By Team
Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a third term in office in June 2024. The authorities continued to discriminate against members of minority communities. Officials failed to take adequate action against BJP supporters responsible for attacks, and instead targeted victims of the violence, including through unlawful demolitions of Muslim homes and properties. Government critics faced politically motivated prosecutions under tax and foreign funding regulations, and the draconian counterterrorism law.
Indian authorities failed to end the ethnic violence in the northeast state of Manipur, which has killed over 200 people and displaced more than 60,000 since May 2023.
Several foreign governments accused Indian intelligence agencies of targeting terrorism suspects and separatist leaders for assassination in Canada, the United States, and Pakistan. In October 2024, Canada’s national police service issued a public statement on the alleged role of Indian state agents in criminal activity on Canadian soil, including homicide, extortion, and other violence. Indian authorities also canceled visas or denied entry to government critics, including members of the diaspora.
Despite the Modi administration’s deteriorating human rights record, several countries strengthened strategic and economic ties with India. However, in January the European Parliament adopted a resolution that raised urgent human rights concerns, including “violence, increasing nationalistic rhetoric and divisive policies” against minorities. In May, for a second consecutive year, the United Nations-linked Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions deferred accreditation to India’s National Human Rights Commission.
Jammu and Kashmir
In September, the Indian government held elections for a regional government in Jammu and Kashmir for the first time since revoking its special autonomous status in August 2019. While the government claimed that it had restored peace and security in the region, many Kashmiris said that they were voting against the continued restrictions on basic freedoms.
The Jammu region, considered relatively more peaceful, saw a spike in violence between May and July, leading to the death of 15 soldiers and 9 civilians. As of September, there were 40 reported attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, in which 18 civilians, 20 security force personnel, and 39 suspected militants were killed.
In March, demonstrators in the now separate territory of Ladakh demanded a greater participation in governance. In October, Indian authorities arbitrarily detained the prominent climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and 120 others from Ladakh, who had walked for 30 days, covering nearly 1,000-kilometers, from Leh, the provincial capital, to Delhi. The activists, demanding a greater say in local governance and stronger environmental safeguards, were released after 36 hours.
Religious minorities and migrant workers faced risk of targeted attacks while hundreds of Kashmiris, including journalists and human rights activists, remained in custody. Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez has been jailed since November 2021 under the Unlawful Activities Prevention of Atrocities Act (UAPA), India’s draconian counterterrorism law.
This story was originally published in hrw.org. Read the full story here.