March 01, 2005
 

US State Department's Human Rights Report for 2004

The US State Department released its Human Rights Report for 2004 recently. There're several instances of the report indicting Indian military forces, especially in the context of dealing with terrorism (referred to as insurgency) in Jammu & Kashmir. Bizarrely though, there is not a word of how Pakistan's diplomatic and moral support to terrorists in various parts of the world causes violates the right of people to lead peaceful lives.

Of course, it is also mum about torture at Abu Gharib. Interestingly enough, I couldnt find any developed country in the list of those accused of human rights violations.

I am certainly not claiming that India's human rights record is perfect. There is a lot more that we can do. However, the US cannot point fingers at others when its own record is not impeccable, especially in the last couple of years. As the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson noted, the US needs to clean its own Augean stables first.

Labels: jammu and kashmir