National level citizens convention on democratic rights, civil rights and human rights express grave concern over violation of human rights and secularism

National level citizens convention on democratic rights, civil rights and human rights express grave concern over violation of human rights and secularism

New Delhi, March 30

A national convention on ‘Democratic rights and Secularism; was held here today at Ghalib Institute hall, ITO, New Delhi. The speakers of convention expressed grave concern over the violation of Human Rights and Secularism in the country. The convention was presided over by Justice B. N. Srikrishna, former Judge, Supreme Court,  Justice A. K. Patnaik former Judge, Supreme Court was the main speaker.

Among the other speakers were Senior Advocate of Supreme court Prashant Bhushan, Dr. Aditya Sondhi, senior advocate, Supreme Court, Senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta,  Kumar Prashant, social activist, Gauhar Raza, Scientist and cultural activist,  Joseph Mathew, Social activist,  Anil Naurya, Advocate, Supreme Court, Writer and Social Activist, Dwarikanath Rath, National Convener, CPDRS.

Justice Srikrishna (retd) depicted the present situation to be into deep crisis and said that over 5 crore cases are pending in the courts starting from Supreme Court to the sessions Court. Delay in Justice is denial in justice, he said. Justice A. K. Patnaik (retd) said that the institutions responsible for the protection of democratic rights are violating them the most. There is a steep price in custodial death, fake encounters and jail torture. Other speakers said that be it tribals, dalits, women, children or any other downtrodden persons, they are subject to the worst kind of exploitation and Human Rights violation.

The decline in human rights in India is reflected in the global rankings. India was placed 109th out of 165 countries in the UN Human Freedom Index 2023, with its overall score dropping by 9% between 2015 and 2023. The statistics paint a grim picture: in 2021 alone, 31,677 cases of rape were registered, and in 2022, a staggering 4.45 lakh crimes were reported against women. Custodial violence remains rampant, with the NHRC recording 147 deaths in police custody, 1,882 deaths in judicial custody, and 119 extrajudicial killings in just the first nine months of 2022. Shockingly, 77% of India’s 5.5 lakhs of prison inmates continue to languish in jails despite being granted bail.

Repressive laws such as the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), National Security Act (NSA), and Public Security Act (PSA), along with the misuse of investigative agencies like the CBI and ED, have instilled fear in the population. In Manipur, 175 people were killed and over 60,000 displaced Delegates from all the states of the country participated in the convention. Convention passed main resolution and another resolution on Palestine. It resolved to encompass intellectuals and common people of the country to build up mighty human rights movement.

Speaking on the Right to dissent and voice of protest is the essence of democracy. Justice BN Sreekrishna (retd) said, “Right to dissent and raise voice of protest of the people is the soul of democracy.” He pointed out that under real democracy all citizens would be treated equally and rule of prevail and secularism means ability to tolerate other religious beliefs too. But all these cardinal values are under siege in India now, he lamented.

While presiding over the National Convention held under the aegis of Committee for the protection of Democratic Rights and Secularism (CPDRS) in Delhi today, he said that the judicial independence and freedom of expression is also under severe threat over the past ten years.  The civil society has to take cudgels to fight all these onslaughts on hard own rights of people, he declared in the end.

Prasanth Bhushan addressed the gathering on the issues of Democracy, Secularism and Civlity under severe crisis. “India is now witnessing a rampant form of bulldozing on fundamental rights. Constitutional institutions are destroyed and draconian laws are clamped”, said Prasanth Bhushsn. Present status of EC and Comptroller and Auditor General are the living examples becoming appendages ruling regime. They have stopped auditing of funding of BJP but by misusing the powers. But it is they auditing opposition parties accounts only. Those who protest against the government are imprisoned and languishing in jail without trail for years together. not giving justice and legal trials on time. People must shed their fears and come out against draconian rule, he appealed.