On the occasion of Human Rights Day, a symposium on “Protection of Civil Rights in UP and Our Responsibilities” was organised by Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) UP West in Youth Library, Pilibhit (UP) on 9 December.
Introducing APCR, Ahmad Azeez, President, APCR UP West, said, “Association for Protection of Civil Rights is committed to the protection of society from violation of human rights, illegal detentions, custodial deaths, fake encounters, etc. It conducts training workshops on criminal law and human rights issues, investigates into the cases of human rights violations, addresses issues of prisoners’ rights, keeps a watch over law making process to make positive intervention, involves in awareness of general masses and initiates campaigns on various socio-legal issues.”
Social Activist Afroz Gilani opined that illiteracy is the biggest curse of the society. He added that to be aware of our civil rights, we need to educate our society first.
Nirmal Kumar Bisht, CO UP Police Jahanabad, stated that after the formation of Human Rights Commission, improvement has been observed in the functioning of police administration. It has developed the sense of responsibility and created sensitivity among them.
Raising the issues of crime against women and children, Babita Saxena, a social activist, stated that the women and children are the most exploited and vulnerable section of the society and we need to work together for protection of their rights.
Presiding over the symposium, National Coordinator of APCR, Mr. Akhlaq Ahmad opined that UP has the highest figure of communal riots in India. In spite of so many FIRs registered in rape cases in Muzaffarnagar riots, no arrest of the accused has been made. It shows the poor plight of human rights in UP. No action has been taken on the Nimesh Commission Report which was formed by the state government to investigate the illegal detention of Tariq Qasmi and Khalid Mujahid (now deceased). The state government kept silence in the custodial death of Khalid Mujahid and didn’t take any action against the alleged culprits named in the FIR.
He also expressed his concern on corruption in public distribution system and deaths due to different diseases despite dozens of government health schemes running on papers.
“For the establishment of peace and justice in the society we have to be aware, organised and prepare ourselves for the long term struggle,” said Mr. Akhlaq.
The others who addressed the symposium included Mushaffey Hussian, Judge (Retd.) Allahabad High Court; Dharinndar Singh, Dist. Health Officer; TH Khan, asocial activist and others.
[KASHIF AHMED FARAZ is a Delhi based freelance journalist. kkashif.peace@gmail.com]