’t accept a role if the message of the film is negative - if it promotes drugs, adultery or discrimination. The whole point of art is to help uplift the society - film is so powerful because it makes us look at life in a way that hits deep into our hearts, so it has more influence than anything else in society. We need to make sure that our films inspire and enliven the audience, so when I look at a role I always want to understand what is the basic message of it and what is the effect it will have on society.”

Revealing about her inspiration behind this cause, she tells, “I’m inspired by Ambedkar, the principle architect of the Indian constitution and Eleanor Roosevelt, the woman who brought the nations together to write and agree on the UN’s Universal Declaration on Human Rights. I’m also inspired by Dr. Mary Shuttleworth, the founder of United for Human Rights, whose work has spread awareness of basic rights and equality to over 750 million people, much of that achieved by the use of films that were directed by her brilliant son, Taron Lexton.”

Through all this work, Sheena shares about her biggest learning she received, “If you read the Indian Constitution, using a dictionary to really make sure you understand the words, and if you read a simplified version of the UN’s Declaration, again making sure to look up any words you don’t understand, you gain so much knowledge about how you have the right to be treated and about how you must act towards others. It gives you a deep understanding, when things are happening in day to day life or in the larger society, about the rights or wrongs in that situation. All Indian law and all international law is based on these two documents, so as an Indian and as a human being we all have a duty to read them and make sure that we don’t go past words we don’t understand when we read them, so we truly understand them.”