APPENDIX-Continued 5. Article entitled "Economic Prospects Bright, Says World Bank Report" from India News (published by the Embassy of India) May 28, 1976--- 6. Selected exhibits submitted by Mrs. Fernandes: Exhibit 1: Letter of George Fernandes to Indira Gandhi-Exhibit 6: Letter from Alice Fernandes to the President of India concerning her son, Lawrence Fernandes___ Page 219 221 222 Exhibit 7: Letter to the Editor, The Times (London) from politi- 224 Exhibit 8: Christmas Newsletter by George Fernandes from the 225 7. Statement submitted by Prof. R. P. Misra, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, N.J. 231 INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS Other Documents in the Series Human Rights in the World Community: A Call for U.S. Leadership. March 27, 1974. (Report of the Subcommittee on International Organizations and Movements.) International Protection of Human Rights: The Work of International Organizations and the Role of U.S. Foreign Policy. August 1; September 13, 19, 20, 27; October 3, 4, 10, 11, 16, 18, 24, 25; November 1; December 7, 1973.1 (Hearings before the Subcommittee on International Organizations and Movements.) Human Rights in Chile (Part 1). December 9, 1973; May 7, 23; June 11, 12, and 18, 1974. (Joint hearings by the Subcommittee on International Organizations and Movements and the Subcommittee on Inter-American Affairs.) Treatment of Israeli POW's in Syria and Their Status Under the Geneva Convention. February 26, 1974. (Hearing before the Subcommittee on International Organizations and Movements and the full committee.) Problems of Protecting Civilians Under International Law in the Middle East Conflict. April 4, 1974.4 (Hearing before the Subcommittee on International Organizations and Movements.) Human Rights in Africa: Report by the International Commission of Jurists. June 13, 1974. (Hearings before the Subcommittee on International Organizations and Movements.) Review of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. June 18 and 20, 1974.o (Hearings before the Subcommittee on International Organizations and Movements.) Soviet Union; Human Rights and Détente. July 17 and 25, 1974.* (Joint hearings by the Subcommittee on Europe and the Subcommittee on International Organizations and Movements.) Torture and Oppression in Brazil. December 11, 1974. (Before the Subcommittee on International Organizations.) Human Rights in South Korea and the Philippines: Implications for U.S. Policy. May 20, 22; June 3, 5, 10, 12, 17, 24, 1975. (Before the Subcommittee on International Organizations and Movements.) Human Rights in Chile (Part 2). November 19, 1974. (Joint hearing by the Subcommittee on Inter-American Affairs and the Subcommittee on International Organizations and Movements.) Human Rights in South Korea: Implications for U.S. Policy. July 31, August 5, December 20, 1974. (Joint hearings by the Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs and the Subcommittee on International Organizations and Movements.) Human Rights in Haiti. November 18, 1975. (Hearing before the Subcommittee on International Organizations.) Human Rights in Chile. December 9, 1975. (Hearings before the Subcommittee on International Organizations.) Chile: The Status of Human Rights and Its Relationships to U.S. Economic Assistance Programs. April 29; May 5, 1976.2 (Hearings before the Subcommittee on International Organizations.) Psychiatric Abuse of Political Prisoners in the Soviet Union: Testimony by Leonid Plyushch. March 30, 1976.2 (Hearing before the Subcommittee on International Organizations.) Human Rights in Indonesia and the Philippines. December 18 and May 3, 1976.* (Hearings before the Subcommittee on International Organizations.) Anti-Semitism and Reprisals Against Jewish Emigration in the Soviet Union. May 27, 1976. (Hearing before the Subcommittee on International Organizations.) Human Rights Issues at the Sixth Regular Session of the Organization of American States General Assembly. August 10, 1976. (Hearing before the Subcommittee on International Organizations.) Human Rights in the Philippines: Report by Amnesty International. September 15, 1976.2 (Hearing before the Subcommittee on International Organizations.) Religious Persecution in the South Union. June 24 and 30, 1976. (Joint hearings by the Subcommittee on International Political and Military Affairs and the Subcommittee on International Organizations.) 1 Document only available from Government Printing Office. Document available from Government Printing Office, or from International Relations Committee. 3 Document available from the International Relations Committee only. Not available. HUMAN RIGHTS IN INDIA WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 1976 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 2:14 p.m. in room 2255, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Donald M. Fraser (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Mr. FRASER. Today the Subcommittee on International Organizations begins a series of hearings on the human rights situation in India. Since the attainment of independence in 1947, India has been widely respected for its defense of human rights in the face of overwhelming economic and social challenges. On June 26, 1975, the President of India proclaimed a national emergency on the grounds that the security of India was threatened by internal disturbance. Essential human rights have been curtailed and many persons, including members of the Indian Parliament, have been detailed without being tried or having charges placed against them. Many persons have been detained since the emergency was declared a year ago. The demise of democratic freedoms in India has serious implications beyond the situation in India itself. India has been one of the few developing countries with a democratic form of government. Does the situation in India suggest that traditional civil rights and civil liberties are unworkable in developing societies? These are questions which the subcommittee intends to explore at these hearings. Today's witnesses are Dr. Homer A. Jack, Secretary General of the World Conference of Religion for Peace, and Prof. Ainslee Embree. Dr. Jack has had a special interest in India since its preindependence period. Professor Embree is associate dean of the International Affairs of Columbia University and a specialist in Indian affairs. I welcome both our witnesses today, and, Dr. Jack, perhaps we will begin with you. STATEMENT OF DR. HOMER A. JACK, SECRETARY GENERAL, WORLD CONFERENCE OF RELIGION FOR PEACE Mr. JACK. Mr. Chairman, I will give much of my prepared address, but since it is a little bit long, I will skip over some parts, and I will indicate where I skip. Mr. FRASER. We will have your entire statement put in the record. Mr. JACK. I have been involved with India and Indian-American relations for almost 35 years. I was born here in the United States, but I have come to know India better than any country other than my own. Despite this long, admittedly subjective, tie with India, I am today prepared to criticize the violations of human rights in India today. I must give my bona fides, immodestly at some length at the onset of this testimony, only because the Government of India is especially critical these days of Americans who dare question Indian policy. I have criticized the Government of the United States, and on many counts including human rights, so I hope that I may be allowed to criticize the Government of India. My long involvement with India began in 1942 when as a theological student at the University of Chicago I participated in the worldwide "Quit India" day and protested in front of the British Consulate in Chicago. Gandhi and Nehru were arrested in India; some of us only received publicity in the Chicago Tribune. I continued association with J.J. Singh, Roger Baldwin, and others in the India League of America until India gained its freedom in 1947. During the 1950's I was a friend of Indian Ambassador G. L. Mehta, in the period when U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles was especially cool toward India. I was a Chicago representative of Pearl Buck's campaign to send American wheat to India to prevent famine. During the 1950's I was a special correspondent for "The Hindustan Times" and wrote articles from Washington, the United Nations, and Africa. I have visited India a dozen times, first in 1955. I had discussions with Prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru on several occasions, not only in India, but in Indonesia at the Bandung Conference; Yugoslavia, at the first summit of non-aligned States, and the United States. I was a close friend of Prof. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan-the scholar of comparative religion-when this scholar-statesman was Vice President of India and during his two terms as President. I also dealt with, more than in an honorific way, with two other Indian Presidents, Mr. Rajendra Prasad and Dr. Zakir Husain. Although I never met Mohandas Gandhi, I was a friend of two of his sons Devadas and Manilal-and spent several weeks with the latter in South Africa at the ashram founded by his father. Within the past year I visited both the daughter-in-law of Gandhi, living in Madras, and one of Gandhi's grandchildren, living in Bombay. I have studied the life and teachings of Gandhi and have edited two volumes: The Wit and Wisdom of Gandhi, Beacon Press, 1951; and The Gandhi Reader, Indiana University Press, 1956. I have long been associated with the Gandhi Peace Foundation and was cosecretary of its International Interreligious Symposium on Peace in 1968 at New Delhi. I write frequently for the foundation's quarterly, Gandhi Marg, the latest article being in the January 1976 issue on the U.N. debate on racism and Zionism-probably one of the few articles critical of this Arab action printed in India. I have known and worked with several of the other architects of independent India. I was a friend of C. R.-Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, the first Governor General of India-and helped his international deputation to prevent atomic war. Also I worked with J. P.Jayaprakash Narayan, the American-educated Gandhian-cum-demo |