radianceweekly.in | Vol. LI No.36 | 8 Dec 2013

RAVI NAIR, Director, South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre, explored the nitty-gritty of human rights violations in India and abroad. In an exclusive interview with MOHAMMAD NAUSHAD KHAN, he emphasised fighting for protection of human rights at all levels.

We have observed Human Rights Day last year and we will observe it again. Have you seen any noticeable change in the society’s approach to human rights during this period?

Well, there has been no improvement if that is what you mean by change. The only change one is hearing is a larger number of human rights violations. It is no longer possible to hide violations and that is the only noticeable change.

 

Do you think existing laws are enough to safeguard human rights violations?

No, there are two major drawbacks in our legal system when it comes to defend human rights issues. One relates to Section 197 of the Indian Penal Code which seeks to give immunity from prosecution [to police officers] without permission from the executive. This is not there in any other democratic country. It is there in dictatorship but not in any democratic country. This should go out immediately. If the court is satisfied that there is a prima facie case against the police officer and it should be adequate for the prosecution to be lodged, it should not be then necessary for anyone to go to the Lieutenant Governor or the Home Secretary of the State to seek permission. This is ridiculous. This is a big impediment in realising human rights climate in the country.

The other major impediment is that one can hold a person for long as an undertrial. At the end of the day, after five or six years, if he is released then there is no compensation. There must be punitive compensation against the state for such a false and malicious arrest and it should also be taken from police provident fund, gratuity fund and pension fund and not only from the state exchequer. It must not be necessary for an individual who had undergone this kind of treatment to move a separate court to claim compensation. This should be mandatory if a man is declared innocent after 5 years in TADA, UAPA or POTA. How can the state take away five precious years of an individual and not compensate their mistakes and malicious prosecution. This is why the police get away with a lot of nonsense and this is common. 

           

What troubles you the most when you hear human rights violation anywhere?

What troubles me the most is that there is not adequate machinery to follow up whether from the state side, judiciary or from the parliament or legislator side or from civil society side. Violations take place in all countries but the question is: do you have the necessary political will to follow up and make sure that violation does not happen again. That seems to be lacking.

 

Is there double standard while dealing with the issues pertaining to human rights violation of minorities?

Quite certainly! Yesterday’s affidavit in the Supreme Court by the Government of Gujarat on Sachar Committee Report is indicative of how many state governments think about minorities rights. These are not rights, these are their absolute essentials. What has the Sachar Committee done; it has only said that you are denying them a large number of benefits that they were entitled to get under the constitution for many decades and grant them those benefits through a process of affirmative actions. It has not said anything radical. Clearly, there is no will and even in the non-BJP ruled state there is no political will to implement it because large sections of bureaucracy are of the majoritarian mindset against the minorities. It may be a Congress government or BJP government or any regional party, there can be no improvement in the situation unless the mindset is changed and the target of the implementation of the Sachar Committee is set on a weekly basis by key officials of the government and people who have not achieved the target should be punished or held accountable in other ways. The battle for human rights is hard but it is even harder when you talk of minorities.

 

Do you think human rights violations in Muzaffarnagar riots have been adequately addressed?

No, it has not been addressed. I am aware that a large number of community organisations have stepped forward to provide relief and rehabilitation.  But relief by community organisations can be only in small way while the state should have entered in a big way. The state is not doing enough instead asking them to leave their ancestral land by offering them 5 lakh rupees as compensation. It is ridiculous. Secondly, the Government of UP was not serious about prosecuting; it should have constituted a high level investigation committee and given them 3 to 6 months timeframe to investigate and set up a special court to prosecute them within six months. There is absolutely dereliction of duties on the part of the Government of Uttar Pradesh.

      

Can India claim a high moral ground on the issue of human rights?

No, unfortunately not. No country in the world can claim that it is devoid of human rights violations and India certainly cannot, not only internally, but also at the international level. For example, on the issue of Sri Lanka it has not adequately addressed the issue. It became a major issue in the Commonwealth heads of government meeting but India remained silent. So we have a long way to go on human rights in totality. Forget the moral high level; we do not have even high level when it comes to human rights issues.

 

Is UN doing enough to safeguard human rights violations?

Unfortunately, not adequate. The United Nations, as we can say, when you turn the word upside down, it becomes Nation United against people. So it is like an exclusive club like the Delhi Gymkhana Club. Not all can get membership in that and that is why all efforts are made to ensure that people’s rights are given only after a huge amount of lobbying, struggle and also huge amount of historical interaction. So UN has a long way to go and its record in Sri Lanka is abysmal. The UN must have done more on the drone attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan by the NATO forces and Americans. Not only here, but, in many parts of the world the UN has not done enough and there are many examples for that.  And therefore, the member-states must push the UN but they don’t do because they themselves are human rights violators and that is why they do not want to push this agenda. 

 

What about Egypt?

Egypt is a classic example because there has been a concert of silence. For example, all nations that talk about human rights violations and particularly the United States should have declared it a coup. As per US law, it should have immediately imposed sanctions on Egypt. The US came under pressure from Israeli lobbying which wants a pliable Egypt. Can you imagine that Israel is supporting Egypt which is being ruled by the military against Egyptian people? The fact is that Europe made some noise initially but now again went back to do business with the military generals in Egypt. It has failed in its claim that it talks about human rights. As for the third world and non-aligned group, they should have raised the issue with Egypt. After all when India said that we will not allow Fiji to sit in the Commonwealth when Fiji was under military dictatorship and objected to military regime of Pakistan to be in the Commonwealth and Pakistan was forced to leave then why are you allowing Egypt when the democratically elected government was thrown out by the military. It is a failure. The Indian media, Indian foreign policy establishment and the academic establishment have failed to highlight the human rights violation in Egypt.

 

What would you like to say to the government and people on the occasion of Human Rights Day? 

Well, to government I would like to say that if you are serious that you are a democratic republic then put in factors which do not allow immunity from prosecution of public officials. The Armed Forces Special Powers must go. The kind of violation that takes place in Kashmir and the North-East must stop. The fact is that 197 of the IPC must go. The right to compensation must be mandatory and I can go on and on but these are few things to mention. To people, I would say that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty and if you do not fight for your rights, your rights will be encroached upon and trampled upon. There is only one solution in democracy that every citizen must fight for his rights individually and also collectively. Every day fight for your right, morning, evening and night.

 

What would you like to say about snooping?

Yes, it is a big issue. There is a complete surveillance society in India and this is nothing new.  I remember that Rajiv Gandhi withdrew support from the Chandrasekhar government because there was police constable from Haryana snooping in front of his house. Please remember, that there are hundreds and hundreds of mobile phones are intercepted by the Intelligence Bureau without proper judicial sanction. Letters are opened, today itself I have received a letter from Pakistan which was open, and emails are scrutinised. This is whole tradition of surveillance society. Now they are going to use traffic cameras in the city and it would be not only for traffic but people’s movement would be tracked. They are already in the snooping of mobiles and they know where you are. There is a complete surveillance society being built and this is very dangerous for our democracy. There is no act of Parliament to regulate the function of the Intelligence Bureau. There is no control of Comptroller and Auditor General. Unless and until Intelligence Bureau is made accountable to Parliament and to Comptroller and Auditor General, such violations will continue to take place.

 

Source: http://radianceweekly.in/portal/issue/islam-is-illegal-in-angola-mosques-closed/article/a-wakeup-call-to-safeguard-human-rights/