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Amnesty decries India for refusing
visas to its team to visit Gujarat

H S Rao in London

International human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, on Tuesday criticised India for refusing it visas to go to Gujarat for an independent probe into the recent communal trouble there, saying the denial would "damage" the image of the Indian and Gujarat governments.

Amnesty claimed that the refusal of the Indian government to grant its team access to Gujarat would "reinforce the concerns that the government of Gujarat and the state police might have been accomplices in preparing the ground for violence and in allowing it to occur."

"A government which fully accepts its responsibilities in protecting its citizens and upholds their constitutional rights to life and equality does not shy away from international scrutiny," Amnesty said in a statement.

The Indian government did not respond to a visa application by the watchdog "before the mutually agreed deadline of July 12, 2002," it said adding that "as agreed with government representatives in London, Amnesty is therefore compelled to assume that the visa will not be granted."

PTI

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