NEW DELHI: Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar expressed concern over the human rights violations against Hindus in India’s neighbouring countries and questioned the global silence on the issue. He criticised the “so-called moral preachers and custodians of human rights” for their “deafening silence” and labelled them as “mercenaries of something which is totally antithetical to human rights.”
The vice president urged people to reflect on the “barbarity, torture, and traumatised experience” faced by boys, girls, and women, as well as the sacrilege of religious places.
Dhankhar cautioned against certain forces attempting to portray India in a negative light and called for a “counter-attack” to neutralize such attempts. He emphasised that India does not appreciate being sermonised or lectured on human rights. The vice president highlighted Partition, the imposition of Emergency, and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as traumatic events that serve as reminders of the fragility of liberty.
According to Dhankhar, these forces have created indexes to rank countries and show India in a bad light. He criticised the hunger index, pointing out that during the Covid pandemic, the government provided free ration to over 80 crore people regardless of their caste and creed. The vice president asserted that these forces are driven by a fiscally fueled agenda and aim to disrupt the country’s economic system.
Dhankhar underscored the safety of minorities in India, saying that the country is far ahead of others in preserving human rights, particularly for minorities, marginalised, and vulnerable sections of society. He also noted that some individuals attempt to use human rights to further their political agenda domestically.
The vice president emphasised that human rights should not be used as a tool of foreign policy to exert power and influence over others. He said that “naming and shaming is a degraded form of diplomacy” and that one should “preach only what you practice.” Dhankhar highlighted the absence of school shootings in India, which occur regularly in some developed countries, and criticised those nations for turning a blind eye to such horrendous human rights transgressions.
Lastly, Dhankhar expressed concern over the repeated invocation of the rights of non-Hindu refugees in the name of human rights, particularly in cases filed in the Supreme Court. He asserted that this exposes a political agenda aimed at disrupting the country’s demographic balance, which could have global repercussions. The vice president warned that history has shown nations completely losing their identity by not addressing this issue, and it has global implications from the perspective of human rights.