Indian forces have respect for human rights, says army chief

NEW DELHI: A day after Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat made a controversial statement over Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), he said on Friday that I n d i a n a r med forces are “extremely secular” and the driving ethos is “Insaniyat” (humanity) and “Sharafat” (decency).

On Thursday, General Rawat’s statement on public platform that “instigating large crowds to turn violent and carry out arson doesn’t amount to leadership”, brought a lot of criticism from across the political spectrum and civil societies.

On Friday, he said Indian armed forces have utmost respect for human rights and India army had upgraded human rights cell to the level of a directorate in the army. He said the Indian armed forces are disciplined and have utmost respect for human rights laws and International human rights laws. “The Indian armed forces not only ensure protection of human rights of our own people but also of adversaries and deal with the prisoners of war as

per the Geneva Conventions,” said General Rawat while addressing the interns and senior officers of the National Human Rights Commission on the topic “Preserving Human Rights in times of War and Prisoners of War” a t Manav Adhi k a r

Bhawan, New Delhi.

The army chief said the challenge is the changing warfare tactics with the advent of technology. “Unlike the attack by any armed forces, the terror attacks remain unaccountable in international law,” he said.