Changes

It feels nice to be one of the four to be elected for the first time to an august body like the Amnesty International. The interesting thing about the elections held on May 8 and May 9, 2011, was that the man who came second was Waseem Arshad from Pakistan who polled 429 votes. Oluwatosin Francis from Nigeria got 372 votes and Ine’s Amalia P’erez Quispe from Bolivia got 343 votes.

I got the highest votes: 709 and the note of felicitation sent from Amnesty International, International Secretariate read: “Congratulations on your election as a representative of the international membership at the 2011 International Council Meeting (ICM) in the Netherlands.”

During the elections at the Amnesty, it came as a pleasant surprise to see the kind of international favour I got. This was the first-ever election to be conducted by the Amnesty International and I consider myself fortunate enough to win it. It is increasingly an assertion of India’s growing clout that support for me and the country came from over 195 nations and this is a recognition of me as well as the work being done by Indians worldwide.

This is going to send a very positive message and will encourage Indians to assume international leadership in other political and social organisations.

I have been very active on the human rights scene and have raised several issues, some even globally, in the last 15 years of my activism. During this period, I have held many posts like secretary general of the International Non-Olympic Committee & International Nobel Peace Prize Recommendation Forum (INPPRF).

The basic aim of Amnesty International is to see that law of the land is properly implemented and the rights of the people are not infringed. Besides, prisoners are treated as per law and justice is imparted. We have picked an issue related to Jammu and Kashmir. Despite an obligation under international law to treat anyone below 18 as a child, the police in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) continue to imprison 16 and 17-year-old boys as adults! We at Amnesty want the government to address this burning issue.

Amnesty has found that although India has amended its national juvenile justice law to make it consistent with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the law in Jammu and Kashmir has not yet been updated.

The other recent issue is the lathicharge on innocents who were sleeping at Ram Lila ground. We also have raised the issue that India must investigate into unnecessary and excessive use of force on Delhi protesters.

The Supreme Court also has taken suo motu cognisance of the forceful eviction of peaceful agitators, mostly followers of Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, from the ground.

All told, I am confident that I will energize the chair forum meeting (CFM) and ICM with my expertise can promote the vision of Amnesty International worldwide. For the historic elections, I campaigned all over the world for more than three months. I was helped by my supporters and officials as they worked day and night to convince people about the suitability of my candidature.

It is really difficult to convince well educated voters to vote. But anyhow I succeeded in doing so. An Indian has never been there in Amnesty and the human rights body since its inception has never formed any national chapter in any country. My first initiative
will be to demand an Indian chapter for Amnesty.

We are also preparing a comprehensive Human Rights report to be tabled in the 30th International Council meeting which will be held in Netherlands between August 12 and August 20, 2011. My priority will be to keep a vigil on the government and its agencies so that they do not indulge in corrupt practices and do not violate human rights and do justice.

I will vehemently support India’s cause and will keep an eye on the other countries as well. My endeavour will be to try to shape international opinion to bring back India’s black money which has been deposited in foreign banks by the corrupt Indians, including politicians. I am ready to help even social activist Anna Hazare and Yoga guru Baba Ramdev in raising their demands related to corruption. I plan to put India in such a position of strength that it leads Amnesty International. We will just be four elected international members from across the world. The time for Indians to lead international organisations has come and my election to the Amnesty International is a step in that direction.