Wednesday, October 25, 2006

To
The Editor

Sub: - UN , USA & Kashmiri leaders to be serious about human rights (HR).

 Ref: - Death sentence of Mohammad Afzal

 Dear Sir

 Kashmiri leaders of all hues and nuances first supported Afzal but later on almost back tracked on the issue of death sentence awarded to a Muslim by communally biased Hindu majority India, which has never awarded death sentence to a Hindu, although responsible for massacre of thousands of Sikhs in 1984 in Delhi and thousands of Muslims all over India in post 1992 Babri Masjid demolition period and in Gujarat pogrom 2002.

 These massacres by Hindus were more heinous crimes than so called & alleged conspiracy by Afzal for attack on Parliament, which is meant for Members of Parliament who enacted Article 370 of The Constitution of India and which is mainly responsible for the violence and terrorism in J&K that has already consumed the lives of almost one hundred thousand of civilians in J&K.

 These Kashmiri leaders time and again complain about HR violation by administration, police and armed forces of India in J&K in general and in Kashmir valley in particular, but they are not serious about HR, which is evident from the fact that: -

 (1)- The HR Committee cannot examine petitions alleging violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) unless the State is also a party to the Optional Protocol (OP) and India is not a State party to this OP.

 (2)- Despite section 2 (d), (f) & 12 (b) of The Protection of Human Rights Act 1993, the HR of Indians are not secured because NHRC over the period of time has proved itself merely as an extension of judiciary for the simple reason that the Chairman of NHRC is mandated to be ex – Chief Justice of India.

 But these Kashmiri leaders seem to erroneously believe that HR is the internal matter of any country and have never applied pressure on Government of India either directly or through mobilizing support of HR conscious other political parties of India (for signing this OP with UN and for amendment in law where any jurist can be made Chairman of NHRC).

  USA (the country which is deeply interested and involved in Kashmir dispute, notwithstanding public posture by India & USA that Kashmir dispute is a bilateral issue) also roped in UN for supporting, through so-called UN resolution, the military intervention in Afghanistan & Iraq ostensibly for the sake of HR in the aftermath of 9/11. But USA never raised effectively and seriously the issue, at international level or in UN, of so many countries including India not signing OP with UN.

 Although UN is the out come of and the longest surviving symbol and institution of globalization, but UN also has been derelict all along its existence of 61 years. Where UN never made the condition of signing this OP a pre – requisite and sine-qua-non for becoming a member State of UN.

 If world leaders think that globalization can be ushered merely by economical measures without providing HR guarantee and enforcement mechanism through a global Agency like UN, then they are living in their own make believe world.

 Yours truly

 Hem Raj Jain
 House No. 147, Ward No. 16, Banda Road , Bhawani Mandi – 326502, Rajasthan , INDIA
 Phone:  + 91 7433 223975