The Perception of Being Discriminated Against is Overpowering
Reforming criminal justice to stop targeting ‘minorities’ in India
Minority rights in India’s criminal justice system are in dire straits as revealed graphically in the institutional murder of Father Stan Swamy, the Adivasi rights activist. The authorities’ indifference to end such horrific human rights violations is also brought out in several recent reports.
Persisting violence and crimes against minority Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and ‘national or ethnic minorities’ (UN terminology) elsewhere in India including the northeast, where I was posted for several years, pose a challenge to India’s criminal justice system. The matter came up for serious consideration at the 8th session of the UN Forum on Minority Rights in the Criminal Justice System in Geneva in November 2015. The report of UN special rapporteur Rita Izsak on the subject was presented to the 70th Session of the General Assembly.