Gandapur condemns Indian action against Amnesty International

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan Ali Amin Gandapur Wednesday condemned the Indian government’s actions against Amnesty International and pledged to continue support for human rights defenders.

Amnesty International yesterday announced halting its work in India after the Indian government froze its bank accounts in an act of reprisal for the organization’s human rights work.

“It’s a direct attempt by the Indian government to tell international human rights group that if you document rights violations by the Indian state we won’t let you continue to function in India,” Gandapur said in a statement.

He said the Hindu extremism was being fostered in India under the auspices of state institutions that could have serious consequences for security in the South Asia region.

“It raises a big question which the world needs to wake up and recognize that India is no longer a functioning democracy,” he added.

The minister said Amnesty and other human rights groups had accused police of complicity in the riots in Delhi, in which at least 50 persons were killed, most of them Muslims, and also their reports had uncovered Indian forces' atrocities in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

He said the human rights watchdog had blamed the right-wing government of India for freezing the bank account of its India branch, forcing it to lay off staff, and stop campaign and research work in India.

The Amnesty officials claimed that they had been facing a ‘crackdown’ over the past two years over ‘baseless allegations’ of financial wrongdoing, he added.

The minister said he was shocked to learn from Amnesty India officials that the constant harassment by the Indian government agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate, was a result of its unequivocal calls for transparency in the government, more recently for accountability of the Delhi police and the Government of India regarding the grave human rights violations in Delhi riots, and Jammu and Kashmir.

He urged the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and international community to provide adequate security to human rights organizations working in India as it was running an ‘incessant witch-hunt’ campaign against them over ‘unfounded and motivated’ allegations.

“I fear that the officials of the Amnesty and other human rights groups may be targeted by Hindutva gangsters. The world needs to immediately provide security to them,” the minister added.