NEW DELHI: Amnesty International, whose reports on human rights violation, have always been regarded as “exaggerated and motivated” by the government, has suddenly now become credible,
The Home ministry has ordered the compilation of “fact sheets” in 230 cases of torture and gross human rights abuse in the country that have been listed by the Amnesty Interactional in its 1992 report. The report was published in March 1992,
The government has generally taken a dim view of international human rights organizations like Amnesty and Asia Watch, specially their stand on Kashmir and Punjab, where the figures have been reportedly exaggerated and tainted. Why then has the government woken up to Amnesty charges? “Because the government now realizes that it cannot brush away charges of human rights violation under the carpet, it is more sensitive to interactional than national criticism,” says V.M, Tarkunde.
There seems another more important reason, however. Tarkunde Says western countries have made it clear that the access and importance given to organizations like Amnesty would form the bench: mark of how much Joans and aid India would get.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 1, 1993
