MEA slams UN body's 'disrespectful comments on SC' in its call to stop Khori Gaon eviction

Issuing a response to UN body's call to halt the Khori Gaon evictions, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Saturday, expressed concerns at the body abusing the position of Special Rapporteurs. Claiming that the UN body did not await MEA's official response before issuing a press release, MEA expressed shock at the UN body's disrespectful remarks against the Supreme Court. Advising the Special Rapporteurs to understand the importance of upholding the law, MEA stated that India is aware of its international human rights obligations through its UNHRC membership.

MEA: 'Shocked at disrespectful comments against SC'

UN body calls to stop Khori Gaon evictions in Faridabad 

On Friday,  UN human rights experts called on India to halt the eviction of about 100,000 people in Khori Gaon in Faridabad. Saying that it is particularly important to keep residents safe during the pandemic and terming the Supreme Court’s removal order as "extremely worrying”. The UN human rights experts called on India to halt the evictions of some 100,000 people - including 20,000 children - that began this week in the midst of monsoon rains.

"We appeal to the Indian government to respect its own laws and its own goal of eliminating homelessness by 2022 and to spare homes of 100,000 people who mostly come from the minority and marginalised communities. It is particularly important that residents be kept safe during the pandemic,” they said in a statement. The experts said the residents have already been “hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the eviction order would put them at greater risk and bring even more hardship to some 20,000 children – many of whom may remain out of school - and 5,000 pregnant or breastfeeding women”.

 “The role of the Supreme Court is to uphold the laws and to interpret them in light of internationally recognised human rights standards, not to undermine them. In this case, the spirit and purpose of the Land Acquisition Act 2013, among other domestic legal requirements, have not been met,” they said. The UN experts said the lockdowns imposed during the pandemic have made it difficult for settlement residents to earn a living, and they are suffering psychologically as a result of the eviction threat.

The experts comprise Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons Cecilia Jimenez-Damary.

Last month, the Supreme Court directed Haryana and the Faridabad municipal corporation to remove "all encroachments" consisting of around 10,000 residential constructions in the Aravali forest area near Lakarpur Khori village in Faridabad district, asserting that the "land grabbers cannot take refuge of rule of law" and talk of "fairness". A vacation bench of justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari sought a compliance report within six weeks.