Wednesday, May 29, 2002
Amnesty projects gloomy picture of rights situation in India PTI New Delhi, May 28
The Amnesty International on Tuesday projected a gloomy picture of the human rights situation in India accusing armed groups, security forces and police of abuses in Kashmir and charging the state and some Hindu political groups with victimisation of Muslims in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist strikes in USA. In Kashmir, human rights abuses continued to be committed both by armed groups, police and security forces on a large scale, the London-based rights group said in its annual report released here by eminent jurist A G Noorani. Without making any direct reference to Gujarat, it said the Muslim community in India became increasingly vulnerable to victimisation after the September 11 strikes and the December 13 attack on Parliament. The victimisation, it alleged, was carried out "by both the state and some Hindu political groups". "Tension between police and Muslim groups erupted into rioting in different parts of the country. Tension also escalated when Hindu activists began implementing plans to rebuild a temple at a disputed site at Ayodhya," it said. Amnesty also expressed serious concern over the continued reports of abuses by armed groups in many states "including torture and deliberate killing of civilians." "In areas of conflict, such as Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East, hundreds of non-combatants, including children, were killed in indiscriminate violence," it said.
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