New York [US], October 21 (ANI): The double standards of the United Nations and its frontal organisations have been exposed after contrasting stands taken by the representatives to paint protests in India as an issue of alleged human rights abuse. At the United Nations India stressed that human rights should not be used as an instrument of political pressure or selective targeting of countries.
The strong rebuttal came after UN experts had claimed that authorities in India were restricting peaceful assembly and indulging in 'enforced disappearances.
"We have repeatedly alerted the Indian authorities to undue restrictions on peaceful assembly, excessive use of force, arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and the targeting of student activists, amongst others,” the statement said.
"We call on the authorities to immediately cease the use of excessive force, rescind blanket assembly bans, and refrain from the misuse of digital surveillance," the experts added.
Contrastingly a much milder stand was expressed by UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk when it came to speaking of the police crackdown on violent protests in France and other parts of Europe. Turk even went to the extent of calling protestors 'vandals'.
"I condemn all acts of violence and call on all of those involved to reduce tensions and prevent further violence. The best and only way forward is inclusive and safe dialogue...I deplore the actions of those exploiting protests to commit acts of violence and vandalism against public and private property," he said.
Indian diplomat Barkha Tamrakar who addressed the Assembly on Tuesday (local time) said that India's constitutional safeguards, including Article 21 of the Constitution, protect human rights and ensure due process, as United Nations experts raised concerns over alleged excessive use of force against protesters and restrictions on peaceful demonstrations.
Barkha Tamrakar stressed that human rights should not be used as an instrument of political pressure or selective targeting of countries.
"India firmly opposes any attempt to convert unverified allegations, incomplete statistics, or a report that contains no India country observation into a negative characterization of the world's largest democracy...Human rights should not be used as an instrument of political pressure or selective country targeting,” Tamrakar said, emphasising the need for impartial and evidence-based engagement on human rights issues.
The diplomat also pointed to the role of the National Human Rights Commission and State Human Rights Commissions in addressing human rights concerns. She also cautioned against relying on unverified allegations, incomplete statistics or reports that lacked India-specific observations.
India has maintained that human rights engagement should be guided by impartiality, dialogue and verifiable information, rather than selective scrutiny or political considerations. (ANI)
India exposes UN double standards on 'human rights', says they cant be used as 'instrument of political pressure'
