Press Trust of India: New Delhi: Wednesday, June 21, 2017.
For the CRPF,
the killing of 25 personnel by Naxalites in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district does
not qualify as the "human right violation" of the slain jawans,
judging by the paramilitary force's reply to a Right to Information (RTI)
query.
The CRPF gave
this response while refusing to share its inquiry report into the incident with
an RTI applicant.
Human rights
activist Venkatesh Nayak had sought the report, saying the massacre violated
the human rights of those killed in April this year.
The force is
exempted from making disclosures under the RTI Act unless the information
sought pertains to allegations of human right violations and corruption.
Citing the
exemption clause, the CRPF in its response said, "In the instant matter,
there appears to be no violations of Human Rights as well as facts of the case
do not attract allegations of corruption. Moreover, your application does not
make any reference to such allegations. Hence this department is not liable to
provide any information in this regard to your under RTI Act-2005."
The CRPF also
said the report also could not be shared because it contained operational
details.
Nayak said
the murderous attack by the ultras amounted to a violation of their human
rights by "non-State actors" and by denying this "reality",
the CRPF may be doing injustice to its own personnel.
"Every
time such an attack occurs, self-appointed conscience-keepers of the 'nation'
and advocates of a belligerent brand of 'nationalism' ... accuse human right
advocates of not raising their voice against the violation of the rights of
security personnel," Nayak said.
He added that
the government's attitude towards such incidents had to be questioned.
"Why
does the government and in this case, the CRPF, fight shy of treating these
attacks as 'human right violations' of their personnel? Surely, there must be a
reason for it," he said.
Nayak said if
such attacks causing the deaths of security personnel were not treated as
violations committed by non- State actors, why should right activists be
portrayed as "villains", even though they always condemn such
incidents.
The Central
Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is the premier central police force for internal
security.
The CRPF
played a pivotal role in curbing militancy in Punjab during the 1980s and
insurgency in Tripura during 1990s. Today, more than one third of the force is
deployed in left-wing extremist affected areas to control extremism.