BRUSSELS: The European Union must talk about human rights in India before establishing broader economic ties with India in the form of the Free Trade Agreement, says Marie Arena, the Chairperson of the EU Parliament’s committee on human rights.
Expressing his views at a virtual joint meeting of the European Parliament Commission and the European External Action Service, Marie Arena reprimanded India’s human rights record and blamed Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for religious, social and political polarization.
BJP has sown the seeds of hatred in a multicultural society and arrested opponents on a large scale, she said.
Ms Arena took to social media to underscore human rights violations in India .
“Freedom-killing laws are passed to limit the work of civil society and to exclude minorities from Indian society,” she tweeted.
❌ La situation des droits humains se détériore en Inde. Des lois liberticides sont adoptées pour limiter le travail de la société civile et pour exclure des minorités de la société indienne. https://t.co/OtVWTwaOnb
— Maria Arena (@MariaArenaEU) March 18, 2021
“India must release all political prisoners and respect basic human rights,” she added. Marie Arena urged that there should be a local human rights dialogue at the EU-India Summit in Porto, Portugal in May, which is an integral part of last year’s Strategic Partnership Agreement.
“The EU must demand that India respect its human rights obligations, which must be a precondition for any strengthening of economic relations, but also the release of prisoners of conscience, defenders as well as the cancellation freedom-killing laws,” she said.
FTA’s terms include human rights and the UN has published two reports on human rights violations in Indian Occupied Kashmir. Amnesty International and other organisations have reiterated their demands for the protection of minorities in India.
All these questions must be answered before the May summit in Portugal, Arena said.
Human Rights Watch, International Federation of Human Rights, Amnesty International have written letters to the European Council, the Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, EEAS, seeking a response from India on human rights.
A number of events have been organised by India to satisfied EU. The recent EU ambassador was taken to Srinagar and Jammu to show a “normal” picture of Kashmir.
The Modi government’s notorious legislation and violence have tarnished India’s democratic image to such an extent that the head of the European Parliament’s Human Rights Committee has likened some of the government’s actions to fascism.
