RSS slams Amnesty International’s report on human rights violation in J&K

New Delhi : Slamming a US-based NGO’s report on alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir, RSS mouthpiece ‘Organiser’ has said such “lopsided” approach will create grounds for violence and animosities, and even accused the United Nations of being “biased” on such issues.

Quoting a Chinese report, the ‘Organiser’ said human rights are conceptualised as a strategic tool of certain vested interests and conceived in favour of certain countries, corporations and socio-economic, ethnic and political groups.

“The UN also cannot escape from criticism of a biased approach on such issues,” it said.

The ‘Organiser’ editorial, “Making human rights universal”, said such “lopsided” approach on human rights by Amnesty International is not going to further the cause and such reports strengthen the perception that even NGOs are creations of certain vested interests.

“Such lopsided approach on human rights is not going further the cause. In fact, they are going to create grounds for further violence, animosities and violations of each other’s rights. They also strengthen the perceptions that even non-governmental organisations are creations of certain vested interests,” it said.

It said the US and Chinese reports countering each other’s human rights track record in the last year question this basic premise about conceptualisation of human rights.

“Both these reports clearly indicate that the concept of human rights is not uniformly conceived. Therefore, some critics from countries like China opine that the human rights are conceptualised as a strategic tool of certain vested interests and conceived in favour of certain countries, corporations and socio-economic, ethnic and political groups,” it said.

The editorial further said while the reports focusses on alleged human rights violations by security agencies it cannot miss the fact that “armed groups” are nothing but trained and supported groups by Pakistan.

It said the Amnesty International report is Kashmir Valley centric and does not even consider discrimination and violence incurred on Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists of Jammu and Ladakh regions.

“It is the same Indian State where in the name of giving special status to Jammu & Kashmir, people are denied basic rights such as voting right in the Assembly elections to West Pakistan Refugees, which crossed over to India in 1947 after Partition. The Report does not take even cognisance of that.

“The mention of Pandit community, which faced persecution and displacement since 1990s, find a mention only once that is also in the historical context. Most strikingly, the independent agency does not make the same noises about the complete absence of any form of democratic mechanisms or rights of the Kashmiris in the Pakistan occupied territories of the State,” it said.

–PTI