Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh condemned the criticism received by India in recent weeks over human rights issues. The minister was speaking at the inaugural function of a two-day conference organised by the National Human Rights Commission and the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts on Thursday.
The conference will be attended by members of state Human rights commissions, judges, educators, academics, artists and others discussing the Human Rights concepts in Indian history, philosophy, art and cultural heritage.
Speaking at the event, held at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi on Thursday, the Union minister spoke about the long history of recognition of human rights in India.
“Let no one come across and preach to us. The western world came out with the concept of human rights and they felt they were the first to do so. It was important to know where we come from and what our background is,” said Singh.
Singh also defended the need for strict anti-terror laws and said that laws like UAPA are necessary to “act against people who behead other people.”
“Laws like UAPA are necessary to protect people. We can infringe on due process of a few terrorists to ensure that numbers of people are not killed,” Singh said.
NHRC Chairman Justice Arun Mishra was also present at the event. Defending India’s tolerance, Mishra cited the Vedas, Mahabharata, Kautilya’s arthashastra, and Akbar’s Din-e-ilahi to indicate the tradition of equality and tolerance in Indian history and culture.
“The right to one’s body, house and dignity is there in the Rigveda,” said Justice Mishra, quoting Mahabharata, Manusmriti and other texts to show war and ceasefire rules, protection of rights by ruler, environmental consciousness, and several other key human rights concepts discussed in ancient and medieval texts.
“A country with a history and culture like ours can never be considered intolerant,” claimed Mishra.
“There has been a mix of religions, the influence of Akbar’s Din-e-ilahi who did research on similarities in religions and said God is one in all religions. I don’t know why there has been an attempt to divide religions now. We need a new Din-e-ilahi to show all religions are one,” said the NHRC Chairman.
The conference is scheduled to continue on Friday with a panel session on human rights traditions in literature and art. Union minister for External Affairs S Jaishanker is expected to attend the valedictory session.