Protect human rights to achieve security goals: Experts

AGARTALA - Without protecting the basic human rights of people, the goals of security forces cannot be achieved — be it combating terrorism or Maoists, experts said here Wednesday.

“Without protecting human rights, the challenge of terrorism, confrontation with Maoists or battles against any kind of socio-security issues will not be fulfilled,” former director general of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Sankar Sen said at a seminar here on ‘Human Rights in Counter Insurgency Operations’.

Sen, a former high-profile Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, said at the inaugural session: “It should be kept in mind that every Khan is not a terrorist or each Santhal is not a Maoist.”

The two-day seminar-cum-orientation programme, first of its kind in northeast India, is jointly organised by the Institute of Social Sciences (ISS) and Tripura police department.

ISS senior fellow R.M. Sharma said the Agartala seminar-cum-orientation programme is the 21st such initiative to guide and familiarise the policemen and armed forces troopers about the importance and consequence of human rights.

Over 4,000 police and armed forces troopers and senior officers participated in the earlier programmes.

“Such programmes will continue across the country to make the members of the armed forces achieve their objectives by fulfilling the human rights issue,” Sharma told IANS after the seminar.

Sitting senior judges of Guwahati high court, present and former director generals of West Bengal, Sikkim and Tripura police and human rights experts spoke at the seminar.

Guwahati High Court Chief Justice Madan B. Lokur said: “Violations of human rights cannot be concealed. Charges may be raised even after 25 or 30 years.”

“The Supreme Court has set up some specific guidelines about human rights. Every person of the society has to be follow the existing rule of law whether he or she likes the law or not,” he said after inaugurating the programme.