Amritsar- Dal Khalsa hails Amnesty International report in which the watchdog group has criticized the Indian government for using the “crude, colonial-era” sedition law to silence its critics.While commenting on the Amnesty International’s report on human rights violations in various parts of India, party’s secretary for human rights Prithpal Singh said it stands an eye-opener for the world powers and the UN that has been maintaining studied silence over the poor record of rights in the country.Amnesty while reporting facts about uprising in 2016, has stated that the crude, colonial-era sedition law was unleashed to silence dissenting voices including government’s critics”.He said the report has vindicated our stand that the state and the non-state actors under the present dispensation have virtually turned India into a terrible place to live as a free human being. Strongly condemning the ABVP for indulging in hooliganism at Ramjas College in Delhi, he said the RSS’s affiliated youth body thrashed students, teachers and journalists who don’t subscribe to their so-called definition of nationalism.
Dal Khalsa however, expressed surprise that Amnesty has not noticed the incidents of rights abuses in Punjab. In the last few months and especially after the sacrilege incidents, the Akali-BJP government used the simplest preventive detention tool of 107/51 IPC against nearly a hundred plus activists to the archaic charges of sedition against scores of religious and political leaders.India’s claim for being a great democracy is mere farce and fraud, he said. He said from Punjab to Kashmir, from Tamil Nadu to the North-East, incidents of rights violations are reaching gigantic proportions. He said a common feature of violations in these parts of the country is the flagrant misuse of laws by security forces and the impunity they enjoyed under such laws.The organization in its appeal to UN and five permanent security council members urged to use their influence and ensure that rights of oppressed people including ethnic minorities and Dalits are restored and respected. (CNS)