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Editorial
Debating Human
Rights
For a long time
now, we at the World Sikh News have been trying to dovetail the
debate about the crisis being faced by the Sikh Nation with the
larger debate about Human Rights in the world, specifically in
India. This past week, Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human
Rights Watch, was in India, where he spoke extensively about the
state of affairs and the impunity with which official agencies of
the Indian government and its forces violate the human rights of the
poor, the deprived, the minorities and the tribals. Kenneth Roth
hardly minces any words, so his words are important.
Human Rights
Watch is an international organization with headquarters in New York
and conducts investigations into abuses of rights and issues
periodic reports. It uses these reports to generate pressure on
governments by shaming them in the media, a strategy that has come
handy for many targeted by the state as the Sikhs have been for a
long time now. We at the WSN appreciate Kenneth Roth's comments that
on the civil and political rights side, the foremost concern is the
impunity enjoyed by the Indian security forces, which, he said, "is
virtually an invitation to increased abuse." "We see this in the
Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), in the Army's presence in
places like Kashmir or Manipur.We see it also in the behavior of
the police.
We recently
issued a report on how the very poor working conditions, inadequate
resources, inadequate training and the lack of sufficient oversight
have encouraged police abuse. As we do in any conflict situation,
here too, we report on both sides. We have been highly critical of
the Naxal attacks on schools, on civilians and representatives of
the state in general. A state does have a duty to protect its people
from those kinds of atrocities. Our concern is, how do the security
forces behave in their operations? Will they respect the
requirements of international human rights to minimize the harm on
civilians, ensure that civilians do not become the victims of
stepped-up
counter-insurgency efforts?" Human Rights Watch must understand that
the Naxal conflict has its roots in economic deprivation. It must
recognize the need for economic development as part of the response
to the Naxal threat. Even more important are the areas where India
violates human rights without committing visible violence. It is
this form that is most prevalent in case of Punjab currently. Most
of the state has been sunk in drugs that are being called the sixth
river of Punjab. T
here is no move
to put an end to this menace; instead, rising unemployment and
complete failure of the government to do anything about it is adding
to the menace. Add to it the crumbling infrastructure of medicare
facilities and school education, and you have the recipe ready for
destroying Punjab. Coupled with explicit abuse of human rights in
matters of access to education, atrocities on Dalits, non-action on
AIDS, curbs on religious freedom and the status of women, and
India's picture of a gross human rights abuser is complete.
Human Rights
activists also need to pay attention to India's double talk: it
talks of support for Aung San Suu Kyi, but enjoys the coziest
relationship with Burmese junta. It kept mum during the massacre of
Tamils in Sri Lanka and is doing no better in case of Nepal. George
Bush showed us how being a democracy does not make you immune to
making serious human rights abuses. But India is not even a
democracy in that evolved sense of the term. Indian human rights
activists also need to learn a lesson in candidness from people like
Kenneth Roth. He said, “The Human Rights Council in Geneva has not
worked on a consistently principled basis. In recent years, the
Council has taken some steps backwards in terms of principled
support for human rights.
Ban ki Moon has
been too eager to meet with officials without ensuring he gets
something in return. When he went to Burma, he was so eager to meet
with the junta he did not get anything promised
before he went
there. There was no surprise when he was given nothing—he had given
up all of his leverage.” Will Indian activists look inwards and ask
themselves how they have given up on their leverage?
30
December 2009
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