Expressing concern over the appointment of a BJP functionary as a member of the National Human Rights Commission, the All India Network of NGOs and Individuals working with National and State Human Rights Institutions (AiNNI) has urged the President to intervene.
The AiNNI is a national forum of individuals and organisations from across the country to monitor and strengthen the functioning of human rights institutions.
According to its national working secretary Henri Tiphagne, the appointment of Avinash Rai Khanna, vice-president of the BJP, as an NHRC member would send a wrong message to the people. The post, which was lying vacant since March 2014, should have been filled with a qualified person. Appointing people from a political background only challenges the independence of the NHRC, he said.
“The appointment is contrary to the universally accepted human rights standards evolved under the aegis of the UN,” he added.
