India's top lawyer to defend country at UN

Amid rising cases of "cow vigilantism" and controversies like "love jihad", Attorney General, Mukul Rohatgi, will present India's case on the country's human rights conditions and answer questions related to allegations of their violation, at the United Nation's Human Rights Council.

Questions that are to follow India's presentation of its report on human rights, at the nearly four hour session of the council's Universal Periodic Review working group on May 4, are likely to be related to a host of issues such as the country's position on allegations of violation in Jammu and Kashmir, minority rights, torture and recent strictures passed by the government against Non-governmental organisations.

The hearings which are to take place in Geneva, are held every five years for every country, call for reports from both governmental and non-governmental agencies from the other countries of the council of 47 members, the US Congress and civil society groups, and other international agencies like Human Rights Watch and the India national Human Rights Commission.

Rohatgi, who took charge as AG after the BJP government came to power, said in an interview to a leading national daily, that he would convey the Indian legal system's impartial standards. This he believes, can be done through the cases of the fair treatment given to Ajmal Kasab, one of the 10 terrorists who was part of the 26/11 attacks and was the only one caught alive, and Yaqub Memon, who was convicted in the 1993 Mumbai blast cases.

He is reported to have said, "These are two people who committed crimes against the state. They orchestrated, and were directly involved in, the massacre of hundreds of innocents, both Indian and foreign, in the heart of our financial capital. Yet, both were tried impartially by a court of law, provided legal aid, were given every opportunity to appeal till the last stage even as their petitions for clemency were entertained at the highest level."

Also, with the rising unrest in Kashmir since last year, the role of the Indian army in the the region is set to gain special attention. Especially since the the Human Rights Council's, Special Rapporteur report has asked for either a repeal or radical amendment of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. The same report also focused on incidence of caste and gender-based violence.

Along with these, the HRC submissions made so far, countries including the UK, Switzerland, Netherlands and Norway have registered questions related to the treatement of religious minorities, focusing on the recent incidents of communal violence.

Same-sex relationships are another controversial issue that is to come up following the Supreme Court's judgment which re-criminalised them. With countries like Sweden and Spain having asked the government to clarify its stand.

The council has also received dozens of submissions regarding hate speech against minorities, cases of cow vigilantism and love jihad, from advocacy groups like Centre for Justice and Peace (CJP), among others.

OneIndia News