India exporting arms to Israel amounts to assisting genocide, says Prashant Bhushan

Prashant Bhushan criticizes India for exporting arms to Israel, violating international conventions and fundamental rights.

India exporting arms to Israel amounts to assisting genocide and violation of the fundamental rights enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution, Supreme Court lawyer and human rights activist Prashant Bhushan has said.

He was interacting with students of St. Albert’s College (Autonomous) after delivering a keynote address on ‘Democracy and Panchayati Raj’ organised by the Economics department of the college here on Saturday (August 17, 2024).

“We are filing a petition in the Supreme Court regarding India’s exports of arms to Israel. The International Court of Justice has ruled that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestine people. India is a signatory of the international convention against genocide, which says that no country can assist genocide. Exporting arms, which when used in this genocide amounts to assisting genocide,” said Mr. Bhushan.

Also, Article 21 enshrined in the Constitution protecting life and liberty is not just restricted to Indian citizens. The Constitution says the State of India cannot violate anyone’s rights guaranteed under Article 21 even if he is a non-citizen. If the Indian government exports arms to Israel, which is used in the genocide against the Palestinian citizens, then that amounts to violation of the fundamental rights of the Palestine people, he said.

“But we know that it is not at all certain that the court will decide in accordance with what the law is or what the Constitution demands. For, some times, the courts just abdicate their responsibility by saying that this is a matter of foreign policy or that it is a matter of expert opinion and we cannot go into it and so on,” said Mr. Bhushan.

He further elaborated on his point of abdication of responsibility of courts in the context of the litigation around the Vizhinjam port. Scientific papers by an expert showed that construction of the breakwater wall perpendicular to the coastline is leading to erosion of the beaches and the coast on the northern side of the wall and accretion of sand on the southern side. The satellite pictures of the Vizhinjam area between 2018 and now clearly shows that.

“This issue was raised in the court and the court directed the government to form another committee to examine it. The government formed the committee headed by the same expert. They have given a report, which in my opinion is totally dishonest, that attributed the erosion and accretion to a 2017 cyclone and global warming and that it has nothing to do with the construction of the breakwater wall,” he said.