RSS slams Amnesty International report on human rights in Jammu and Kashmir
New Delhi: Slamming a US-based NGO's report on alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir, RSS mouthpiece 'Organiser' has said such "lopsided" approach will create grounds for violence and animosities, and even accused the United Nations of being "biased" on such issues.
Quoting a Chinese report, the 'Organiser' said human rights are conceptualised as a strategic tool of certain vested interests and conceived in favour of certain countries, corporations and socio-economic, ethnic and political groups.
"The UN also cannot escape from criticism of a biased approach on such issues," it said.
The 'Organiser' editorial, "Making human rights universal", said such "lopsided" approach on human rights by Amnesty International is not going to further the cause and such reports strengthen the perception that even NGOs are creations of certain vested interests.
"Such lopsided approach on human rights is not going further the cause. In fact, they are going to create grounds for further violence, animosities and violations of each other's rights. They also strengthen the perceptions that even non-governmental organisations are creations of certain vested interests," it said.
It said the US and Chinese reports countering each other's human rights track record in the last year question this basic premise about conceptualisation of human rights.
"Both these reports clearly indicate that the concept of human rights is not uniformly conceived. Therefore, some critics from countries like China opine that the human rights are conceptualised as a strategic tool of certain vested interests and conceived in favour of certain countries, corporations and socio-economic, ethnic and political groups," it said.
The editorial further said while the reports focusses on alleged human rights violations by security agencies it cannot miss the fact that "armed groups" are nothing but trained and supported groups by Pakistan.
It said the Amnesty International report is Kashmir Valley centric and does not even consider discrimination and violence incurred on Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists of Jammu and Ladakh regions.
"It is the same Indian State where in the name of giving special status to Jammu & Kashmir, people are denied basic rights such as voting right in the Assembly elections to West Pakistan Refugees, which crossed over to India in 1947 after Partition. The report does not take even cognisance of that.
"The mention of Pandit community, which faced persecution and displacement since 1990s, find a mention only once that is also in the historical context. Most strikingly, the independent agency does not make the same noises about the complete absence of any form of democratic mechanisms or rights of the Kashmiris in the Pakistan occupied territories of the State," it said.
The RSS mouthpiece also attacked the United States alleging violations of human rights by it and cited examples of Baltimore riots, Fergusson killings and other atrocities allegedly perpetrated by the US through agencies like CIA.
Attacking the Amnesty International report, it said human rights are supposed to be "universal and inalienable" and equal to all human beings, but the report strengthens doubts about the conceptualisation of human rights.
Talking about rights violations in Kashmir, the editorial termed the report by "supposed to be an independent body like Amnesty International" as "disturbing".
"This report is not an exception. Most of the reports by International Human Rights groups are one sided, missing the complete picture," it said.
The RSS mouthpiece lamented that Hindus facing persecution and violence in Bangladesh and West Bengal, tribals of North-east being misguided and turned against the State by certain religious groups and Naxals using terror tactics to keep tribal communities in their fold never get space in special reports or press conferences of these organisations.
"Rights irrespective of duties will not be accepted by any nation, which these international NGOs miss out. Unless we revise the human rights discourse, address rights of all individuals and groups concerned equally and link them with some form of proportionate duties; human rights will never be truly universal," it said.
