New Delhi: India has been removed from the list of countries where children were either recruited for terrorism or allegedly detained and killed by the security forces for their involvement with armed groups, an allegation that India has vehemently denied.
As a result of sustained diplomatic efforts, India no longer figures in the United
Nations General Assembly Security Council Children and Armed Conflict Report
of the Secretary-General.
Union minister for women and child development (WCD) Smriti Irani said this is due to measures taken by the government for better protection of children. She added this resolution was long awaited, as it was “an outrageous anomaly
that now stands corrected” and thanked ministries of external affairs, home
affairs and WCD for “leading the fort from the front.”
India was being mentioned in the report of the Secretary-General on
Children and Armed Conflict since 2010 along with other countries of
Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Lake Chad basin, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Philippines
for alleged recruitment and use of boys by armed groups in Jammu and
Kashmir; detainment of boys by Indian security forces in Jammu and
Kashmir for their alleged association with armed groups, or on national security grounds; children killed and maimed by Indian security forces, including by the use of pellets; unidentified perpetrators, crossfire between armed groups and unidentified perpetrators, and crossfire and shelling across the line of control.
The UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said that in his previous report, he
welcomed the engagement of the Government of India with his Special Representative and noted that that engagement may lead to the
removal of India as a situation of concern. He acknowledged the efforts taken
by India in this regard and said India needs to train its security forces on child
protection and ways to deal with them in situations of armed conflicts.
“I call upon India to implement the remaining measures identified in consultation with my Special Representative and the United Nations, including the training of armed and security forces on child protection, the prohibition of the use of lethal and non-lethal force on children, including by ending the use of pellet guns, ensuring that children are detained as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time, and to prevent all forms of ill-treatment in detention, and the full implementation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
In view of the measures taken by the Government to better protect children,
India has been removed from the report in 2023,” UN secretary general said.
