India has snubbed the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for making “baseless and unfounded” statements about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the arrest of the suspected separatist activist Khurram Parvez by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
India responded after OHCHR demanded India to amend terror laws to make it at par with the international human rights law and standards. Besides, it referred to the accused as the human rights defender and civil society actor and demanded his release. It also criticised the Indian terror law despite it being full of checks and balances.
OHCHR’s statement betrays a lack of understanding
Arindam Bagchi, the official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said that statement of OHCHR betrayed a complete lack of understanding of the security challenges India has been facing due to cross-border terrorism.
“It betrays a complete lack of understanding on the part of the OHCHR of the security challenges faced by India from cross-border terrorism and its impact on the most fundamental human right, ‘the right to life of our citizens, including in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
OHCHR refers to Islamic terrorists in J&K as armed groups
In a strongly-worded statement, the Ministry of External Affairs accused OHCHR of being soft towards terrorist activities. “Referring to proscribed terrorist organisations as ‘armed groups’ demonstrates a clear bias on the part of OHCHR,” the MEA spokesperson said.
He further said that being a democratic country, with an abiding commitment to promote and protect the human rights of its citizens, India takes all necessary steps to counter cross-border terrorism. India advised OHCHR to develop a better understanding of the negative impact of terrorism on human rights.
India act against violations of law and not against legitimate exercise of rights
Referring to Parvez, the OHCHR accused India of a crackdown on so-called civil society actors through sweeping counter-terrorism measures. Bagchi said that authorities in India act against violations of law and not against legitimate exercise of rights. He said that the arrest and subsequent detention of that person were done entirely as per provisions of law.
“National security legislations, like the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, (UAPA) were enacted by the Parliament to protect the sovereignty of India and ensure security of its citizens,” the spokesperson said.
NIA arrested Khurram Parvez
NIA arrested Khurram Parvez on November 22 on the charge of terror funding. He was booked under Sections 17 (raising funds for the terrorist act), 18 (conspiracy), 18B (recruiting of any person or persons for the terrorist act), 38 (offence relating to membership of a terrorist organisation), and 40 (raising funds for a terrorist organisation) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Leftist media refers to him as a prominent human rights activist associated with the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) and many other outfits.
