India Persecution Tracker | 2024/1

Overview of human rights abuses and violations against India’s religious minorities from 1 December, 2023, to 10 February, 2024.
Key figures (1 December, 2023, to 10 February, 2024):
State Actors

3
Muslims killed by Army personnel in Jammu & Kashmir; 22 more severely tortured.

6
Muslim protesters shot dead in Uttarakhand by police forces. 1 more killed in alleged staged ‘encounter’ in Uttar Pradesh.

100+
 Muslims arrested/detained and tortured across India on various pretexts.

19+
Christians arrested under anti-conversion laws.

10
instances of elected BJP leaders engaging in top-level or intermediate-level incitement to hostility, discrimination, or violence against minorities.

60+
Muslim-owned homes and businesses arbitrarily demolished in punitive reprisals by authorities

NON-STATE ACTORS

18
killed in continuing ethnic violence in Manipur.

6
Muslims and 1 Hindu killed by suspected Hindu extremists in other contexts across India.

8
states where the Ram Temple consecration ceremony sparked anti-Muslim violence.

100+
Christian Adivasis forcibly displaced in Chhattisgarh

During the period under review, India’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured electoral victories in three crucial provinces, ahead of national-level elections scheduled to commence in April, 2024. Against this backdrop, the conditions for India’s religious minorities, particularly Muslims and Christians, witnessed further deterioration.

  • Major reported human rights violations and abuses included extrajudicial killings, widespread arbitrary detentions and custodial torture, and the advocacy of religious hatred amounting to incitement. Alongside, the BJP intensified its targeting of critics – including opposition leaders, journalists, and HRDs – ahead of national elections.
  • The conditions for religious freedom for minorities continued to be dire. In Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over the consecration ceremony of a Hindu temple at the site of a historical mosque that had previously been razed by Hindu zealots, setting the tone for the upcoming election campaign, and further cementing the Hindu majoritarian-supremacist turn India has taken under the BJP. Court orders appeared to be paving the way for the Hindu nationalist takeover of even more historical mosques. The ceremony in Ayodhya was only one of several pretexts used by Hindu extremist groups with close links to the BJP to continue to harass, intimidate, assault, and kill religious minorities across the country. Muslim and Christian individuals, homes, businesses, and places of worship continued to be indiscriminately targeted with impunity. And in BJP-ruled states, instead of acting against the perpetrators of violence, authorities continued criminalising Muslims and subjecting them to collective punishment, particularly using arbitrary demolitions of their homes and businesses, as well as arbitrary detentions.
  • The use of hateful and incendiary rhetoricagainst minorities by powerful political and religious leadersappeared to be reaching a fever pitch ahead of the elections. We documented 10 instances of senior, elected leaders of the BJP making open calls to boycott, harass, assault, or kill Muslims, and around 115 more instances of other popular leaders making similar speeches in physical settings. 90% of these speeches were made in BJP-ruled states, and invited little to no response from authorities. On multiple occasions, as in Mumbai, these speeches resulted in near-immediate violence against minorities.
  • Dalits, the historically marginalised members of the lowest rung of the Indian caste system, too continued to face systemic violence from ‘higher’ caste Hindu extremists across the country.
  • Against this backdrop, India’s domestic mechanisms continued to largely fail to ensure effective remedy and accountability, with state institutions and the judicial process remaining skewed towards powerful Hindu nationalist interests, and against minorities.
  • Some international institutions and experts took action to raise alarm about the deteriorating situation in India: the European Parliament adopted a resolution expressing concern over ‘acts of violence, increasing nationalistic rhetoric and divisive policies’ in India, specifically highlighting the worrying situations in Manipur and Kashmir. Human Rights Watch, in its annual review of 2023, noted:

“The BJP government’s discriminatory and divisive policies have led to increased violence against minorities, creating a pervasive environment of fear and a chilling effect on government critics. Instead of holding those responsible for abuses to account, the authorities chose to punish the victims, and persecuted anyone who questioned these actions.”

  • The Indian government appeared unrelenting in the face of such criticism, and in fact appeared to be increasingly emboldened to engage in transnational repression: The Washington Post uncovered an organised disinformation operation to target PM Modi’s critics abroad, allegedly run by Indian intelligence agencies. And the US Department of Justice accused a senior Indian government official of overseeing an assassination plot, similar to accusations made by Canada last year. 

During the period under review, the Indian Army was accused of killing three civilians in Jammu & Kashmir, what appeared to be a coordinated operation across five villages following a militant attack. Police forces in BJP-ruled Uttarakhand shot dead six Muslim protesters, and police in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh were accused of carrying out yet another staged ‘encounter’ killing.

Three Muslims killed in coordinated army operation in Jammu & Kashmir; 22 more severely tortured

22 December, 2023 (Poonch & Rajouri, Jammu & Kashmir): Three Muslim civilians were killed and at least 22 more across five villages were severely tortured, in what appeared to be a coordinated operation by the 48 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) branch of the Indian Army. The three deaths all reportedly took place in Topa Peer village. All the victims were members of the Muslim Gujjar and Bakarwal communities, both indigenous tribal groups officially classified as Scheduled Tribes (STs).

The killings and torture were reportedly part of a search operation conducted by the Army shortly after a militant attack that had killed four soldiers. Witnesses alleged that men from five villages were rounded up and tortured at three different army camps. Video footage from one of the sites was widely circulated online, and appeared to show soldiers referring to a senior commander’s instructions while carrying out the torture.

Detailed reportage of the incident by The Caravanrevealed that autopsies of the deceased were illegally conducted in an army camp. First Information Reports (FIRs) registered by the police appeared to mention only unknown perpetrators, despite multiple witnesses claiming to reporters that they could identify the individuals involved. The FIRs also failed to invoke the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities), which prescribes enhanced punishments for atrocities against members of indigenous tribes.

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) has remained active in the region since 1990, and effectively shields army personnel from criminal prosecution without the permission of the central government. This has never been granted. The Indian Army has initiated an internal investigation into the incident, the details of which are not available.

It was revealed later that the central Home Ministry invoked the Information Technology (IT) Act – rules for which had been amended in 2021 and 2023 to give the government emergency powers to summarily take down content from digital platforms – ordered The Caravan to take down its online report on the incident. (An archived version of the report is available here.)

Six Muslims shot dead by police amid protests over mosque demolition in Uttarakhand

8 February, 2024 (Haldwani, Uttarakhand): At least six Muslim civilians in BJP-ruled Uttarakhand were shot dead by police during protests against the demolition of a mosque and a seminary by local authorities. The killings occurred shortly after the state chief minister convened a high-level meeting of senior police officials and issued ‘shoot on sight’ orders.

In a subsequent police crackdown, armed police officers are alleged to have barged into some 300 homes in Muslim neighbourhoods of the Banbhoolpura locality, assaulting residents – including women and children – and causing extensive damage to property. An unknown number of men were reported to have been detained and taken to unidentified interrogation centres. The crackdown is also reported to have triggered an exodus of Muslims from Haldwani, with hundreds of residents boarding buses to neighbouring towns and cities.

The unrest in Haldwani is centred around local authorities’ attempts to demolish a mosque that allegedly partially stood on government land. Eviction notices were served to the mosque authorities on 30 January, and the matter was pending before the state High Court on 14 February, 2024. Locals who peacefully resisted the authorities’ decision to arbitrarily demolish the mosque before the court date, were reportedly assaulted by police personnel, sparking stone-pelting and arson. Subsequently, a curfew, an internet blockade, and ‘shoot-at-sight’ orders were imposed. The curfew remained in place at the time of writing, limiting the flow of information out of the affected regions.

Uttarakhand has witnessed a steady rise in communal tensions and anti-Muslim violence in recent years, with Hindu extremist groups allied to the BJP seeking to drive Muslims out and establish the state as a punyabhoomi (holy land) for the Hindus. This campaign has manifested in occasional outbreaks of anti-Muslim violence, as well as persistent and widespread calls for their social and economic boycott. In June 2023, incitement and targeted attacks in Purola district had led dozens of Muslim families to flee to other regions. The BJP-led state administration has, instead of acting to curb incitement and violence, carried out its own parallel targeting campaign against Muslims. In May, 2023, the state’s Chief Minister acknowledged the razing of 300 ‘illegal’ Muslim mazaars (shrine)as a significant achievement of his government.  Extremist Hindu groups such as the Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan (Movement to Protect the Holy Land) have carried out their own demolition campaigns against Muslim structures, illegally razing dozens of them, often in the presence of police personnel.

Muslim man killed in alleged staged encounter in Uttar Pradesh

16 January, 2024 (Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh): Police officials shot and killed a 23-year-old Muslim man in yet another case of extra judicial killing, allegedly staged as an ‘encounter’. Police claimed that the victim was a car thief, and that he was killed in a shoot-out with police while trying to evade custody.

The family of the victim has alleged that their complaint before authorities, that the killing was staged, is yet to be registered. Police forces in UP have shot and killed over 190 individuals – disproportionately Muslims – in such alleged staged ‘encounters’ since March 2017, when the BJP’s Yogi Adityanath assumed charge as the state’s Chief Minister, as part of his thok do(knock down) policy purportedly to curb crime. SAJC documented 5 such killings of Muslims in 2023.

Three other reported instances of arbitrary deprivation of life by state actors (1 Muslim, 2 Dalits)

  • 14 December, 2023 (Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh): A Muslim woman who was ‘accidentally’ shot dead by a sub-inspector inside a police station, apparently while he was cleaning his pistol, according to police. At the time of writing, the accused police official remained absconding.
  • 29 December, 2023 (Agra, Uttar Pradesh): A 25-year-old Dalit woman who was allegedly raped and killed by a policeman. The alleged perpetrator was arrested.  
  • 21 January, 2024 (Junagadh, Gujarat): A 43-year-old Dalit man who died shortly after he was allegedly subject to custodial torture. At the time of writing, the suspected perpetrator was absconding.

During the period under review, BJP-ruled Manipur witnessed further outbreaks of violence, resulting in at least 18 more deaths. Elsewhere, 6 Muslims and one Hindu were murdered by suspected Hindu extremists on various pretexts across several states. At least 7 Dalits, including 2 minor girls, were also killed by suspected ‘upper’ caste Hindu extremists.

At least 18 killed in continuing ethnic violence in Manipur

During the period under review, BJP-ruled Manipur witnessed multiple, further outbreaks of violence.

In two separate instances of shootouts between armed groups, 17 Meitei militants, including four Muslims, were reported to have been killed. The shootouts were reported from Tengnoupal and Thoubal districts.  Separately, a police commando was shot dead in Tengnoupal, allegedly by Kuki militants. The latest killings have taken the total death toll to over 200 in Manipur, which has been rocked by violence between members of the predominantly-Hindu Meitei community and the predominantly-Christian Kuki-Zo tribes since May, 2023. Kukis have accounted for the bulk of the casualties. Over 50,000 have been displaced, with conditions in Kuki relief camps reported to be particularly dire. The BJP-led state government in Manipur has been openly hostile towards the Kukis, who it has deemed terrorists and drug traffickers.

In August, 2023, India’s Supreme Court had formed a committee to look into survivor relief and also mandated the issuance of essential documentation for those displaced, but is yet to condemn or address the role of state and state-backed actors in the violence. Early in September, a group of 19 UN Special Procedures mandate holders had expressed concern over the grave humanitarian situation in Manipur, and the steadily deteriorating condition of religious and ethnic minorities elsewhere in the country.

6 Muslims and 1 Hindu killed by suspected Hindu extremists in other contexts

During the period under review, there were six reported killings of religious minorities by Hindu extremists. One Hindu man was also killed by extremist Hindus. The victims included:

  • 5 December, 2023 (Hooghly, West Bengal): A 40-year-old Muslim man who was lynched by a mob in Chandannagar on suspicion of theft.
  • 22 December, 2023 (Paschim Bardhaman, West Bengal): Two Muslim men who were lynched by a mob over alleged cow theft.
  • 23 December, 2023 (Murshidabad, West Bengal): A 45-year-old Muslim man who was lynched by a mob over alleged theft.
  • 29 December, 2023 (Hailakandi, Assam): A 40-year-old Muslim man who was lynched by a mob over alleged goat theft.
  • 18 January, 2024 (Morigaon, Assam): A 25-year-old Hindu man who was lynched by a mob on suspicion of cattle smuggling.
  • 31 January, 2024 (Hyderabad, Telangana): A 39-year-old Rohingya refugee who was stabbed to death by unidentified attackers.

Continuing violence against Dalits by ‘higher’ caste Hindu extremists: 7 reported killings

Dalits (members of the lowest rung of the Indian caste system) continued to face systemic violence from ‘higher’ caste Hindu extremists across the country. Some reported victims during the period under review included:

  • 18 December, 2023 (Churu, Rajasthan): A Dalit man who was allegedly killed by security guards over alleged electricity theft.
  • 24 December, 2023 (Kaimur, Bihar): A 14-year-old Dalit girl who died after being assaulted for plucking chickpea leaves.
  • 28 December, 2023 (Kaimur, Bihar): A 45-year-old Dalit man who was allegedly beaten to death by his ‘upper’ caste neighbours over a dispute.
  • 2 January, 2024 (Tirunelveli,  Tamil Nadu): A 25-year-old Dalit man who was allegedly beaten to death over his relationship with an ‘upper’ caste woman.
  • 8 January, 2024 (Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh): A 21-year-old Dalit man who was allegedly beaten to death over his relationship with an ‘upper caste’ woman.
  • 12 January, 2024 (Phulwarisharif, Bihar): An 8-year-old Dalit girl who died after she was raped along with another 12-year-old Dalit girl.
  • 29 January, 2024 (Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh): A 24-year-old Dalit man who was found hanging from a tree.

Dalits also continued to face other forms of physical violence, including sexual violence, across the country. (see map above)

Violent crimes against India’s Dalits are vastly underreported. National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), an advocacy group, has estimated that around 13 Dalits are murdered across the country every week. Recently-released government data for 2022 revealed a 13.1% increase in crimes against Dalits compared to the previous year. (Similar government data is not made available for crimes against religious minorities.)

The period under review was marked by mass detentions of Muslims on multiple pretexts: in January, Muslims and government critics were arrested across the country amid the consecration of the newly-constructed Ram Temple at the site of the illegally destroyed Babri mosque in Ayodhya (see sections on Torture and Freedom of Religion), which sparked anti-Muslim violence in multiple states. In February, mass arrests of Muslims were reported in BJP-ruled Uttarakhand amid protests against the demolition of a mosque by local authorities (also see section on Deprivation of Life). Christians too continued to be arrested in BJP-ruled states, on charges of unlawful religious conversions.

Hundreds of Muslims arrested or detained across the country on various pretexts

Muslims across the country continued to be arbitrarily detained or arrested on various pretexts. Reported victims during the period under review included:

  • 9 December, 2023: 15+ Muslims who were arrested on terror charges in Pune after National Investigation Agency (NIA) raids across Maharashtra and Karnataka. Separately, nine more Muslim youth in and around Aligarh were reportedly arrested over two months by Uttar Pradesh police, also on terror charges.
  • 7 January, 2024: A Muslim man who was arrested for offering prayers at a dilapidated Mughal-era mosque in Shamli, Uttar Pradesh.
  • 14 January, 2024: A Muslim truck driver who was arrested in Banaskantha, Gujarat, after he offered prayers on the side of a road.
  • 22 January, 2024: Dozens of Muslims and other BJP-critics who were reportedly arrested across the country on and following the day of the consecration of the newly-constructed Ram Temple in Ayodhya (see Freedom of Religion section). These included two Muslim men arrested in Jammu for critical social media posts, four men arrested in Hyderabad for screening a critical documentary, as well as dozens more Muslims arrested from locations where violence was reported, like, Sangareddy (Telangana), Mehsana (Gujarat), and Mumbai (Maharashtra). (see sections on Freedom of Religion and Torture & Ill-Treatment (Non-State Actors) for more on violence during the Ram Temple inauguration)
  • 8 February, 2024 (Haldwani, Uttarakhand): Dozens of Muslims who were reportedly arrested following protests over the demolition of a mosque and adjacent seminary by district authorities. (See section on Deprivation of Life for more on this incident)

At least 19 Christians arrested under anti-conversion laws

During the period under review, there were reports of at least 19 Christians being arrested under anti-conversion laws across two BJP-ruled states:

  • 1 December, 2023: Nine Christians arrested in Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh.
  • 15 December, 2023: At least five Christians arrested in Sonbhadra, Uttar Pradesh.
  • 17 December, 2023: Two Christians arrested in Khargone, Madhya Pradesh.
  • 15 January, 2023: Three Christians arrested in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh.

India’s provincial-level anti-conversion laws – now in place in 12 states – have recently been increasingly weaponised against Christian faith leaders as well as Muslim men accused of being in inter-religious relationships with Hindu women. In Uttar Pradesh, recently-released data revealed that 855 arrests have been made since 2020, mostly against Muslims. In 2023, mass arrests of Christians too were reported from Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh, among other states.

Other notable instances of arbitrary arrests during the period under review included the arrest of the Chief Minister of opposition-ruled Jharkhand, Hemant Soren, on money laundering charges in Ranchi, and the arrests of 8 Adivasi anti-mining activists in Chhattisgarh. (see section on Civic Space and Democratic Backsliding)

During the period under review, there were reported instances of at least 38 Muslims being subject to torture and ill-treatment by state actors. The victims included 25 villagers who were allegedly severely tortured by the Indian Army in Jammu & Kashmir, and two men who were injured by police forces in Uttar Pradesh (UP) in suspected staged shootouts. (The real number of suspected victims of torture and ill-treatment is likely to be significantly higher, owing to the mass arrests of Muslims on various pretexts during the period under review, detailed in the Arrests and Detentions section.)

25 Muslim civilians tortured by Indian Army personnel in Jammu & Kashmir; 3 dead

22 December, 2023 (Poonch & Rajouri, Jammu & Kashmir): At least 25 civilians from the Muslim Gujjar and Bakarwal tribal communities were severely tortured in custody, allegedly by soldiers from the Indian Army’s Rashtriya Rifles branch. Three of the victims succumbed to injuries sustained during the torture. (See section on Deprivation of Life for more on this incident)

Dozens of Sikh farmers injured after Haryana police use tear gas and pellet-firing shotguns

14 February, 2024 (Shambhu, Haryana): Dozens of Sikh farmers demanding a minimum legal guarantee for crop prices were injured after police forces in BJP-ruled Haryana resorted to excessive use of force to stop the protesters from crossing over into national capital Delhi. The protesters were reportedly targeted using lathis (sticks), tear gas (allegedly delivered through drones, in the first such reported instance in the country), and proscribed pellet-firing shotguns similar to those that had previously been used only in Indian-administered Kashmir.

(At the time of writing, this situation was still developing. It will be covered in more detail in the next edition of the India Persecution Tracker.)

13+ reported instances of Muslims being tortured and mistreated by state actors in other contexts

During the period under review, there were reported instances of at least 13 more Muslims, including a 12-year-old boy, being subject to torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment at the hands of police and other state officials.

  • 11 December, 2023 (Nuh, Haryana): The families of seven Muslim inmates arrested in connection with the violence in Nuh (Haryana) in July-August, 2023, alleged that they were severely tortured by staff at the jail premises where they are being held. In October, the families of three other Muslim inmates had alleged that they were shot at by police in staged ‘encounters’. (For more coverage on the anti-Muslim violence in Nuh, and the disproportionate state targeting of local Muslims in its aftermath, see our 2023 Overview here.)
  • 16 December, 2023 (Ghazipur, UP): A Muslim man was shot at and injured in the leg by police forces in UP, in a suspected staged ‘encounter’ (known as ‘half-encounters’ in local parlance). At least one more such ‘half-encounter’ was reported in Saharanpur, also in UP, on 31 December. In both instances, families of the victims refuted the police’s version that they were cattle smugglers. An investigation of UP police records in May, 2023, had revealed that over 5000 alleged ‘criminals’ have been injured (usually in the leg) in suspected ‘half-encounters’ in the state since 2017, in addition to the over 190 who were killed.
  • 18 December, 2023 (Lucknow, UP): Multiple Kashmiri Muslim fruit vendors alleged that they were assaulted and abused by municipality officials in UP’s capital city. Kashmiri vendors have reportedly faced persistent harassment in recent months from civil administration officials.
  • 3 January, 2024 (Ranchi, Jharkhand): A 12-year-old Muslim boy was reportedly assaulted and subject to religious abuse by police officers inside a police station.
  • 5 January, 2024 (Budaun, UP): A 22-year-old Muslim man was allegedly severely tortured in custody by five police officers over suspicion of cow slaughter.

During the period under review, Muslims and Christians across the country continued to face violence from Hindu extremists on various pretexts. A spike in violence against Muslims was observed during the consecration ceremony of the newly constructed Ram Temple at the site of the illegally destroyed Babri Masjid mosque in Ayodhya. (see section on Freedom of Religion) Christians faced violent targeting over allegations of being engaged in unlawful religious conversions.

Ram Temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya sparks anti-Muslim violence across the country; Christians and Dalits targeted as well

21-24 January, 2024 (Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh): Hindu nationalists’ celebrations in the lead-up to and after the inauguration of the Ram Temple at the site of the historical, illegally destroyed Babri Masjid mosque in Ayodhya (see section on Freedom of Religion) provided the context for anti-Muslim incitement and violence in at least eight states.

The violence and authorities’ response followed the same template seen across the country in recent years: Hindu extremists, usually linked to BJP-allied Hindu nationalist groupings such as the Bajrang Dal (BD), used shobha yatras (religious ‘glory’ processions) as a pretext to shout offensive slogans – often including direct incitement to violence – at Muslim-concentration localities, sparking communal clashes. Authorities, particularly in BJP-governed states, unfairly and disproportionately targeted Muslims, portraying them as the perpetrators, and subjecting them to collective punishment in the form of mass arrests and arbitrary demolition of Muslim-owned homes and businesses.

Locations where major instances of violence and vandalism were reported from included:

Darbhanga, Bihar: Participants in a shobha yatra (glory procession) threw a firecracker inside a Muslim graveyard, causing a fire that spread across the compound. A first information report (FIR) was registered, but no arrests were reported.

Jaitpur, Delhi: Videos circulating on social media showed individuals raising inflammatory slogans and carrying out vandalism in a Muslim locality in Jaitpur in Delhi. While the police intervened to prevent escalation, no legal action was taken against perpetrators.

Mehsana, Gujarat:  A shobha yatra on 21 January turned violent as it crossed a Muslim residential area. Police stated that loud music and firecrackers used by the procession triggered stone-pelting, and fired tear gas shells to keep the situation under control.

Kalaburgi, Karnataka: Stone-pelting and inter-religious clashes were reported on 22 January from Wadi village in connection with a shobha yatra that passed through Muslim-concentration areas. Later that day, in another village (Kotnoor) in the same district, a statue of Dalit icon B.R. Ambedkar was defaced with a garland of footwear.

Bidar, Karnataka: On 22 January, a 17-year-old Dalit boy was assaulted by Hindu extremists and forced to chant Hindu religious slogans.

Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh: Hindu extremists planted Hindu religious flags atop Christian churches in four villages (Dabtalai, Matasula, Uberao, Dhamaninathu) in Jhabua, a district with a Christian Adivas-majority population. Despite video evidence and wide media coverage, the police did not register an FIR.

Mumbai, Maharashtra: Multiple instances of violence were reported from various parts of Mumbai – such as Byculla, where Muslim men were filmed being assaulted and forced to chant Hindu religious slogans, and in another unidentified location, where another Muslim was assaulted and forced to chant the same slogan.

In the Mira Road locality, a shobha yatra by Hindu extremists triggered inter-religious clashes, first on 21 January. A video purportedly from the area showed a Hindu youth standing atop a vehicle and waving a firearm.

Subsequent inflammatory speeches and social media posts by local BJP MLAs Geeta Jain and Nitesh Rane (see section on Advocacy of Religious Hatred, and our dedicated Hate Speech Tracker), among other senior Hindu nationalist leaders, further exacerbated tensions.

On 23 January, another armed Hindu extremist mob entered the Mira Road area, pelting stones and violently attacking shops, without inviting any police intervention. The attacks reportedly focused on shops that belonged to Muslims, or had Muslim-sounding names, and those that did not have saffron flags hoisted outside. Several persons were reported injured in these attacks, including a 16-year-old boy who had to be hospitalised.

Despite video evidence and widespread media coverage, the police initially refused to file an FIR. After sustained efforts by a lawyer representing some of the shopkeepers, FIRs were finally registered in four cases, including the attack on the 16-year-old boy.

In the aftermath of the violence in Mira Road, municipal authorities razed at least 55 Muslim-owned businesses, allegedly without prior notice. (see section on Discrimination in access to economic, social and cultural rights)

Pune, Maharashtra: On 22 January, a group of 12-15 Hindu extremists barged into the Film & Television Institute of India’s campus ang allegedly assaulted students over a banner condemning the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992. Telangana: On 22 January, a Hindu mob carrying out a shobha yatra burst crackers in front of a mosque in a Muslim-concentration neighbourhood in Narayanpet district, and threw sandals into the mosque. On the same day, in Sangareddy, a Muslim fruit vendor’s shop was reportedly set on fire by a Hindu mob. Also in Sangareddy on the same day, a 19-year-old Muslim man was assaulted and paraded naked by Hindu extremists. The victim was subsequently arrested along with four other Muslims for allegedly disrespecting the national flag, while the attackers remained free.

Uttar Pradesh: On 22 January, an armed Hindu mob carrying out a shobha yatra hoisted saffron flags atop a historical mosque in Agra. Mosque authorities alleged that the mob trespassed into the mosque compound, desecrated the building, raised Hindu religious slogans, and threatened those inside the mosque.

A similar incident was reported in Shahjahanpur district, where some men climbed up a mosque on the night of 22 January and hoisted a saffron flag. Three men were arrested in connection with this incident.
Oh the same day, in Sant Kabir district, a Hindu mob attempted to force its way into a mosque. The police arrested five persons in connection with this incident.

Elsewhere across UP, tensions flared when Hindu extremist mobs carried out their shobha yatras through Muslim-concentration localities, bursting crackers and raising offensive slogans.

Multiple violent attacks on Christian Adivasis by Hindu extremists in Chhattisgarh; hundreds displaced

A series of violent attacks were reported against the Christian Adivasi community in Chhattisgarh’s remote Narayanpur district in December and January. A Washington Post investigation revealed that multiple churches were destroyed, and more than a hundred families forced to flee their homes, over two months. Local Christians alleged that Hindu extremist group Janjati Suraksha Manch was behind the attacks. Hindu extremists in the area have accused evangelists of increasingly enticing and converting poor and gullible Adivasis (members of indigenous tribes) to Christianity

In late 2022 too, violence by Hindu nationalists, including some reportedly incited by the BJP’s district president, had led to the widespread displacement of over 1000 Christians from Narayanpur.

Chhattisgarh is one of 11 Indian states that have provincial-level statutes that have effectively criminalised religious conversions out of Hinduism, and enabled violence against Christians and Muslims by Hindu extremists. (see section on Freedom of Religion)

United Christian Forum (UCF), an advocacy group, had documented 687 ‘attacks’ against India’s Christians in the first 11 months of 2023. Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Haryana – all BJP-governed states – reported the highest number of attacks. According to UCF, 2023 was the most violent year for India’s Christians since it started collecting data in 2009. (UCF’s definition of ‘attack’ encompasses mob violence against Christians and their places of worship and livelihood, false allegations of unlawful conversion leading to violence, misuse of anti-conversion laws, and the arrests of pastors on false charges.) In 2022, while seeking dismissal of a petition filed at the Supreme Court, the Indian government had denied that Christians were facing targeted attacks. The government had further alleged that only a third of the incidents highlighted in the petition warranted the registration of FIRs.

At least 14 Muslims, 2 Christians assaulted by Hindu extremists in other contexts

During the period under review, religious minority Muslims and Christians continued to face violent attacks by Hindu extremists, including many with close links to the ruling BJP, and often in collusion with police forces. Attacks against Muslims continued to be fuelled by cow protection laws that are now in place in 20 of India’s states, and attacks against Christians continued to be fuelled by anti-conversion laws now active in 11 states.

  • 1 December, 2023 (Koppal, Karnataka): Elderly Muslim man assaulted by Hindu extremists and forced to chant Hindu religious slogans. 2 arrested.
  • 1 December, 2023 (Jalandhar, Punjab): Two Muslim truck-drivers assaulted by cow vigilantes alleged to be members of the Bajrang Dal (BD), a Hindu extremist group with close ties to the BJP.
  • 4 December, 2023 (Kushinagar, UP): 15-year-old Muslim boy stripped and assaulted by suspected members of the Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV), a violent Hindu extremist outfit founded by UP’s current Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. 
  • 9 December, 2023 (Moradabad, UP): Muslim cleric assaulted inside train by Hindu extremists.
  • 9 December, 2023 (Mewat, Haryana): Muslim men assaulted by Hindu cow vigilantes.
  • 10 December, 2023 (Sonipat, Haryana): Two Muslim men assaulted by Hindu cow vigilantes.
  • 4 January, 2024 (Bharuch, Gujarat): Muslim man assaulted by Hindu cow vigilantes.
  • 12 January, 2024 (Chikmagalur, Karnataka): Two Muslim teenagers assaulted by Hindu extremists and later taken into custody by police, after the assailants claimed they were ‘involved’ with Hindu girls.
  • 14 January, 2024 (Ahmedabad, Gujarat): Muslim auto-rickshaw driver assaulted by Hindu extremists after his Hindu passenger accidentally spat tobacco at them.
  • 15 January, 2024 (Nawada, Bihar): Muslim child assaulted and forced to chant Hindu religious slogans.
  • 28 January, 2024 (Bijapur, Karnataka): Christian couple assaulted by Hindu extremists over allegations of forced conversion. (See sections on Arrests and Detentions and Freedom of Religion for more on the targeting of Christians over allegations of unlawful conversion.)

The perpetrators of such anti-minority violence are often accommodated and rewarded by the BJP. For example, in January, a local Hindu nationalist leader in Bulandshahr accused of participating in violence in 2018 – when a police officer was killed – was appointed a zonal president of the BJP.

Major reported instances of killings of minority women and girls

State actors:

  • 14 December, 2023 (Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh): A Muslim woman who was ‘accidentally’ shot dead by a sub-inspector inside a police station. At the time of writing, the accused police official remained absconding.
  • 29 December, 2023 (Agra, Uttar Pradesh): A 25-year-old Dalit woman who was allegedly raped and killed by a policeman. The alleged perpetrator was arrested. 

Non-state actors:

  • 24 December, 2023 (Kaimur, Bihar): A 14-year-old Dalit girl who died after being assaulted for plucking chickpea leaves.
  • 12 January, 2024 (Phulwarisharif, Bihar): An 8-year-old Dalit girl who died after she was raped along with another 12-year-old Dalit girl.

Violence against minority women – by both state actors and non-state actors – is vastly unreported. Recently-released government data for 2022 revealed a 4% increase (over 445,000 cases in total) in crimes against women compared to the previous year, as well as an 8.7% rise in crimes against Dalits in general. Further disaggregated government data is not available. 

Ahead of national elections scheduled to begin in April, India continued to witness escalated religious polarisation and Hindu mobilisation, led by the BJP and its allied groups like the VHP and the Bajrang Dal. This has continued to be perpetuated by influential political and religious figures advocating religious hatred constituting incitement to discrimination, hostility, and violence against religious minorities, in both online and physical spaces.  (For detailed analysis of trends and patterns in the incidence and forms of online hate content in more recent months, see our Hate Speech Monitor.)

During the period under review, we documented 7 instances of elected BJP leaders – Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and Members of Parliament (MPs) – engaging in what appeared to be top-level incitement to hostility, discrimination, or violence, and 3 instances of intermediate-level incitement. All were in physical settings.

Recurring figures included BJP MLA T. Raja Singh, who was reported making at least 5 such speeches – and was recently re-elected from his assembly constituency after being briefly suspended from the BJP for hate speech – and BJP MLA Nitesh Rane, whose inflammatory speeches in Mumbai are reported to have contributed to anti-Muslim violence in the Mira Road area.

SpeakerDetails
Nitesh Rane   (BJP MLA, Kankavli)At a press conference held at the office of the Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai Virar Police Commissionerate (Maharashtra), Rane was reported to have threatened violence against Muslims, urging Hindus to ‘unite and retaliate’. This and other inflammatory speeches by Rane around this date are reported to have contributed to the eruption of anti-Muslim violence in the area. (see section on Torture and Ill-Treatment (Non-State Actors))
Nitesh Rane   (BJP MLA, Kankavli)At a public event in Solapur (Maharashtra), Rane was reported to have openly advocated violence against Muslims, calling to ‘gouge the eyes’ of those involved in ‘love jihad’.
Nitesh Rane   (BJP MLA, Kankavli)At a public event in Solapur (Maharashtra), Rane was reported to have called for violence against Muslims, and also to have promised impunity from police action.
Anant Kumar Hegde

(Member of Parliament, Uttara Kannada)		At a public event in Uttara Kannada (Karnataka), Singh was reported to have threatened a repeat of the violent destruction of the Babri Masjid (in 1992) to take over various historical mosques.  
T. Raja Singh   (BJP MLA, Goshamal)  At a public event in Solapur (Maharashtra), Singh was reported to have called on Hindus to prepare for violence to turn historical mosques in Mathura and Varanasi into temples.  
T. Raja Singh   (BJP MLA, Goshamal)At a public event in Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Singh was reported to have called for waging ‘war’ against Christians engaged in religious conversions, and for the stripping of voting rights from people who convert out of Hinduism.  
T. Raja Singh   (BJP MLA, Goshamal)At a public event in Raipur (Chhattisgarh), in the presence of Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, Singh was reported to have called for the repetition of past anti-Muslim violence in Ayodhya (in 1992) in Kashi and Mathura.
T. Raja Singh   (BJP MLA, Goshamal)At a public event in Kolhapur (Maharashtra), Singh was reported to have called for those seeking to ‘shoot down’ Muslims to join the Bajrang Dal, a Hindu extremist group with close links to the BJP.  
T. Raja Singh   (BJP MLA, Goshamal)At a public event in Solapur (Maharashtra), Singh was reported to have used anti-Muslim slurs and called for violence.  
Jawahar Singh Bedi

(Minister of State of Home & Cow Husbandry Departments, Government of Rajasthan and BJP MLA, Nagar)		At a public event in Nagar (Rajasthan), Bedi was reported to have glorified anti-Muslim violence by cow vigilantes.

The speeches listed above were among 125 instances of top and intermediate-level incitement by senior political and religious leaders we documented during the period under review using Hindutva Watch data. Of these, 113 (90%) were reported from states and territories where BJP governments are in power and in control of law & order. 36 (29%) were reported from the state of Maharashtra alone, which has seen a marked escalation in anti-Muslim mobilisation and violence, particularly since June 2022, when an opposition party-led government was toppled and a BJP-supported government assumed power. (interactive map and full list of speeches available for download here)

Union Home Minister Amit Shah suggests Muslims were ‘taught a lesson’ during 2002 pogrom

16 December, 2023 (Sanand, Gujarat): Speaking at a public event, Union Home Minister Amit Shah suggested that the absence of major riots in Gujarat could be attributed to Muslims being ‘taught a lesson’ during the 2002 pogrom in that state.

Shah remarked, “In 2002, there were riots and thereafter Modi saheb taught a lesson to not repeat the act. Have there been riots thereafter? The rioters were taught such a lesson in 2002 that to date no one dares to cause riots in Gujarat.” During the episode Shah was referring to, described by one expert as India’s first ‘full-blooded pogrom’, over 790 Muslims (out of 1,044 total victims) had been murdered across Gujarat, including in several localised massacres. The then-CM of Gujarat – and current Prime Minister – Narendra Modi is alleged to have ordered police forces to give violent Hindu mobs a free run for three days, enabling the massacres.

Experts flag rising risk of misinformation in India; Muslims facing the brunt

The Global Risks Report 2024, a survey of 1500 global experts conducted by the World Economic Forum (WEF), identified misinformation or disinformation as the biggest of the 10 short and long-term threats to the world, and India as the country most at risk of the same, ahead of national elections scheduled to commence in April.

Separately, a report by BOOM, an Indian fact-checking service, found that Muslims have been the top targets of online misinformation in India every year since 2021. According to the report, based on an analysis of fact-checks conducted by BOOM, a majority of the false claims were shared with the intent of spreading ‘demographic anxiety’. Muslims are routinely characterised in Hindu nationalist rhetoric as demographic expansionists putting India’s Hindu majority at risk, with ‘love jihad’ – a debunked conspiracy theory that alleges an organised plot by Muslim men to seduce and convert Hindu women to Islam – finding particular traction in popular discourse in recent years.

Prime Minister Modi leads consecration of Ram Temple at the site of illegally razed Babri Masjid

22 January, 2024 (Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh): 31 years after Hindu extremists led by senior leaders of the BJP illegally destroyed the historical Babri Masjid mosque that had stood in Ayodhya for over 500 years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the consecration ceremony for a temple being constructed at the same site. Flanked by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief Mohan Bhagwat, and a host of Hindu priests, Modi led the religious ceremony unveiling an idol of the Hindu deity Ram.

The construction of the temple, formally overseen by a trust set up by the Indian government, was enabled by a Supreme Court verdict in 2019, which had ended a longstanding legal dispute by handing over the site of the erstwhile mosque to Hindu parties, despite also finding that the destruction of the mosque was an illegal act, and despite the absence of conclusive archaeological evidence that a Hindu temple had ever stood at the site.

The ceremony marked the culmination of Hindu nationalists’ decades-long Ram Janmabhoomi (Birthplace of Lord Ram) movement, which had sought to replace the erstwhile mosque with a temple honouring Lord Ram, a deity who many Hindus believe was born at the same site. The violent movement, which had been marked by communal ‘riots’ across the country resulting in thousands of deaths, mostly of Muslims, had catapulted the BJP to the centre stage of Indian politics, which had previously been dominated by ostensibly secular political parties.

The event was boycotted by some opposition political parties, which accused the BJP of politicising religion, but was attended by a glittering array of politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen, sportspersons, and other celebrities. Addressing the crowd, Modi – who had undertaken an 11-day fast in anticipation, visiting various Hindu religious sites across the country – delivered a speech that was steeped in religious fervour, remarking that the temple symbolises ‘the dawn of a new era’ for ‘a nation rising by breaking the mentality of slavery, a nation drawing courage from every affliction of the past, and creating a new history.’

The full might of the Indian state – still nominally secular according to the Constitution – was on display, with military jets showering petals over assorted crowds, while government offices across the country closed early ahead of the ceremony. Meanwhile, emboldened Hindu extremists took out shobha yatras (glory processions) across the country, unleashing violence against Muslims, Christians, and Dalits in at least eight states. As seen on multiple occasions in recent years, Muslims faced the brunt of the violence as well as post-violence retaliatory action from state authorities. (see sections on Torture & Ill-Treatment (Non-State Actors);Arrests and detentions; Discrimination in access to economic, social and cultural rights)

State-supported moves afoot to replace religious character of other historical mosques in Varanasi and Mathura

On 31 January, a district court in Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) permitted Hindu litigants to offer prayers inside the 17th century Gyanvapi Mosque, the site of another historical dispute between Hindu nationalists and Muslims.

The order was issued after the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), a government agency responsible for conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments, concluded that a Hindu temple had previously stood at the site. Hours after the order was pronounced, a group of Hindus reportedly led by the District Magistrate (DM) of Varanasi, a senior government bureaucrat, offered prayers inside the mosque complex.

Separately in December, the Allahabad High Court, which has jurisdiction over Uttar Pradesh, approved a similar survey of the Shahi Idgah mosque in Mathura, another site that Hindu nationalists have sought to ‘reclaim’. These moves to ‘reclaim’ historical mosques have proceeded despite the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which prohibits the changing of the character of any place of worship as it existed on the day of India’s independence in 1947.

Other instances of religious minority places of worship being targeted by state actors

Other reported instances of state actors targeting the places of worship and other religious buildings of minorities during the period under review included:

  • 30 January, 2024 (Mehrauli, Delhi): Officials of the Delhi Development Authority demolished Masjid Akhonji, a 600-year-old mosque, terming it an unauthorised construction. After the demolition, the Delhi High Court issued an order calling on all parties to maintain status-quo.

    Local authorities in Delhi have demolished or announced plans to raze several historical mosques and other Muslim religious buildings in recent years. In January, the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), reiterated its plans to demolish yet another historical mosque, the 150-year old Sunehri Bagh Masjid in Lutyens’ Delhi.

  • 8 February, 2024: (Haldwani, Uttarakhand): A mosque and adjacent seminary were demolished by district authorities, purportedly as part of an anti-encroachment drive. Authorities shot dead six Muslims during protests against the incident, and arrested dozens. (See Section on Deprivation of Life for more on this incident)

Continuing arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement of anti-conversion laws against Muslims and Christians

During the period under review, there were reports of at least 19 Christians being arrested under anti-conversion laws across two BJP-ruled states – Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. (See section on Arrests and detentions)

UP and MP are two of eight BJP-governed states that have, since 2017, introduced new laws – or added more stringent provisions to existing laws – to regulate religious conversions out of Hinduism. (The anti-conversion law introduced in Karnataka, where the BJP was voted out of power in May 2023, is reportedly set to be repealed.) These new laws, like other pre-existing laws elsewhere in country, proscribe religious conversions by means of force, coercion, fraud, and other prohibited means. Additionally, they have also specifically sought to leverage and fuel the ‘love jihad’ conspiracy theory, by introducing restrictive conditions on inter-faith marriages.

Meanwhile, ‘ghar wapsi’ (homecoming) ceremonies organised by Hindu groups to ‘re-convert’ Muslims and Christians to Hinduism continued unabated. At one such reported event in Muzaffarnagar, UP, in late-September, a Hindu leader had revealed that over 1100 Muslims had been ‘re-converted’ to Hinduism over the past 18 months. Such ‘re-conversions’ are specifically exempt from the newly-enacted anti-conversion laws, including in UP. India’s Supreme Court is yet to hold substantive hearings on the constitutional validity of the newly-enacted anti-conversion laws, all of which have been challenged on various grounds, including for infringements of the rights to privacy and freedom of religion.

Instances of minority religious structures being targeted by non-state actors

Other reported instances of non-state actors targeting the places of worship and other religious or cultural buildings of minorities during the period under review included:

  • 10 December, 2023 (Mehrauli, Delhi): Unknown vandals partially damaged a portion of the Zafar Mahal, which contains the tombs of two Mughal emperors.
  • 12 December, 2023 (Raipur, Chhattisgarh): Hindu extremists disrupted a Christian prayer meet, harassed worshippers, and defaced the church.
  • 24 December, 2023 (Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh): A mosque wall was defaced with Hindu religious slogans.
  • 24 December, 2023 (Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh): Hindu extremists disrupted a Christian prayer meet and vandalised the premises.
  • 30 December, 2023 (Sikar, Rajasthan): Hindu extremists disrupted a Christian prayer meet and vandalised the premises.
  • 22 January, 2024: Mosques and churches across at least seven states witnessed vandalism and violence by Hindu extremists, against the backdrop of the consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. (see section on Torture and Ill-treatment by Non-State Actors)

The trends and violations detailed in previous sections also continued to have discriminatory impacts on minorities’ access to economic, social, and cultural rights, including livelihoods and education.

Continuing arbitrary demolitions of Muslim homes and livelihoods as collective punishment

During the period under review, state authorities in Maharashtra – which is governed by a BJP-supported coalition – continued the nationwide trend of Muslims being collectively punished following episodes of communal violence, through arbitrary demolitions of their property. Cases reported included:

  • 23 January, 2024 (Mira Road, Mumbai): Municipal authorities razed 15 buildings in the Muslim-concentrated Haidary Chowk area in Mira Road, where violent clashes had taken place on 21 January, ahead of the consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Authorities claimed that the structures were illegal, while locals alleged that they had not been served any notices before the demolitions.
  • 24 January, 2024 (Mohammed Ali Road, Mumbai): Municipal authorities razed ‘encroachments’ from 40 Muslim-owned shops, also reportedly without prior notice.

Other punitive demolitions reported during the period under review included:

  • 14 December, 2023 (Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh): District authorities arbitrarily demolished the homes of 3 Muslim men who had been arrested for assaulting a BJP worker, days after the BJP won re-election in the state.
  • 29 December, 2023 (Agar Malwa, Madhya Pradesh): District authorities arbitrarily razed the homes of four men who had been arrested for killing a cow.

In a report published in February, Amnesty International investigated similar punitive demolitions of 128 properties belong to Muslims that had been carried out In Assam, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi between April and June 2022, all in Muslim-concentration localities. The report found that at least 617 people, including men, women and children, were adversely impacted by these demolitions, being either rendered homeless or deprived of their sole livelihood. The investigation further concluded that there was an ‘absolute failure of the state authorities to ensure that the survivors of these demolitions were afforded due process protections, including an opportunity for genuine consultation, adequate and reasonable notice, and provision of legal remedies and access to legal aid.’

Continuing discrimination against minority students in accessing education

  • The Chief Minister (CM) of opposition-ruled Karnataka clarified that his government was yet to officially lift the ban that had been imposed on the wearing of hijab and other religious attire by students at government-funded educational institutions. Lifting the ban imposed by the previous BJP-led government had been a key promise of the Indian National Congress during its election campaign. 9 months have passed since an INC-led government assumed power in the state.

    The ban on hijab had reportedly led to over 1000 Muslim girls and women dropping out of education, according to a civil society estimate.
  • Nearly 2,000 beneficiaries of the central government’s Maulana Azad National Fellowship (MANF) for minority scholars have reportedly not received their stipends since September, 2023. The central government had cancelled the MANF scheme in 2022, but had promised to continue supporting existing beneficiaries.
  • A new study by the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Fund, a civil society group, revealed the persistence of widespread caste-based violence at schools across the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The study had involved interviews of Dalit students at 321 government-run, 58 government-funded and 62 private schools across the state.  

Other instances of Muslim livelihoods being selectively targeted by state actors

Other reported instances of Muslim livelihoods being targeted by state actors included:

  • 8 December, 2023 (Raipur, Chhattisgarh): Authorities bulldozed predominantly Muslim-owned shops, allegedly on the directions of newly re-elected BJP MLA Brijmohan Agarwal.
  • 4 December, 2023 (Jaipur, Rajasthan): A day after being elected as a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), the BJP’s Balmukund Acharya was reported to have ordered the closure of all meat stalls in his constituency.
  • 14 December, 2023 (Madhya Pradesh): On the inaugural day of the new BJP-led government in Madhya Pradesh, newly-installed Chief Minister Mohan Yadav announced an ‘intensive campaign’ to curb the ‘illegal buying and selling of meat, fish, etc.’ On the same day, around 10 Muslim-owned meat shops were demolished by government authorities.

In addition to violations detailed in previous sections – particularly on Anti-Muslim Violence during the Ram Temple consecration ceremony (see section on Torture and ill-treatment (non-state actors) – there were several reported instances of Hindu extremists directly targeting the livelihoods of Muslims. These included:

  • 8 December, 2023 (Mangaluru, Karnataka): Temple authorities barred Muslim vendors from setting up stalls in the temple premises during a six-day long local festival. 
  • 10 December, 2023 (Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh): A Muslim public school teacher was reportedly dismissed by school authorities for not ‘appropriately responding’ to a Hindu student’s religious greeting.

As referred to throughout previous sections, India’s domestic mechanisms have been largely failing to ensure accountability for ongoing and previous violations. The judicial process, from filing a complaint to securing convictions and other remedies, has continued to be skewed towards powerful Hindu nationalist interests, and against minorities. Victims and families seeking justice are routinely harassed, and often face retributive arrests themselves. India’s anti-terror laws, which reverse the burden of proof and allow for prolonged incarceration without trial, have further convoluted the prospects for justice. And even when India’s courts, including the Supreme Court, have attempted to step in, a sense of permissiveness and impunity have continued to prevail among State and non-State actors accused of violations. For instance, recent court directives on curbing the proliferation of hate speech have, to date, gone largely unheeded, particularly by public authorities in BJP-governed states.

Notable developments during the period under review included:

Supreme Court upholds unilateral revocation of Jammu & Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status

In December, a 5-member bench of the Supreme Court upheld the government’s decision in 2019 to unilaterally revoke Muslim-majority Jammu & Kashmir (J&K)’s special constitutional status and to divide and downgrade it into two Union Territories (UT) directly administered by the central government.

The abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which had guaranteed semi-autonomous status for the erstwhile state, had been enforced in 2019, along with a near-total communications blockade that had lasted over 18 months, and the arbitrary detention of thousands of political leaders, journalists, and civilians. A former Chief Minister of J&K described the SC verdict as ‘no less than news of a death sentence’. J&K has been without any form of political representation since 2018.

Bombay HC grants bail to Gautam Navlakha in Bhima-Koregaon case; order stayed repeatedly upon NIA request

Gautam Navlakha, one of 16 activists arrested under terrorism charges for allegedly inciting violence during a Dalit commemoration event in 2018, was granted bail by the Bombay HC. However, Navlakha is yet to be released from house arrest, after the National Investigative Agency (NIA) secured a stay order pending appeal before the Supreme Court. The SC has extended the stay on the bail order.

While five of those arrested have been released on bail – and an 84-year-old Jesuit priest died while in police custody – Navlakha and the other nine activists have completed over five years under incarceration without trial. Multiple digital forensics agencies have confirmed that fabricated evidence had been planted on the digital devices of the arrested activists to enable their prosecution.

Prominent Kashmiri journalists remain in custody despite HC declaring their arrests illegal

At the time of writing, two prominent Kashmiri journalists – Asif Sultan and Sajad Gul – remained in police custody despite separate orders by the J&K High Court quashing the criminal proceedings initiated against them under the Public Safety Act (PSA).

The PSA is a preventive detention law specific to Kashmir that allows for detention without charges or trial for up to two years. Those who obtain bail under the act are routinely re-arrested and re-booked. Sultan has been in custody since August 2018 and Gul since January 2022.

Continued incarceration of anti-CAA protest leaders without trial

After the Supreme Court continued to defer the bail hearings of Umar Khalid, one of several prominent student leaders arrested during protests in 2019 against India’s discriminatory Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Khalid opted to withdraw his bail plea and approach a lower court.

Khalid, along with 59 others – including students and HRDs – have been charged under the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and accused of organising the targeted mass violence in Delhi in February 2020 that had left 53 dead, including 40 Muslims.

While around five of the co-accused have been released on bail, the rest have remained in custody in connection with various charges. Khalid had approached the SC in October last year after the Delhi High Court rejected his bail plea, but the Court has adjourned hearings over 10 times, citing various reasons.

Separately, the bail pleas of student leader Sharjeel Imam, HRD Khalid Saifi and several others – all accused of participating in the same alleged conspiracy – are set to be heard afresh by the Delhi High Court, after one of the judges who had been presiding over the case since last year was elevated to another court. Khalid and the other co-accused have been in custody for over three years, with their trials yet to commence. Khalid and the other co-accused have been in custody for close to four years, with their trials yet to commence.

In this time, BJP-led governments continued to resort to authoritarian methods to target critics and dissenters, and those standing up for minority rights. A brief overview of developments during the period under review that further underline the extent of India’s democratic backsliding in recent years, particularly ahead of upcoming national elections, follows:

  • Continued targeting of opposition leaders and parties: In December, during the penultimate session of the current Parliament, at least 143 opposition MPs were suspended for various reasons. Mahua Moitra, a prominent opposition MP who had repeatedly highlighted corruption allegations against Gautam Adani, an industrialist widely known as a close associate of Prime Minister Modi, was expelled from Parliament on spurious charges. In January, Hemant Soren, an opposition politician who had been the sitting Chief Minister of Jharkhand state, was arrested on money laundering charges. And in February, the Indian National Congress (INC), the largest opposition party, alleged that its bank accounts had been frozen by income tax authorities.
  • Continued targeting of journalists: In December, an Amnesty International investigation revealed that Israeli-made Pegasus spyware, which is sold only to government entities, was used to compromise the mobile devices of two prominent journalists, including the chief editor of The Wire, an online news outlet known for its critical coverage of the BJP, and a journalist who had reported on the allegations against Adani. In January, French journalist Vanessa Dougnac was threatened with the cancellation of her Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card over her ‘malicious’ reportage; Dougnac later opted to leave the country. Also in January, the X (formerly known as Twitter) social media account of Hindutva Watch, an online portal that aggregates hate crimes and hate speech by Hindu extremists, was blocked in India at the demand of the government. In December, government data had revealed that authorities had asked for the blocking of nearly 37,000 social media URLs since 2018.
  • Continued targeting of HRDs and CSOs: In February, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided the offices of the Centre for Equity Studies (CES) and the residence of its director Harsh Mander, a prominent human rights defender, over alleged violations of foreign donation rules by an NGO he heads. A range of government agencies have been mobilised in recent years against CES and Mander, whose offices had previously been raided in 2021. Other major civil society organisations that had their licences to receive foreign donations cancelled during the period under review included the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), a prominent think-tank, and World Vision India, a Christian charity.
  • Enactment of anti-democratic legislation: In the Winter session of Parliament, and with minimal debate in the absence of scores of suspended MPs, three sets of contentious legislations were passed, including (i) an overhaul of India’s criminal laws, widely criticised for vastly expanding police powers without ensuring procedural safeguards against false implication in terror cases, (ii) a new Telecommunications Bill, widely criticised for enabling further surveillance and cementing the government’s powers to enforce blanket internet shutdowns, and (iii) new regulations regarding the appointment of Election Commissioners, widely criticised for giving the ruling government a virtual veto over who may be recommended for appointment.