Hon. Barbara Mc Dougall
Minister for External Affairs
Dear Ms. McDougall
On March 17, 1992Mr.Derek Lee (Scarborough-Rouge Rivet) rose for the second time in the House of Commons to ask Canada’s position on human rights issues Punjab. Mrs. Suzanne Duplessis (Parliamentary Secretary to Minster of External Relations) gave a less than satisfactory lukewarm response on behalf of the ruling party.
After singing the praises of “bold leadership” and brilliant rhetoric of our Prime Minister Mrs. Duplessis went on to defend India by giving “full credit to India’s freely elected government for moving strongly in the direction of economic liberalization and fundamental policy reforms.” She also stated that “human rights Violations do not appear to be part of a deliberate policy. Rather they are the product of a society that has neither the funds nor the expertise to train and discipline the very large number of security personnel required to maintain law and order in a country as poor and vast as India.”
Another statement made was that “Canada does not support projects in Punjab or in Kashmir-Jammu.” “Most of our current assistance to India tackles such human rights problems as poverty health and women’s rights.”
There are many flaws in her logic. First of all in stating that human rights violations are a product of insufficient funds to train security personnel she is
a. Admitting atrocities are committed by the very people who should be serving the population and protecting their rights.
b. directly contradicting what Anne Park the head of Canada’s delegation to the UN Human Rights Commission told sundry dictators assembled in Geneva for the commissions annual conference that “human rights and democracy should be regarded 3s essential tools for development and not just luxuries for wealthy nations.
Does the right hand now know what the left hand is doing in the present government? Surely these two spokespeople for the government of Canada should not be expressing such obviously opposing views.
Perhaps Mrs. Duplessis needs to be educated that according to the UN Human Rights Convention basic human rights are an inherent right of the people. Governments do not grant us our rights. We grant it the power to protect them. Each person carries his or her human rights simply through being alive. Communities create governments to protect the rights of all citizens from transgressions by others of their own kind or by external forces. This is where the government of India has failed. It is not a matter of funding. Human rights are not a luxury. Human Rights are an inherent right of each and every individual who has ever been born.
Furthermore by stating that Canada “does not support projects in Punjab and Kashmir-Jammu” but does tackle “such human rights: problems as poverty health and women’s rights” Duplessis discredits Canada as not having its priorities straight. Surely abuse of _ people by its own government is a greater (and more easily remedied) issue than that of poverty etc. Besides are we to assume that there is no poverty health and women’s rights abuses in Punjab and Kashmir?
Duplessis sums up by saying that “The government’s policy is to review the human rights situation (on continuing basis concerning each country receiving Canadian assistance.”
Might i suggest that the government of Canada would do well 10 get some input on India from sources other than the government of India. Non-governmental agencies such as Amnesty International Asia Watch and such should certainly be consulted and considered for a start. Can it do any harm to get second opinion especially if that opinion comes from an agency that is well respected and has nothing to gain from its input? Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Gian Singh Sandhu
International President
World Sikh org
Article extracted from this publication >> April 3, 1992
