.. Human rights activists are expected to be in the forefront of the defence of every citizen's rights in a secular India. Sadly, more and more of them tend to give a religious bias to human rights. When the victim belongs to a different religion, socio-economic oppression is not an issue, the gender of the person is of little relevance, and the right to be considered innocent till proven guilty is no more a priority.

In the years to come, such atrocities are bound to increase and people with a vested interest are bound to give them a communal bias. Are human rights activists going to take the same stand or fight for the rights for all? It is time those speaking about the rights of the weak got over their communal hang-ups, thought of every citizen as equal and came together to defend these rights.                                                                     (Source: The Times of India, 4 February, 1998)