The Hindu : 'Outside intervention in Gujarat not needed'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 22, 2002

National

National

'Outside intervention in Gujarat not needed'

By Our Special Correspondent

The National Human Rights Commission Chairperson, J.S. Verma (left), with the Special Rapporteur, K.R. Venugopal, in Chennai on Tuesday. — Photo: T.A.Hafeez

CHENNAI May 21. The Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), J. S. Verma, today made it clear that there was no need for outside intervention in Gujarat.

In an informal chat with presspersons here, he said outside intervention was not considered appropriate unless there was a deficiency in the national mechanism. But there was no such deficiency or inadequacy, particularly when the Supreme Court and the NHRC were considered not only within the country but also by everyone else as the best in the world.

When the best institutions in the country were there along with a vibrant democracy, involved citizenry and NGOs, there was no need for outside intervention, he stressed.

Earlier, addressing a regional consultation conference of the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Pondicherry, he emphasised the need for the NGOs to be wary of the possible misuse of the human rights programme.

``We have to be careful that the human rights programme is not hijacked by vested interests.''

Besides preventing commercialisation of the programme, the NGOs should ensure that there were no black sheep among them.

The caution was necessary as any spurious institution might hijack the human rights agenda and create a bad name in the public.

Mr. Verma said the main function of voluntary organisations was to constantly monitor the performance of all institutions so that the quality of governance was maintained.

The State was responsible for all human rights violations whether committed by State agents or non-State actors. The NGOs had to maintain a constant vigil on not only violations, but also omissions, which facilitated human rights violations.

He referred to the incorporation of protection of human rights in the new code issued by the Medical Council of India for physicians and said this was another area for voluntary organisations to play a vital role by monitoring doctors' performance.

He pointed out that when the concept of ``global village'' was picking up, rights violation in any part of the world was the concern of the entire humanit. But care should be taken to ensure that this thinking did not erode national sovereignty.

K.R. Venugopal, Special Rapporteur, NHRC, said the conference's objective was to identify thrust areas relating to human rights for intervention by the NGOs and areas of cooperation between the organisations and the Commission.

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