On the
“International Human Rights defenders’ Day” and eve of “World Human Rights Day”
People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), Varanasi and Human Rights
Law Network (HRLN), New Delhi with the support from European Union and Dignity
Danish Institute Against Torture organized “Interface meeting with the
Parliamentarian, policy makers and political parties on the issue of Muslim
minority in Uttar Pradesh” on 9th December, 2013 in Speaker Hall, Constitution Club, New
Delhi.
The
program started with the welcome and key note Address “In ancient republics,
torture was tied to citizenship. Torture was inflicted exclusively on non-
citizens like slaves, barbarians and foreigners. As an instrument of
demarcation, torture delineates the boundary between slaves and free, between
the touchable bodies of free citizens and untouchable bodies of the slaves. It
is unimaginable that modern democracies like India are as weak as Athenian
democracy and the prevalence of practice of torture resemble the Athenian
model. Today torture victim include not only terrorists and criminals but
street children, migrants, socially marginalized groups and religiously
discriminated communities. All of them now fall into the class of quasi
citizens. It is time to break conspiracy of silence.
The
trend of rising torture based on religion, caste and gender trigger a sense of
alarm in the minds of all civilized people of this country. The fight against
impunity should be made the cornerstone of a serious approach to the
eradication of torture. In addition to the criminalization of torture, it
is therefore essential that India develops mechanisms to guarantee the fairness
and effectiveness of inquiries.
In
the south Asia region, spate of organised violence, police torture,
discrimination, physical and psychological attacks on religious minorities have
emerged as a real threat for the pluralist and secular democracies. Attacks on
Hindu and Christian communities in Pakistan and Bangladesh and targeting of
Muslim and Christian communities in India are being increasingly used as a
political weapon by the communal and fascist forces Said Lenin Raghuvanshi, General Secretary, PVCHR.
After the
keynote address inauguration and screening of documentary “Muslim and;
Police: A Perspective”http://vimeo.com/79954953
The documentary prepared
on the basis of interactions for almost three months at the grass root level
with the members of Muslim community in various Muslim dominated districts of
Uttar Pradesh. Documentary sparked the debate in interface.
Mr. Vijay
Vineet, Deputy News Editor, Jan Sandesh
Times, Varanasi and Mr. Parvez Ahmad, Special Correspondent, Dainik
Jagran were honoured with Jan Mitra Award for their uncompromising commitment
for the rights of minority in particular & human rights violation in
general in Uttar Pradesh.
The
book “Repression, Despair and Hope” Mapping of Police
torture in four districts of Uttar Pradesh and Strengthening Human Rights
Institutions on 1500 cases of human rights violations after
comprehensive fact finding exercises in the last 3 years. These cases relate to
police torture and communal violence which have affected the minority Muslim
community most in Uttar Pradesh. These organisations have legally intervened in
these cases and have prepared an analytical report based on the facts and ground
experiences during the course of action.
Respect Survivors &
Abolish Torture was also inaugurated without Anti – torture law and
police reform no real democratic & pluralistic democracy. PVCHR had
heightened its advocacy and had utilized the voices of the people in the
pursuit of policy changes at varying levels http://www.pvchr.net/2010/07/prevention-of-torture-bill-2010.html. Such visibility of the organization had provided the leverage for its
positioning and proactive role in relation to the Torture Prevention of Bill
http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Torture/prevention%20of%20torture%20bill%202010.pdf. It is significant to note that dignity provided substantial inputs to
the draft bill that PVCHR had utilized in its policy and advocacy
interventions. Mechanisms should include in
particular an effective witness and victim protection system, an independent
investigative body, a separate mechanism to register the complaints of torture
and mandatory sanctions of public officers found of having obstructed the
victim's access to justice. Acting decisively to eradicate torture and
bring the policing system under the effective framework of the rule of law will
be a test for the resilience of democracy of India. It is by its ability to
develop law as a shield against abuses of power that the citizens of this
country will judge the capacity of their state to respond to their aspirations.
In the
panel Mr. Subhedu Bhattacharya, General Manager, Child Right and
You (CRY) talked about “Child Rights issue of Muslim minority
children in India,” a senior journalist and Advocate
Colin Gonsalves talked on the strengthening the functioning
of human rights institutions in India.
The Guest
of the presidium Mr. Rashid Alvi (Indian National Congress), Mr. Kamal
Farooqui, Mr. Bahadur Singh Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Mr. Ali Anwar, (Janata Dal
(United), Mr. Daddu Prasad,
(Bahujan Samaj Party), Mr. Mohammed Adeeb, (Independent M.P) and Dr.
Syeda S. Hameed (Member of Planning Commission and Chancellor,
Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad), Mr. Deepak
Mishra, President (Chintan Sabha),Mr. Shafiqur Rahman Barq ( BSP), Mr.
Shailendra Kumar (Samajwadi Party), Mr. Atul Anjan CPI addressed Human
Rights defenders and survivors of Muslim community from various parts of Uttar
Pradesh.
Shri A.K
Singh, prominent political activist and writer highlighted follows points:
- The Government of India must complete all the legislative procedure to implement the Prevention of Torture Act. It must in its definition consider addition of psychological aspect of torture.
- Protection of Minority Rights in India is important for India’s advocate for protection of rights of Hindus in other countries in South Asia
- Efforts must be made to educate bystanders about their duties and responsibilities to help the survivors while torture takes place.
The
follows resolution taken in interface.
- The role of judiciary in condoning police atrocities and in not allowing the state to withdraw false cases lodged by police against persons declared innocent by a judicial commission (Justice Nimesh Commission).
- Ratification of UNCAT and enactment of Prevention of Torture Bill
- Enactment of Communal Violence Bill immediately.
- Immediate established of rule of law and appropriate pro-survivors rehabilitation and relief to survivors of survivors pf communal riots in Muzzafarnagar, U.P
The
program was attended by eminent personalities Pandit Vikash Maharaj (Sarod
Mastro) and Dr. Mahendra Pratap(Historian) Mr. Tathgat Sattpati (M.P) etc.
The best
wishes received from President of India, Vice President of India, General
Secretary Council of Europe and President of Federation of Islamic Organization
in Europe.
The
program was moderated by Utkarsh Sinha and Dr. Mahendra Pratap gave vote of thanks.
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