Democracy ‘alien concept’ for Pak, must end rights abuses in occupied areas: India at UN
United Nations (PTI): Asserting that democracy is an "alien" concept for Pakistan, India has called upon Islamabad to end grave human rights violations in territories under its illegal occupation, where the population is in "open revolt" against military occupation, repression, brutality and exploitation.
Responding to references made by Pakistan's envoy at the UN Security Council's open debate on 'The United Nations Organisation: Looking into the Future' on Friday, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish, said,
"The people of Jammu and Kashmir exercise their fundamental rights in accordance with India’s time-tested democratic traditions and constitutional framework."
"We, of course, know that these are concepts alien to Pakistan," he said.
The envoy reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir “has been, is, and will always be” an integral and inalienable part of India.
Strongly rebuking Islamabad, Harish said, “We call upon Pakistan to end the grave and ongoing human rights violations in the areas illegally occupied by it, where the population is in open revolt against Pakistan’s military occupation, repression, brutality and illegal exploitation of resources.”
Harish also emphasised that the UN must undertake “real, comprehensive reforms,” saying that the 80-year-old Security Council architecture no longer reflects contemporary geopolitical realities.
“An outdated Council architecture that mirrors the geopolitical realities of 1945 is not equipped to handle the challenges of 2025,” he said, calling for expansion in both permanent and non-permanent categories through “time-bound" and "text-based negotiations”.
He underlined that the Global South must have a greater voice in global decision-making, adding that “postponing reforms indefinitely does immense disservice to our citizens, especially in the Global South”.
“This bloc of countries represents the overwhelming proportion of humanity and has its unique set of challenges, particularly in the areas of development, climate and financing,” Harish said, adding that global decision-making must be more democratic and inclusive.
Highlighting India's commitment to multilateralism, he said the world must move beyond “pennies and posts” to craft a new vision for the UN that is more agile and responsive to global challenges such as pandemics, terrorism, economic instability, and climate change.
Harish noted that the world’s largest multilateral body faces questions of “relevance, legitimacy, credibility, and efficacy”.
He cautioned that international cooperation is increasingly being viewed as charity and that prosperity is being “ring-fenced amid shrinking access to resources and technologies necessary for growth”. He said progress that is not universal is “neither sustainable nor tenable in moral terms or on a practical basis".
Harish also called for making UN mechanisms more agile, noting that peacekeepers face “newer challenges every day” and need realistic mandates, adequate resources, and technological support.
“Structural adjustments of different UN bodies are welcome, but not enough,” he said, urging that UN80, the 80th anniversary of the organisation, should aim for “real, comprehensive reforms of the UN and its principal organs.”
Harish further emphasised the need to revitalise the General Assembly as the UN's principal deliberative and policymaking body, enhancing coordination with other organs, particularly the Security Council, to realise the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
He cautioned member states against using the UN as a “theatre for divisive politics and parochial purposes,” saying, “In a world fractured and fragmented along multiple fault lines, the United Nations... is the only vehicle we possess to harness our collective energies for global public good.”
Harish invoked India's civilisational ethos of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, “the world is one family”, and urged all member states to come together and join hands towards realising "this vision for making the UN fit for purpose for the new era”.
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Acts preceding actual partial penetration without ejaculation is attempt to rape: Chhattisgarh HC
Bilaspur (PTI): Noting that the act of the convict preceded the actual partial penetration but without ejaculation, the Chhattisgarh High Court has reduced the seven-year sentence awarded by a trial court to a man in a 2004 rape case and convicted him for attempted rape instead.
Partially accepting the accused's appeal, the High Court has reduced the convict's sentence to three years and six months' rigorous imprisonment. A fine of Rs 200 was imposed.
"The proof of penetration, even if partial, is necessary to prove rape. The evidence available in the present case does not prove complete rape, but it does prove that the accused attempted rape. The evidence available in the present case does not prove complete rape, but it does prove that the accused attempted rape," Justice Narendra Kumar Vyas stated in the order on February 16.
Additional Sessions Judge, Dhamtari (Camp-Raipur), had convicted Vasudeo Gond on April 6, 2005, under section 376(1) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sentenced him to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment.
He was also sentenced to six months’ rigorous imprisonment under Section 342 IPC. Both sentences were to run concurrently.
Gond had lured the victim, a resident of Dhamtari district, to his house on May 21, 2004, under some pretext, and raped her.
He locked her in a room and tied her hands and feet. A case was registered at the Arjuni police station.
The prosecution examined 19 witnesses during the trial.
In her statement, the victim had claimed forced sexual intercourse by the accused. However, during cross-examination, she gave contradictory statements regarding penetration.
Medical examination revealed an intact hymen, but the possibility of partial penetration was raised. The FSL report also found human sperm in some samples.
The High Court noted that the victim's statement lacked clarity regarding penetration. The medical evidence also failed to establish complete penetration. Citing various Supreme Court decisions, the single-judge bench stated that proof of penetration, even if partial, is necessary to prove rape.
"The evidence of the victim is corroborated with the medical evidence brought on record by the prosecution and law on the subject. It is quite vivid that an offence of attempt to commit rape is made out against the appellant, as there is partial penetration by the appellant.
"As such, the act of the appellant forcibly taking the victim inside the room, closing the doors with the motive of carnal knowledge, was the end of ‘preparation’ to commit the offence. His following action of stripping the victim and himself, and rubbing his genitals against those of the victims and partial penetration, which was indeed an endeavour to commit sexual intercourse," the HC stated.
It said the acts of the appellant were deliberately done with manifest intention to commit the offence aimed at and were reasonably proximate to the consummation of the offence.
"Since the acts of the appellant exceeded the stage beyond preparation and preceded the actual partial penetration but without ejaculation, the appellant is guilty of attempting to commit rape as punishable within the ambit and scope of Section 511 read with Section 375 IPC as it stood in force at the time of occurrence," the HC stated.
The HC convicted Gond under sections 376 (1) and 511 of the IPC, instead of section 376, and sentenced him to three years and six months' rigorous imprisonment. The six-month sentence under Section 342 was upheld. Both sentences will run concurrently.
The bench ordered that the sentence already undergone by the accused be set off.
It cancelled the bail of the accused and directed him to surrender before the trial court within two months, failing which action for his arrest would be initiated.
