This edition of the India Persecution Tracker provides an overview of the abuses and discriminations against religious minorities in India from JUNE to AUGUST 2023.
OVERVIEW
- The period under review witnessed increase in anti-minority incitement, offline and online, with several speeches being ‘top level’ incitement to violence, by influential leaders.
- These were accompanied by on-ground coordinated mobilisation by majoritarian groups against minorities in several pockets, including Haryana, Manipur, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh – all states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
- In some locations – notably Manipur and Haryana – this precipitated mass violence against the targeted minorities, resulting in largescale killings, sexual violence, destruction of property, including religious buildings, and forced evictions. In Manipur this violence is still raging.
- In other locations – Uttarakhand and Delhi – minorities were forced to flee their homes, following a vitriolic campaign targeting them.
- State actors have been complicit throughout, by doing too little too late to prevent violence and protect targeted individuals. There are also credible reports of their involvement, in select cases, in acts of violence and discrimination against minorities – through colluding with majoritarian vigilante groups, as well as of discriminatory application of law and procedures, post violence, against the targeted minorities. Mass arbitrary detentions and house demolitions in Haryana, are examples.
- Incidents of individual attacks have also continued, included custodial deaths and multiple cases of lynching by non-state actors, as well as cold blooded murder of Muslims by a Railways Protection Force constable.
- The escalating attacks are further marginalising minorities with their socio-emotional toll.
- Observers have been warning of the rise in violence against minorities in India, in the run up to General Elections early 2024. Our survey of developments during the period under review – June through to August 2023 – confirm that fear.
- Experts are warning the situation will escalate in the months ahead.
- Government of India must take action to prevent atrocities against minorities, provide speedy justice to victims, and punish perpetrators.
- International community must bear upon Indian authorities to prevent escalation, head off violence, and ensure local and regional peace.
This Tracker, though far from exhaustive, has recorded a worsening situation for religious minorities in India including, just in the three months from June through to August 2023, at least:
53000
Displaced due to ethnic & religious violence
100+
Speeches inciting violence against minorities
166+
Deaths in religious and ethnic violence
17
Extrajudicial deaths of Muslims
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The international borders between India, Pakistan and China are disputed and this map is for reference purposes only.
ARBITRARY DEPRIVATION OF LIFE
There were two incidents of mass violence resulting in multiple killings, disproportionately targeting minority communities, during the period under review. These are summarized below:
- Manipur: Violence targeting the predominantly Christians Kuki community since May 2023. The violence has claimed approximately 160 lives, mostly Kuki, and 300 more injured, according to a recent press release by 14 UN experts raising alarm at the continuing human rights abuses in the state. There have been multiple reports of gangrapes and use of sexual violence to target women from the minority community. Details of how the conflict began are in IPT 2.3 here. The violence and conflict have been further used to incite violence against Christians in India and in other parts of the world. An example is a Hindu Mahasabha press conference in New Delhi, where a poster behind the speaker said (translated): ‘Those supporting Manipur-Nagaland Christians from Vatican-Britain should be attacked with missiles’. Nearly 50,000 people, including 12,694 children, have been displaced by the violence.
- Haryana: Targeted violence erupted in Nuh, Haryana, around a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) procession. A video of Monu Manesar, accused in a double murder of Muslim men, was circulated calling on people to join the procession which was to pass through Muslim-majority Nuh. Many other VHP and Bajrang Dal leaders such as Surendra Jain and Bittu Bajrangi made inciteful speeches, which were widely shared. As the procession began, violence erupted in Nuh and surrounding districts on July 31st causing the death of 4 people, including two home guards. In retaliation, two Muslims, including a 19-year-old imam were murdered, 2 mosques burnt, and multiple primarily Muslim owned properties attacked. Multiple reports and recordings of inciteful speeches being made by Hindutva actors in armed rallies in the different districts of Haryana and in Delhi , including at Village Councils calling for the boycott of Muslims and to shut down mosques. Disinformation claiming that Muslims had engineered the violence and that Hindu women had been sexually assaulted, despite being denied by the police, were widely circulated (details and timeline of the violence). Over 3000 Muslims are reported to have fled Gurugram and areas in capital Delhi, following the violence and amid threats of economic boycott. In the crackdown after the violence by the BJP administration in Haryana, about 90% of those arrested by Haryana Police were Muslims, and these included many minors, with police raids forcing others to flee. There is also widespread demolition of houses and properties in retaliatory punitive measures, with a higher proportion of these being Muslim owned (see here and here).
- On July 31, a Railway Protection Force constable, Chetan Kumar, shot three Muslim men, identifying them by their religion, after shooting his superior officer. The incident occurred aboard a moving train near Palghar railway station in Maharashtra. Kumar was on security detail. After shooting his third Muslim victim, Kumar had other passengers record his speech against Muslims while standing over the victim’s body, saying the following: “Pakistan se operate hue hain, tumhari media, yahi media coverage dikha rahi hai hai, pata chal raha hai unko, sab pata chal raha hai, inke aaqa hai wahan… Agar vote dena hai, agar Hindustan me rehna hai, toh mai kehta hoon, Modi aur Yogi, ye do hain, aur aapke Thackeray”
- Translation from The Wire: ‘They operate from Pakistan, this is what the media of the country is showing, they have found out, they know everything, their leaders are there… If you want to vote, if you want to live in India, then I say, Modi and Yogi, these are the two, and your Thackeray’.
- Kumar has a history of harassing and threatening Muslims.
- The police initially refused to record the killings as hate crime, instead claiming the perpetrator suffered from ‘abnormal hallucinations’. However, a week after the incident, sections of the Indian Penal Code on crimes motivated by bias and prejudice were included in the updated First Information Report.
- A one-month old Rohingya baby died in detention in July in Jammu & Kashmir in India after police fired tear gas at arbitrarily detained Rohingya refugees who are treated as illegal immigrants in India. The child’s parents were brought in handcuffs to perform the last rites of the child in Jammu.
- Sheikh Shahadat (36) died in police custody on 23rd July in North West Delhi. He had been arrested on 21st July with the victim’s family alleging police torture as the family was asked to collect him from a hospital.
- Sajid Abbasi (26) died after being released from police custody, with his family alleging that he died as a result of police torture. The victim was detained in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat district, with family saying that he was picked up on false charges, accused of being a gambler.
- Saikul Khan (27) died in police custody on 20th July in Alwar, Rajasthan. His family alleges that Saikul was detained erroneously by the police, being mistaken for someone else accused in a cyber fraud case. They also allege torture by the police as the victim’s body had serious injury marks, especially on his neck and nose. The family has registered a police complaint against two officers.
- Mohammad Ashfaq Khan died in police custody in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand on July 17. His family allege that he was subjected to severe physical abuse while in detention.
- Lukman Ansari (23) was lynched to death by cow vigilantes associated with the Hindu nationalist group Rashtriya Bajrang Dal. The victim was transporting cattle in his car on June 8th in Maharashtra’s Nashik district, when he was intercepted by the cow vigilantes. Ansari and his two aides were beaten, resulting in Ansari killed.
- Afan Abdul Ansari (32) was lynched to death by cow vigilantes in Maharashtra’s Nashik district when he was transporting meat on June 24th. Another man, Nasir Hussain, who was with the victim in the car was injured severely in the attack. The police registered complaints against the perpetrators, at the same time also registered cases against Ansari and Hussain under Maharashtra’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, on allegations of transporting banned meat.
- Jaharuddin (55) a truck driver, was lynched to death in Bihar’s Saran district on June 28th. He was transporting animal bones to a factory when the vehicle broke down. A group of local villagers then accused the victim and those travelling with him of cow slaughter and trade and beat them, with Jaharuddin dying on the spot.
- Saddam Hussain, a labourer, was lynched to death on July 25th in Assam’s Morigaon district. He was part of a group of five Muslim men who had gone to watch a local sports match. They were apprehended on their way back home, and beaten for allegedly stealing cattle even though the group was all on motorbikes. His family allege the involvement of local Bajrang Dal leader named Vishal in the killing.
- Hifzur Rahman (40) was lynched in Assam’s Hojai district on August 13th on suspicion of stealing cattle. He died of his injuries in a hospital following the assault.
- Majibul Haque (45) was lynched on August 17 in Darrang, Assam. He was attacked and killed by a mob for allegedly stealing goats.
- Wasim (27) was lynched to death by a mob on suspicion of chopping wood on the night of August 17 in Alwar, Rajasthan. Two of his associates were injured in the attack. The family of the deceased allege that the mob shouted ‘Mullo ko kato’ (Cut these Muslims) while attacking them.
- Abbas Ali (55) and Kamrul Nisha (53) were beaten to death on 18th August in Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur district. They were attacked with iron rods and sticks by a Hindu mob on allegations that their son was in a relationship with a Hindu woman. Their son had already been arrested and sent to jail after the girl’s family lodged an abduction complaint against him.
- Shamshad Ansari (45) was stripped and beaten to death in Jharkhand’s Ramgarh district on August 22. The state reported 46 cases of mob lynchings from 2016-2021, and another 12 in 2022. The State Assembly had passed a bill against mob lynching in 2021, which was returned for reconsideration by the Centre-appointed Governor.
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The international borders between India, Pakistan and China are disputed and this map is for reference purposes only.
ARBITRARY DETENTIONS
Apart from the detentions related to violence in Haryana, key developments include:
- 74 Rohingya refugees were detained by police for living ‘illegally’ in Uttar Pradesh. Those arrested included 5 children, 14 women (including a pregnant woman) and 55 men who had been living there since escaping the violence in Myanmar.
- A 14-year-old Muslim boy was detained by Maharashtra police in June for a social media post in which he allegedly glorified Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Hindutva leaders have used their revisionist historical lens to define Aurangzeb as the pinnacle of historical Islamic tyranny in India. The post allegedly led to communal tensions in the city.
- Christian pastors continue to be attacked and jailed for alleged conversions. The United Christian Forum, a human rights group based in New Delhi, has reported at least 63 police complaints and proceedings against Christians since January 2023, with 35 pastors incarcerated due to their bail applications being denied by courts.
- Following communal clashes in Patan, Gujarat in July due to a Facebook post, 10 people were arrested, 8 of them being Muslims. The arrested Muslims allege that a false narrative is bring created by Hindutva forces even though the region’s Hindus and Muslims were amicably resolving a matter concerning a social media post. The arrested Muslim men were tied and paraded around the town by Gujarat Police in Patan.
- Three Muslim teenagers were arrested by the police in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain district based on unproven allegations by a Hindutva group that they spat on a Hindu procession on July 17.
TORTURE AND CRUEL, INHUMAN OR DEGRADING TREATMENT
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The international borders between India, Pakistan and China are disputed and this map is for reference purposes only.
INCITEMENT TO DISCRIMINATION, HOSTILITY AND VIOLENCE
In the lead up to the 2024 parliamentary elections, there has been a steady rise in incitement to violence, hostility and discrimination against minorities. Besides creating a toxic environment against Muslims and other minorities, this is also leading to multiple acts of real-life violence. The escalation in top-level incitement by influential speakers with massive public and online platforms is resulting in deaths, such as Manipur and Haryana, and displacement, such as in Uttarakhand. The data collected here is based on secondary sources, with all the speeches being recorded and widely shared online. Along with incitement, there is mobilisation through arms distribution and training camps with indoctrinated youth. Muslims and Christians are targeted through derogatory and dehumanizing language, as dangerous enemies of Hindus, and Hindus are extolled to arm themselves and be ready to ‘protect’ their lands, daughters from them.
This fog of hate is such that even tragedies such as the horrific train accident in Odisha in June, are used by Hindu nationalists actors to demonize and criminalize Muslims. Following the tragedy on June 2nd, multiple online accounts began sharing fake and deliberately misleading information, claiming that the accident was allegedly planned by Muslims, or the Signal Inspector who could have caused the error leading to the crash, was Muslim (examples here and here).
Evidence of top and intermediate level incitement through speeches and rallies, of the arms training and mobilisation, and a case study of their impact on minorities are given below:
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The international borders between India, Pakistan and China are disputed and this map is for reference purposes only.
There were multiple instances of hate speech and incitement targeting religious minorities during the period under review. Following the UN Strategy on Hate Speech, some of these are catalogued below:
Hindutva groups also organised rallies and marches across the country to further their propagandist agenda. Public rallies and marches through the city and town streets broadcast slogans inciting violence, hostility and discrimination against religious minorities. False conspiratorial and propagandist narratives such as ‘love jihad’, forced conversion, illegal land occupation, are further amplified, instilling fear in minority communities and creating false paranoia among the majority. Some of these are noted below:
- A rally on August 25th in Siliguri, West Bengal, by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad with slogans raised mirroring those raised during the Delhi 2020 riots: “Desh ke gaddaron ko, Goli maro salon ko (shoot the traitors of our country).” Muslims and other minorities in India are demonized as anti-India, traitors, anti-nationals in such slogans.
- A rally on August 17 by Bajrang Dal and other Hindutva groups gave an ultimatum to Hindus in Kurukshetra, Haryana, to vacate their shops and homes which have been rented by Muslims within two days.
- Another Bajrang Dal rally in Uttarakhand in August threatened Muslims to leave town, and asked locals to not rent homes and shops to Muslims.
- In Delhi, at a Hindu Mahasabha rally in August, slogans to declare India a Hindu nation and be ready to use violence towards that end if needed, were made.
- Slogans raised inciting violence against Muslims and minorities who are painted as traitors, anti-nationals were raised at a Vishwa Hindu Parishad rally in Pali Marwar, Rajasthan in early August: “Desh ke gaddaron ko, Goli maro salon ko (shoot the traitors of our country).”
- Slogans inciting violence against Muslims raised at a Vishwa Hindu Parishad rally in Uttarakhand in July: “Jab Mulle kate Jayenge, Ram Ram Chilayenge (When Muslims would be chopped, they would cry Ram Ram),”. Rallies in Uttarakhand, such as these in Almora District, also threatened local Muslims with eviction.
- A series of inciteful rallies were organised across North India on August 2nd, in the wake of the violence in Haryana on 31st July. Slogans inciting violence, including those used during the 2020 riots which targeted Delhi’s Muslims, were raised. These include ‘Desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maron salon ko’ (shoot the traitors of our country), “Allah-Ullah kehn nhi dena, ek bhi Mulla rehen nhi dena (Rough translation: We won’t let them say Allah, and we won’t let Muslims live)”, “Jab Mulle kate jayenge, Ram Ram Chilayenge (translation: When Muslims would be chopped, they would cry Ram Ram)”. These rallies organised by various right-wing Hindutva outfits such as Bajrang Dal, Samast Hindu Samaj, Vishwa Hindu Parishad etc, were held in Delhi, Haryana and Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh (see here, here, here, here). These rallies also received police protection while the inciteful slogans are raised and broadcast on speakers.
- Hindu Janjagruti Samiti held a rally in Azad Maidan, in Panaji, Goa, purportedly against the conspiracy of ‘love-jihad’ in August.
- In another rally in July in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, Bajrang Dal members demanded a population control bill, following the false conspiratorial rhetoric of Muslims allegedly set to overtake Hindus as majority population in India.
- A rally was organised in Sonkatch, Madhya Pradesh by Hindutva groups to protest against a Muslim man constructing a shop in July.
- In July, a rally was organised by right-wing groups against alleged ‘love jihad’ in Almora, Uttarakhand. Slogans were raised against Muslims.
- A rally organised by multiple right-wing groups in June protesting the murder of a Hindu man in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh, was used to raise violent anti-Muslim slogans such as ‘Jab mulle kaate jayenge, Ram Ram chillayenge’: When mulla (used pejoratively for Muslims) will be beheaded, they will scream Ram Ram. In the video, police can be seen walking unperturbed ahead of the crowd while the sloganeering is going on.
- In June in Badsar in Himachal Pradesh, a rally by Bajrang Dal openly advocated for the social boycott of Muslims and their expulsion from the state.
- The Sakal Hindu Samaj held a protest rally in Ulwe, Maharashtra in June, against land being allotted for a mosque and threatening to demolish if said mosque was constructed.
- A rally in Sangli, Maharastra in June by the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti similarly demonized Muslims and perpetuated the alleged conspiracy of ‘love jihad’.
- A street march organised by the Hindu Raksha Dal in June un Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, had participants raising slogans attacking and vilifying Muslims on loudspeakers, as they made their wat through busy market roads.
- A similar rally was held in June in Satara, Maharashtra, against alleged ‘love jihad’.
- Another such rally against alleged and false conspiracy of ‘love jihad’ in June in Samba, Jammu, organised by the Antarashtriya Hindu Parishad.
- The Sakal Hindu Samaj held a rally in June in Maharasthra against the alleged and false conspiracy of ‘love jihad’.
- Children are also targeted in the propaganda and disinformation against minorities, seen here in Delhi where posters on false conspiracy of ‘love jihad’ by Muslim men allegedly to entrap Hindu girls, are being distributed among school going children.
Underlining the intent and effort of the organisers of the anti-minority congregations, are several reports of arms training and distribution of weapon and arming of civilians by non-state actors. Some of these from the period under review are catalogued below:
| Location | Details & links |
|---|---|
| Pali, Rajasthan | Sharp edged tridents distributed among hundreds of Hindu men, and oath taken to protect Hinduism, in an event by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal in August (link). |
| Assam | Firearms training to fight alleged ‘love jihad’ by the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal in July (link). |
| Delhi | Firearms training at a Bajrang Dal camp in June (link). |
| Surendranagar, Gujarat | Firearms training for women at a Rashtriya Bajrang Dal camp in June (link). |
| Mahasamund, Chattisgarh | Firearms training at a Rashtriya Bajrang Dal camp in June (link). |
| Panchkula, Haryana | Firearms training at a Bajrang Dal camp in June (link). |
| Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh | Firearms training at a Rashtriya Bajrang Dal and Antar Rashtriya Parishad Prashikshan Varg camp in June (link). |
| Dhuri, Punjab | Arms training by the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal in June (link). |
| Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh | Firearm training for participants at a Rashtriya Bajrang Dal camp in June (link). |
| Chhapra, Bihar | Firearm and other weapons training to men by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal at a camp in June (link). |
| Indore, Madhya Pradesh | Sword fighting training for women by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Durga Vahini to fight alleged ‘love jihad’ (link). |
| Fatehnagar, Rajasthan | Firearm and weapons training organised by the Bajrang Dal in June (link) |
| Gonda, Uttar Pradesh | Weapons training, including with guns, provided at a camp by the Bajrang Dal. The camp was run by RSS-run Saraswati Shishu Vidya Mandir School in June. (link) |
| Samaj in Kutch, Gujarat | Event organised by the Kadva Patidar Samaj to provide arms training and distribution to more than 500 women. According to the organisers, the event which was attended by BJP politicians, was to raise awareness against ‘love jihad’ (link). |
| Gonda, Uttar Pradesh | Vishwa Hindu Parishad-Bajrang Dal firearm training camp (link). |
| Ahmedabad, Gujarat | Pravin Togadia and Rashtriya Bajrang Dal give firearms training to youth at a camp. (link) |
| Valsad, Gujarat | Firearms training by the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal to young Hindu boys, including minors (link). |
Case study: Incitement and its impact Uttarakhand in June 2023
- Towards the end of May, an unverified story of alleged ‘love jihad’ began circulating online in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district. Hindutva leaders began organising rallies and protests against the purported ‘love jihad’, claiming that a Muslim boy and Hindu girl were caught eloping. Soon, there were multiple reports of incitement to violence, hostility and discrimination against the state’s Muslims (as seen here). Muslim houses were identified and marked; posters were put up threatening Muslim families to leave while Muslim owned properties were attacked, and Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal wrote to the administration that ‘a particular community’ had been given 10 days to leave. Scores of Muslim families were forced to flee the state due to fear of violence, following the attacks on Muslim properties and the rampant incitement. Those fleeing, included the former President of BJP’s minority wing (link).
- Social media accounts focused on spreading hate and discrimination against Muslims in India continue to spread unchecked by either the social media companies or state authorities. The incitement in Uttarakhand demonstrated how quickly this continuous stream of hate speech can lead to violence and persecution. One example is the Facebook page called ‘JP World TV’ which claims to be an ‘International Entertainment Channel’. It mostly posts videos of a woman identifying herself as Radha Dhoni with most of her videos spreading hate against Muslims. On July 3rd, Dhoni and another woman harassed and heckled a Muslim juice vendor in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun, creating a ruckus and affecting his business, in order to boost her social media presence.
- Videos such as these which show a Hindutva leader harassing Muslim traders, confiscating their IDs and threatening violence against them, were recorded by perpetrators and shared online to incite hostility and discrimination in the region against Muslims as ‘outsiders’. Such sentiments were echoed by the Bajrang Dal state President Arun Wali in an interview stating “these jihadis will not be allowed to live in Uttarakhand.”
DISCLAIMER: The classification of speeches into ‘top’, ‘intermediate’, and ‘bottom’ levels of hate speech in this analysis is based on our interpretation of the United Nations’ Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech and its application to the content being analysed. The interpretation of language and the context in which it is used is complex and nuanced, and alternate interpretations of the content may be possible. This analysis does not intend to accuse or label individuals, but rather aims to highlight patterns and trends in the evolution and manifestation of hate speech in India.
VIOLATIONS OF FREEDOM OF RELIGION
- As reported in IPT 2.3, a group of Hajj pilgrims were attacked by a Hindutva mob in Kota, Rajasthan on 26th May. More details have emerged since. A bus carrying 40 pilgrims, including children, was stopped with a violent mob boarding it on the Kota-Bundi Road, when it was en route to Jaipur Airport. Passengers were forced to chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’ (Hail Lord Ram) and those attacked said the violence began once the attackers confirmed that all travelling were Muslims.
- In another attack on Islamic religious sites, a mosque in Rajasthan’s Alwar district was attacked and set on fire on June 20th. Among the 14 accused by the police is Raman Gulati, who is a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and was a former sub-district head of the party’s Alwar district division.
- On June 24th videos appeared of a mob of Bajrang Dal-Vishwa Hindu Parishad members vandalising an under-construction church in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur Dehat. They claimed it was being illegally constructed and wrote ‘Jai Shree Ram’ on a wall along with unfurling a saffron flag atop.
- Minority religious places also become spaces of violence and retaliation. On July 4th, a mob of local Hindutva groups surrounded and attacked Tanjamul Masjid, a mosque in Telangana’s Gajwel Town.
- Two mosques managed by the Delhi Waqf Board in New Delhi have been issued notices of ‘removal of encroachment’ by the Indian Railways, a precursor to their eventual demolition. The notice claims that the mosques are invading Railway property and need to be voluntarily dismantled within 15 days of receiving notice. There is a concerted campaign by right-wing forces to challenge the legitimacy of Wakf Board properties with #BanWaqfBoard being used online. The Waqf Board manages properties deemed by Muslim law as pious, religious or charitable and has statutory recognition in India.
- In late August, videos surfaced online showing members of Hindutva group Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan demolish two Muslim shrines (mazaar) with hammers while chanting ‘Jai Shree Ram’. The shrines were in Rishikesh in Uttarakhand. Groups such as these are destroying Muslim religious places with impunity and disregard for rule of law.
- Minority beliefs and practices are also under a targeted attack. The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti is spearheading a disinformation campaign against Halal products, which Muslims consider permissible to eat, resulting in Hindutva activists forcing Muslims who serve halal meat to shut their shops.
- Sustained legal and media campaigns continue to target especially historical mosques, using the Babri Masjid-Ram Temple template that had resulted in the destruction (1992) of the historical mosque in Ayodhaya town of Uttar Pradesh by Hindu nationalist groups and the Supreme Court of India awarding (2019) title to the land to Hindu parties. Campaigns around alleged Hindu relics under Gyanwapi mosque, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, currently being surveyed following court orders, are used to question the historic legitimacy of mosques in India. A mosque in Maharasthra is also being similarly challenged, beginning at the local level.
- In July, a church in Betul, Madhya Pradesh was raided by Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad on allegations of conversion. Police can be seen standing by in the video where the Hindutva group is ready to enter the church to attack it.
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS
- The videos of the Kuki women who were paraded naked and gangraped in Manipur demonstrated the horrific impact of anti-minority conflict on women, with women’s bodies treated as tools of war, and perpetrators allowed impunity.
- Rohingya Muslim children and men living in a refugee camp in Nuh, Haryana, were detained by the police following the violence in July-August. Violations of their rights and deportations continue to haunt Rohingyas in India, with Rohingya women bearing the brunt of being at the intersections of these violations. India is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, and classifies Rohingya refugees as ‘illegal or irregular migrants’. Rohingyas are under constant threat of arbitrary detention, hate speech, and forced eviction, among other grave abuses. Rohingya women have to depend entirely on men in their families, and have very limited access to healthcare due to lack of IDs such as Aadhaar cards, and continue to remain at the margins of an already underserved existence.
- Since 2019, nearly 10,000 women have gone missing in Jammu Kashmir, according to figures provided by the Home Ministry. Jammu Kashmir falls second on the list of Union Territories (governed by the central government) in India with the highest figures of women going missing, the trend is Kashmir shows escalation over the past 4 years. Kashmiri women have been facing the trauma of decades of conflict, which has further limited their educational and economic opportunities, as well as social and economic mobility. Subjected to multiple discriminations and lacking political representation, they have found themselves suffering the consequences of the conflict, from forced disappearances of loved ones to sexual violence. They have also reported high post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety, with no reprieve in sight.
- For minority women who have been victims of violence, the path to justice is fraught. After ten difficult years, two men were held guilty of raping a Muslim woman during the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots in Uttar Pradesh. However, the release of the convicted rapists of 2002 Gujarat riot gangrape victim Bilkis Bano, speaks to justice always being fractious for Muslim women. Meanwhile, four women whose husbands were killed by cow vigilantes have filed a plea with the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the cow protection laws under the garb of which extremist vigilante actors killed their husbands.
- Given the polarised state of socio-religious dynamics in India, Muslim women across the country are facing discrimination emanating from their intersectional identity. Attacked in educational institutes for wearing hijab, and in the workplace for their religious identity, they find themselves alienated from social, economic and political support systems. The attacks on Muslim girls and their right to education and freedom of religious expression have continued. These include incidents such as in June in Damoh, Madhya Pradesh, where a Hindutva mob descended upon a school because a hijab wearing student was pictured in a school poster on meritorious students (link).
DISCRIMINATION IN ACCESS TO ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
- The BJP government in Haryana demolished 1208 buildings and other structures, predominantly Muslim owned, in Nuh district following the violence in July-August. Demolitions used as retaliatory punitive measures targeting especially Muslims have become the norm in BJP ruled states. Termed ‘bulldozer justice’, the state is extolled by Hindutva actors to ‘punish’ Muslims accused of protesting and alleged violent behaviour. The government claimed that they were destroying properties belonging to those allegedly involved in the violence, and had served them notice. However, many who lost their homes and businesses claim that they received neither notice nor adequate time to respond and seek redress, allegedly violating due process as guaranteed by law. The demolitions have also targeted Muslim owned properties disproportionately, further pushing the violence-affected regions and their inhabitants into poverty.
- In another BJP ruled state, Uttarakhand, 134 houses, mostly belonging to Muslims were demolished by local authorities in Nainital on 22nd July.
- Acts allegedly committed by Muslims are punished by even non-state actors by attacking and destroying Muslim-owned properties (examples include from Haldwani, Uttarakhand). Three Muslim teenagers were arrested by the police in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain district based on unproven allegations by a Hindutva group that they spat on a Hindu procession on July 17. Following their arrest, their houses were demolished by the police accompanied with drummers playing music to a Hindu devotional song being broadcast from speakers The
- Indian Muslims live in the most segregated neighbourhoods, are less likely to have amenities such as water supply, clinics, sewerage or a secondary school, according to a recently published research study on the longstanding denial of public service, ghettoisation of Muslims and Dalits in localities.
- Muslims in India have the lowest asset and consumption levels, and overpopulate the ranks of poor in India, an analysis by Hindustan Times of the latest All India Debt and Investment Survey and the Periodic Labour Force Survey has revealed . While inequity along caste and religion have been present in India before the BJP coming to power, many policies have furthered this divide instead of bringing Muslims along India’s development trajectory under Mr. Modi.
- Around 3000, predominantly Muslim families were uprooted from their homes and face loss of livelihood in Assam’s Darrang district, as forest authorities are removing encroachment on forest land. Many of those who have been removed from the land are farmers displaced by previous floods. No re-settlement or rehabilitation has been provided to them yet.
- Bajrang Dal and other Hindutva outfits regularly forcibly close Muslim-owned meat shops, with threats of boycotts and attacks, across states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi. These have impacted the business and livelihood options of Muslims, who are also at the receiving end of policies which have added increasing levels of paperwork and opportunities for state corruption, affecting the industry which has a large number of Muslim entrepreneurship and employment.
- Minority communities continue to be targeted following violence. Following the Haryana violence, a village in Madhya Pradesh has barred Muslims and Christians from entering the village, as per posters put up. While the district administration has removed them, the vitiated atmosphere further limits the economic and social prospects of minorities in the country.
- On June 30th, Haryana’s Faridabad Bajrang Force in-charge Bittu Bajrangi and his gang stole 60 cows and 17 goats from a Muslim family. The gang was armed and made Islamophobic comments before fleeing with the cattle. Cattle rearing and dairy farming was the family’s sole source of livelihood.
- In July, Yashwin Maharaj, a monk and Hindutva preacher sat on a hunger strike in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar, to campaign for local authorities to force Muslim restaurant owners to identify their businesses with their names and that of any Musim employees. This adds to the campaigns to boycott Muslim owned businesses.
DENIAL OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION
The role of an independent media as a safeguard for democracy also continues to be under attack. Recent developments include:
- The offices and social media accounts of The Kashmir Walla – – an independent news site in Kashmir – were shut down in August, demonstrating the iron fist with which press freedom has been clamped in the region since the BJP came to power. It’s editor-in-chief Fahad Shah remains incarcerated since February 2022. Separately, Indian passports of several Kashmiri academics, journalists were suspended by the Indian government, with claim that they are a threat to Indian security despite one of them having any criminal charges against them.
- A police complaint was filed against Hindutva Watch, a research and digital media platform which documents attacks on minorities in India, by a right-wing leader Sambhaji alias Banda Salunkhe in June. The organisation, which provides much needed documentation and reporting on attacks on minorities in India is being targeted in an attempt to silence it (see here and here).
- In further demonstration of decline of an independent media, 86% of independent journalists and 81% of journalists working for news organisations in India believe that the media covers the Modi government ‘too favourably’, according to research by Lokniti and the Centre for Developing Societies.
VIOLATION OF RIGHT TO PARTICIPATION IN DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES
- A research study in July presented evidence of manipulation of electoral processes during the 2019 general elections in which the incumbent BJP won a resounding victory. It concluded that ‘Manipulation appears to take the form of targeted electoral discrimination against India’s largest minority group – Muslims, partly facilitated by weak monitoring by election observers.’ Dr. Sabyasachi Das, an Assistant Professor at Ashoka University, wrote a paper titled ‘Democratic Backsliding in the World’s Largest Democracy’. The publication of the study however, was followed by the University distancing itself from the academic, who resigned a fortnight later, demonstrating the continuing reach of BJP’s vanguards within the country’s universities.
- The Election Commission of India drafted a revised delimitation plan for Assam in June. While the number of parliamentary seats remain unchanged, many constituencies may be reshaped, and the number of reserved seats to be increased. According to some experts, the delimitation plan can change the religious demography of the constituencies, disadvantaging Muslim majority constituencies.
- Jammu and Kashmir have not held legislative elections for the past 9 years. In 2019, the state was divided into two Union Territories, which are entitled to an elected legislative assembly, albeit with curtailed powers. However, elections in the territories are yet to be announced. In August 2022, a Delimitation Commission recommended changes to the region’s constituencies, reducing the representation of Muslim-majority Kashmir by almost 4%.
VIOLATIONS OF RIGHT TO FAIR TRIAL
The detention of many journalists and human rights defenders without bail under stringent laws has continued, with some such cases highlighted below:
| Name and Background | Detention and Updates | Links |
|---|---|---|
| Gulfisha Fatima, student and activist | Detained since 9th April 2020 – she remains in jail with multiple bail rejections and new charges framed to keep her in custody. | Read more |
| Umar Khalid, student and activist | Detained since 13th September 2020 – his bail please was adjourned by the Supreme Court for the sixth time on 12th September’23. | Read more |
| Khurram Parvez, Kashmiri human rights defender | Detained since 22nd November 2021 – his detention has been called ‘arbitrary’ and an ‘act of reprisal for his human rights work’ by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. | Read more |
| Javed Mohammad, activist | Detained since 11th June 2022 | Read more |
| Fahad Shah, Kashmiri journalist, Editor-in-Chief of The Kashmir Walla | Detained since 4th February 2022 | Read more |
| Sajad Gul, student and Kashmiri journalist | Detained since 5th January 2022 | Read more |
| Irfan Mehraj, Kashmiri journalist | Detained since 20th March 2023 | Read more |
- At least 59 human rights defenders have been jailed in India between 2018 and 2022 under various terror and security laws, with those from minority communities, and Dalit and indigenous rights defenders have been especially vulnerable to reprisals, according to analysis by Front Line Defenders. The incarceration and attacks on journalists have increased in the past year, with India falling in its World Press Freedom rankings to 161/180. For those arrested under India’s stringent terror/security laws, the path to justice remains long and elusive, as demonstrated by some cases above. Multiple charges are brought by agencies such as the National Investigation Agency, and bails are repeatedly denied, despite lack of clear and substantial evidence being brought by security agencies against the alleged accused.
- Those detained under the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh spent 314 days or 76% of their maximum detention period of a year in jail before hearings were completed, according to a recently published study. The National Security Act, 1980 allows the union or state governments to detain suspects without charge for up to a year, to prevent them “from acting in any manner prejudicial to the defence of India, the relations of India with foreign powers, or the security of India”. It has been used in cases such as the table above to also silence minority voices and those critical of the government.
- Kashmiri prisoners awaiting trials detained away from home in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, are being denied their right to meet families. According to this report, since the revocation of Kashmir’s special status on 5 August 2019, as many as 343 persons accused in cases registered in the Union territory have been lodged in jails outside the Union territory. The prisoners are given this right under Indian law and the expanded understanding of Article 21. International law also includes this in principles such as the UNGA resolutions 43/173 and 45/111.