The Hindu
Bangalore, Dec 11: Karnataka is seeing a tragic fall from its position as the land of high values to a State where all institutions put in place to monitor and safeguard the rights of the people feel a sense of “helplessness”, lamented Governor H.R. Bhardwaj.
Speaking at a function held to observe Human Rights Day here on Thursday, he described Karnataka as a State “drifting in moral and ethical values”. He said that institutions across the board — including the Lokayukta, Karnataka State Human Rights Commission (KSHRC) and the High Court — were feeling helpless in stemming this degradation.
He pleaded his own helplessness in intervening since his “hands are tied by the Constitution”.
But his heart, he said, “bleeds for the people of Karnataka”, making a plea to set things in order. “If Karnataka is lost, what will survive?” he asked, and asserted that the State was a land of “ethnic plurality where all religions and castes are equal”.
A sense of helpless and anguish marked the words of Lokayukta Santosh Hegde too at the function organised by KSHRC and Banglore University.
“Every act of corruption and mal-administration is an act of human rights violation,” said Justice Hegde, and added that large-scale corruption and diversion of funds meant for developmental work, especially to rural areas, was going unchecked.
Extent of violation
Recalling the words of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, he said that of every rupee spent on development, only 15 paise reached the poor. “It means that there is 85 per cent violation of human rights,” he said.
KSHRC Chairperson S.R. Nayak expressed despair over the lack of support for the commission’s work.
He said that the State Government should not treat it like one of its departments.
Raising a controversial issue, Bangalore University Vice-Chancellor N. Prabhu Dev questioned the standpoint from which human rights activists defend the fundamental human rights of people like Kasab, prime accused in the 26/11 terror attack case, and forest brigand Veerappan. He contended that we should have a “charter of duties” too.