Speaking at an event “Stop Discrimination and Violence: Human Rights for all”, various activists claimed that there had been an increase of human rights violations in the country in the last few years, and criticised the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre for refusing to acknowledge this increase despite the country being a signatory to the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Advertising The event was organised by several civil society groups at St Xaviers Social Service Society to mark the International Human Rights Day. Qutub Jehan Kidwai, representing the West Zone of United Religions Initiative (URI) India, quoted a recent UN report on human rights and said that there was a sharp increase in “forceful detentions and filing of false cases’’. She said that there had been instance where people with dissenting views had been “detained forcefully” or “disappeared”. Dissent, she said, was now being labelled as “anti-national”. Until now, such cases used to happen only in Pakistan and Afghanistan, she said. Claiming that radical extremism in the country had also increased, she said, “nobody knows when he or she can be declared an anti-national or a cow smuggler”. Kidwai, who has also worked with the LGBT community, said that the latter felt threatened in the country. Advertising Criticising the policies of the government on Rohingya refugees in the country, Kidwai expressed concern about the government attempting to reduce the number of Assamese Muslims. Also present at the event, Ahmedabad-based activist Shankshad Pathan read out the 30 points of the UN Declaration of Human Rights and claimed that the country was violating every point. “Human rights as mentioned in UN charter were violated during the Congress rule and the same is being done under BJP rule,” he said. “Neither leaders of the ruling party nor those sitting in Opposition acknowledge that there is violation of human rights in the country,” Pathan said.

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