India recently announced its plan to setup a human rights commission empowered by a new law to putdown violation of human rights in that country. The proposal has been mooted in the wake of expression of concern world-wide against unending incidents of deaths in police custody, torture of dissidents and fake encounters with political opponents and incarceration of thousands of men and women for years without trial or even charges. Will the new Indian initiative have any meaningful impact on the situation? There is no scope for optimism in view of that country’s poor track record for decades cutting across political parties at the helm of Indian affairs.
In the first instance, India does not have the same perception of human rights and the need for their protection as most people in the democratic world have. That is why the Indian prime minister at every international or regional forum has been at pains to pit human rights against development or against the need for keeping India in one place. The Indian media which belongs to the same Brahman Bania commercial class as the ruling establishment in that country always harps on its pet theme of the developed countries using human rights to interfere in the internal affairs of the developing third-world countries.
The basic reality, often glossed over in the west, is that India is not one nation. It is a conglomerate of several nations. The British imperialism through its superior army created an artificial geographic entity called India. It is now inherited by the Brahman-Bania commercial class which rules that country. The interests of this class are in conflict with the numerous Indian nations. These nations have their own levels of political consciousness. Some of these nations suchas Kashmiris, Sikhs, Assamese and Tamils are actively engaged in struggle to form their own independent nation-states while certain other nations have yet to acquire that level of struggle. India’s ruling class comprising upper caste Hindus who constitute a bare 10% of the country’s population are bent upon keeping the British imperial model imposed on the country.
This ruling class is engaged in looting the country. The Bofors scandal and the Rs 5000 crore stock-scam are only a tip of the vast iceberg of corruption in which this class is involved neck-deep, For this class, the stakes in a united India are so high that no cost in terms of human life or values is regarded as too high. That is why India maintains one of the most expensive standing armies in the world. The vast army is supported by an equally well-equipped force for internal security. Extensive use of the army to put down civil unrest and agitation against imperial Delhi in the past few years has been an unending phenomenon.
All civil unrest and agitation, whether for political reforms or for a separate, equitable political set-up is termed by India as terrorism? This term is put in vogue basically to discredit all struggles for national freedom and rights in the eyes of the freedom-loving west. Unsuspecting elements in the western countries are indeed taken in by the Indian propaganda machine. The latest Indian stance of a human rights commission is aimed at misleading the public opinion in the west.
It will become evident before long that India does not mean to stop the violation of human rights. There is no dearth of attractive laws and high-sounding institutions in India. The Indian constitution promises equality and basic human rights to all citizens but the reality is there for anyone to see. India has a commission to hear and redress the grievances of scheduled castes and tribes. It has been reduced by the ruling class as an empty ritual devoid of any content with crores of Dalits being treated as worse than slaves. India has a commission to hear and redress the grievances of minorities. This commission is powerless to prevent destruction of shrines of minorities such as the Golden Temple and the Babri Masjid at the hands of Brahman fundamentalists and their patron, the Indian state. India has a commission to hear and redress the grievances against the media. This commission could not stop the Indian state’s attacks on the minority media and the arrests of minority journalists.
In fact, these institutions are serving as hand-maidens of the Indian State to white-wash its offences against those for whose benefit the institutions have been set up. The Indian state has the unique knack of discovering the necessary talent to head these commissions to defeat the very purpose for which these have been set up. Not long ago, India had sent a delegation to represent that country to Geneva for a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Commission. The person who headed the Indian delegation was none else than former Punjab chief minister Darbara Singh who, ironically, faced shocking charges of violation of human rights in Punjab.
No wonder, we will see one day a Ribeiro or a K.P.S. Gill heading the proposed human rights commission for India. It is an open secret that the speeches of prime minister Narasimha Rao, Kashmir governor Saxena, Punjab chief minister Beant Singh and others at this week’s conclave (for human rights) bore the endorsement of the actions of security forces in dealing “bravely and courageously” with secessionists, the principal victims of the violation of human rights in India in recent years. No human rights organization under the circumstances has had courage to welcome the latest Indian move. The reaction of the Amnesty International, too, is far from enthusiastic It has been extremely guarded in hailing the initiative,
Article extracted from this publication >> September 25, 1992
