More

    India dangerously backsliding on rights, says Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2022

    Civil societyHuman rightsIndia dangerously backsliding on rights, says Human Rights Watch’s...
    - Advertisment -

    India dangerously backsliding on rights, says Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2022

    Activists and critics were targeted and authorities gave up any appearance of tolerating dissent and used the machinery of the state to silence critics.

    Indian authorities intensified their crackdown on activists, journalists, and other critics of the government using politically motivated prosecutions in 2021, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2022. Tens of thousands of people died during a surge in COVID-19 cases, with the government failing to provide adequate health care to those in need, the report added.

    The clampdown on dissent was facilitated by the draconian counterterrorism law, tax raids, foreign funding regulations, and charges of financial irregularities while attacks against religious minorities were carried out with impunity.

    “The Indian authorities have given up any appearance of tolerating dissent and are using the machinery of the state to silence critics,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “At the same time, the BJP government has created an atmosphere in which minorities feel unsafe, at risk of assault by ruling party supporters.”

    - Advertisement -

    BJP leaders accused farmers, many of them from the minority Sikh community, of having a separatist agenda in protesting amendments to farm laws. Prime Minister Narendra Modi described people participating in various peaceful protests as “parasites,” while party supporters, including a government minister’s son, allegedly attacked farmers in a hit-and-run incident involving an official convoy.

    The authorities also arrested a climate activist for allegedly editing a document providing information on the protests, and issued warrants against two others. Several United Nations human rights experts raised concerns over government measures to restrict the protests. In November, following a year of protests, the BJP government finally decided to repeal the farm laws.

    An international collaborative Pegasus Project, reported that Pegasus spyware, developed and sold by Israeli company NSO Group was used to target Indian human rights defenders, journalists, and opposition politicians. The company asserts that it sells the spyware “only to authorized governmental agencies.” The government also enacted new rules that allow for greater control over online content, threaten to weaken encryption, and would seriously undermine rights to privacy and freedom of expression.

    In the 752-page World Report 2022, its 32nd edition, Human Rights Watch reviews human rights practices in nearly 100 countries. Executive Director Kenneth Roth challenges the conventional wisdom that autocracy is ascendent. In country after country, large numbers of people have recently taken to the streets, even at the risk of being arrested or shot, showing that the appeal of democracy remains strong.

    Meanwhile, autocrats are finding it more difficult to manipulate elections in their favour. Still, Roth says, democratic leaders must do a better job of meeting national and global challenges and of making sure that democracy delivers on its promised dividends.

    Partisan State authorities

    The death of a jailed 84-year-old tribal rights activist, Stan Swamy, in July was emblematic of the ongoing persecution of rights activists. Swamy was among 16 prominent human rights defenders arrested on politically motivated terrorism charges related to an incident of caste violence in Maharashtra state in 2017.

    In November the police in Tripura state filed terrorism cases against four lawyers for conducting a fact-finding investigation into communal violence in October in which Hindu mobs attacked mosques and Muslim-owned properties. The police also filed terrorism cases against 102 social media accounts and detained two journalists who reported on the violence, on charges of “spreading communal disharmony.”

    The authorities continued to press charges against numerous students and activists, including under counterterrorism and sedition laws, for protesting citizenship law amendments that discriminate against Muslims.

    In February the government lifted an 18-month internet shutdown in Jammu and Kashmir imposed in August 2019 when it revoked the state’s constitutional autonomy and split it into two federally governed territories. Journalists in Kashmir faced increased harassment and some were arrested on terrorism charges. UN experts raised concerns over abuses in Kashmir, including arbitrary detention of journalists, alleged custodial killings, and a “broader pattern of systematic infringements of fundamental rights used against the local population.”

     

    Wikimedia image: Anti CAA NRC protestors in New Delhi

    - Advertisement -

    LEAVE A REPLY

    Please enter your comment!
    Please enter your name here

    Latest news

    At ‘Sahkar Samvad’ in Ahmedabad, Amit Shah Announces New Cooperative Initiatives on ICY

    Shah revealed that in the coming months, cooperative dairies would start leveraging cow dung to produce organic manure and biogas.

    Kabul Residents Endure Severe Power Outages Amid Heatwave, Demand Urgent Action

    Afghanistan’s domestic power generation, though improving, remains insufficient. Hydroelectric, solar, and fossil fuel-based plants contribute to the national grid, but infrastructure limitations and growing demand have kept supply far below need.

    Glacial breach in Tibet, Monsoon Rains Cripple Nepal‑China Corridor

    This dual tragedy – a glacial lake burst and monsoon-triggered disasters – has plunged Nepal’s road network into unprecedented turmoil.

    ‘Pressure’ on Top Rights Body Alarms Pakistani Activists

    In a strongly worded statement issued on July 2, the Lahore-based HRCP warned that recent efforts by authorities to block its public events and intimidate staff represent an unprecedented assault on its mission since the organisation was founded in 1987.
    - Advertisement -

    Wada Na Todo Abhiyan launches Promises and Reality 2025

    The report says that government estimates also tout India as a global economic powerhouse – leading in real-time digital transactions globally, improved in ease of doing business, and projected as the fastest-growing major economy.

    Trump Imposes 35 Per Cent Tariff on Bangladeshi Imports

    Trump’s message also came with a warning: any retaliatory tariff by Bangladesh would be matched with further US tariff increases. “Whatever the number you choose to raise them by will be added onto the 35 per cent that we charge,” he stated.

    Must read

    At ‘Sahkar Samvad’ in Ahmedabad, Amit Shah Announces New Cooperative Initiatives on ICY

    Shah revealed that in the coming months, cooperative dairies would start leveraging cow dung to produce organic manure and biogas.

    Kabul Residents Endure Severe Power Outages Amid Heatwave, Demand Urgent Action

    Afghanistan’s domestic power generation, though improving, remains insufficient. Hydroelectric, solar, and fossil fuel-based plants contribute to the national grid, but infrastructure limitations and growing demand have kept supply far below need.
    - Advertisement -

    More from the sectionRELATED
    Recommended to you