Increasing Communal Violence, State-Sponsored Abuses and Erosion of Civil Liberties in India

Newsreel Asia Insight #102
Jan. 13, 2024

A comprehensive report from the U.S.-based organisation Human Rights Watch underscores persistent human rights challenges in India. It asserts that the central government’s policies are discriminatory against religious minorities, Dalits and tribal groups, leading to a rise in communal violence and “state-sponsored” abuses.

In Manipur, ethnic violence resulted in over 200 deaths, with the local authorities accused of exacerbating the situation, the report says, adding that the National Human Rights Commission and other constitutional bodies tasked with protecting vulnerable groups have reportedly failed to function independently. The report also points to the misuse of digital infrastructure, leading to internet shutdowns and privacy concerns, particularly affecting rural communities.

In Jammu and Kashmir, the report adds, the situation remains tense with continued restrictions on free expression and assembly. Alleged extrajudicial killings by security forces are frequent, it claims. Human rights defenders and journalists, including human rights activist Khurram Parvez and journalist Irfan Mehraj, face arrests and charges under stringent laws like the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the report points out, adding that international bodies, including the United Nations, have called for the release of these activists and condemned the use of these laws against civil society.

The report also alleges impunity of security force abuses. The National Human Rights Commission registering 126 deaths in police custody, 1,673 deaths in judicial custody and 55 alleged extrajudicial killings in the first nine months in 2023, it notes.

“On April 13, 2023, police in Uttar Pradesh state shot and killed an associate and the 19-year-old son of politician Atiq Ahmed, who was serving a life sentence and faced about 100 criminal cases, including for murder,” reads the report. “The state’s BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) chief minister praised the killings while BJP leaders openly insinuated that Ahmed could also be killed by the police or in an ‘accident.’ Two days after his son’s killing, Ahmed and his brother were fatally shot at close range on live television as they were being escorted by the police for a routine medical checkup. Two BJP state ministers hailed the murders as ‘divine justice,’ renewing concerns about a breakdown in the rule of law in the state.”

The central government’s refusal to prosecute soldiers accused of killing coal miners in Nagaland under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) further illustrates this impunity, the report alleges.

Referring to an incident of communal violence in Haryana’s Nuh district in July 2023, the report states, “Following the violence, as part of a growing pattern, the authorities retaliated against Muslim residents by illegally demolishing hundreds of Muslim properties and detaining scores of Muslim boys and men.”

About Manipur, it says: “Civil society activists alleged that BJP’s Chief Minister N. Biren Singh fueled divisiveness in Manipur with political patronage to violent groups in the Hindu-majority Meitei community and by stigmatizing the Kuki by alleging their involvement in drug trafficking and providing sanctuary to refugees from Myanmar. In August, the Supreme Court said the state police had ‘lost control over the situation,’ and ordered special teams to investigate the violence, including sexual violence, in Manipur. In September, over a dozen United Nations experts raised concerns about the ongoing violence and abuses in Manipur, saying the government’s response had been slow and inadequate.”

The report also addresses the ongoing issue of manual scavenging, a practice predominantly forced upon Dalits, despite official bans. This dangerous practice, it says, “continued across the country, leading to deaths and injuries.”

Freedom of expression in India faces significant challenges, with authorities using “politically motivated charges” to “silence civil society activists, independent journalists, and even political opponents.”

“In March 2023, a court in Gujarat sentenced prominent opposition leader Rahul Gandhi to two years in prison in a politically motivated defamation case,” reads the reports. “Gandhi had raised corruption allegations in parliament against billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani, perceived to have close relations with the prime minister. The Supreme Court eventually suspended Gandhi’s conviction in August.”

Women’s and girls’ rights remain a concern, with delayed investigations into sexual abuse allegations against powerful figures and barriers to justice for survivors, the Human Rights Watch says, noting the government’s failure to ratify the International Labour Organization Violence and Harassment Convention.

Children’s rights are also at risk, with the alleged exposure of personal data of students and teachers through a government-owned education app, Diksha. Further, the report points out, “In May, Human Rights Watch found arbitrary detention, overcrowding, lack of adequately trained staff, denial of education, and prison-like conditions in a government-run institution for children and adults with disabilities on the outskirts of Delhi. The governing council of the institution has since announced reforms.”

The report also touches on the rights of sexual minorities, refugee rights and environmental issues, highlighting the government’s alleged actions that have led to criticism from international bodies, including the European Parliament and the United States.

Discussing global human rights, Human Rights Watch’s Executive Director Tirana Hassan remarks in the report that reflecting on 2023’s formidable human rights challenges, wartime atrocities and selective government outrage, require change in 2024. “Yet amid the gloom, we saw signs of hope showing the possibility of a different path,” she says.