Govt gets flak from global human rights body for not scrapping AFSPA

A report issued by the New York-based non-profit organisation Human Rights Watch pointed out that corruption, non-implementation of laws and a police-bureaucracy system which doesn’t feel accountable for its performance, as the reasons behind the blatant violation of human rights in India. According to a report published by the Wall Street Journal India Blogs, the human rights activists’ body slammed the government for not being able to rein in the Maoist insurgency and giving a free rein to the Army in the northeast. It pointed out the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, which has been in the eye of a storm ever since it was implemented in the north-east, stands for one of the worst cases of human rights violation perpetrated by the government of a democracy. The act, which empowers the Army to arrest anybody in strife-torn areas without a warrant and on the grounds that they suspect a person might commit a crime, has been allegedly misused by the defence establishment in the north-east extensively. Manipuri activist Irom Sharmila has been on a fast for several years protesting the Act and alleged Army atrocities on the people of northeast. The report also pointed out that the government’s failure to curb the Maoist threat has resulted in deaths of several civilians who were caught in the police-Maoist crossfire.