BENGALURU: Amnesty International’s India chapter on Tuesday said none of its employees had shouted any anti-India slogan at an event on Kashmir in Bengaluru. Sedition charges were slapped against the human rights body based on this allegation.
It said allegations mentioned in a complaint by an ABVP representative against it were “without substance” and that only discussion at the event on Saturday was about allegations of human rights violations and denial of justice in Jammu and Kashmir.
On the allegation that anti-national songs were sung and slogans raised at the event, Amnesty said that none of the women named in the complaint “sang any songs or raised any slogans”.
The only musical performance was a song sung by Roushan Illahi (also known as M C Kash) at the end of the event, about growing up amid violence in Kashmir. It added that the video footage of the event had been shared with the police.
On anti-national speeches, it said the only speech delivered at the event was by Amnesty International India’s Programme Director Tara Rao which referred “to allegations of human rights violations by security force personnel”.
Noting that allegations were detailed in Amnesty International India Report 2015, the release stated that People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which is part of the current ruling coalition in Jammu and Kashmir, had welcomed the recommendations of the report when it was released.
Dismissing allegations of assault on ABVP activists, it said that none of its employees were involved. “Towards the end of the event, some raised slogans, some referred to calls for ‘Azaadi’ (freedom). It also rebutted complaints of “indirect support” to terrorists. “The only discussion at the event was about allegations of human rights violations and the denial of justice to families in Kashmir,” it stated.