INDIA – HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS ARE SHAMEFUL
- From: Muhammad Javed Iqbal <kaleemjavediqbal@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 1 Feb 2010 05:12:58 -0800 (PST)
By Nirmala Carvalho
For activist Lenin Raghuvanshi, “the human rights situation in India
is shameful”. Religious fundamentalism but also “torture by police”
and the “collapse of rule of law” are to blame. The country suffers
from a “mindset” that hurts the weakest and non-Hindu minorities.
Mumbai (AsiaNews) – Lenin Raghuvanshi, director of the Peoples'
Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), does not mince words when
it comes to human rights protection and basic rights in the world’s so-
called largest democracy. For him, “the human rights situation in
India is shameful”, starting with the “lack of religious freedom” and
the “conditions in which the weakest groups in society live”.
The 2007 Gwanju Human Rights Award laureate said that human rights are
under attack in India on a number of fronts. On the one hand, we have
“torture by police” and the “collapse of the rule of law at the
grassroots level”; on the other, there is the extremism by rebel and
secessionist movements and “religious fundamentalism” fuelled by
certain political parties.
This year’s human rights celebration is dedicated to minorities, an
apt venue to reveal the situation of the country.
In India, the weakest segments of society are also the most
vulnerable: Dalits, women and children. Of course, these groups are
not minorities in terms of numbers but are in a minority situation as
far as power and social status are concerned.
Religious minorities are another major problem. “Freedom of religion
is a fundamental human right,” the PVCHR president said. However,
“despite constitutional guarantees, the reality is quite different.”
India’s religious minorities are often caught between a “feudal system
based on Hindu-dominated castes” and “Hindu extremist groups who are
opposed to religious freedom in the country.”
For Raghuvanshi, these two problems are an expression of the same
“mindset” that finds complicities or inaction among political leaders
and supporters inside the security apparatus and the legal system. The
holy city of Varanasi is a case in point. Here, the number of
complaints filed against the police is the same as against members of
the Hindu extremists group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Other
examples are anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat and anti-Christian
violence in Kandhamal (Orissa).
In view of this situation, Raghuvanshi calls on the authorities to
“reform the police” and debureaucratise agencies like the National
Human Rights Commission. Violence by Maoist rebels and religious
fundamentalists should also end.
“Without changes at this level, the human rights situation in the
country is bound to end in tragedy,” he said.
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11.2. INDIA Human rights violated by extremism as well as religious
and so
Posted by: "marco.pertoni@xxxxxxxxx" marco.pertoni@xxxxxxxxx
sitrep_comalp
Mon Feb 1, 2010 6:12 am
12/10/2009 14:03
INDIA – HUMAN RIGHTS
Human rights violated by extremism as well as religious and social
discrimination
by Nirmala Carvalho
For activist Lenin Raghuvanshi, “the human rights situation in India
is shameful”. Religious fundamentalism but also “torture by police”
and the “collapse of rule of law” are to blame. The country suffers
from a “mindset” that hurts the weakest and non-Hindu minorities.
Mumbai (AsiaNews) – Lenin Raghuvanshi, director of the Peoples'
Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), does not mince words when
it comes to human rights protection and basic rights in the world’s so-
called largest democracy. For him, “the human rights situation in
India is shameful”, starting with the “lack of religious freedom” and
the “conditions in which the weakest groups in society live”.
The 2007 Gwanju Human Rights Award laureate said that human rights are
under attack in India on a number of fronts. On the one hand, we have
“torture by police” and the “collapse of the rule of law at the
grassroots level”; on the other, there is the extremism by rebel and
secessionist movements and “religious fundamentalism” fuelled by
certain political parties.
This year’s human rights celebration is dedicated to minorities, an
apt venue to reveal the situation of the country.
In India, the weakest segments of society are also the most
vulnerable: Dalits, women and children. Of course, these groups are
not minorities in terms of numbers but are in a minority situation as
far as power and social status are concerned.
Religious minorities are another major problem. “Freedom of religion
is a fundamental human right,” the PVCHR president said. However,
“despite constitutional guarantees, the reality is quite different.”
India’s religious minorities are often caught between a “feudal system
based on Hindu-dominated castes” and “Hindu extremist groups who are
opposed to religious freedom in the country.”
For Raghuvanshi, these two problems are an expression of the same
“mindset” that finds complicities or inaction among political leaders
and supporters inside the security apparatus and the legal system. The
holy city of Varanasi is a case in point. Here, the number of
complaints filed against the police is the same as against members of
the Hindu extremists group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Other
examples are anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat and anti-Christian
violence in Kandhamal (Orissa).
In view of this situation, Raghuvanshi calls on the authorities to
“reform the police” and debureaucratise agencies like the National
Human Rights Commission. Violence by Maoist rebels and religious
fundamentalists should also end.
“Without changes at this level, the human rights situation in the
country is bound to end in tragedy,” he said.
http://www.asianews .it/index. php?l=en& art=17085& size=A
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