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INDIA NEWS UPDATES ARCHIVES

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 2. 
 3. About Us
 4. 
 5. Advocacy in the European Union
 6. 
 7. India News Updates Archives

Every month, we send a newsletter with news updates containing an overview of
politics and human rights in India. You can read the archives here.

July 2023: European Parliament resolution on India, women stripped naked and 5
y/o raped shows systematic gang rape of women, 400 attacks against Christians in
2023, and teenager Dalit tied to tree and beaten for 10 hours


India in the world

• From July 3-5, UN Deputy Secretary General Amina J Mohammed visited India on
an official visit. Her visit focused on digital technology, Sustainable
Development Goals, and India’s ongoing G20 Presidency.

• On July 3, Indian diaspora held a protest in front of the United Nations
Palais des Nations in Geneva to raise awareness of the persecution of Christians
and Muslims in India.

• On July 8, US Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human
Rights Uzra Zeya, arrived in Delhi. During her visit, according to the State
Department she discussed “the deepening and enduring U.S.-India partnership,
including advancing shared solutions to global challenges, democracy, regional
stability, and cooperation on humanitarian relief”. She met civil society
organisations working on media freedoms, gender equality, restrictions on NGOs
and “marginalised religious and ethnic minorities”. 

• On July 19, India and the UK concluded their 11th round of negotiations for
their free trade agreement. They reportedly made significant progress on five
chapters dealing with contentious issues such as digital trade, environment and
labour in the ongoing free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations.

 

European Parliament Resolution

• On July 13, the European Parliament adopted an urgency resolution warning of
the existence of “Hindu majoritarianism” in India. The resolution also calls on
the Indian government to “put an urgent end to the ethno-religious violence”,
which is ongoing  especially in the state of Manipur. 

• In its resolution, mainly negotiated by French MEP Pierre Larrouturou (S&D),
the European Parliament “denounces in the strongest possible terms all
nationalist rhetoric” and calls on the Indian authorities to “refrain from
criminalising those who are critical of government’s conduct”. 

• In addition to the resolution’s recommendations, MEPs from EPP and ECR in the
plenary debate on July 12 called on the EU Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion,
Frans van Daele, to urgently visit India. Other MEPs called on the European
Commission to act more strongly on human rights in its engagement with India.
The European Commission responded on behalf of the High Representative Borrell
that they are closely monitoring the situation.

• Ahead of the vote, India’s Foreign Secretary rejected the motion for the
resolution, saying Manipur is “totally internal”. 

• Alber & Geiger, a lobbying firm that lists its services to the Indian
government on their website, contacted MEPs urging them not to table the
resolution. The Indian government in a Right to Information request, however,
“refused” to admit that it hired Alber & Geiger. 

• Following the vote, India’s Ministry of External Affairs condemned the
resolution as reflecting a “colonial mindset” and as “interference” with India’s
internal affairs. 

 

Narendra Modi’s visit to France

• On July 13-14, India’s Prime Minister Modi visited France for a diplomatic
visit. Modi was the “guest of honour” on Bastille Day, which serves to celebrate
democracy in France. During the visit, France and India announced several deals,
including a naval fighter deal and a fighter jets deal.

• On July 10, Justice For Myanmar (JFM) asked Macron to raise the sale of Indian
arms and weapons technology to the Myanmar military regime, and asked him to
impose a condition that French arms and technology would only be exported to
India if it does so.

• On July 11, French MP Arnaud le Gall posed a question in the French general
assembly on human rights in India. He questioned why Modi is the “guest of
honor” on Bastille Day, which celebrates French democracy.

• On July 13, Indian diaspora and French MPs protested against Modi’s presence
at Bastille Day, with significant media coverage.

• On July 14, President Macron bestowed Modi with the “Legion d’honneur”, the
highest civilian award in France. Since its creation in 1802, approximately one
million people have received the award.

 

Communal Violence and Riots

• On July 8, municipal elections took place in West Bengal. In the runup to the
elections, at least 11 people (45 according to BJP) were killed and dozens more
injured, according to the Press Trust of India. The Hindu supremacist BJP came
second, while the centrist Trinamool Congress came first.

• On July 16, clashes erupted in Gujarat state over a social media post on the
controversial movie “The Kerala Story”. 8 people were injured and 10 have been
arrested, with the police accused of bias. The movie depicts the alleged
conversion of women from Kerala to Islam and their recruitment by the Islamic
State. Clashes over the movie across the country have resulted in at least one
death. 

• On July 27, the central government introduced the Constitution (Jammu and
Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill, which would give Paharis – a
linguistic minority in Jammu and Kashmir – the “Scheduled Tribe” status. The
Gujjars and Bakerwals, other communities in Kashmir, have threatened protests.
Commentators see parallels to protests over tribal recognition in May in
Manipur, which triggered the ongoing armed violence.

 

Violence in Manipur

• The ongoing conflict is conducted with sophisticated firearms, as civilians
have looted at least 4000 guns and as there are 35117 active gun licences in
Manipur. A recent investigation shows that since the current BJP Chief Minister
Biren Singh came to power in 2017, 8000 gun licences have been issued to
civilians.

• On July 2 alone, four people were killed in Manipur. Police say one of them
was beheaded.

• On July 3, the Supreme Court ordered the Manipur government to file a
“detailed status report” about the “situation on the ground” in the ongoing
conflict in the state.

• On July 7, the Manipur High Court ordered the State government to lift the
internet ban in the state. On July 10, the Supreme Court heard a plea
challenging the restoration of the internet.

• On July 8, the National Federation of Indian Women received a criminal charge
for conducting a fact-finding mission into the ongoing violence. They were
charged with sedition and conspiring to commit offences of waging war against
India.

• On July 6, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said that the violence and
killings in Manipur are a matter of “human concern”, and the US is willing to
help India “if asked”.

• On July 12, Amnesty International published the results of its investigation
into the violence in Manipur. They note complicity by police and right-wing
groups affiliated with the ruling BJP in the violence, and note that the
government’s response to the violence, including shoot-on-sight orders and an
internet shutdown, has violated human rights. 

• On July 12, the Forum for Restoration of Peace in Manipur called on Prime
Minister Modi to visit Manipur and take steps towards restoring peace in the
state within the next 10 days.

• On July 19, a video of two Kuki women being paraded naked by a mob emerged
from Manipur. A police complaint filed by the relatives of the women states that
one of the women was subsequently gangraped. The incident is estimated to have
taken place on May 4, a day after violence broke out in Manipur state. Police
arrested one person after the video surfaced, despite the complaint having been
registered already in May. The victims allege the police were complicit in the
incident. The Indian government asked Twitter and other social media platforms
to take down the video. The video sheds light on systematic gang rapes in India.
On July 20, Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke his 79 day silence on the Manipur
violence through a 30-second statement. Specifically responding to the video
showing women being paraded naked, he said his heart was filled with “with pain
and anger” over the situation in Manipur. “The incident that has come to light
in Manipur is a shameful incident for any civilised society… I am filled with
anguish and anger. The incident of Manipur brings shame to the society… What has
happened to the daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven, the guilty will not
be spared.” Apart from the delay, Modi’s speech has been criticised for being
inappropriate, as Modi apparently equated violence in Manipur with law and order
issues across India. On July 28, Home Minister Amit Shah claimed that the viral
video had been released as a “conspiracy to embarrass the Modi government” ahead
of the monsoon session of the Parliament. 

• On July 20, a Border Security Forces Head Constable sexually assaulted a woman
in a grocery store in Manipur, as CCTV footage shows. The Head Constable has
been suspended from duty and arrested.

• On July 21, an 18-year-old woman approached the police in Manipur reporting
she had been abducted, assaulted and gang raped on May 15. She reports that she
was handed over to armed men by women, with “clear instructions” to kill them.

• On July 25, the Manipur state government decided to allow broadband internet
access with strict conditions. Mobile internet remains suspended. This comes
after a total internet shutdown of almost three months, which violates human
rights law.

 

Human Rights Defenders and civil society

• On July 19, the Supreme Court granted bail to social activist Teesta Setalvad.
She had been arrested in June and accused of fabricating evidence against Prime
Minister Modi. On July 1, the Gujarat High Court directed social activist Teesta
Setalvad to “surrender immediately” in a case against her. The Supreme Court,
however, said that the High Court’s observations were “perverse” and
“contradictory”. Setalvad has been advocating for an investigation in Prime
Minister Modi’s role in the 2002 Gujarat riots, but last year, the Supreme Court
in passing accused Setalvad of conspiracy. The police initially arrested her in
June 2022, which Amnesty India and Human Rights Watch called an attack on civil
society and demanded her release.

• On July 3, a group of prominent civil society members, including economists,
lawyers and retired IAS officers, issued a statement condemning the silence of
the country’s senior leadership on ongoing wrestlers’ protests. Female wrestlers
are protesting against the President of the Wrestling Federation of India, whom
they accuse of sexual harassment and who is also a member of Modi’s BJP. The
Wrestling Federation’s President was finally arrested after months of protest,
but granted bail on July 19. 

• In March, Union Minister of State for Home told the Parliament that the
registration certificates of 1,827 non-profits to receive foreign contributions
had been cancelled between 2018 and 2022. A day later, Director of the
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) filed a Right to Information
application seeking access to all 1,827 cancellation orders. In July, the
Ministry responded, did not disclose this information, and instead told CHRI
that details were available on the FCRA website. The website, however, only
listed the 1,808 organisations and had a single order from October 2019. There
are no detailed cancellation orders for every organisation that has lost its
FCRA licence.

• On July 12, the Delhi High Court granted bail to Tahir Hussain in five
different cases registered against him. Hussain, who reportedly participated in
peaceful protests against the discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act, was
accused of conspiracy to incite the 2020 Delhi riots, in which at least 53
people died. However, Hussain will still remain in judicial custody, as he is
also charged under India’s anti-terror law, the Unlawful Activities Prevention
Act. 

• On July 28, human rights defenders Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira were
granted bail after five years of jail without trial. They were arrested
alongside fourteen others – the “BK16” – under India’s counterterrorism law, the
Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), for alleged association with Maoist
groups. Evidence was found to have been planted on their laptops. One of the
other accused, Father Stan Swamy, died in custody in 2022.

• On July 29, police arrested 93-year-old human rights defender Ayinoor Vasu,
over a protest he led seven years ago against alleged extrajudicial killings by
police. Police claim they arrested Vasu as he had failed to appear before a
court.

 

Political opposition

• On July 17, nine opposition parties in Assam state moved the Supreme Court to
challenge the Election Commission’s proposal to change the election
constituencies in the state of Assam. Some Muslims in the region fear that the
proposed change will divide voters on religious lines and that sitting
legislators will lose their seats. Protests erupted and several protestors were
detained.

• On July 18, Prime Minister Modi called an alliance meeting of opposition
leaders a “hardcore corruption convention”. Leaders of 26 opposition political
parties in India have united to form an alliance in an attempt to oust Prime
Minister Narendra Modi in the 2024 general election. The roadmap of the “Indian
National Developmental Inclusive Alliance” (INDIA) reportedly focussed
significantly on countering polarisation, hatred and religious divisions. 

• On July 26, the Lower House of Parliament accepted to debate a “no-confidence”
motion against Prime Minister Modi, filed by opposition parties. The date for
the debate is to be decided. Commentators note that the move is merely
procedural and symbolic, and that the BJP government is “at no risk of being
voted out”.

 

Judiciary

• On July 9, a Delhi court framed charges against six men for burning a Muslim
man alive during the 2020 Delhi riots, in which 53 people died. The court
observed that the accused were part of a mob that planned to commit riots. 

• On July 10, Kerala High Court criticised the state’s police for seizing a
journalist’s mobile phone in a probe involving an online media organisation. The
court orally observed that it was a violation of the fundamental rights of the
journalist.

• On July 11, the Supreme Court after 3 years and 11 months heard a set of
petitions filed challenging the change of Jammu and Kashmir’s semi-autonomy. In
2019, the central government had unilaterally removed Article 370 of India’s
constitution, which governs Jammu and Kashmir’s status in the country. The
Central government argued that its decision has brought an “unprecedented era of
development, progress, security and stability to the region.” The Supreme Court
dismissed this as irrelevant, noting that political arguments do not have a
bearing on the constitutional legality. The petitions had been left pending, and
the Supreme Court in July set up a new constitution bench for the matter. 

• On July 21, the Supreme Court heard the plea by India’s opposition leader
Rahul Gandhi against a Gujarat High Court order that refused to put on hold his
conviction and a two-year jail term in a defamation case. Gandhi was convicted
in March in a case related to his speech ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections
in which he referred to thieves as having the surname Modi. This led to his
immediate disqualification as an MP.

• In late July, civil society actors filed a Public Interest Litigation in the
Gujarat High Court seeking a judicial inquiry into police behaviour. On June 16,
the police had reportedly publicly flogged Muslim men.

• On July 28, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a Public Interest Litigation
filed National Federation of Indian Women raising alarm over an increase in
cases of lynching and mob violence against Muslims, particularly by ‘cow
vigilantes”. In a previous 2018 judgment, the Supreme Court had already issued
guidelines to the union and state governments regarding the prevention of
lynching and mob violence.

 

Actions by state actors

• On July 1, a BJP legislator, Sharanu Salagar, and several of his supporters
reportedly barged into a Muslim electrician’s home and abused his family members
claiming that they were slaughtering cows during Eid Al-Adha festival. The BJP
legislator was criminally charged later.

• On July 8, police filed a case against a young man on the basis that his
social media post “was against Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.

• On July 11, India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval said that “no
religion is under any threat” in India. He claimed: “India has successfully
managed to provide space for all its citizens, regardless of their religious,
ethnic or cultural backgrounds.”

• On July 17, police filed several complaints against the Chief Minister of
Assam state, Himanta Biswa Sarma, for hate speech against Bengali-speaking
Muslims. The Chief Minister had called on Assamese youth to take up farming to
“push the ‘Miyas’ out of business”.

• On July 18, a video was posted showing BJP leader Naveen Dhul forcing
Muslim-owned restaurants in Haryana state that serve meat to be closed, citing
an ongoing Hindu festival.

• On July 18, the BJP mayor of Kanpur city demanded that the state government
pass legislation preventing Muslims from buying a house from a Hindu and vice
versa. She further reportedly said: “We are angry with their [Muslims] behaviour
as they throw waste, dirt in temples.”

• On July 26, police in Bihar state shot and killed at least two people who were
protesting against power outages, irregular power supply and tariffs. 

• On July 31, an Indian railway security constable shot and killed a colleague
and three passengers on a train. In a verified video, he says: “If you want to
live and vote in Hindustan [India], I am telling you, it’s only Modi and Yogi,”
thereby suggesting the attack has a political motive.

 

Religious freedoms

• Following the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha on June 29, police reportedly filed a
case against 40 Muslims for praying in public in Kanpur.

• The work on the controversial Ram Temple in Ayodhya reportedly gathered pace
in July, as the number of workers working around the clock increased from 550 to
1,600 and a deadline of January 2024. In 1992, Hindu supremacists had
extrajudicially demolished a mosque in the town, as they claimed that the site
is the birthplace of God Rama, and violence erupted. In 2020, India’s Prime
Minister inaugurated the construction of a new temple at the site.

• In early July, government officials denied a Muslim registration for his newly
built house, because they reportedly did not want a Muslim to live in their
village. “Registration cannot be done because the concerned person is from the
religion of Islam,” the officials wrote on the front page of the application. 

• On July 1, the last day of the Eid celebrations, a Muslim juice vendor was
reportedly harassed and heckled by a group of Hindu women for religious identity
reasons in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun. In a video recorded by the women, one of
those women says: “We don’t eat anything prepared by Muslims, we don’t eat
spitted food).”

• On July 11, a video went viral showing a woman asking a bus conductor to
remove his religious cap, which identifies him as Muslim. After an argument, the
Muslim bus conductor takes off his cap.

• On July 17, police arrested a man in Uttar Pradesh, accusing him of converting
230 Dalit (untouchable) families to Christianity. Police registered a case
against him under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of
Religion Act 2021, following a complaint by a Hindu supremacist group. The Uttar
Pradesh law has been challenged by civil society for violating India’s
constitutionally guaranteed freedom of religion.

• In mid-July, officials in Maharashtra state temporarily sealed a 16th century
mosque. The move comes after Hindu supremacists claimed that the mosque was
constructed on the remains of a demolished Hindu temple.

• In mid-July, the Indian Railways issued a notification to two historical
mosques in Delhi, telling them they had been built without permission on its
land, and demanding the mosques be removed. One of the mosques is reportedly 400
years old, and therefore older than the Railways. 

• On July 26, child rights officials of Madhya Pradesh state reportedly raided a
Christian orphanage. Citing attempts to convert children to Christianity, the
orphanage has been closed down.

 

Hate crimes against minorities

• The United Christian Forum (UCF) reports that India witnessed 400 incidents of
violence against Christians across 23 states in the first half of 2023 alone,
Uttar Pradesh state leading with 155 incidents. In the same period last year,
274 incidents were reported.

• In the first week of July, a mob of Hindu supremacists reportedly beat the
principal of a school in Pune city in Maharashtra state for allegedly teaching
Christian education in the school.

• In the first week of July, Hindu supremacists in Uttar Pradesh state
reportedly raided Muslim-owned meat shops and forced them to close down. In
Delhi, members of Hindu supremacist groups Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and
Bajrang Dal forced numerous Muslim-run meat shops to keep stores shut on
Tuesdays, citing a need to honour “Hindu sentiments.”

• In early July, Hindu supremacists assaulted a Muslim man in Madhya Pradesh
state. A video shows him being forced to lick the assaulter’s feet.

• In early July, a prominent Hindu supremacist TV anchor, Suresh Chavhanke,
organized an anti-Muslim hate speech event in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled
Madhya Pradesh along with several Hindu extremist monks, to incite violence
against Muslims. Another monk called for Muslim men in interfaith relations to
be hanged, shot to death in public, or burnt alive. Last year, Chavhanke had
administered a genocidal oath to a Hindu group in India’s capital, New Delhi,
that said, “We take an oath and make a resolution that till our last breath, we
shall fight, die for and if need be, kill, to make this country a Hindu Rashtra
(nation).”

• In early July, an electricity department lineman forced a Dalit (untouchable)
man to lick his slippers, and subjected him to humiliation and physical abuse in
Uttar Pradesh state.

• On July 3, a 14-year-old Dalit (untouchable) boy in Bihar state was reportedly
tied to a tree and physically assaulted for 10 hours after being accused of
stealing a one-rupee (0.01 Euros) coin. Two people were arrested.

• On July 4, Hindu supremacists reportedly barged into a Muslim man’s house,
sexually assaulted his 18-year-old daughter, injured other family members and
vandalised vehicles in Uttar Pradesh state. 

• On July 4, a video went viral showing a man urinating on a tribal person. The
man was reportedly an “aide” of a BJP legislator in the state, and the video is
supposedly several months old. In response, the police arrested the man. On July
5, local authorities demolished the house of the accused, alleging it had been
“constructed illegally”.

• On July 6, Hindu supremacists reportedly assaulted two Muslims students, who
were accompanying their friend, a female Hindu, to watch a movie in Karnataka
state. The police filed a case against the attackers, and the Chief Minister of
the state condemned acts of moral policing. 

• On July 8, Hindu supremacists in Rajasthan state assaulted a young Muslim man
and forced him to chant “Jai Shri Ram” (Hail Hindu God Ram), as he was going to
buy groceries. Police arrested three men in connection with the incident.

• On July 11, Hindu supremacists vandalised, turned over and set on fire the car
of a Muslim couple. 

• On July 13, an upper-caste man attacked a student from the Dalit (untouchable)
caste who had urinated in his field. The upper-caste man also forced the Dalit
student to manually remove his excreta, which is a crime under the Scheduled
Tribes/Scheduled Castes Prevention of Atrocities act.

• On July 16, police arrested three persons for gangraping a minor Dalit
(untouchable) girl in front of her boyfriend in Rajasthan state. The police
claimed that the accused are campaigning for the ABVP, the student wing of the
RSS, which is the ideological parent of Narendra Modi’s BJP.

• On July 21, an upper-caste man in Madhya Pradesh state reportedly smeared
faeces on the face and body of a Dalit (untouchable) man. The victim initially
reported the incident to a local council, but was fined Rs 600 (approx. 6
Euros). When he filed a police complaint, the police detained the accused. 

• On July 23, approximately 30 Hindu supremacists reportedly attacked a
Christian pastor and his family as they were getting ready to begin Sunday
worship. The family was injured, and police reportedly held the pastor and his
wife for 24 hours for forced conversions.

• On July 25, a mob beat a man to death on suspicion of cattle theft in
North-Eastern Assam state. Police who intervened were injured and required
treatment in hospital. 

• On July 26, two young men reportedly stripped and beat a Dalit (untouchable)
woman and tied her to a tree, where she remained overnight.

• On July 27, two men working for the trust managing a known Hindu temple in
Madhya Pradesh state reportedly raped a 12-year-old girl. The two men were
arrested.

• On July 28, four unidentified men reportedly attacked and attempted to rape a
Muslim physiotherapist on her way home from work in Madhya Pradesh state. A
woman neighbour reportedly came and supported the attackers. 

• In mid-July, a middle-aged man reportedly raped a 5-year-old Muslim girl in
Uttar Pradesh state and left her in a field.

 

Refugees

India is not a signatory to the Refugee Convention, and India does not have a
refugee law or policy. State governments have been conducting a drive against
“illegal immigrants” on orders of the Central government:

• On July 12, news reported that the Manipur police detained ten people from
Myanmar for illegally entering India without valid documents. It is not clear
whether they are Rohingya refugees or whether they fled the coup. They have been
undergoing treatment at Churachandpur district hospital for bullet injuries.
Officials confirmed that the bullet injuries are not related to the violence in
Manipur, but likely came from the Indian Armed Forces. 

• On July 18, Jammu and Kashmir authorities allegedly shot and tear-gassed a
group of more than 200 Rohingya refugees, resulting in several people being
injured. Among the Rohingya were pregnant women, disabled persons, and sick and
elderly persons who required urgent care and attention. On July 20, a
one-month-old baby subsequently died at a refugee “holding centre”, and her
parents attended her burial in handcuffs according to photos.

• On July 22 and 23, 718 Myanmaris, including 301 children, reportedly fled to
India due to the ongoing unrest in Myanmar. The Manipur government ordered the
paramilitary Assam Rifles to “push them back”. 

• On July 24, the Uttar Pradesh state Anti-Terror Squad detained 74 Rohingya
refugees, among them 5 minors, according to its official statement. 

• On July 25, the Uttar Pradesh police estimated that 9000 Rohingya refugees
live in Uttar Pradesh state. Police have been asked to send these details to the
state government in order to start deportation.

 

Evictions and demolitions


• On July 17, a woman was killed during violence following an eviction in Assam,
north East India. She was killed by gunshots during “retaliatory firing”. Five
months before, 2000 people had been evicted by the forest department, which
bulldozed their homes. 

• On July 19, the district administration in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh state,
demolished the home of a Muslim man, as it was allegedly a “dangerous building”.
The demolition was accompanied by people banging drums and playing music. The
demolition notice, issued the day before, was reportedly only pasted outside the
home half an hour before the demolition. On July 17, the man had also reportedly
spit on Hindus at a procession, causing outcry.

• From July 22, 210 poor families in North Eastern Assam state received eviction
notifications by the forest department, ordering them to vacate their homes
within 15 days. The forest department alleges the villagers are “encroaching” on
forest land. Evictions due to alleged encroachment are increasing in India, and
residents rarely receive sufficient time to prove their case before bulldozers
arrive. 

 

Internet and technology

• On June 30, a court in southern India dismissed a lawsuit brought by Twitter
that challenged broad censorship orders issued by Indian authorities. Twitter
had filed the lawsuit in July 2022 after receiving orders from Indian officials
between February 2021 and February 2022 to remove more than 1,400 accounts on
the grounds that they undermined India’s “sovereignty and integrity.” In
dismissing the lawsuit, the judge noted that “many of [the accounts] have
outrageous content; many are treacherous & anti-national.”

• On 13-14 July, Nneena Nwakanma called on India to “stop shutting down the
internet anytime” at a G20 conference on “Crime and Security in the Age of
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Metaverse”, where
she was a panellist.

 

Environment

• On July 13, the central government reportedly cleared amendments to the Mines
and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, to allow commercial mining
of 6 critical minerals: lithium, beryllium, titanium, niobium, tantalum and
zirconium. Previously, private companies were not allowed to mine these
minerals. The amended law also allows pitting, trenching and sub-surface
excavation, which were previously prohibited. Earlier this year, India announced
it had discovered its first lithium deposits in the conflict region Jammu and
Kashmir.

• On July 26, the Parliament passed the controversial Forest Conversation
(Amendment) Bill. On July 13, more than 100 former civil servants had written to
all members of parliament in India expressing their concern with the Forest
Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023. They said they were worried both by the
contents of the Bill, which redefines a “forest”, and the process being followed
in passing it, as objections by stakeholders did not lead to amendments. The
Bill passed without discussion.

June 2023: Obama concerned about human rights, Muslim man beaten to death on his
birthday, 100+ dead in Manipur, families evicted by vigilantes, BJP leader burns
mosque


India in the World 

• From 11-12 June, European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta
Urpilainen, was in Varanasi, India, to participate in the G20 Development
Ministers meeting. She took part in the official session on ‘Multilateralism –
Collective Actions for Acceleration Progress towards SDGs’ and ‘Green
Development – a LiFE approach’.

• On June 13, at a Civil Society Dialogue with Sabine Weyand of DG TRADE, Weyand
noted that India is a “difficult” partner during the ongoing negotiations for a
Free Trade Agreement. Asked about human rights concerns, Weyand argued that
geopolitical imperatives require the conclusion of an agreement, including
compromises. 

• On June 16, at a Civil Society Dialogue on the human rights and sustainability
impact assessment of the EU-India trade agreement, civil society raised concerns
regarding repression of civic spaces and human rights issues. Additionally, the
preliminary assessment predicts an increase in production in sectors that cause
high water pollution and foresees an increase in CO2 emissions.

• From 19-23 June 2023, the EU and India met for their fifth round of
negotiations for trade and investment agreements in Delhi. Indian civil society
actors report that the minutes of civil society consultations by India are
confidential. In a joint statement, more than 130 Indian actors expressed
concern at the lack of transparency and non-inclusive consultation processes
adopted by India in its FTA negotiations. EU and Indian citizens called on them
to take human rights and democratic values seriously in a Twitter campaign under
the hashtag #SellGoodsNotValues. 

• A new The Guardian investigation shows that since 2021, senior Indian
officials have held at least four meetings to discuss India’s global democracy
rankings, which widely do not consider India a democracy. Meeting minutes
suggest that India’s Prime Minister Modi is concerned about the reputation of
India’s democracy abroad.

• According to a recent YouGov poll conducted prior to Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s state visit to the US, 4 out of 5 Indians are concerned regarding the
state of their democracy. The YouGov poll was commissioned by Friends of
Democracy, a new network of citizens devoted to protecting and promoting
democracy globally.

• On June 27, the United Nations Secretary-General published its report on
children and armed conflict, and for the first time since 2010 did not name
India as a country with recruitment of children by armed groups. The report said
India has been “removed from the report in 2023” in view of measures taken by
the government to “better protect children”. 

PM Modi’s visit to the United States

• On June 20, Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for a three-day state visit to
the United States. India and the US agreed to a cooperation roadmap for defense
industries, aiming to enhance collaboration in co-production, co-development,
and supply chain management, bolstering trade and investment relations,
technology sectors such as telecommunications, space, and manufacturing.

• On June 26, former President Barack Obama expressed concern in an interview
about human rights violations in India under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership.
He said that if a US president meets with Modi, “then protection of the Muslim
minority in a majority-Hindu India, that is something worth mentioning.” He also
said: “By the way, if I had a conversation with Prime Minister Modi, who I know
well, part of my argument would be that if you do not protect the rights of
ethnic minorities in India, then there is a strong possibility that India, at
some point, starts pulling apart.”

• The visit was met with widespread criticism from civil society and US
legislators. In a joint effort, U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal and U.S.
Senator Chris Van Hollen led a letter signed by over 70 congresspersons across
both chambers of Congress. The letter appeals to President Biden to prioritize
discussions on safeguarding human rights and upholding democratic values in
India. Bernie Sanders urged President Biden in a tweet to raise human rights
concerns.

• On June 20, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch organized a screening
of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question”, which is banned in India. The
documentary screening took place before Modi attended a state dinner and
addressed a joint session of Congress during his visit.

• On June 23, three Congresspersons and the USCIRF Commissioner held a briefing
on India, which addressed growing authoritarian rule and human rights abuses in
India.

• Several Congresspersons announced their decisions on Twitter to boycott Prime
Minister Modi’s address to Congress.

• A journalist with the Wall Street Journal has faced harassment online,
including from the ruling BJP’s communications head Amit Malviya, after she
posed a question on minority rights to Modi during a joint press conference in
the US. The White House spoke out in support of the journalist.

• Over a dozen Indian diaspora groups, community advocates and organizations
staged a National Teach-In on June 13, and hundreds attended a protest against
human rights violations in India outside the White House.

• For a more extensive list of civil society efforts around Modi’s US visit, see
this resource.

Communal Violence and Riots

• After more than a month of ongoing violence in Manipur, the death toll has
risen to over 100, and incidents of firings continue to occur in various regions
of the state. On May 4, violent clashes erupted between tribals and non-tribals
in multiple locations across the northeastern state of Manipur, and the
government imposed a blanket internet shutdown that continues to date. Prime
Minister Modi has not spoken on the violence, while expelled opposition leader
Rahul Gandhi on June 29 traveled to Manipur, but police stopped his convoy.

• On June 19, protests erupted in various cities due to a controversy
surrounding the movie “Adipurush”. It adapts a Hindu mythology, the Ramayana,
and criticism concerns the portrayal of certain characters from the mythological
epic.

• On June 25, Hindu supremacist groups in the state of Himachal Pradesh held a
rally in which they engaged in hate speech and incitement to violence. Examples
include “When Muslims get chopped, they will cry Ram Ram” (a Hindu God), and
demands for social boycott and expulsion from the state.

• On June 25, different religious communities held a rally in Maharashtra in
support of inter-faith harmony.

• On June 27, one person from a political party died in reported clashes between
political opponents from the BJP and the TMC in West Bengal. Since June 9, when
nominations for local polls began, 11 people have died due to political
violence.

Human Rights Defenders and Civil Society

• On June 5, Malini Parthasarathy, journalist and former chairperson of The
Hindu Group Publishing, announced her resignation via a tweet. She cited a
diminishing “space and scope” within the publication for her “editorial views”
as the reason for her departure.

• On June 13, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) suspended the foreign funding
license of CARE India due to alleged violations of the Foreign Contribution
(Regulation) Act, 2010. CARE India, a non-governmental organization and a member
of the CARE International Confederation, has been actively involved in combating
poverty and promoting social inclusion for the past 70 years.

• On June 14, the Ministry of Home Affairs revoked the Foreign Contribution
Regulation Act (FCRA) license of the Centre for Equity Studies, an organization
affiliated with Nobel Peace Prize nominee Harsh Mander, for a period of 180
days. The ministry cited as a reason that Harsh Mander and colleagues have
consistently contributed columns to prominent newspapers. Amnesty India stated
that this cancellation “is an alarming reminder of the wide, arbitrary, and
overly broad power FCRA provides the Indian government in restricting the
legitimate work of NGOs”.

• On 5 June, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention released an opinion
urging the Indian authorities to immediately release human rights defender
Khurram Parvez, who has been held in arbitrary detention since November 22,
2021.

• Renowned author Salman Rushdie has been awarded the German Peace Prize. The
jury highlighted Rushdie as a “passionate defender of freedom of thought and
expression”.

Hate Crimes and Attacks against Minorities

• After receiving eviction notices pasted on their homes and businesses,
approximately twelve Muslim families were forced to leave Purola, located in
Uttarakhand state in northern India. The threats were primarily issued by two
Hindu supremacist organizations, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and its youth
wing, the Bajrang Dal. Hindu supremacists ordered Muslims to leave town before
June 15. Hindu supremacist groups organized several rallies demanding the
expulsion of Muslims from the area. Additionally, some Muslim shops were
reportedly vandalized and signboards bearing Muslim names were removed, forcing
most Muslim-owned businesses in Purola to close down. At least three abandoned
homes of Muslims have now been put up for sale.

 

• The state of Uttarakhand responded to a petition filed by the Association for
Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) seeking to prevent a Hindu supremacist
gathering, and denied permission to the gathering. The gathering was planned for
June 15, in the context of the ongoing eviction notices towards Muslim families.
The gathering was called in response to an alleged incident on May 26, where two
individuals, among them one Muslim, were accused of attempting to abduct a
14-year-old Hindu girl. Minority groups and NGOs have expressed concerns that
the proposed gathering specifically targets individuals from a particular
community and could potentially escalate tensions, leading to a further decline
in peace within the state.

• On June 8, a Muslim man was lynched and another injured after they were
assaulted by a Hindu supremacist group in Maharashtra state. The police alleged
that the perpetrators were associated with the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal, and
arrested six persons in the case. 

• On June 14, a Dalit man was attacked by Hindu supremacists from an upper
caste, in an instance of caste-based violence. The Dalit man had tried to stop
the Hindu supremacists from felling a tree on his property. He reported that the
attackers tried to chop off his private parts, injuring them, and attacked his
pregnant wife.

• On June 14, a 28-year-old Muslim man was reportedly assaulted after being
accused of mobile phone theft in Uttar Pradesh. He was reportedly tied to a
tree, physically assaulted, had his head forcibly shaved, and was coerced into
chanting ‘Jai Shree Ram’ (hail Lord Ram). The police initially arrested the
victim, claiming to have found a knife in his possession, while taking no action
against the perpetrators despite video recordings of the incident. 

• On June 17, an estimated 500 Hindu supremacists tortured and publicly
humiliated two Muslim men in Orissa state, binding them with ropes, stripping
them, parading them through piles of garbage, shaving their beards, and filming
the torture over suspicions of them carrying cattle meat.

• On June 24, a Muslim man was reportedly beaten to death on his birthday, and
another severely injured by Hindu supremacists in Maharashtra state. They were
traveling in a car and were accused of transporting beef. While police arrested
11 accused, they also charged the two Muslim men under the cow protection law.

• At a briefing on June 26 for European Parliament representatives, former ICC
Prosecutor Dr Fatou Bensouda, former United States Ambassador-at-Large for War
Crimes Issues Stephen Rapp, human rights defender Cedric Prakash, and President
of the PUCL Kavita Srivastava warned that there is credible evidence of crimes
under international law committed against religious minorities in India. As
Prime Minister Modi is expected to visit Europe next month, they called for
immediate action at the highest level.

• On June 27, Hindu supremacists with the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad
(VHP) tore down the wall of an under-construction church near Kanpur and wrote
“Jai Shri Ram” (Hail Lord Ram) on the walls. Police filed a case but has not
made arrests despite CCTV footage.

• On June 28, a Muslim truck driver was beaten to death by Hindu supremacists,
who accused him of transporting beef.

• On June 29, during the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, a mob of an estimated 200
people reportedly attacked a Muslim family in Mumbai that was transporting a
goat in accordance with the traditions of the holiday.

Action by State Actors

• On June 20, four people, including a lawmaker from the ruling BJP, allegedly
set on fire a mosque in Alwar, Rajasthan. They were later arrested.

• On June 23, after former US President Barack Obama expressed concern about
religious minorities in India, the Chief Minister of Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma
posted on Twitter that “there are many Hussain Obama [sic.] in India itself. We
should prioritize taking care of them.”

• On June 24, Indian military personnel reportedly entered a mosque in Kashmir
during prayers and forced Muslims to chant “Jai Shri Ram” (Hail Lord Ram), a
Hindu religious slogan that has been turned into a warcry by Hindu supremacists.

• On June 25, BJP leader and a former deputy chief minister of Karnataka state
at a party gathering called for mosques to be demolished to make way for the
construction of temples.

• On June 27, the Hindu supremacist Chief Minister of India’s most populous
state, Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, claimed that an “international syndicate”
is operating in India to illegally convert people to other religions.

• On June 27, the Karnataka police filed a case against the head of the ruling
party BJP’s communications (IT cell) head, Amit Malviya, over a video reportedly
spreading disinformation on opposition leader Rahul Gandhi. Malviya is accused
of “conspiring to create enmity among voters”.

Religious freedoms

• According to a new research paper, the degree of segregation experienced by
Muslim and Scheduled Caste communities in Indian cities is comparable to the
segregation issues faced by Black and White racialized populations in the United
States.

• On June 9, a Muslim family alleged that railway staff subjected them to
Islamophobic treatment during a train journey. Two railway staff members
reportedly inquired about her religion. Once the family confirmed being Muslim,
the woman alleged her family was served unsanitary food. The personnel
reportedly admitted the food was retrieved from the garbage.

• On June 10, Hapur police arrested a man for allegedly offering namaz (Muslim
prayer) on the premises of a Hindu temple. Members of Bajrang Dal alleged that
the incident was a “conspiracy to disturb the communal harmony in the region”.
Despite no evidence of the man offering namaz, the police arrested him based on
footage of where he is seen entering and leaving the temple.

• While on an official state visit in the US, Prime Minister Modi during a joint
press conference denied religious discrimination in India, and referred to
constitutional safeguards for religious and ethnic minorities.

• On June 26, a video circulated of Hindu students chanting “Jai Shri Ram” (Hail
Lord Ram) at Muslim students praying in a coaching institute. Fact-checkers
established that it is recent.

• On June 27, a Catholic school in a central Indian state was reportedly forced
to hold online classes after police claimed ownership of the approach road and
blocked it overnight and prevented entry of students.

• On June 26, the Hindu supremacist Vishwa Hindu Parishad issued a warning to
hotels in the city of Ahmedabad, warning them of consequences if they gave rooms
to interfaith couples.

• On June 28, the administration in the Muslim-majority region of Jammu and
Kashmir prohibited prayers from taking place in the largest mosque, Jama Masjid,
on the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha. Police in the state of Uttarakhand told local
Muslims to celebrate the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha in another town, 40km away.


Executive

• On June 15, fourteen individuals were arrested in a town on the
Indo-Bangladesh border, for attempting to cross the border to India. Among them
were four Rohingya refugees, including two infants. A report by the Border
Security Force (BSF) revealed that at least 59 Rohingyas were arrested in
Tripura in 2022 alone. Additionally, India regularly engages in illegal
pushbacks of Rohingya refugees.

• On June 15, Karnataka’s Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister announced that
the new Congress government will repeal amendments to the Karnataka Right to
Freedom of Religion Bill, 2021 introduced by the previous BJP government. The
bill prohibits the act of converting from one religion to another through
misrepresentation, force, fraud, allurement, or marriage. The Minister also took
decisions on changes made by the BJP in school textbooks, and said it would
remove lessons on the founder of the Hindu supremacist RSS and Hindu supremacist
ideologue Savarkar.

• In the week of June 19, the Election Commission proposed a change to the
election constituencies in the state of Assam. Some Muslims in the region fear
that the proposed change will divide voters on religious lines and that sitting
legislators will lose their seats. Protests erupted and several protestors were
detained.

Judiciary

• On June 10, a Delhi Court acquitted a Muslim man of rioting in the 2020 Delhi
Riots, targeted religious violence which killed at least 53. The court noted
that the police had “falsely” cited the complainant as a witness, and questioned
the failure to stop the riots by the police. 

Media and Technology

• During a statement on June 9, Minister of State for Electronics and
Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, emphasized that while Artificial
Intelligence (AI) is disruptive, it is unlikely to pose an immediate threat to
the job sector. Chandrasekhar further mentioned that India intends to regulate
AI by focusing on potential harm to users. He stated that the government plans
to introduce regulations for online gaming, which will be based on three core
principles: preventing harm, addressing addiction, and tackling betting
practices, all with the aim of safeguarding digital citizens.

• On June 9, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held discussions with Sam Altman, the
CEO of OpenAI, the company creating ChatGPT. The conversation covered a range of
topics related to AI, including the importance of global regulation in this
field.

• During an interview on June 12, Jack Dorsey, co-founder and former CEO of
Twitter, alleged that the Indian government had issued threats of shutting down
the platform in the country because Twitter did not comply with its orders to
take down content. Dorsey claimed that Twitter received numerous requests from
the Indian government to block accounts related to farmers’ protests and posts
critical of the government. He further stated that the Indian government had
threatened Twitter with threats of raids at its employees’ homes in the country.

• On June 12, reports emerged that a bot on the messaging platform Telegram was
allegedly leaking sensitive information about politicians, bureaucrats, and
other individuals from the CoWIN portal, India’s Covid-19 vaccination tracking
platform. A special unit of the Delhi Police arrested a man for allegedly
leaking the data.

• On June 14, an Indian court ordered a temporary halt to broadcasting the
AlJazeera documentary “India… Who Lit the Fuse?” investigating hate crimes by
Hindu supremacist groups against Muslims. The court stated that broadcasting the
movie could lead to “evil consequences”.

• On June 14, Human Rights Watch published a report that revealed that internet
shutdowns in India have a disproportionate impact on poor communities who rely
on the government’s social protection measures for sustenance and livelihood.
Since 2018, India has imposed the most internet shutdowns worldwide. A mid-year
report by AccessNow finds that India has imposed a total of 33 internet
shutdowns already in 2023. Although many of these shutdowns continue to be
implemented at a local or even neighborhood level in response to religious
anniversaries, protests, and communal violence, authorities have also imposed
sweeping state-wide shutdowns and extended shutdowns across the entire country.

• On June 21, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX CEO,
in New York. Musk expressed his admiration for PM Modi, referring to himself as
a “fan”.

May 2023: Shoot-on-sight orders in Manipur, Islamophobic movie leads to
violence, 161 in press freedom ranking, mass weapons trainings, 1600 homes
demolished


India in the World

• A new investigation shows that the Modi government reportedly widely
distributed fortified rice before fully understanding its impact on human
health. This reportedly provided a Dutch company with significant profits.
Despite concerns raised by the finance ministry dismissing the project as
“premature”, the government proceeded with its plan.

• According to government and industry sources, India intends to submit a formal
complaint to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) concerning the European Union’s
proposal to impose tariffs ranging from 20% to 35% on imports of high-carbon
goods, such as steel, iron ore, and cement from India. With this, New Delhi aims
to combat the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

• On May 15, Fernand de Varennes, the UN’s special rapporteur on minority
issues, issued a statement saying the G20 was “unwittingly providing a veneer of
support to a facade of normalcy” whilst human rights violations are ongoing in
Kashmir. China and Saudi Arabia boycotted a G20 meeting held in Kashmir. Civil
society actors also called for a boycott, citing human rights concerns.

• On May 16, the European Union’s foreign and security policy chief, Josep
Borrell, called on the EU to crack down on India for reselling fuels produced
with Russian oil.

• From May 19-21, Prime Minister Modi attended the G7 Summit in Japan to
reportedly represent “the voice of the global south”. Important agenda points
included the impacts of Russia’s war on Ukraine, but India chose not to
explicitly condemn the invasion.

• On May 22, a 19-year-old Indian-origin man crashed a truck into security
barriers near the White House in the United States. The driver told the
authorities he would kill the president and expressed personal admiration for
Hitler. He was detained and convicted afterward.

• On May 24, human rights groups, including Amnesty International, organised a
screening of the BBC documentary, ‘India: The Modi Question’ at the Australian
Parliament House in Canberra during PM Modi’s Australia visit. The documentary,
which was released in January this year, examines responsibility for riots in
Gujarat, India in 2002, in which at least 1044 people died, and reports partial
responsibility of India’s current Prime Minister Modi.

• On May 25, the European Commission’s Climate Policy Chief, Frans Timmermans,
began his two-day visit to India. Frans Timmermans engaged in discussions with
government officials, stakeholders, and civil society regarding the upcoming
COP28 UN Climate Change conference.

• On May 25, EU Special Representative Eamon Gilmore met with HRD Avinash Kumar
to discuss mounting human rights challenges in India, including the situation of
minorities.

• Global labor unions condemned the Indian government’s decision to disrupt the
participation of independent unions at the G20. The Indian government has
insisted on the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), affiliated with Prime Minister
Modi’s ruling party and known for its Hindu nationalist stance, chairing the
Labour 20 working group.

• The United States urged India to condemn religious violence one month ahead of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit. The US has expressed concerns about
incidents of violence against religious minorities in India.

• India is shifting its focus from being a major arms importer, to becoming a
defense manufacturing hub and export leader. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has
announced plans for India to become the world’s largest defense manufacturing
base. The government aims to increase defense exports by $5 billion over the
next two years. India’s defense exports have reached a record high of
approximately $1.95 billion for the fiscal year 2021-2022, marking an increase
of more than 10 times in six years and sales to over 70 countries.

• For the second time, the re-accreditation of the National Human Rights
Commission (NHRC) of India has been postponed by a UN-affiliated agency for a
year. The re-accreditation process occurs once every five years. Without this
accreditation, the NHRC will be unable to represent India at the United Nations
Human Rights Council.

Communal Violence and Riots

Violent clashes on May 4 erupted between tribals and non-tribals in multiple
locations across the northeastern state of Manipur:

• These clashes come after a longstanding ethnic conflict between the Meitei
(mostly Hindu) and the Kuki (mostly Christian) over special protections under
the constitution. There have also been concerns about a rise of Meitei
nationalism, and an increase in militant groups, coinciding with the BJP
assuming power in Manipur in 2017. The Manipur High Court on 20 April directed
the Manipur government to consider the request of the Meitei community to
include them in the Scheduled Tribe category.

• In response, the state government imposed a curfew, shut down internet
services, and issued “shoot-on-sight” orders on May 4 to enforce the curfew. The
Indian Army deployed an estimated 10,000 troops and paramilitary forces.

• It is reported that more than 80 people have been killed and at least 35 000
have been displaced (according to the Chief Minister) in this violence. At least
250 churches have been reportedly burned. Within the first four days, at least
1700 homes were destroyed.

• The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a
statement that the violence in Manipur “revealed the underlying tensions between
different ethnic and indigenous groups”. He urged the authorities to “respond to
the situation quickly, including by investigating and addressing root causes of
the violence in line with their international human rights obligations”.

On May 5, the controversial movie “The Kerala Story” was released in theatres:

• The film allegedly depicts the conversion of women from Kerala to Islam and
their recruitment by the Islamic State. Initially, the filmmakers asserted that
32,000 women from Kerala had been converted to join the Islamic State. However,
when pressed for evidence, they modified the trailer, now stating that the movie
is a “compilation of the true stories of three young girls”.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi argued that the film revealed a “terror
conspiracy” and shed light on the “ugly truth of terrorism”.

• Movie screenings of “The Kerala Story” have been used by the Hindu supremacist
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to recruit people, such as in this video which
records VHP getting the audience to make an oath to take action.

• On May 8, the West Bengal government banned the screening of the movie. On May
18, the Supreme Court issued a stay order on the West Bengal government’s ban,
after the Kerala government approached the Supreme Court challenging the ban.
Two state governments, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, have made the film
tax-free.

• On May 13, a heated argument on social media regarding the film escalated into
violent clashes in Akola, Maharashtra. One group threw stones and caused damage
to properties and vehicles. The violence resulted in the death of a 40-year-old
man and left eight others severely injured. The local police responded by
arresting around 147 individuals, implementing curfews, and suspending Internet
services.

Human Rights Defenders and Civil Society

• In May, a new report published by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
documented that India, Brazil, and Mexico had the highest number of attacks
against human rights defenders. Next to the United Arab Emirates, India also had
the highest number of attacks related to companies, such as JSW Steel, a
prominent Indian steel and coal manufacturer.

• On May 3, independent journalist Sakshi Joshi was assaulted by police.
According to Joshi, she was trying to capture footage of the police deployment
at a protest organized by women wrestlers against alleged sexual harassment.
Joshi was detained for approximately an hour and released without any charges.

• On May 3, India dropped to rank 161/180 in the Press Freedom Index published
by Reporters without Borders (RIF). Between 2010-2020, 154 journalists were
arrested, detained, interrogated, or harassed for their work in India.

• On May 6, 75-year-old human rights activist and lawyer, Mohammad Shoaib,
renowned for taking up the cases of individuals falsely accused of terrorism,
has allegedly been arrested by the anti-terror squad of Uttar Pradesh police.

• Teesta Setalvad, journalist and HRD, was awarded the PEN international ‘Empty
Chair’ award at the 55th International Writers for Peace Committee Meeting in
Bled, Slovenia.

• On May 12, sixteen human rights organizations issued a joint appeal to the
Indian authorities, urging them to immediately cease the retaliatory actions
taken against human rights defenders and organizations in Jammu and Kashmir,
particularly targeting individuals such as Khurram Parvez, Irfan Mehraj, and the
Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS). Khurram Parvez has been
subjected to arbitrary detention since 22nd November 2021 as a punitive measure
for his dedicated human rights activities, which involve documenting and
advocating for the rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

• After the BBC documentary ban and the office raid, the BBC has now been
summoned by the court in a defamation case on 22 May.

 Hate Crimes against Minorities

• On May 4, a 24-year-old Dalit groom and others were allegedly physically
assaulted during a wedding procession. A group of 20-25 reportedly upper caste
individuals, reportedly attacked the groom armed with sticks and iron rods.  The
groom’s mother-in-law reported that Dalit women who intervened were molested.

• On May 17, a Delhi-based cow vigilante group reportedly stormed a
slaughterhouse and assaulted two Muslim men. Cow vigilante groups have been
accused of increasingly cracking down on cow slaughter through violence, often
resulting in assaults and lynchings of Muslims. Several similar incidents took
place across May.

• On May 19, a man from Rajasthan was allegedly beaten to death by his wife’s
family due to their interfaith marriage. Three members of the wife’s family have
been arrested and sent to judicial custody.

• On May 25, a Muslim man was reportedly beaten by a mob in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar
Pradesh, who stopped him on the pretext of asking for directions. Locals claim
he was targeted because of his faith.

• During May, there were three separate instances of events where speakers
delivered anti-muslim speeches in Maharashtra alone. One of these events was
attended by Shrikant Shinde, a Member of Parliament from the Shiv Sena party and
the son of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. During two of the rallies, it was noted
that at least one speaker made references to weapons.

• Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in Uttarakhand, Yashpal Benam, has decided
to stop his Hindu daughter’s marriage to a Muslim man due to “current
circumstances”. Following the circulation of the wedding invitation online,
groups associated with the Hindu supremacist Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the
Bajrang Dal organized a protest against the inter-faith marriage.

• During May, several Hindu supremacist groups reportedly organised weapons
training, such as the Durga for minor girls in Madhya Pradesh.

• The Rashtriya Bajrang Dal, a group led by Hindu supremacist Pravin Tagodia,
reportedly organised a training camp for youth in Ahmedabad, in which firearms
training was held. In several places, the Hindu supremacist Bajrang Dal (“God
Hanuman’s army”) reportedly held camps in which they also practiced using
firearms. This came after the Bajrang Dal and other Hindu supremacist groups are
increasingly holding street marches with weapons.

• On television, recorded in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh, Bajrang Muni called on
Hindus to pick up weapons. Bajrang Muni is a Hindu religious leader who is known
for having threatened to rape Muslim girls in retaliation for harassment of
Hindu girls. Similarly, television personality Suresh Chavhanke, whose hate
speech is extensively documented in this report by The London Story, again
called for Hindus to keep swords ready. Similar incidents took place across May.

• The province president of the Hindu supremacist Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Kapil
Khanna, threatened that Rohingya refugees will not be allowed to live in Delhi.
India continues to deport Rohingya to Myanmar. Amit Shah has a consistently
hostile approach to refugees, as is visible when he referred to Rohingya as
being “termites” in 2019.

• In Nawagarh, Chattisgarh, Hindu supremacist groups reportedly organized a mass
rally against the opening of a church in the village.

• Hindu supremacist leader Sadhvi Prachi engaged in hate speech against Muslims
at a movie screening of the Kerala Story, and was subsequently charged with
“delivering provocative speech”.

Demolitions and Evictions

• At least 1,600 homes have been forcibly demolished in India’s capital over
three months, which has left approximately 260,000 people homeless. Demolition
squads frequently served notices as they carried out the four destructions.
Additionally, Delhi demolished homeless shelters. This is in the context of a
“beautification” plan for Delhi, as it prepares for G20 summit meetings
scheduled on 9 and 10 September. These incidents follow a surge in demolitions
that violate due process across India, colloquially called “bulldozer raj”,
including in Kashmir, Delhi, and across the country. In June 2022, three United
Nations Special Rapporteurs condemned the demolitions across India, which they
allege deliberately target Muslims through “collective punishment”.

Executive

• On May 3, an order from the Manipur Human Rights Commission (MHRC) revealed
that Myanmar refugees had been detained in Manipur’s state jails for longer than
the prescribed detention period. The MHRC has instructed their release and urged
the state government to address the issue with the Union Home Minister for their
immediate deportation to Myanmar.

• On May 10, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party, the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP), lost the elections in the state of Karnataka, a key stronghold for
the BJP. The defeat is seen as a significant setback for Modi and raises
questions about his ability to secure a third term as prime minister in the
upcoming national elections in 2024.

• On May 15, police raided a house where Christian community members were
holding a prayer in Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh. Latest reports suggest police have
confiscated their religious books and launched an investigation into allegations
of religious conversions.

• On May 16, the Chief Minister of Assam announced that 300 more madrassas
(Muslim religious schools) will be closed, which may be in violation of the
freedom of religion enshrined in India’s constitution.

• On May 20, the Central Government issued an ordinance to strip Delhi’s power
to control bureaucracy. This violates a ruling from the Supreme Court given on
May 11. The constitution bench determined that the legislature has authority
over bureaucrats in the administration of services, except in areas that fall
outside the legislative powers of the National Capital Territory (NCT). The
three areas outside the control of the Delhi government are public order,
police, and land.

• On May 23, the Academic Council (AC) of Delhi University approved several
modifications to the syllabi, one of which involved the removal of a Muslim poet
from the BA political science syllabus. This revisionism comes against a larger
trend. In 2022, the National Council of Educational Research and Training
(NCERT) of India conducted a textbook “rationalisation” exercise. In this, it
reportedly deleted several passages and even entire chapters that concern
controversial historical events, and education on democracy. For instance, the
entire chapter “Key Elements of a Democratic Government” was omitted in one
textbook. India also cut out periodic tables and evolutionary theories from
textbooks last month. Both will not be taught anymore to under 16-year-olds.

• On May 25, Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the new Parliament building in
Delhi amidst major criticism. Earlier this week, 20 opposition parties decided
to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building, demanding that
President Draupadi Murmu, rather than PM Modi, conduct the ceremony.

• On May 28, several prominent female wrestlers and supporters were violently
detained by the police. This incident unfolded as a culmination of the ongoing
protests against the president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), Brij
Bhushan Sharan Singh, whom they accuse of sexual harassment. It was reported
that officers “forcefully dragged and detained” the protesters.

• An article published on May 29 shows that according to the All India Survey on
Higher Education (AISHE) 2020-21 carried out by the Ministry of Education, while
the enrolment rates of Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other
Backward Classes (OBCs) in higher education witnessed improvements, there was a
decline by 8% in the enrolment of the Muslim community. This is reported to be
partially influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the economic
challenges faced by the community, because many students are compelled to seek
employment after completing school rather than pursuing higher education.

Judiciary

• On May 24, a Delhi court sentenced Kashmiri separatist leader and the chief of
the banned Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), Yasin Malik, to life
imprisonment in a case related to terror funding. The National Investigative
Agency (NIA) had previously sought the death penalty for Malik after he pleaded
guilty to charges connected to terror funding, spreading terrorism, and engaging
in secessionist activities in Kashmir back in 2017.

Media and Technology

• On the recommendation of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Indian government
has to blocked 14 mobile applications, including the secure messaging app
Threema. Central intelligence agencies claimed they were being used by
terrorists and their supporters in Jammu and Kashmir.

April 2023: India buys new spyware, indigenous peoples aerial bombed,
12-year-old stripped naked, Muslim man beaten to death, and churches demolished


India in the World

• On April 4, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)’s General
Secretariat expressed profound concern over the incidents of violence and
destruction perpetrated against the Muslim community in multiple Indian states
during the Ram Navami processions.

• On April 6, the Indian government condemned the recent vandalism of a Hindu
temple in Canada‘s Ontario province with “anti-Hindu and anti-India graffiti”
and has called for action against the perpetrators. Local authorities launched
an investigation into the matter and described the vandalism as a
“hate-motivated incident”.

• On April 12, a coalition of 10 NGOs published a joint statement on human
rights concerns in the EU-India Free Trade Agreement, urging the EU and India to
put strong commitments on TSD and all human rights at the core of their
negotiations.

• On April 17, Russia announced they are negotiating a Free Trade Agreement
(FTA) with India to strengthen economic ties between the two countries and
expand trade relations. Despite Western attempts to impose sanctions on Moscow
and exclude Russia from global supply chains, trade between Russia and India has
increased significantly since the invasion.

• On April 23 to 24, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen
visited New Delhi where she met the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, and PM
Narendra Modi. On April 24, Von der Leyen and Modi announced the recently
launched joint Trade and Technology Council and reaffirmed commitment to
negotiations for an EU-India Free Trade Agreement, an Investment Protection
Agreement, and an Agreement on Geographical Indications.

Communal Violence and Riots 

Human Rights Watch has said India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was
using Hindu festivals “to rally voters, leading to an increase in violence”.
Clashes and riots include:

• A recent communal clash on April 8 between Hindu and Muslim communities in
Chhattisgarh left several people dead and injured. In response, a statewide
shutdown was initiated by right-wing groups, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad
(VHP) and Bajrang Dal. Residents from Biranpur village have reported that
tensions had been developing since January. This was allegedly due to a meeting
held by members of the Sahu community, which urged Hindus to cut connections
with the Muslim community and prevent interfaith marriages.

• On April 9, communal violence broke out in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, between
members of Hindu and Muslim communities over the alleged desecration of a Hindu
religious Ram Navami flag. As per the police, there was tension in the region
since April 8 after a piece of meat was found wrapped in the flag. The incident
led to the imposition of an internet shutdown and a prohibition of gathering
more than four people in a public place. Muslim leaders have alleged that
members of Hindu supremacist organizations and the Jharkhand police targeted
Muslims and their properties during the outbreak.

• According to an officer, the Delhi Police denied permission to the Vishwa
Hindu Parishad (VHP) and other Hindu supremacist organizations to carry out a
“Hanuman Jayanti” (birthday of God Hanuman) procession in Jahangirpuri on April
6. During the processions last year, communal violence broke out that left nine
people injured.

Human Rights Defenders and Civil Society

• On April 6, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recommended a Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) investigation into Oxfam India for alleged violations of the
Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), which led to a raid of Oxfam’s
office in Delhi on April 19. The ministry alleged that Oxfam India continued to
transfer foreign contributions to different entities in violation of the FCRA.
Oxfam India is the second NGO to be recommended for a CBI inquiry for FCRA
violations by the Home Ministry in a month, with the first being Aman Biradari,
an NGO founded by human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Harsh
Mander.

• The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a case against
environmental lawyer Ritwick Dutta and his non-profit organization, Legal
Initiative for Forest and Environment (LIFE), for allegedly violating the
Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA). The CBI has claimed that LIFE was
receiving foreign funds from non-profits based in the US with the intention of
“targeting and stalling” coal projects in India.

• On April 19, the Supreme Court of India overturned the Bombay High Court’s
order acquitting former Delhi University professor G.N. Saibaba. In 2014,
Saibaba was arrested for his alleged involvement in terrorism, which the initial
acquittal order concluded was “bad in law and invalid”. Saibaba is
wheelchair-bound and considered 90% disabled.

Hate Crimes against Minorities and Extrajudicial Killings

• On April 4, a delegation of Muslim leaders met with Union Home Minister Amit
Shah to raise concerns about “violence committed against Indian Muslims” in the
country, inter alia, during the Ram Navami processions. They requested Shah to
“take stern action” against the culprits. Jamiat spokesperson Niaz Ahmad
Farooqui said that Shah was “very positive” and that “he will take action on the
matter”.

• On April 7, Adivasi people in the Bijapur district of Bastar, in the Indian
state of Chhattisgarh, were targeted by an aerial bomb attack. The bomb attack
was carried out using drones. Immediately following the bombing, the government
forces deployed three helicopters to discharge heavy machine gun fire on
villagers. The attack on 7 April 2023 is the 4th such aerial attack in the past
three years. Adivasis are indigenous people, who live in areas of India where
mining for precious minerals takes place. The attacks are part of the ongoing
Operation SAMADHAN-Prahar, a military policy against indigenous people who
resist mining and environmental destruction.

• An online video has emerged allegedly depicting a 12-year-old boy from a
minority community in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, being forced to chant religious
slogans after being stripped. As a result, Indore police have filed a First
Information Report against three minors who are accused of the act. The incident
took place on April 12.

• A group of men in Barmer, Rajasthan beat a Dalit man to death with sticks,
reportedly due to an old dispute over a piece of land.

• A Hindu supremacist mob tied a 20-year-old Muslim man to an electric pole and
beat him to death over allegations of theft in a village near Ranchi, Jharkhand.
Three men were arrested and the police reportedly have filed two First
Information Reports; one for the man’s murder and another for attempted theft.

• A leader of the BJP youth wing, Shubhankar Dwivedi, has been charged by the
Raipur police for allegedly posting hateful content on his social media page
regarding communal violence in Biranpur village. He allegedly posted a video of
a burning house with the caption ‘Relaxing anger in the heart of Bemetara’. The
situation in the village has been tense since leaders of the Hindu supremacist
Hindu Samaj called for a social boycott of Muslims who engage in interfaith
marriages.

• Rajasthan police have arrested two of the eight suspects in the murder case of
Junaid and Nasir. On February 14, the two Muslim men were allegedly kidnapped
and burnt alive in Haryana by members of the Hindu supremacist Bajrang Dal on
the pretext of cow slaughter. A First Information Report has been registered
against the accused.

• On April 12, four members of the Hindu supremacist group All India Hindu
Mahasabha were arrested for filing a fake complaint against four Muslims for
slaughtering a cow. Based on their complaint filed in Agra during Ram Navami
festivities, a First Information Report was registered but the police
investigation revealed the innocence of the four men. Rishi Trivedi, the state
unit president of All India Hindu Mahasabha, claimed that implicating his group
members is “[…] part of a conspiracy”.

• On April 15, two brothers, who are gangsters and former politicians, were shot
dead on live TV while in police custody in the state of Uttar Pradesh. One of
the three shooters shouted “Jai Shri Ram” (“Hail Lord Ram”) as he surrendered to
police, a slogan that has become a war cry for Hindu supremacists. Uttar Pradesh
has witnessed a disproportionate amount of extrajudicial killings since the
ruling BJP came to power. Specialist international criminal lawyers have filed a
formal submission for Magnitsky sanctions against the Chief Minister, Yogi
Adityanath, for his alleged role in extrajudicial killings.

• On April 22, the Uttar Pradesh Police booked more than 1,700 Muslims for
offering “namaz” on the roads outside mosques in Kanpur on the occasion of Eid
Al Fitr.

• During an interview held by the president of the US think tank Peterson
Institute for International Economics (PIIE) in the US, India’s Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman claimed that widespread violence against Muslims is not
taking place in India.

Demolitions and Evictions

• Three churches in Manipur, India, have been demolished by the administration
for alleged illegal construction on government land.

• A Muslim man consumed poison along with his two children after administration
officials informed him that his house would be demolished because it was
allegedly built on government land. The man and one of his children died. The
executive has been bulldozing houses without due process over the year.

• On April 7, the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami, announced
in a video shared on Twitter that all illegal mazars (Islamic shrines) in the
state will be demolished. “[…] No one should even think about encroaching on
land here, let alone doing it […] We will not allow ‘land jihad’ because we
trust in the law”, Dhami says in his speech.

• On April 9, a mob of about 15-20 men vandalized a mosque in Sonipat and
attacked people offering prayers. At least nine people were injured and the
police reportedly registered First Information Reports against 19 people.

• A school in Dehradun, India, was vandalized by protesters after Muslim
students performed a play to celebrate Eid. Previously, parents and local
organizations lodged a complaint with the Dehradun district administration,
alleging that their children were forced to participate in Eid festivities and
learn Urdu.

Executive

• On April 3, five alleged Maoists were killed in Jharkhand during a joint
operation by the state police and the Central Reserve Police Force.

• In April, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
began implementing a school textbook “rationalisation” exercise, in which it
reportedly deleted several passages and entire chapters. For instance, the
entire chapter “Key Elements of a Democratic Government” was omitted in one
textbook. Additional changes include the removal of references to the 2002
Gujarat riots, as well as of key passages about Muslim rule during the Mughal
empire. Critics argue that erasing Muslim contributions from Indian history is a
dangerous move.

• The Congress party accused the Modi government of targeting Nobel Laureate
Amartya Sen following an eviction notice from Visva Bharati University, which
demands that he vacate 13 decimals of land on the campus that is allegedly
“illegally occupied”. The eviction order is, however, not a demolition order.

• On April 24, the Tamil Nadu government put on hold the Factories Amendment
Bill 2020 which was passed on April 21 after facing opposition from trade
unions. The bill includes provisions for extending the daily working hours of
factory workers from 8 to 12 hours in the event that they choose to work a
four-day week.

• India’s Ministry of Environment has stopped providing public access to
information on projects affecting the environment, citing confidentiality and
sensitivity. This move comes after the Ministry decided last September to only
disclose information when sought under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

Judiciary

• On April 3, a court in Surat granted bail to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and
suspended his sentence until the outcome of his appeal seeking a stay on his
conviction in a defamation case related to his 2019 Modi surname remark. Gandhi
was granted bail with a surety of Rs 15,000, and his request for a suspension of
conviction will be heard by the court on April 13. The same court, however, has
declined to stay the conviction, and Gandhi remains suspended as an MP.

• On April 11, the Supreme Court dismissed the objections of the Tamil Nadu
government and upheld a ruling by the Madras High Court permitting the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu supremacist organization associated with the
BJP, to conduct route marches in the state. On March 3, the Tamil Nadu
government told the Supreme Court that certain restrictions shall be imposed on
the ability of the RSS to hold marches in the state due to violent outbreaks.

• On April 13, a court in India acquitted all 13 police officers accused in the
2007 gang-rape case of 11 tribal women in Andhra Pradesh.

• On April 20, all the 67 accused in the “Naroda Gam” case, including BJP leader
Maya Kodnani and Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi, were acquitted by the Gujarat
High Court. On February 28, 2002, 11 Muslims were burnt to death in Naroda Gam
during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

• On April 21, the Supreme Court of India granted bail to eight men convicted in
the 2002 Godhra train burning case in which 59 people were burnt to death by a
mob. Four other convicts were denied bail in view of their involvement in the
case and the evidence found against them. Civil society actors express concern
about the increasing trend of acquitting many of the accused in the 2002 Gujarat
riots cases.

• On April 23, controversial self-styled preacher Amritpal Singh was arrested in
Punjab under the National Security Act (NSA) after having been on the run for
over a month. On February 23, armed supporters of Amritpal Singh stormed a
police station in Punjab. Singh supports the Khalistan movement seeking to
create a separate Sikh homeland.

• The Rajasthan High Court has ordered a stay on the arrest of yoga guru and
businessman Baba Ramdev in connection with a case of hurting religious
sentiments. On February 2, Ramdev made controversial remarks during a public
gathering in which he accused Muslims of “resorting to terror” and “abducting
Hindu women”. He furthermore alleged that both Christianity and Islam had no
intent other than converting people.

Media and Technology

• Twitter has been accused of censorship in India after blocking more than 120
accounts in recent weeks, including those of activists, journalists, and
politicians. The move came after the Indian Government introduced an internet
shutdown in Punjab during the search for Sikh separatist leader Amritpal Singh,
after which the government allegedly sent notices to Twitter requesting the
removal of certain people from its platform. Twitter’s action drew criticism
from free speech advocates who accused the platform of giving in to government
pressure and cracking down on dissent.

• On April 8, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal criticized the Indian
government’s recent amendments to the Information Technology rules, which allows
the Ministry to appoint a fact-checking unit to determine whether online
information related to the Central Government is accurate. All platforms are
required to take down any news that has been flagged as “fake” by the Press
Information Bureau’s appointed fact-checking unit. The unit has frequently faced
criticism, and civil society expressed concerns about press freedom.

• The Indian government is reportedly in the process of procuring a new spyware
system to replace the controversial Pegasus software and has allocated a budget
of up to $120 million for the new contracts. The move comes in the wake of the
Pegasus scandal, which had raised concerns about privacy violations and
government surveillance.

March 2023: India’s opposition leader arrested, anti-Modi posters a crime,
journalist arrested under anti-terror law, and daily attacks on minorities


India in the World

• On March 2, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said that no joint
communique was issued after the G20 Foreign ministers meeting in Delhi due to
irreconcilable differences on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

• The 2023 report released on March 3 by the Swedish Varieties of Democracy
(V-Dem) Institute placed India among the “worst autocratizers” in the last 10
years.

• From March 1-4, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign
Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep
Borrell, visited New Delhi to attend the G20 Ministerial Meeting and the Raisina
Forum. During his visit, Borrell had bilateral meetings with his counterparts
from different countries to discuss regional and bilateral issues. Human rights
organizations criticized his silence on human rights topics.

• On March 10, PM Modi expressed concern over several incidents of Hindu temple
vandalism during a bilateral meeting with Australian PM Anthony Albanese. Modi
reportedly did not bring up violence within the diaspora more generally. For
example, in 2020, a member of the Indian diaspora was deported from Australia
for a hate crime he committed against people of the Sikh faith.

• On March 17, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee chief Harjinder Singh
Dhami raised the issue of human rights violations in India in front of different
G20 delegates.

• On March 20, the US State Department released a report listing “significant
human rights issues” occurring in India throughout 2022, including the targeting
of religious minorities, dissenters, and journalists.

• On March 23, the Chair of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations
with India, Morten Løkkegaard, welcomed Members from the Parliament of India for
the 14th EU-India Inter-parliamentary Meeting (IPM). The agenda covered the G20
Presidency of India, trade, investment, green transition, and digital
transformation.

• The 4th round of negotiations for the EU-India Free Trade Agreement took
place. Insights from DG Trade and the chief negotiator Christophe Kiener suggest
significant divergences across the board, including on labor, environmental, and
human rights protections. These suggest that the concerns will not be able to
conclude the agreement by the ambitious deadline before 2024.

• On March 29-30, the second Summit for Democracy was jointly hosted by the
United States, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, and the
Republic of Zambia. During the Summit, a declaration was drafted that reaffirms
the leaders’ “commitments or obligations to respect, protect, and fulfill human
rights”. Whilst India endorsed it, they denoted a reservation or disassociation
for Preambular Paragraph 3 (Rule of Law & Justice), Operative Paragraphs 4
(Military Accountability), and 14 (Business & Human Rights). Civil society
organizations from India and their international allies urged the participating
states to call on India to pledge to ensure constitutionally guaranteed
democratic freedoms.

Human Rights Defenders and Civil Society

• On March 1, one of the leading public policy think tanks in India, the CPR,
said it had been “intimated” by the Ministry of Home Affairs that its
registration under the FCRA had been “suspended for a period of 180 days”.
Following amendments to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), there
has been a decline of 40 percent in funding to NGOs in India between 2015 and
2018. The European Parliament called on the EU to “address the harmful effects
of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) on civil society
organisations”.

• On March 20, the Ministry of Home Affairs recommended a Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) inquiry against Aman Biradari, an NGO founded by human
rights activist and 2022 Nobel Peace Prize nominee Harsh Mander, for allegedly
violating the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA). Between 2018 and
2022, the registration of 1,827 associations was reportedly canceled due to
violations of the FCRA.

• On March 20, Kashmiri Journalist Irfan Mehraj was arrested by the National
Investigation Agency (NIA) under India’s counter-terror law, the Unlawful
Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for an alleged case of terror funding. Mehraj
is the senior editor of twoCircles.net, a non-profit and digital news platform,
and also the founding editor of Wande magazine.

• Khurram Parvez, who had already been in detention since November 2021 over
terrorism allegations, was arrested for the second time on 22 March 2023 by
India’s main counter-terrorism agency, the National Investigation Agency. He
stands accused of funding terrorism under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention)
Act through his work with the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society
(JKCCS). Ms. Mary Lawlor, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights
defenders, called on India to immediately end its crackdown on Kashmiri human
rights defenders.

Hate crimes against minorities

During March, xenophobic violence and discrimination continued to erode Indian
civil society, with news of discrimination, mob violence, Islamophobic assaults,
and killings. As the list of incidents is extensive, with several documented
incidents a day, this list is illustrative and not comprehensive. For a more
comprehensive list, see the documentation by HindutvaWatch.

• In March, 50 hate speech rallies against the Muslim community reportedly took
place over 4 months in the state of Maharashtra alone. At almost all of these
events, party leaders from the local BJP MLA and MP were present, and speakers
called for an economic boycott and attacks against Muslims.

• On March 3, the Hindu supremacist leader of the Antarashtriya Hindu Parishad
(AHP), Pravin Togadia, engaged in anti-Muslim hate speech. Statements recorded
on video include: “We will control the state power, and we will decide what the
police and army will do. Then we will not have to fight”.

• On March 4, members of the Hindu supremacist groups Bajrang Dal and Vishva
Hindu Parishad (VHP) targeted two churches in Kanpur accusing members of the
Christian community of “forced religious conversions”. The police detained six
people from the church, allegedly including minors. On March 5, another church
in Kanpur was attacked by members of Bajrang Dal during prayers. The pastor and
members of the church were taken into police custody but were later released.

• On March 7, Hindu supremacists beat a Muslim man to death in Chhapra.

• On March 7, members of Bajrang Dal and the cow vigilante group Gau Raksha Dal
assaulted a Muslim man for allegedly transporting beef. On the same day, members
of the Gau Raksha Dal assaulted another Muslim man over allegations of cow
smuggling.

• On March 10, members of several Hindu supremacist organizations, including
Bajrang Dal, protested in Jammu, claiming a murder of a woman to be a case of
“love jihad”. Love Jihad is an Islamophobic conspiracy theory purporting that
Muslim men target Hindu women for forced religious conversion.

• Hindu supremacist leader Radha Semwal Dhoni was invited to a Holi celebration
organized by the far-right group Hindu Raksha Dal. She received a bouquet of
flowers and was introduced as someone who has “demolished 370” Muslim shrines.
It has been reported that Dhoni frequently indulges in hate crimes, such as
demolishing shrines and harassing Christian NGO workers.

• On March 26, unidentifiable individuals entered a mosque in Anwa village,
Maharashtra, and physically assaulted an Imam who had been leading a prayer. The
attackers demanded that he chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ (“Hail Hindu God Ram”), and beat
him up upon his refusal.

• On March 29-30, communal violence broke out across several cities during
processions for the Hindu holiday Ram Navami, leaving more than 20 people
injured.

Executive

• An analysis of data submitted in the General Assembly revealed that 62.24% of
those arrested in Assam’s crackdown on child marriages are Muslims. From
February 3 on, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Assam launched a
massive crackdown on “child marriages”, leading to the arrest of about 2,500
people and the filing of 4,074 cases.

• After posters with remarks critical of PM Modi were found in India’s capital,
the Delhi Police registered 44 First Information Reports and arrested four
persons on March 22. The four persons worked for example as drivers or in the
printing press. At least 2,000 posters were reportedly removed and about 2,000
more were seized by the police.

• On March 22, actor Chetan Kumar was arrested by Karnataka police for
criticizing the Hindu supremacist ideology in a tweet, following a complaint by
a Hindu supremacist. Last February, Kumar was already arrested for tweeting
against a judge who was hearing pleas against banning Muslim girls from wearing
hijabs in schools.

• On March 25, one of the convicts who was granted remission in the 2002 Bilkis
Bano gangrape case, Shailesh Bhatt, was present at an event by a state
government. Officials claimed to have no knowledge of who invited him.

Judiciary

• The Karnataka state legislative assembly on March 1 passed an amendment to its
labor laws, thereby increasing the previous limit of nine-hour shifts to 12 for
four consecutive days before taking three days off and allowing women to work at
night. According to an official, Karnataka modified its labor legislation
following “extensive inputs” from multinational firms Foxconn and Apple.

• On March 2, the Supreme Court of India appointed an expert committee to
investigate allegations made against the Adani Group, a major Indian
conglomerate. On January 24, Hindenburg research found that the Indian
conglomerate Adani Group has engaged in serious market manipulation and
accounting fraud over the last decades.

• On March 3, the Tamil Nadu government told the Supreme Court that certain
restrictions shall be imposed on the ability of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS), a Hindu nationalist organization associated with the BJP, to hold marches
in the state. The speaker highlighted that there had been explosions in
Coimbatore previously, and therefore, the state told the RSS to not march openly
in such sensitive areas. On March 27, the Supreme Court reserved its verdict on
the plea of the Tamil Nadu government challenging the Madras High Court order
allowing the RSS to hold rallies in the state.

• Seven Hindu men accused of killing two Muslim men during the Delhi riots in
2020 have been granted bail by a Delhi court, citing a lack of serious evidence
against them. As per the police investigation report, the prime accused were
members of a WhatsApp Hindu supremacist group called “Kattar Hindut Ekta”,
formed by rioters the night before the killings. The charge sheet stated that
group members bragged about “killing Muslims” and offered weapons.

• In the Hathras gang rape and murder case, three of the four accused were
acquitted. One was sentenced to life imprisonment. The victim was a 19-year-old
Dalit woman who was gang-raped in September 2020 and later died of her injuries.

• On March 23, Rahul Gandhi, a member of India’s main opposition party, was
convicted under India’s criminal defamation law for remarks made over PM Modi’s
surname during an election campaign in 2019. The court sentenced him to 2 years
in jail and imposed a fine of 15,000 Rs, leading to Gandhi’s disqualification
from the Indian Parliament on March 24. Gandhi also recently criticized the Modi
government during his speech at Cambridge University in London. During a press
briefing on March 30, the German Foreign Ministry spokesperson took note of the
case.

• On March 29, the Supreme Court of India stated that hate speech continues to
occur due to the state’s inability to take effective action against it. The
court made the remarks while hearing a plea by a Kerala journalist who sought
contempt proceedings against Maharashtra Police for not acting to restrain hate
speeches at rallies.

• The Rajasthan High Court has acquitted four Muslim men who were convicted and
sentenced to death in 2019 in connection with the Jaipur bomb blast case. The
Court stated that “apparent manipulations and fabrications have been done during
the investigation”.

• New research shows that while India has a unique law that mandates companies
to pay for reforestation if they are responsible for deforestation, the
allocation of funds has been hindered by unused funds and the unsuitability of
the land allocated. This has led to a lack of progress in meeting India’s
reforestation and climate change goals.

Media and Technology

• The Indian government is reportedly planning to amend clause 17 in the new
Data Protection Bill which would allow cross-border dataflow to all geographies
by default but includes an official blacklist of countries where transfers would
be restricted. Another expected change concerns excluding private entities from
the provision of ‘deemed consent’ for processing personal data. Clause 8 of the
original draft implies that if a user has willingly shared their data with an
entity for a specific purpose, the entity may assume given consent for other
related purposes.

• On 18 March, authorities in Punjab imposed an internet shutdown, leaving 30
million people without access. The shutdown was launched as an operation to
search for Amritpal Singh, leader of the Khalistani separatist organization
Waris Punjab De. Although the shutdown was lifted in most districts,
restrictions were extended until March 23 in five. Sikhs abroad launched a
protest in front of the European Parliament in Brussels on March 27 demanding
condemnation of India’s ongoing mass targeting of Sikhs in Punjab.

February 2023: BBC raided, India imposes most internet shutdowns, Hindu
supremacists call for violence, minorities burnt alive, extrajudicial
demolitions, and more


India in the World

• On February 5, India, France, and the United Arab Emirates finalized their
plan for a trilateral cooperation initiative in defense, energy, and technology.

• On February 6, the EU and India strengthened their relationship as strategic
partners by setting up a new Trade and Technology Council (TTC).

• On February 6, the Managing Director of the European External Action Service
(EEAS) publicly expressed concern about India. At an event organized by the
Swedish Council Presidency, she said that when India abstained from the Russian
vote at the UN, the EU saw it as a “signal of where we are failing in promoting
democracy” and “of where we should possibly engage more.” India is a “democratic
system which is under a lot of threat.” Days before this speech, the European
Parliament called on the EEAS to make more public statements about the safety of
journalists and human rights abroad.

• On February 21, Kyiv sought support from Delhi on a resolution to be presented
at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

• From February 25 to 26, German chancellor Olaf Scholz visited India. In their
meeting, Scholz and Modi agreed on a vision statement to strengthen
collaboration in the areas of innovation and technology and highlighted their
strong economic ties.

• In February, a new report by internet rights group Access Now and the
#KeepItOn coalition documented India as the world leader of Internet shutdowns
for the fifth consecutive year. India imposed 84 internet shutdowns in 2022.

Business: Adani Group

• Opposition parties in India have held protests across the country in the
context of new findings regarding the Adani conglomerate. Opposition parties in
India have previously demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee against the Adani
Group and questioned the silence of the Securities and Exchange Board of India
(SEBI) on the matter. On 24 January, Hindenburg research found that the Indian
conglomerate Adani Group has engaged in serious market manipulation and
accounting fraud over the last decades. Previous research identified close ties
to and favoritism by the Modi government. For instance, a protest outside the
BJP headquarters in New Delhi alleged that the ruling BJP favors the Adani
group.

Human Rights Defenders

• On February 2, the Kerala High Court granted bail to journalist Siddique
Kappan, who was arrested while on his way to report on the gang rape of a Dalit
girl in Uttar Pradesh in 2020. Although the Supreme Court had granted him bail
on September 9, he remained in pre-trial detention on terrorism charges.

• On February 16, human rights defender Khurram Parvez was awarded the
prestigious Martin Ennals Award in Geneva. Parvez was arrested in November 2021
and falsely charged with criminal conspiracy to wage war against India, and
participation in and financing terrorist activities.

Hate crimes against minorities

• On February 3, the Maharashtra government informed that it would only allow a
public meeting organized by the Sakal Hindu Samaj in Mumbai on the condition
that “no hate speech will be made by the participants”. Sakal Hindu Samaj is an
umbrella organization of Hindu nationalist groups opposing interfaith marriages
and religious conversion. It reportedly engaged in anti-Muslim hate speech
during a previous event held on January 29.

• On February 5, several Hindu supremacist groups held events at Delhi’s Jantar
Mantar where speakers made offensive remarks about minority communities. In one
video, a monk asks Hindus to stock weapons to kill Muslims and Christians.

• On February 12, a church in Madhya Pradesh’s Narmadapuram district was
vandalized.

• On February 14, two Muslim men were allegedly kidnapped and burnt alive in
Haryana by members of the Hindu supremacist Bajrang Dal on the pretext of cow
slaughter. A first information report (FIR) has been registered against the
accused. Members of the Hindu supremacist Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal
rallied in Haryana to support one of the accused, Monu Manesar, the leader of
Bajrang Dal. Protesters gathered across Haryana and Rajasthan in support of the
Muslim men and demanded justice.

• On February 14, Valentine’s Day, Hindu supremacists harassed and assaulted
couples. In Gujarat, several Bajrang Dal members were detained for wielding
sticks in a park to intimidate couples. In Uttar Pradesh, a Bajrang Dal group
publicly humiliated a Muslim man and called him a “Rohingya Muslim”. At least 50
Bajrang Dal members harassed couples in Jamshedpur city. Members of the Hindu
supremacist Shiv Sena (“Shiva’s army”) wielded oil-soaked sticks, shouting:
“Wherever couples are found they will be given befitting treatment.” In the
weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day, mobs associated with the Hindu supremacist
Bajrang Dal stormed the apartments of people in interfaith relationships in
Indore city.

• On February 15, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal members vandalized a
mosque in Uttar Pradesh, claiming it was illegal.

• On February 16, members of the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti organized a protest in
Panvel demanding India be declared a Hindu nation and the death penalty for
“love jihad.”

• On February 19, Christians held a protest against the vandalization of
churches in India and the ongoing violence carried out against Christians. The
United Christian Forum, a human rights group based in Delhi, recorded 598
incidents of violence against Christians in 21 states in 2022.

• During the Hindu Janakroash Morcha rally on February 26, Hindu supremacist
leader Raja Singh made open calls for violence against Muslims. He threatened
that if the government does not pass laws on love jihad, religious conversions,
and cow slaughter, then “Hindus will take law into their own hands and use
swords”.

Judiciary 

• On February 3, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Centre on petitions
challenging the ban on the BBC documentary ‘India: The Modi Question’. The court
will hold the first hearing in April.

• On February 6, Justice K M Joseph of the Supreme Court stated that “there is
no room for hate crimes in a secular country” like India and reiterated the
country’s constitutional duty to protect the freedom of individuals irrespective
of caste and religion. This statement occurred in the context of a July 2021
incident, in which a Muslim man alleged that a gang that robbed him also mocked
his religious identity. The Uttar Pradesh Police, however, did not label the
incident as a hate crime against the man’s religious identity.

• On February 20, the Supreme Court imposed a fine of Rs. 10,000 on former
police officer Sanjiv Bhatt for challenging the fast-tracking of a Gujarat High
Court order in a drug planting case from 1996, which critics say punishes him
for exercising his legal right. Bhatt had alleged that he was falsely implicated
in the case and had sought a stay on the proceedings against him. Sanjiv Bhatt
is a whistleblower who claims that Modi was complicit in the Gujarat riots in
2002. He was charged with several false charges, and sentenced to 30 years in
prison in 2018.

Demolitions

• From February 4 on, authorities in Jammu and Kashmir demolished the homes and
properties of residents without due process. The demolitions are based on a
circular issued by the Jammu and Kashmir administration, which is under the
control of the central government, to remove “all encroachments on state land”.
Several residents alleged that they did not receive any prior notices nor any
opportunity to provide proof of ownership. Amnesty International described the
ongoing incidents as a “gross violation” of human rights.

• On February 16, authorities in Sonitpur district in the North-Eastern state
Assam evicted over 2,500 families, predominantly Bengali-speaking Muslims, who
allegedly live illegally on forest land. On February 27, the Guwahati
Metropolitan Development Authority in the North-Eastern state Assam launched an
eviction drive, reportedly to make Guwahati city “flood-free”. The evictions
have caused mass displacement.

• These incidents follow a surge in demolitions that violate due process across
India, colloquially called “bulldozer raj”. In June 2022, three United Nations
Special Rapporteurs condemned the demolitions across India, which they allege
deliberately target Muslims through “collective punishment”.

Executive 

• From February 3 on, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Assam
launched a massive crackdown on “child marriages”, leading to the arrest of
about 2,500 people and the filing of 4,074 cases. Chief Minister Biswa has been
accused of targeting religious minorities with this, especially as people
accused of “child marriage” have been detained in “transit camps” meant for
immigrants.

• On February 14, Indian tax authorities raided the BBC’s offices in New Delhi
and Mumbai alleging that they detected “irregularities and discrepancies” in
BBC’s taxes. The BBC defended its documentary and said it was complying with the
tax investigation. The crackdown on BBC has raised new concerns about press
freedom in India.

• On February 23, Pawan Khera, a senior member of India’s main opposition
Congress party was arrested for allegedly insulting Prime Minister Narendra
Modi. India’s Supreme Court ordered Khera to be released on interim bail. For
context, 96% of sedition cases after 2014 have been filed against citizens
criticizing the government and politicians.

Media and Technology

• According to a report published in February, a software linked to an Israeli
company is allegedly being used to operate fake social media campaigns and
spread disinformation online in several countries, including India. The “Team
Jorge” unit has been linked to using “hacking, sabotage, and automated
disinformation online”.

• On February 27, the News Broadcasting and Digital Standards Authority imposed
a fine of Rs 50,000 against four shows hosted by news anchor Aman Chopra of the
popular news channel News18 India for making objectionable statements about
Muslims.

Tensions

• Since mid-February, Sikh activists are holding protests in a tent camp in
Punjab demanding the release of Bandi Singhs. ‘Bandi Singhs’ is a term given to
Sikh prisoners who were convicted and imprisoned for involvement in militancy in
Punjab three decades ago. The issue became current after a signature campaign
was launched by the Sikh Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee (SGPC) in November 2022.

• On February 23, armed supporters of controversial self-styled preacher
Amritpal Singh Amritpal Singh stormed a police station in Punjab. Singh supports
the Khalistan movement seeking to create a separate Sikh homeland.

January 2023: Documentary ban, stock market manipulation, criminal complaint for
crimes against humanity, several attacks on minorities


In focus: BBC Documentary Ban

• A new BBC documentary, “India: The Modi Question” examines responsibility for
riots in Gujarat, India in 2002, in which at least 1044 people died, and reports
partial responsibility of India’s current Prime Minister Modi. On January 19,
India’s Ministry of External Affairs put out a statement that the BBC
documentary is “propaganda” and “lacks objectivity”.

• On January 21, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting reportedly invoked
its emergency powers under the IT Rules 2021 to direct social media platforms to
block links to the documentary. The Supreme Court will hear petitions
challenging the centers’ ban on the documentary in February.

• Twitter complied with the direction from India’s government to block the
documentary, sparking criticism among diaspora and digital rights NGOs. Indian
diaspora members who tweeted about the documentary received notices from Twitter
that the Indian government issued a legal removal request.

• On 24 January, a campus screening of the BBC documentary at the Jawaharlal
Nehru University was disrupted by a power shutdown. One day later, at least 70
students were detained at Jamia Millia Islamia university ahead of a planned
screening. While the police released a majority of the students on the same day,
the remaining 13 detained students were only released after the Republic Day
parade on 26 January.

• On January 29, Indian diaspora members in London protested against the Modi
documentary and asked the BBC to cease broadcasting it.

India in the World

• On 5 January, the Regulator of the University Grants Commission presented a
draft legislation to facilitate the entry and operation of foreign universities
in India.

• On 10 January, the UK’s Foreign Affairs Committee held a formal oral evidence
session exploring India’s evolving geopolitical role, the UK’s relationship with
the country, and an in-depth examination of India’s human rights record with a
special focus on Kashmir. The recording can be found here.

• On 13 January, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told his counterparts
from the developing countries that “choosing peace, cooperation and
multilateralism” is the course that the world must take.

• On January 17, Guernica 37 Chambers in London filed a criminal complaint under
the principle of universal jurisdiction before the General Prosecutor in
Switzerland against the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, for
crimes against humanity. Adityanath is reported to have ordered the false
imprisonment, torture, and murder of civilians to suppress protests against
adopting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in India.

• On 18 January, the European Parliament adopted its annual report on human
rights and democracy in the world. The 2022 report calls on the EU to adopt
specific local strategies to combat caste-based discrimination. It affirmed the
importance of protecting Dalit rights and called for stepping up consultations
with communities and the adoption of a policy addressing intersectional
discrimination. The European Parliament published its annual report on the
Implementation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, which calls to
strengthen the EU’s strategic partnerships with India in a comprehensive way.
The report also calls for human rights and democratic values to be adequately
addressed in this partnership and expresses concern about India’s stance on the
Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.

• On 25 January, Alviina Alametsä, the European Parliament’s Standing Rapporteur
on India spoke at an event by think tank The London Story. She said: “The
celebrations of Republic Day are overshadowed by urgent human rights
violations.” And: “Defending human rights should be at the core of the EU-India
partnership. When freedom of speech and democratic opposition are at risk within
a country, their international partners must cooperate and hold each other
accountable.”

• On 26 January, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi attended India’s
Republic Day celebration as the chief guest. India and Egypt maintain a
strategic partnership.

Business

• On 16 January, a report by the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar noted that
companies from India support Myanmar’s military with raw materials, training,
and machinery, and are thereby reportedly complicit in human rights violations.
The Myanmar military is under EU sanctions.

• On 24 January, Hindenburg research found that the Indian conglomerate Adani
Group has engaged in serious market manipulation and accounting fraud over the
last decades. Previous research has identified close ties to and favoritism by
the Modi government, and Adani has previously been the focus of 4 major
government fraud investigations which have alleged money laundering, theft of
taxpayer funds and corruption, totaling an estimated U.S. $17 billion. While
most private investment companies have halted their investments in the Adani
Group following the revelation, the government-owned Life Insurance Corporation
of India continues to invest in Adani. In total, it has invested more than $4
billion into the group. Gautam Adani has refuted Hindenburg’s findings as an
“attack on India”.

Human Rights Defenders

• Activist Hidme Markam was acquitted in four cases and granted bail in one
after the police failed to prove charges. Markam works as forest rights and
prisoners’ rights activist, was accused of involvement in Naxal activities and
arrested nearly two years ago.

• On 9 January, the Supreme Court extended the house arrest of social activist
Gautam Navlakha once more until February 17. On November 10, the Supreme Court
allowed Navlakha to be placed under one-month house arrest due to his medical
condition. He has been in custody since April 2020 on fabricated charges of
supporting terrorism.

• On 27 January, Emmy-nominated US-based journalist Angad Singh was deported
from India because his documentary India Burning allegedly presented a “very
negative view of India’s secular credentials”.

Hate crimes against minorities

• In its most recent report, the Early Warning Project ranks India 8th
highest-risk of concern for mass atrocities among 162 countries.

• On 2 January, approximately 50 people barged into a school in Chhattisgarh’s
Narayanpur district and attacked the Sacred Heart Church that shares its
premises with the school. The mob attacked a police team that was trying to stop
them.

• On 7 January, over 100 retired lawmakers and civil servants sought legal
action against BJP MP Pragya Thakur, who recently delivered a speech urging
attendees of a conference to “keep weapons sharpened” so they can be used if
Muslims attack. Thakur is the prime accused in the Malegaon terror attack in
September 2008.

• On 9 January, a Dalit man was allegedly assaulted by a group of people for
trying to enter a temple in Uttarkashi district. Four days later, five persons
were arrested in connection with the incident. In its annual report on human
rights, the European Parliament affirmed the importance of protecting Dalit
rights.

• On 23 January, a video went viral of Hindu supremacists beating up a Christian
man in Bihar, accusing him of encouraging religious conversion.

• On 28 January, the family of a 22-year-old Muslim claimed that he was beaten
to death by Bajrang Dal members for allegedly transporting a cow in Haryana. The
police claimed that the man died after a car collision, although videos show he
was assaulted.

• On 29 January, at least 10,000 people participated in the Hindu Janakrosh
Morcha (“Hindu public outrage rally”) in Mumbai. There, suspended BJP leader T
Raja Singh publicly engaged in hate speech and provocative comments against the
Muslim community. The police have issued a notice.

Judiciary 

• On 9 January, former senior Supreme Court judges warned that branches of the
executive and other oversight bodies had been “turned into extended arms of the
central government” and had been “ignoring the Constitution of India”.

• On 3 January, Justice Nagarathna delivered a separate judgment on the extent
of free speech available to public functionaries, reiterating their duty to be
more responsible and restrained in their speech. Nagarathna also touched on the
aspect of hate speech and said that “[…] whatever its content may be, [hate
speech] denies human beings the right to dignity”.

• On 5 January, the Supreme Court stopped the Uttarakhand High Court’s direction
to evict people living in Haldwani, north of Delhi. On 20 December, the order
declared 4,365 houses “illegal” and ordered their demolition. The Supreme Court
stated that they cannot be uprooted overnight and rehabilitation schemes are
necessary for those claiming legal rights in the land.

• On 9 January, the Supreme Court dismissed a plea challenging the
implementation of the Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand and Gujarat. The plea
contended the law violates constitutionally guaranteed religious freedom.

• On 13 January, the Supreme Court made a strong oral observation against TV
anchors who engage in hate speech.

• On 16 January, the Supreme Court sought a response from the Union government
on several pleas seeking the criminalization of marital rape, which is currently
legal.

Media and Technology

• On 4 January, a tribunal declined Google’s request to block an antitrust
ruling that had fined Google for exploiting its dominant position in markets.
Google said that denying their request would hurt consumers and also the firm’s
financial viability.

• On 17 January, the Union Information Technology Ministry introduced a draft
amendment to the Information Technology Rules, 2021, which will make it
mandatory for online platforms to take down any content deemed fake by the Press
Information Bureau (PIB) or any other agency authorized by the government. The
PIB has frequently faced criticism, and associations expressed concerns about
press freedom.

December 2022: UNSC and G20 Presidency, evidence planted on deceased activist,
Christians attacked for Christmas, BJP leaders join mob


India in the World

• On 1 December, India assumed the monthly rotating presidency of the UN
Security Council (UNSC). Two signature events took place, an open debate on
Reformed Multilateralism and a Counter-Terrorism meeting.

• On 1 December, India formally assumed the G20 presidency. External Affairs
Minister S Jaishankar said New Delhi will seek to emerge as the “voice of the
Global South”. PM Modi presented the theme of the G20: “One Earth, One Family,
One Future”.

• From 4-6 December, German Foreign Minister Baerbock visited India. She and
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar discussed the Russian war against
Ukraine, cross-border terrorism and they signed a mobility partnership pact,
which will make it easier for people to study, do research, and work in each
other’s countries.

• On 7 December, Member states of the UN Economic and Social Council voted to
grant consultative status to the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN).
With 15 years, the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN) held the record
for the longest pending application in the history of the UN NGO Committee, as
India had blocked its application.

• On 26 December, 185 Rohingya refugees were rescued in Aceh, Indonesia, after
their boat drifted in the Andaman sea for a month. It was one of five Rohingya
boats fleeing the overcrowded refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.
Approximately 180 Rohingya refugees died. The UNHCR stated that previous calls
for intervention were ignored by surrounding countries. Indian diaspora
organizations published an open letter appealing to governments for their
rescue.

Human Rights Defenders

• On 13 December, a US-based forensic firm found that digital evidence was
planted on the computer of Human Rights Defender Father Stan Swamy. Swamy was
then arrested, and died in custody in July 2021 while denied bail on medical
grounds.

• On 13 December, the Supreme Court extended the house arrest of social activist
Gautam Navlakha until the second week of January. On November 10, the Supreme
Court allowed Navlakha to be placed under one-month house arrest due to his
medical condition. He has been in custody since April 2020 on fabricated charges
of supporting terrorism.

Academic freedom

• On December 8, author Farhat Khan received an arrest notice while in hospital
and was charged with “insulting religious feelings” with her academic book
Collective Violence and Criminal Justice System (2011). Members of the Hindu
supremacist ABVP, the student wing of the RSS to which Narendra Modi belongs,
had alleged that Khan’s book contains objectionable content against Hindus and
Hindu supremacist organizations. Khan is suffering from kidney ailment and needs
dialysis on a regular basis.

Hate crimes against minorities

• The government recorded over 2,900 cases of communal or religious rioting in
the country between 2017 and 2021.

• Christians were attacked ahead of Christmas. On one day, there were 20
coordinated attacks in the state of Chharrisgarh alone, with 200 people forced
from their homes. On 20 December, a Hindu supremacist mob in Gujarat state
attacked a man who was distributing chocolates while dressed as Santa Claus.

• On 1 December, the Hindu extremist group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP),
affiliated with the ruling BJP through a common parent entity, released a list
of 400 alleged ‘love jihad cases’. Love Jihad is an islamophobic conspiracy
theory purporting that Muslim men target Hindu women for forced religious
conversion, and the release of the names puts the couples at risk.

• On 4 December, BJP leaders such as minister KC Narayana Gowda and district
president Umesh joined a Hindu supremacist mob in an attempt to barge into a
mosque in Karnataka and claim it as a Hindu temple. None of the BJP leaders
complicit in the violent mob has faced any consequences or condemnation from
party leadership.

• On 6 December, police in Uttar Pradesh state, which is ruled by the BJP,
allegedly harassed and assaulted Muslims to stop them from casting their votes
in the current elections. A number of videos went viral showing Muslim residents
reporting about the police allegedly taking away their voter ID cards, and
verbally abusing and beating them.

• The Hindu extremist group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has announced that
swords, knives, and sticks will be distributed freely to BJP members in Uttar
Pradesh. Such groups are increasingly offering violent training sessions across
India.

• On 14 December, Hindu extremist leader Pravin Togadia stated that India will
become a Hindu Nation in which Muslims will have no constitutional rights.

• On 15 December, a video surfaced showing a bus passenger who was brutally
assaulted in Southern India by RSS members, an organization to which Narendra
Modi belongs. The bus conductor accused him of misbehaving with a woman when he
offered to hold her bag and handed him over to the RSS members.

Judiciary 

• On 5 December, the Supreme Court heard a plea seeking directions against
‘forced religious conversion’ and noted that forced religious conversion is a
“very serious issue”.

• On 8 December, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition filed by the
organization ‘Roots in Kashmir’ seeking a probe into killings of Kashmiri
Pandits in Jammu and Kashmir during 1989-90 and subsequent years.

• On 14 December, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a petition by a gay couple
seeking legal recognition of their marriage in India after their requests have
been refused repeatedly.

• On 17 December, the Supreme Court dismissed Bilkis Bano’s plea seeking a
review of its May 2022 order which affirmed the early release of 11 convicts who
gang-raped her and murdered 14 persons during the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom in
Gujarat.

• On 20 December, an order passed by the Uttarakhand High Court declared 4,365
houses in Haldwani, north of Delhi, “illegal” and ordered their demolition. This
would forcibly evict over 50 000 people. In January, the Supreme Court stayed
the order.

Executive

• On 7 December, the Rajya Sabha was informed that the government canceled the
Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 (FCRA) registration of 6,677 NGOs
between 2017 and 2021 for alleged violations of the law. Under the FCRA, Amnesty
International was previously forced to cease its operations in 2020, leading
several countries to recommend India amend the FCRA at the UN Universal Periodic
Review.

• On 25 December, BJP MP Pragya Thakur delivered a speech urging attendees of a
conference to “keep weapons sharpened” so they can be used if Muslims attack.
“Just like how knives cut vegetables, it will also chop mouths and heads,” she
said. While her speech was widely condemned, she has faced no consequences from
the BJP. Thakur is the prime accused in the Malegaon terror attack in September
2008, was arrested in October that year, and has been out on bail since April
2017 on medical grounds.

• The Election Commission of India concluded that Home Minister Amit Shah’s
remark during the Gujarat Assembly election campaign did not violate the model
code of conduct. During his November 25 speech, Shah claimed the BJP has “taught
a lesson” to rioters since communal violence 20 years ago.

Media and Technology

• In December, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology invited
feedback from the public on the draft of the Digital Personal Data Protection
Bill, 2022 published in November. However, more than 70 notable citizens wrote
to MPs, such as former Supreme Court judge Justice A.P. Shah and social activist
Medha Patkar, expressing concern over the undemocratic manner of this
consultation.

November 2022: Universal Periodic Review, positive developments for two HRDs,
violence linked to false allegations of forced conversions, refoulement of
refugees, take-over of independent media


India in the World

• On November 10, India’s human rights record was assessed during the Universal
Periodic Review at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). 130 UN
member states issued their recommendations and urged India to increase their
efforts to combat gender-based violence, religious discrimination, and religious
hatred, and stop the broad application of anti-terrorism legislation.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not attend COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
Instead, the Indian delegation at COP27 was led by Union Environment Minister
Bhupender Yadav, who strongly supported the decision for a climate fund for
poorer nations. India, however, is expanding its fossil fuel infrastructure and
increasing imports of coal.

• On November 8, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar indicated that New
Delhi would continue purchasing Russian oil as it benefits India’s access “on
the most advantageous terms” during the current natural resource crisis.

• On November 14, India abstained from the vote in the UN General Assembly for a
resolution that called on holding Russia accountable for its invasion of
Ukraine. India has also previously abstained from resolutions related to the
Russia-Ukraine war.

• On November 15 and 16, Modi attended the G20 Summit held in Bali, which
reaffirmed collaboration on food security, international financial resilience,
energy security, and other topics. India’s Presidency of the G20 starts on
December 1 and will be grounded in the theme “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” – Hindi for
“one earth, one family, one future”.

Human Rights Defenders

• On November 10, the Supreme Court allowed jailed human rights activist Gautam
Navlakha to be placed under one-month house arrest due to his medical condition.
Although the Court indicated it would process his release within 48 hours,
Navlakha was still in prison until the evening of the 14th. Navlakha has been in
custody since April 2020 on fabricated charges of supporting terrorism.

• On November 18, the Bombay High Court granted bail to Dalit rights activist
and scholar Anand Teltumbde. Teltumdbe was arrested in 2020 for his alleged
connection to the Bhima Koregaon violence of 2018, and has been repeatedly
denied bail.

• On November 22, UN experts and several NGOs, including The London Story,
called for the immediate and unconditional release of Kashmiri human rights
defender Khurram Parvez. The day marked the 1-year anniversary of Parvez’s
arbitrary arrest on terrorism charges. His detention has been prolonged five
times by the NIA Special Court under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act
(UAPA).

Judiciary

• On October 31, a court rejected the bail plea of journalist Siddique Kappan.
Kappan was arrested in 2020 when traveling to report on the rape of a Dalit girl
and is held in pre-trial detention on terrorism charges. Although the Supreme
Court granted him bail on September 9 in the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act
case, he remains in jail.

• On November 9, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud was sworn in as the 50th Chief Justice
of India. He will have a tenure for two years. Chandrachud is seen as
progressive; in the past, his judgments have touched upon crucial issues of
fundamental rights, privacy, rights of women, and LGBTQ+.

• On November 30, Bilkis Bano approached the Supreme Court challenging the
premature release of the 11 convicts who gang-raped her and murdered members of
her family during the 2002 riots in Gujarat.

Hate crime against minorities 

• On November 3, Hindu supremacists assaulted and publicly humiliated two Dalits
for allegedly selling beef in Chhattisgarh. They beat the two with a belt and
paraded them half-naked, while bystanders filmed the attack.

• On November 29, several men attempted to lynch a Muslim man, Adam Khan, in
Maharashtra. Police arrested five men after videos of the assault went viral on
social media. Khan has been hospitalized with head injuries and a fractured leg.

Religious freedoms

• On November 14, the Supreme Court termed “forced religious conversion” a
serious issue in need of action. However, anti-conversion laws have been
criticized for being routinely used to target religious minorities and arrest
them on false charges of forced conversion. Hard data is missing on those
alleged conversion cases.

• A false report made by a Hindu supremacist on November 21 led to six
Christians being charged for alleged forced conversions in Uttar Pradesh state.
Several Christians have now sought action against misuse of the state’s recently
enacted anti-conversion law to harass and persecute religious minorities.

• The upcoming Bollywood movie “The Kerala Story” has been condemned for
circulating the false claim that over 30,000 Hindu women were converted to Islam
and forced to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The wide
circulation of the trailer resulted in outrage over the film’s mobilization of
anti-Muslim propaganda. Several movies in recent months circulate propaganda
against Muslims.

Places of worship

• On November 9, a Karnataka court ruled in favor of the Hindu supremacist group
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) demanding to probe an 800-year-old mosque in
Mangaluru city. The VHP falsely claims that remnants of a Hindu temple are
located in the mosque. Although the management of the mosque had filed a plea to
protect the place of worship, it had been rejected in court.

• On November 14, a Varanasi court indicated that it will rule on the validity
of a petition that seeks a ban on entry of Muslims to the Gyanvapi Mosque. The
petition was filed by Vishwa Vaidik Sanatan Sangh, who also seek permission to
worship the “Shivling” (symbol of Hindu God Shiv) claimed to be inside.

State actors who advocate hatred

• On November 14, BJP politician Pratap Simha threatened that he would demolish
a bus stand because it resembles a mosque. In response to the threat, the local
government changed the appearance of the bus stop. This threat comes against a
backdrop of BJP leaders calling for and inciting the destruction of Muslim
properties, including places of worship.

• On November 20, supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) welcomed Uttar
Pradesh’s openly extremist Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath with bulldozers and
the Hindu religious chant “Jai Shree Ram” as he arrived in Gujarat state for his
election campaign.

Executive

• In the beginning of November, the Gujarat state Ministry of Home Affairs
announced an anti-Muslim citizenship policy. The policy provides Hindu, Sikh,
Parsi, Christian, and Jain communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and
Bangladesh with citizenship certificates, but denies them to Muslims. Critics
have called this out as a move to subject Muslims fleeing danger to further
persecution and discrimination.

• Home Minister Amit Shah ordered intelligence officials to identify 100
refugees (“infiltrators”) in each state and deport them. Shah indicated that
this should be continued even if the countries do not accept the refugees back.
India has not signed the Refugee Convention and continues to deport Rohingya to
Myanmar. Amit Shah has a consistently hostile approach to refugees, as is
visible when he in 2019 referred to Rohingya as being “termites”.

Media and Technology

• On November 17, Meta appointed Sandhya Devanathan as the new upcoming head and
vice president of Meta India. Meta also appointed Shivnath Thukral as its new
director for public policy in India. Investigations reported that when Thukral
was the India and South Asia public policy director at Facebook from 2017 to
2020, he ignored hate speech violations by BJP leaders and had close ties to the
BJP.

• On November 22, the Adani Group, a conglomerate run by Asia’s richest man
Gautam Adani, initiated the process of acquiring a majority stake within the
popular media firm NDTV, intending to take it over fully. Experts stated that
Adani moving closer to acquire the platform poses a serious threat to
independent media because of his strong ties to the BJP government.

October 2022: 3 Indians nominated for Nobel Peace Prize, travel ban on
journalist and overturn of acquittal of HRD, police publicly flogs men, BJP
leader attacks Dalit, Supreme Court considers hate speech a “very serious issue“


India in the World

• The UN appointed Indian Dalit Ashwini K.P as the UN Special Rapporteur for
Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance. Dalits in
India face increasingly severe violence. Caste discrimination is formally
recognized as discrimination around the world and is especially of concern among
the Indian diaspora.

• The EU and India met for the second round of trade negotiations in Brussels.
India was skeptical towards the EU’s proposed ‘trade and sustainable
development’ chapter, which includes the possibility of resorting to commercial
sanctions for non-compliance with core labour standards and with Paris Agreement
commitments.

• During his official visit to India from 18-20 October, UN Secretary-General
Guterres reminded India of the power of diversity and emphasized the importance
of a strong domestic commitment to inclusivity and human rights.

• On 28-29 October, India hosted a UN Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism
Committee (CTC) special meeting on countering the use of new technologies for
terrorist purposes. The resulting ‘Delhi Declaration’ calls for respect for
human rights while countering terrorism. Conversely, the UN has previously
condemned India’s approach to counter-terrorism for violating human rights law,
including the right to a fair trial.

Human Rights Defenders

• The Peace Research Institute Oslo shortlisted Indians Mohammed Zubair, Pratik
Sinha, and Harsh Mander for the Nobel Peace Prize 2022. Zubair and Sinha are the
co-founders of the fact-check site AltNews. Earlier this year, Zubair was
arrested for one month as part of a crackdown on independent journalism, which
MEPs publicly condemned. Mander launched a campaign to support victims of hate
crimes, but the Indian government has raided his home and the orphanages he
founded.

• On 10 October, Kashmiri political prisoner Altaf Shah passed away in custody.
Shah, a Kashmiri leader, was convicted in 2018 for alleged terrorism. He was
diagnosed with cancer but did not receive medical attention nor bail on health
grounds. Human rights organizations are concerned about human rights in Kashmir,
such as over 60 instances of crackdowns on journalists and human rights
defenders since August 2019.

• On 15 October, Kashmiri photojournalist and Pulitzer prize winner Sanna Irshad
Mattoo was arbitrarily banned from traveling to the US by immigration
authorities at Delhi airport, despite having a valid visa and ticket. She was
given no official reason. The government has imposed travel bans on at least 22
journalists, several of whom have faced raids, threats, and detention.

• On 15 October, the Supreme Court suspended the order which previously
acquitted Human Rights Defender Prof. G.N. Saibaba. In 2014, Saibaba was
arrested for his alleged involvement in terrorism, which the initial acquittal
order concluded was “bad in law and invalid”. Saibaba is wheelchair-bound and
considered 90% disabled. One of Saibaba’s co-accused, Father Stan Swamy, died in
custody, which MEPs publicly condemned.

• On 18 October, the Delhi High Court again dismissed the bail application of
student activist Umar Khalid. Despite a lack of evidence, Khalid has been in
custody for over two years for his alleged conspiracy to incite violence in the
February 2020 riots in New Delhi. Earlier this year, MEPs expressed deep concern
and demanded Khalid’s immediate release.

Hate crime against minorities

• On 4 October, police officers tied nine Muslim men to a pole and publicly
flogged them in Gujarat for allegedly throwing stones at a Hindu celebration.
Videos of the incident went viral on social media platforms, showing that a
civilian crowd cheered on the police.

• On 12 October, a Hindu extremist mob attacked Muslims offering prayers in a
mosque near Delhi. Surendra Jain, the leader of the VHP, a Hindu supremacist
group affiliated with the ruling BJP through a common parent entity, publicly
congratulated the mob and said that the extremists “taught the Muslims a
lesson”.

• On 25 October, a man shot and killed a Dalit man and his parents in Madya
Pradesh for allegedly stalking the perpetrator’s wife.

• On 29 October, several men tied two minors to a vehicle and dragged them on a
road in Madhya Pradesh after they allegedly stole from a local market. The boys,
aged 13 and 17, have been treated in a hospital and police filed a case against
the perpetrators.

• Hindu extremists of the Bajrang Dal group dragged a Muslim man to the police
falsely claiming that he lured a Hindu woman into a hotel room.

State actors endorse hate

• On 19 October, BJP lawmaker Ranbir Gangwa and party leaders from Haryana state
attended an online event of rape-and-murder convict and religious cult leader
Ram Rahim Singh.

• On 23 October, BJP leader Radheshyam Mishra and others assaulted a Dalit man,
blackened his face, and shaved his head after accusing him of theft. Two people
have been arrested but Mishra remains on the run.

• India’s Home Minister Amit Shah confirmed the early release of 11 Hindu
extremists. The men were previously convicted for gang-raping a Muslim woman and
murdering 14 persons during the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat.

Abuses by executive

• On 14 October, a tribunal recovered damages from people who allegedly caused
destruction during riots in Khargone in April 2022. A new law authorizes the
government to do so through quasi-judicial tribunals, which use principles of
‘natural justice’ and do not have the safeguards of a criminal trial. Among
those on trial is a 12-year-old boy.

• On 26 October, police detained three activists who were opening a museum in
the North Eastern state of Assam for their alleged association with terror
outfits.

Judiciary

• On 21 October, the Supreme Court called anti-Muslim hate speech in India a
“very serious issue” and directed the police to take action in hate speech
cases, irrespective of religion of the speaker, and without waiting for a formal
complaint to be registered. Hateful anti-minority rhetoric has become
commonplace in India. NGOs draw attention to how stakeholders have failed to
address hate content and hateful actors targeting religious minorities in India.

• On 27 October, the Supreme Court dismissed Amnesty International’s plea to
unfreeze their bank accounts, which previously forced the organization to shut
down their operations in the country.

• On 29 October, the Supreme Court issued notice to the central government
regarding a petition to allow women under 35 to have a prenatal diagnostic test.
Preventing this, the petition argues, is a restriction on the reproductive
rights of women. The case is one of many on women’s rights in recent weeks, such
as one on increasing access to abortion. Women’s rights remain dire in India,
and the Global Gender Gap Report 2021 ranks India at 140 of 156 countries.

Surveillance and Technology

• On 28 October, the Indian government announced its new Information Technology
Amendment Rules 2022, which effectively grants the government control over
content moderation decisions of social media platforms. The amended rules
provide for the creation of a government panel to hear complaints from social
media users. Critics are concerned that this law may open the door to a
censorship body, thereby incentivizing platforms to remove content that does not
suit the government’s political agenda.

September 2022: Journalist denied bail, 8-year-old boy arrested following riots,
Hindu supremacist Yati Narsinghanand calls for bombing of University, India
votes on Russia in UNSC


Harassment of journalists and HRDs

• Despite being granted bail by the Supreme Court, journalist Siddique Kappan
remains in prison as a case by the government’s Enforcement Directorate against
him is “still pending.” Kappan was arrested in 2020 when travelling to report on
the rape of a Dalit girl and held in pre-trial detention on terrorism charges.

• Police in Gujarat are continuing the judicial harassment of HRD Teesta
Setalvad by filing fresh charges against her. She had been arrested in June and
accused of fabricating evidence in a petition to the Supreme Court seeking to
investigate Prime Minister Modi’s role in the 2002 Gujarat riots. More than
2.200 writers, activists and other parts of civil society worldwide signed an
open letter demanding her release, and MEPs and UN Special Rapporteurs came out
in her support.

• Gujarat police arrested four people on September 26 before their march in
solidarity with Bilkis Bano, a Muslim woman who was gang-raped and left for dead
in a pogrom in 2002. Her convicted attackers had been granted remission in
August. After public outcry, the police released one of the marchers, social
activist Sandeep Pandey. The V-Dem institute’s data on peaceful assembly shows
that India often arbitrarily denies citizens the right to assemble peacefully.

Foreign policy

• On August 24, India for the first time voted against Russia during a
procedural vote at the UN Security Council. India had previously abstained in
all votes because of its historical and contemporary ties. India has sharply
increased its imports of oil, coal and fertiliser from Russia, while India
rarely bought Russian oil before the Ukraine war.

• Indian negotiators reportedly visited Brussels for trade negotiations with the
EU. Experts note that many of India’s priorities do not align with those of the
EU.

Diaspora

• International media reported on Indian diaspora mobs in the UK mobilising to
“defend the community” in patterns they describe as reminiscent of mob violence
in India.

Judiciary

• After a delay of nearly three years, the Supreme Court announced it would
begin hearing the over 200 petitions challenging the constitutional validity of
the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) 2020. Protests against the act had erupted
across the country, as its provisions add a religious criterion to citizenship.

• Indian Christian leaders filed a petition with the Supreme Court of India for
protection of Christians citing 300 attacks in the first six months of 2022. The
Supreme Court then in a welcome move directed eight states to investigate and
verify these claims.

• After 10 days of hearing, the Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its judgment
on petitions to lift a recent ban on hijab in schools in the state of Karnataka,
which de facto prevents Muslims girls from attending school. The choice of
clothing falls under the fundamental right to freedom of expression, which can
under the Indian Constitution and international human rights law only be
infringed upon on grounds of public order.

Violence against minorities

• On September 7, an upper-caste social science teacher assaulted his 10th grade
student, a Dalit, for reportedly writing the wrong answers on a test. The boy
died soon after. Despite constitutional protections against caste
discrimination, discriminatory treatment and violence remains endemic.

• Following communal violence in Bihar state, police arrested dozens of Muslim
men from a local mosque for allegedly inciting violence, including an 8-year-old
boy. The family of the boy reported that police demanded money in exchange for
his release. He was kept in custody for several days and finally granted bail.
He sustained injuries.

• A new report by the Indian government’s National Crime Records Bureau shows
that Muslims make up almost 30% of all detainees in Indian prisons in 2021,
despite the minority group having a demographic percentage of only 14.2%. In
Assam state, 61% of inmates on death row and 49% of those awaiting trial were
Muslims.

• A former member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) disclosed that RSS
members “carried out many bomb blasts across the country and with the help of
biased police and one-sided media blamed them on Muslims. That helped them in
2014 Loksabha [Parliamentary] elections.” Senior members of the Indian
government, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are members of the RSS.

• Hate speech and calls to violence against religious minorities continues. Yati
Narsinghanand called for the Aligarh Muslim University to be “bombarded”, and
for “students associated with these institutions should be lodged in detention
centres.” He is a Hindu supremacist leader known for organising Dharam Sansads
“religious congregations” where attendees pledged to exterminate Islam in
December 2021.

• Mob violence against religious minorities continues. A Hindu extremist mob
attacked a Muslim family travelling through Madhya Pradesh state and filmed the
incident. Hindu extremists in Uttar Pradesh attacked a group of Muslim men for
praying by the side of the road. Police did not take any action against them,
saying only that praying by the road was “not allowed”, which is legally
incorrect.

June-August 2022 (summer edition): EU-India Human Rights Dialogue, fact-checker
and civil rights activist arrested, “bulldozer justice“, new President of India
and 75th Independence Day


• Over the summer, xenophobic violence and discrimination continued to erode
Indian civil society, with news of discrimination, mob violence, Islamophobic
assaults, plunderings, killings, lynchings and illegal detentions.

• In June, India signed the “Joint Statement of G7 and Partner Countries (2022
Resilient Democracies Statement)”, committing itself to defend democracy and to
enable open and pluralistic debates. Ironically, this statement was signed on
the same day that the HRD Zubair was arrested (see below). India had already
fallen eight ranks in the World Press Freedom Index this year and ranks 150 of
180 countries.

• In June, HRD Mohammed Zubair was arrested for a tweet dating back to 2018
which “insulted Hindu religious beliefs”. He is the co-founder of Alt News, an
Indian non-profit fact checking website. Alt News monitors viral social media
posts and news to expose manipulations, lies and misinformation used to promote
right-wing and Islamophobic narratives, often exposing the government itself. By
adding new charges to the original reason for arrest, authorities were able to
keep Zubair detained until the Supreme Court finally granted his application for
bail in July.

• In June, Indian civil rights activist and journalist Teesta Setalvad was
arrested. She was accused of fabricating evidence in a petition to the Supreme
Court seeking to investigate Prime Minister Modi’s role in the 2002 Gujarat
riots. Amnesty India and Human Rights Watch called this is an attack on civil
society and HRDs and demanded her release. More than 2.200 writers, activists
and other parts of civil society worldwide signed an open letter demanding her
release.

• Several BJP-led states in India are demolishing Muslim homes with bulldozers
as reprisals for protests without due process. This is backed by BJP
politicians, either directly stating that this is a reprisal for participants of
the protests, or claiming these demolitions are carried out in efforts against
illegal constructions.

• On July 15, the 10th EU-India Human Rights Dialogue took place. Both parties
reiterated their commitment to protecting and promoting all human rights and
exchanged views about  civil and political rights and their importance in civil
society. Meanwhile, critical journalists are prosecuted or kept from travelling
abroad and activists are detained under fabricated charges. The human rights
organizations FORUM-ASIA, CIVICUS, Front Line Defenders, OMCT and FIDH expressed
their disappointment at the failure of the EU to speak up about the continuous
attacks on HRDs.

• Droupadi Murmu, a member of the right-wing Hindu supremacist BJP, is the first
person from a tribal community to become President of India. This has been
criticized as mere tokenism by the BJP to deflect from its policies such as the
discriminatory citizenship laws and attempts at implementing draconian forest
laws which endanger the livelihood of tribals. While many hope that she can move
beyond symbolism and bring attention to the vulnerable position and economic,
social and cultural injustices tribes face in Indian society, the role of the
Indian President is mainly ceremonial and therefore restricts her potential for
bringing about change.

• On the 15th of August, India celebrated 75 years of Independence. Their vision
of India was multiethnic and secular, but many fear that this picture of India
is increasingly being attacked and replaced by the ideologists of a Hindu
nation, which leaves little space for minorities to live freely. Since Modi’s
government took power in 2014, legislative, institutional and societal changes
have put India on the path towards an autocratic Hindu supremacist state.


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