The Asia–Pacific regional national human rights institutions network is represented by India’s National Human Rights Commission on the management committee of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions. This, despite the membership of the commission to the alliance having recently been deferred for a year.  

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THE Sub-Committee of Accreditation (SCA) of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI), at its meeting from March 20 to 24, deferred the re-accreditation application of the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) for twelve months (or two sessions). This was done pursuant to Article 15 of the GANHRI Statute.

The SCA considered applications for re-accreditation from the national human rights institutions (NHRIs) of India and eight other countries.

Shh! Silence does not beget transparency

The silence of the NHRC, the Union government, most Indian non-government organisations (NGOs), the overwhelming genuflecting Indian news media, the Asia–Pacific Forum (the Asia–Pacific regional NHRI network), and the GANHRI has been curious, to say the least.

Pursuant to Article 14.1 of the GANHRI Statute, the SCA took a decision regarding the re-accreditation of the NHRIs of India, and two other countries.

The NHRC surprisingly enjoyed ‘A’ status at GANHRI. This, in spite of the same recommendations in 2017. The process of re-accreditation is done every five years.

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The Hindutva juggernaut has stumbled quite a few times, and it can and will be stopped by the will of the Indian peoples exercised through the ballot. 2024 is D-Day. This is not a pious hope but an assertion of faith in the common Indian.

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INDIAN National Congress parliamentarian and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, in a thoughtful piece in The Hindu published on April 11, 2023 has sketched out some of the issues that confront the nation as the Hindutva juggernaut moves on, seemingly invincible.

All messianic political movements think they can go on forever. Myth and myth building, rather than an appreciation of history, is their forte. Hindutva is no different. They have stumbled quite a few times, and they can and will be stopped by the will of the Indian peoples exercised through the ballot. 2024 is D-Day. This is not a pious hope but an assertion of faith in the common Indian. A rider, of course, if we get out of our comfort zones and hit the dusty lanes of rural India.

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ONE would have liked to join the hoi polloi in welcoming the decision of the General Court Martial to recommend imprisonment for life to Captain Bhoopendra Singh, alias Major Bashir Khan for staging the encounter killings of three men in Shopian, Kashmir in 2020. The sentence will be final if and when it is confirmed by the Northern Army Commander. However, the brooding presence of the past cautions one’s reaction.

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THE United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in India is coy at its best and devious at its worst.

In a piece in The Hindu on February 16, Oscar Mundia, the Head of Mission, UNHCR in India hides more than he reveals as to its actual position relating to the long-term resettlement of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in India. Apart from wrong usage (or perhaps a Freudian slip) of the English language in describing young Sri Lanka Tamil refugees born and brought up in India as “cohorts”, he seems to infer that the refugees themselves seem to be undecided and, contrary to international refugee law, that the refugees could be sent back to Sri Lanka against their expressed wishes. He also makes a faux pas by referring to the Hill Country repatriates, who are not part of the UNHCR’s remit.

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The political implication of not implementing a proper federalist policy is the Tamils in Sri Lanka losing their voice and rights, thereby being subjected to further marginalisation. Every self-respecting Tamil in India and across the world should ask for nothing less than a federal Sri Lanka.

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ADDRESSING the Sri Lankan nation on its 75th Independence Day, its President Ranil Wickremesinghe on February 4 said he was determined to see maximum devolution of power to the provinces, but would not stand for the division of the country. He said that a cabinet sub-committee had been appointed to look into the unique issues faced by the people living in the north and the east of the country.

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