NHRC Appointments: Hindutva Deep State Expands Armoury

Protecting and upholding human rights just got more difficult in India. Vacant positions in the NHRC are going to pliant retired judicial officers, policemen on deputation, and sleuths who probe and track complainants and not the human rights issues they raise, writes human rights activist RAVI NAIR. 

—–

THERE is a certain insouciance and disesteem on the part of the Bharatiya Janata Party government in matters of upholding norms or respecting institutions. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) appointments committee has picked former Supreme Court judge Arun Kumar Mishra as chairperson. It has also made an insidious choice in Rajiv Jain, former head of the Intelligence Bureau. The third appointment is of a former Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Justice Mahesh Mittal Kumar.

Evidently, the NHRC under the Modi-Shah dispensation will be the new sword arm of an unethical central government, ready to open a new front against Opposition state governments and attack sections of civil society that have not genuflected. The quislings will find themselves on core committees of NGOs and other foundations, run directly or indirectly by the security machinery.

Paris Principles

The Paris Principles are the international minimum standards that all National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) are encouraged to conform to. These principles recommend pluralistic appointments of a chairperson, members and staff, including representatives who are experts in human rights.

In March 2017, the sub-committee on accreditation of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) said pluralistic composition is directly linked to an independent, credible, effective and accessible NHRI. However, India does not even appoint NHRC members transparently.