IPT 2.1 | january 2023
These cases demonstrate the breadth and depth of rights violations against minority communities in India. Our analysis has demonstrated how violence and discriminations against minority communities – encompassing attacks on life and liberty, substantive infringements of social, cultural, economic rights, and the denial of right to effective remedy – have rendered those targeted by state and non-state actors, as being unable to live free and dignified lives. Authorities in India – law enforcement agencies, and those belonging to the justice system, including courts – have been complicit in these, through acts of commission and omission. Lack of accountability and the hardening impunity of perpetrators has been the hallmark of these developments, as has been the denial of justice and reparation for victims.
This is not a recent development and has been shaping up considerably since 2014.The Panel of Independent International Experts have argued in their report how some recent abuses against Muslims amount to international crimes that could potentially meet the threshold of crimes against humanity and incitement to genocide. Similar warnings against the increasing threat to the safeguarding of
minority rights in India have been issued by other civil society actors. An example being PEW Research Centre report ‘How COVID-19 restrictions affected religious groups around the world in 2020’ released in November 2022 that concluded that India remained on the Very High scale (among top 11 out of 198 countries) in the Social Hostilities Index, based on data of social hostilities involving religion as of the end of 2020. India was also among the four countries in the world with social hostilities against religious groups involving violence or vandalism by private actors, with Muslims attacked over the false CoronaJihad narrative, and Christians killed in custody.
The Indian government is failing in its responsibility to respect, protect and fulfill the rights of minority communities. It is also failing in its obligation to uphold human rights as deemed by UN treaties and covenants it is party to. We call upon the international community to hold the Indian government accountable to ensure that the situation does not worsen in 2023 and beyond. This is especially crucial given India is entering a phase of elections leading up to the national elections in 2024.