Bipin Rawat: Armed Forces have utmost respect for human rights, driven by ‘insaniyat, sharafat’

Addressing interns and senior officers of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Rawat said, “The Indian Armed Forces are very disciplined and have the utmost respect for human rights laws and international human rights laws,” reported PTI.

He was speaking on “Preserving Human Rights in Times of War and Prisoners of War” at the Manav Adhikar Bhawan in New Delhi.

“The Indian Armed Forces not only ensure the protection of human rights of our own people but also of adversaries and deal with Prisoners of War as per the Geneva Conventions,” Rawat said.

In his address at the NHRC event, Rawat asserted that the driving ethos of the Armed Forces are “‘insaniyat’ and ‘sharafat‘ (humanity and decency)” and added that “they are extremely secular”.

“The challenge is changing warfare tactics with the advent of technology. Unlike the attack by any Army, terror attacks remain unaccountable in international law.

“Hence, counter-terrorism and anti-insurgency operations have to be dealt in a manner of winning the hearts of the people by identifying and alienating the insurgents among them without collateral damage, which becomes very challenging and difficult,” he said.