US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed alarm over India’s human rights abuses at a joint news conference with Indian counterparts.
Antony Blinken made these comments at a joint news conference with Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and their Indian counterparts, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh after the conclusion of the 2+2 Ministerial on Monday.
Antony Blinken said in his opening remarks, “We are monitoring some recent concerning developments in India, including a rise in human rights abuses by some government, police, and prison officials.” However, Antony Blinken did not elaborate further.
Antony Blinken also said, “We share a commitment to our democratic values, such as protecting human rights. We regularly engage with our Indian partners on these shared values.”
India has hitherto reacted to criticism by foreign governments and human rights groups on allegations that civil rights are under attack in India.
The Indian government has always proclaimed that India has bolstered strong democratic practices and has powerful democratic agencies to protect the rights of all Indian citizens.
The Indian government has also emphasized that the Indian Constitution provides for adequate safeguards under various statutes for ensuring the protection of human rights.
Presently in India, here are some of the human rights abuses crushing the people.
Freedom of expression and journalists attacked:
Over the last few years alone, several people were arrested under sedition laws for expressing their dissent with government policy. Indians were arrested for even posting comments on Facebook. In 2021, 4 Indian journalists alone have been murdered!
There have been massive unlawful arrests of journalists for reporting the truth, detained on false charges, and beaten brutally or humiliated by police forces stripping them of clothes and sharing their pictures online. All this is done to intimidate them and hinder open reporting.
Communal and ethnic violence:
Presently, over the nation there are riots with Muslims being laboriously attacked, their houses set on fire, beaten and even mosques vandalized, some killed. Christians too are being beaten and churches are broken, some even murdered. Over the last few years, minority groups have been attacked by vigilante cow protection groups. These self-appointed guardians of cows beat up many people legally transporting cattle, and many of those affected were minority groups. Two Muslim Cattle traders were found hanging from a tree in Jharkhand. Other violations included gang rape of women and forcing cattle transporters to eat cow dung.
Inciting speeches against Muslims continues with no arrests
The latest incident of inciting violence against Muslims openly with no arrests made of the perpetrator was a Hindu priest, and Mohammed Zubair from Alt News tweeted, “A Mahant in front of a Masjid in the presence of Police personals warns that He would K!dnap Muslim Women and ₹@pe them in Open.”
Students Attacked
Violence on college campuses such as JNU is commonplace, and it is allegedly politically motivated by RSS links. Students in JNU were once again brutally attacked by the ABVP on Sunday, April 10, 2022. Two years ago, on 5 January 2020, more than 50 masked people armed with rods, sticks, and acid attacked the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, injuring over 39 students and teachers. Many of the students received serious injuries. Even Professors who tried to intervene and protect the students, as well as ambulances carrying injured individuals, were attacked.
Eyewitnesses stated that police within the campus did not intervene to stop the mob. and after attacking residents of the university campus for three hours, the mob escaped; none of its members was arrested or detained. This continues because it is allegedly endorsed by BJP-linked leaders.
Caste-based discrimination and violence:
More than 56,000 crimes were committed against scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in 2015. These included denying Dalits entry into public and social spaces, according to the report. In 2016, Dalit student Rohith Vemula committed suicide, complaining of discrimination and abuse, leading to nationwide protests. Since then, the government has alleged that the student was not Dalit but belonged to other backward classes.
Freedom of association:
The government canceled the registration of several civil society organizations which specifically stopped them from getting foreign funding, even after the UN claimed that this curb was not in accordance with international law and was infringing human rights.
Violence against women:
More than 327,000 crimes were committed against women in 2015. Many of them belonged to marginalized communities. Rapes, torture, and murder because it is on minorities are not taken seriously.
Children’s rights:
Crimes against children rose by 5% in 2015 as compared to the previous year. An amendment in a child labor law by the Parliament that allowed some exceptions was opposed by child rights activists, who were worried it would impact marginalized groups and girl children.