Sep 16 2014 : The Economic Times (Delhi)

Rights Issue: India to Counter Charges

BhavnaVij Aurora

New Delhi





SETTING RECORDS STRAIGHT Security and intelligence establishment working on funding NGOs abroad to argue India's case on human rights violations

Civil society groups in India may brace up for harsher times as the security establishment, wary of any sustained global campaign against the country and its human rights records, puts in place an aggressive strategy for `setting the record straight'.The top leadership of India's security establishment suspect that local NGOs are supplying international donors and mother NGOs with exaggerated figures of communal flare-ups, crimes against women, and other `perceived' human rights violations. Each incident with a communal hue reported from any remote corner of India, each news report of any crime against women all are being meticulously filed away to be compiled into various annual reports of agencies like the US State Department, Euro Parliament, UK Parliament and UNHRC, to be used against India, said a top official requesting anonymity .
The political leadership has been warned of the possibility of such international dossiers in the making that could be used to arm-twist India during crucial international negotiations, and the security apparatus is readying its counter measures now.
“A thorough scrutiny of our own NGOs and their foreign donors is required. Most of these foreign agencies depend upon statistics provided by the organisations working here. We need to ensure that they work in a fair manner,“ another senior government officer told ET.
Indian security and intelligence establishment is also working on aggressive funding of select foreign NGOs that will argue India's case in global civil rights fora. “There are several NRI-driven organisations abroad that are working to promote interests of the Diaspora there. From time-to-time, they oppose anti-India resolutions or debates in Parliament of their countries,“ the officer said.
Government sources disclosed that the intelligence agencies noticed international civil rights organisations were increasingly publishing reports questioning India's track-record of handling communal flare-ups, crimes against women and human rights violations, many of them linked to land agitations.
The latest International Religious Free dom Report (IRFR) of US State Department and that of the US Commission on Ins ternational Religious Freedom (USCIRF), for instance, are extremely critical of Ins dia's track-record regarding minorities.t The IRFR quotes figures provided by an Ahmedabad NGO, Janvikas, to show that s the Muslim community in Gujarat lack ac cess to socio-economic infrastructure. The report mentions in detail about the August-September 2013 communal clashes in Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, and how human rights NGOs and Muslim groups expressed dissatisfaction with relief efforts of the government. The report also lists other incidents involving minority communities in various parts of India, including Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. “It is on basis of such reports that MPs in UK hold debates to discuss the political and humanitarian situation in Kashmir. Can Indian Parliament debate Scotland referendum,“ questioned another senior government officer.
Officials in Indian security establish ment say that it does not end with the reports. Agencies like USCIRF are also on Twitter and regularly tweet articles that show India in a poor light. It tweeted an article, as late as September 11, comparing the Sangh Parivar to the terror group ISIS, claiming that it is “seeking to cleanse Christian presence from India.“
Civil society activist Harsh Mander said that there are problems in India like communal violence and caste-based discrimination especially in J&K and northeast.“But my point is, do these agencies use the same standards to evaluate western democracies? There are human rights issues involving US and other countries. There are race-related issues. Profiling of certain communities is done,“ Mander told ET talking about the “double-standards“ of international organisations.
Mandar felt that instead of being defensive on this count, India should display the confidence to stand up to public scrutiny .He said that it should not translate into clamping down on Indian NGOs. “One can debate facts and figures that they put out but the government should not cast aspersions on them, with the sub-text of being anti-national just because they receive foreign funds,“ he said.

Sep 04 2014 : The Economic Times (Delhi)

Human Rights Body to Sharpen its Focus on India Inc

Gangadhar Patil

New Delhi:





Preparing to grapple with issues such as displacement, unhealthy environment & violation of labour laws

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is preparing to grapple with issues such as displacement, unhealthy environment and violation of labour laws by businesses as it seeks to sharpen its focus amid rapid industrialisation and increased economic activity .Besides, the commission plans to critically examine government policies framed for promoting business to ensure that these are not in conflict with human rights. This will be among its major focus areas in the next five years, when it is likely to conduct studies and send its suggestions to various government agencies. “Human rights violations due to business would be our prime focus in the coming years and the commission has already started studying the subject,“ said Rajesh Kishore, secretary general of NHRC. The commission has recently conducted a series of consultations with the industry representatives in this regard, he added.
Protests over major nuclear, steel, power and other projects in various parts of the country drove the commission to alter its approach, officials said, adding that the NHRC had been receiving several complaints alleging that industries had created environmental problems, violated labour laws and displaced people.
The commission has traditionally acted on a case-by-case basis without a broad framework for dealing with business-related human rights violations. Now it will examine the impact of government policies on public health, business practices, industrial processes and products, according to a report titled `NHRC India on Business and Human Rights' submitted to the International Coordinating Committee for National Human Rights Institutions, an international association of national human rights institutions across the world.
“NHRC would emphasis on state's duty to protect and ensure that those who are victimised have access to remedies,“ the report adds. NHRC receives many complaints every year which show government officials often fail in their duty to protect people's rights.