Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will offer island nations in the Indian Ocean a broad range of military and civilian assistance next week in a bid to wrest back some of the influence China has gained by spending billions of dollars in the region. odi will make the pledges during …
Read More »#Largesse: Bids for Modi’s £12K Saville Row-sourced suit reach £120k at auction
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to auction off an expensive suit bearing his name stitched in gold and which caused controversy after he wore it to a meeting with US President Barack Obama last month. The tailored suit is made of an expensive woollen material sourced from London’s fashionable …
Read More »#Finally: Narendra Modi vows to promise all India’s religious minorities
Indian leader Narendra Modi today promised to protect all religious group after a series of attacks on Christian institutions in the capita Delhi fuelled concerns that Hindu hardliners are targeting minorities. Critics have accused Mr Modi’s nine-month-old government of turning a blind eye to the attacks and further emboldening extremists. …
Read More »#Deity: Narendra Modi ‘Appalled’ at Gujarat temple dedicated to him
Indian Prime Minister today expressed his shock after a group of followers built a temple to him in the city of Rajkot in Mr Modi’s home state of Gujarat. Mr Modi, the former Chief Minister of Gujarat and who enjoys God-like status in the state, said the temple went against …
Read More »#COMMENT: As optimism around Narendra Modi prevails, much remains to be done
This year’s Indian Republic Day celebrations were infused with an unprecedented sense of optimism. US President Barack Obama’s visit to New Delhi to attend the Indian capital’s famed Republic Day parade was seen by many to be the ultimate representation of the the high esteem India is now held around …
Read More »#Priorities: Progress in India encouraging but Modi needs to do much more – HRW
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi should bring public officials, police, and military personnel who commit serious rights abuses to justice, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said today in the release of its World Report 2015.
The government should act to fulfill its campaign commitments to implement laws promoting women’s rights, improve access to health and sanitation, end discrimination, and ensure development benefits for the poor and marginalized, the New York-based group said.
The report highlights some encouraging progressing on accountability for abuses in 2014 including the sentencing of three soldiers and two officers to life imprisonment for the 2010 extra-judicial killings of three villagers in Kashmir.
However, HRW said this rare success was overshadowed by the government’s failure to repeal or amend India's draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which many activists claim provides immunity from prosecution to military personnel for serious rights abuses.
HRW cites the case of Manorama Devi, a suspected left-wing activist who was raped and murdered by an Indian paramilitary force in July 2004. A judicial investigation in Ms Devi's killing revealed that the soldiers who murdered her were protected from prosecution by the AFSPA.
“India’s law that protects soldiers from being prosecuted for even the most egregious abuses has no place in a democracy,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“The Modi government should seek to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and ensure justice for security force members who commit serious violations.”
In the 25th edition of the World Report, HRW reviews human rights practices in more than 90 countries.
In his introductory essay, Executive Director Kenneth Roth urges governments to recognize that human rights offer an effective moral guide in turbulent times, and that violating rights can spark or aggravate serious security challenges.
The short-term gains of undermining core values of freedom and non-discrimination are rarely worth the long-term price, he writes.
In 2014, authorities in India tightened restrictions on nongovernmental organizations critical of big development projects that activists say will harm the health and livelihoods of affected populations as well as the environment.
The awarding of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize to Indian children rights activist Kailash Satyarthi put a spotlight on the millions of children in India still engaged in the worst forms of labour while caste-based discrimination and neglect of tribal communities remained a problem.
Despite legal reforms to better address violence against women and children, there is still no monitoring to ensure proper implementation.
Read More »#Abrupt: Prime Minister Modi sacks the head of Indian Foreign Service
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday fired India’s highest-ranked diplomat, replacing her with the country’s ambassador to the United States. Modi’s appointment of Subrahmanyam Jaishankar as foreign secretary, the top bureaucrat at the foreign ministry, underscores the prime minister’s control over foreign affairs. But his abrupt sacking of Sujatha …
Read More »#Truth: As Modi, Obama mark Republic Day, President Mukherjee slams India’s failures
Indian President Pranab Mukherjee has used his Republic Day address to give a stern assessment of the state of the nation, 65 years after India was declared a republic. Mr Mukherjee criticized parliamentary dysfunction and the overuse of decrees in a message that might also resonate with U.S. President Barack …
Read More »#AirWaves: Barack Obama to join Modi on radio show to reach out to masses
US President Barack Obama and Indian leader Narendra Modi will next week take to India’s radio airwaves, the main source of news and information for a vast majority of the country’s peoples, to get their message out. Mr Obama, who will be the chief guest at New Delhi’s showpiece Republic …
Read More »#Dismissed: US judge throws out lawsuit against Prime Minister Narendra Modi
A judge in the US has thrown out a lawsuit against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which alleged that Mr Modi had failed to stop anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat in 2002. The lawsuit was filed in September by a small human rights group called the American Justice Centre (AJC) ahead …
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