Civil rights body demands HRC in Tripura

Agartala, May 26: The Tripura Human Rights Organisation (THRO) today reiterated its demand for setting up a Human Rights Commission (HRC) in the state to safeguard civil society from both criminal and police atrocities.

THRO officials said here, ''We have been demanding for a THRC since long keeping in mind instances of human rights violation in the state but no positive results have been yielded so far and the incidences of human rights violation have been increasing day by day.'' The THRO team expressed dissatisfaction over the recent meeting with Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar regarding State Human Rights Commission as he had turned down the proposal on two grounds - financial constraints of the state government and functioning of the Police Accountability Commission.

THRO secretary Purushottam Roy Barman accused the police of having a nexus with the underground militants and other anti-social elements. He also alleged there was a spurt in the incidents of human rights violation in the state and stressed on the need to set up a State HRC.

He also criticised the state government's argument on the issue and said, ''The Police Accountability Commission cannot be a substitute for the Commission because police refuses to accept FIRs in most of the cases even though it is mandatory as per the law of land.''

UNI