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India Persecution Tracker
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India Persecution Tracker | 2024/1
Overview of human rights abuses and violations against India’s religious
minorities from 1 December, 2023, to 10 February, 2024.
Overview
During the period under review, India’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) secured electoral victories in three crucial provinces, ahead of national-
level elections scheduled to commence in April, 2024. Against this backdrop, the
conditions for India’s religious minorities, particularly Muslims and Christians,
witnessed further deterioration.
Major reported human rights violations and abuses included extrajudicial
killings, widespread arbitrary detentions and custodial torture, and the
advocacy of religious hatred amounting to incitement. Alongside, the BJP
intensified its targeting of critics – including opposition leaders, journalists, and
HRDs – ahead of national elections.
The conditions for religious freedom for minorities continued to be dire. In
Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over the
consecration ceremony of a Hindu temple at the site of a historical mosque
that had previously been razed by Hindu zealots, setting the tone for the
upcoming election campaign, and further cementing the Hindu majoritarian-
supremacist turn India has taken under the BJP. Court orders appeared to be
paving the way for the Hindu nationalist takeover of even more historical
mosques. The ceremony in Ayodhya was only one of several pretexts used by
Hindu extremist groups with close links to the BJP to continue to harass,
intimidate, assault, and kill religious minorities across the country. Muslim and
Christian individuals, homes, businesses, and places of worship continued to
be indiscriminately targeted with impunity. And in BJP-ruled states, instead of
acting against the perpetrators of violence, authorities continued criminalising
Muslims and subjecting them to collective punishment, particularly using
arbitrary demolitions of their homes and businesses, as well as arbitrary
detentions.
The use of hateful and incendiary rhetoricagainst minorities by powerful
political and religious leadersappeared to be reaching a fever pitch ahead of the
elections. We documented 10 instances of senior, elected leaders of the BJP
making open calls to boycott, harass, assault, or kill Muslims, and around 115
more instances of other popular leaders making similar speeches in physical
settings. 90% of these speeches were made in BJP-ruled states, and invited
little to no response from authorities. On multiple occasions, as in Mumbai,
these speeches resulted in near-immediate violence against minorities.
Dalits, the historically marginalised members of the lowest rung of the Indian
caste system, too continued to face systemic violence from ‘higher’ caste
Hindu extremists across the country.
Against this backdrop, India’s domestic mechanisms continued to largely fail to
ensure effective remedy and accountability, with state institutions and the
judicial process remaining skewed towards powerful Hindu nationalist
interests, and against minorities.
Some international institutions and experts took action to raise alarm about the
deteriorating situation in India: the European Parliament adopted a resolution
expressing concern over ‘acts of violence, increasing nationalistic rhetoric and
divisive policies’ in India, specifically highlighting the worrying situations in
Manipur and Kashmir. Human Rights Watch, in its annual review of 2023, noted:
“The BJP government’s discriminatory and divisive policies have led to increased
violence against minorities, creating a pervasive environment of fear and a chilling
effect on government critics. Instead of holding those responsible for abuses to
account, the authorities chose to punish the victims, and persecuted anyone who
questioned these actions.”
The Indian government appeared unrelenting in the face of such criticism, and
in fact appeared to be increasingly emboldened to engage in transnational
repression: The Washington Post uncovered an organised disinformation
operation to target PM Modi’s critics abroad, allegedly run by Indian intelligence
agencies. And the US Department of Justice accused a senior Indian
government official of overseeing an assassination plot, similar to accusations
made by Canada last year.
48 dead in extrajudicial killings across India (Dec 2023 - Feb 2024)
Alleged perpetrator:
Non-state State
3 Muslims allegedly tortured and killed by Army in Jammu & Kashmir
6 Muslims shot dead by police in Uttarakhand
1 Muslim killed by police in alleged extra-judicial 'encounter' in Uttar Pradesh
18 more killed in continuing ethnic violence in Manipur
6 Muslims and 1 Hindu killed by suspected Hindu extremists in other contexts
7 reported killings of Dalits by 'higher' caste extremists
Map: South Asia Justice Campaign • Map data: © OSM • Get the data • Created with Datawrapper
Anti-minority violence hotspots across India during Ram Temple
consecration ceremony (21-24 January, 2024)
BJP governments in control of law & order at time of violence?
Yes No
Delhi
Bihar
Madhya
Gujarat Pradesh
Telangana
Karnataka
Source: South Asia Justice Campaign • Map data: © OSM • Get the data • Created with Datawrapper
Top and intermediate-level hate speeches by senior Hindu
nationalist leaders at physical gatherings across India (Dec 2023 -
Jan 2024)
Click 'get data' below for the full list of reported speeches.
BJP governments in control of law & order?
No Yes
Map: South Asia Justice Campaign • Source: Hindutva Watch • Map data: © OSM • Get the data • Created with Datawrapper
KEY FIGURES (1 DECEMBER, 2023, TO 10 FEBRUARY, 2024):
STATE ACTORS
3
Muslims killed by Army personnel in Jammu & Kashmir; 22 more severely tortured.
6
Muslim protesters shot dead in Uttarakhand by police forces. 1 more killed in alleged
staged ‘encounter’ in Uttar Pradesh.
100+
Muslims arrested/detained and tortured across India on various pretexts.
19+
Christians arrested under anti-conversion laws.
10
instances of elected BJP leaders engaging in top-level or intermediate-level
incitement to hostility, discrimination, or violence against minorities.
60+
Muslim-owned homes and businesses arbitrarily demolished in punitive reprisals by
authorities
NON-STATE ACTORS
18
killed in continuing ethnic violence in Manipur.
6
Muslims and 1 Hindu killed by suspected Hindu extremists in other contexts
across India.
8
states where the Ram Temple consecration ceremony sparked anti-Muslim
violence.
100+
Christian Adivasis forcibly displaced in Chhattisgarh
Deprivation of life
Arrests and detentions
Torture and ill-treatment
Violence against women and girls
Advocacy of religious hatred
Religious freedom
Discrimination in access to economic, social & cultural rights
Effective remedy and fair trial rights
Civic space and democratic backsliding
South Asia Justice Campaign
SAJC is a non partisan movement calling for the protection of human rights,
democracy and diversity in India and the wider South Asia region.
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