Cauvery Basin2

Tamil Research Institution (TRI)
them in those areas where the children will be carefully looked after and sent to their
schools till their parents come back after their migrant labour is over for the year.
XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.
It has been brought to our attention that there exists a statute in Tamilnadu which is
an amendment to the Tamilnadu Societies Registration Act passed in the year 2010
specifically mandating all organizations not to use the words ’human rights’ in the title
of their organizations. We are also informed further that the Madras High Court is
also dealing with a case in this regard . We wish to observe that no organization
which claims that it is a human rights organization, with the words ‘human rights’ in
their title or not, has a right to cheat the members of the public using direct or covert
means and ‘Katta panchayats’ and when they do so the law enforcement authorities
are well within their powers to initiate criminal action against them . However, we also
wish to observe that human rights organizations are essential to the protection and
promotion of human rights in our country. They are at the core of human rights and at
the core of the work of national and state human rights institutions. They put issues
on the agenda, provide vital information about human rights on the ground, and give
a voice and face to human rights. They further assist to implement and monitor the
implementation of the decisions and resolutions of the UN at the national and local
levels making our Constitution richer in content. They also bridge the gap between
the international, regional and national levels, by helping to translate human rights
work into action, by triggering change, and by reminding us to strive for
accountability. This is also what we have seen in this case. We therefore recommend
that the Government of Tamilnadu immediately amends and brings changes in its law
to ban the use of the words human rights and also brings in a special law to protect
human rights defenders in their day to day work.
The Government of Tamilnadu is yet to strictly adhere to the directives of the
Supreme Court of India in the Prakash Singh’s case [2006] inspite of Its Tamilnadu
Police (Reforms) Act 2013. We strongly believe that only a strict adherence to the SC
judgment cited above and the promulgation of a New Police Act that can protect
human rights of ordinary people in the state and strongly recommend that the State
of Tamilnadu initiates urgent steps in this regard.
It was also observed by us that on 10 th April, three days after the NHRC had taken
cognizance of this case and the same was also extensively reported in all national
and state newspapers, the Tamilnadu State Human Rights Commission has ordered
notice to the Chief Secretary and the DGP Tamilnadu to report on the incident. This
is seemingly redundant. We recommend that the State SHRC in Tamilnadu does not
waste it time in such actions which are not only without jurisdiction after the NHRC
has taken cognizance thus avoiding duplication. We further recommend that the
State SHRC concentrates on the hundreds of Tamil labourers in AP jails who
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